To launch the L&D Free Spirits Blog, founder Kim Ellis explores the communities open to the Learning and Development industry and discusses whether or not we really need another one.
There are so many communities within our industry that choosing which ones to join and which ones to pay for can be a challenge.
So how do you choose?
Well, you need to look at what that community will give you. How it will develop you. How relevant it is to where you are in your career.
What L&D community should you join?
I’m a member of several communities and I get different things from each one. All of them have personal and professional development opportunities plus a networking community. But for me, something was always missing. I was only half fulfilled.
Whilst I love networking and improving my L&D skills, what about my business skills? After all, I’ve been self-employed for seven years. Who do I go to for that?
I was part of a freelance community, but that was for every type of freelancer so often the conversations weren’t all relevant to me. I needed something different, something more precise, something that would be filled with relevant content.
And that’s the thing, the ‘non-employed’ elements of development are few and far between. Just think about it, all the emails for events and webinars, all the insight surveys, they are all for people who work within organisations, not for those who go in as freelancers. And yes, I know we can customise the learning content and mould it to our needs, but should we really have to?
Why can’t we create a community that is filled with resources, networking, and support for the freelancers, the self-employed and the small business of L&D? (By the way, when I say freelancers, I mean all of these types of professionals.)
So, this is what’s driven the creation of L&D Free Spirits.
Free Spirits: The L&D community for freelancers
Erin Donovan and I wanted to create a place just for people like us, the freelancers of L&D. A place where you could get help setting up your business, find collaborators on the jobs board when you’ve taken on a gig which is just a little too big for you, somewhere to moan about having to chase payments and awkward SMEs. Even somewhere that can host your portfolio and send it to clients, saving you the need to have your own website (if you don’t want one).
So, we got cracking.
Since December 2023, we’ve been working alongside our ‘day jobs’ to bring this new network to you. We’ve been drip-feeding it to you ahead of the big launch on 1 September 2024:
- We set up our LinkedIn Company page and launched it at the Learning Technologies Conference and Exhibition.
- We created a landing page with a waitlist so people can sign up to get exclusive info.
- We launched a pilot of our 90-day Booster Package, which is fantastic for boosting your network, brand, and portfolio. It’s not just for newbies either, even if you are a seasoned freelancer, there’s stuff in there for you too.
- Our website is currently being built, but we opened it up just a little bit so we can start hosting events and blog posts.
So, if you’re champing at the bit to get involved or sign up, make sure you join the waitlist. The people on there will be the FIRST to know about what’s going on.
