Freelancing has many positives, but one of the trade-offs is that I don’t have anyone besides myself to hit up when I want to go to a conference. Not only do I have to pay for travel and lodging out of pocket, but I lose the hours that would otherwise be spent on billable work. As a sole earner for a family of six, I don’t have a lot of leeway where budget is concerned.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ll be speaking at MagicRuby conference in Orlando in just a couple of days. I’m really looking forward to it! But despite it being a family-oriented conference, I already had to nix taking the family for budget reasons. I tried to cut corners everywhere I could, but I just figured out that the cost of cab fares is probably going to nullify the money I thought I’d saved by opting for a “budget” hotel.
I really want to speak at MagicRuby and other Ruby conferences this year. But it’s looking less and less likely that I’ll be able to do that when it costs $500+ per conference plus quite a bit more in lost income.
So, I’m putting out the hat. If you are looking forward to hearing my MagicRuby talk (and yes, I’ll be putting a recording online for those who can’t make it); if you’ve benefited from my open source work, or my podcasts on wideteams.com – please consider donating a few bucks.
I don’t know yet what I can give you in return, but I promise I’ll try to think of something. I’ve been thinking of putting together some e-booklets or screencasts, and if so you can bet anyone who donates will be getting a copy.
Thank you, and I hope to see you soon at a conference near you!