When you’re part of a company team, getting inspired, connecting with colleagues, and learning new things are often built into the team environment. But as a freelancer in IT you’ll need to actively seek out ways to stay inspired, build (new) relationships with other experts, and keep both your technical and business skills sharp and up to date.
Where most IT organisations have an aim for profit, the Singletons Network is a non-profit association aimed at connecting independent IT professionals, facilitating activities and get-togethers to explore tech, business and network. I was invited to attend one of their events and afterwards joined as a member, even while I don’t feel like a typical freelance professional yet after having been in the management of a software company for 10 years.
It is wonderful to meet a whole group of diversely experienced IT specialists. The Singletons community has been a great source of inspiration: learning about ARM clusters with 💻 Daan Horn, kickstarting my Rust language journey with embedded software engineer Erik Jansman, figuring out what the “Wet DBA” will mean for freelancers with Marc Enschede, learning about combining sweat-equity and freelancing with Zamir Amir and getting tipped about exciting eBPF tech by Eelco van Dijk.
If you are interested in meet a group of experienced IT experts, getting insights on challenges from all sort of different work environment and diving deep with collaborative tech exploration subjects, feel free to reach out to the Singletons Network and maybe we’ll see you at one of the following events!