Firecat Studio

Firecat Sponsors FreelanceCamp San Antonio

Since our business uses freelancers on a regular basis, we were happy that Luis Sandoval stepped up to organize a Freelance Camp San Antonio. It's a chance to meet and network with other freelancers and folks who hire them, and share info regarding business, habits, techniques, how-to's, success stories and more. Tap into the vibrant heart of the San Antonio entrepreneurial community.

FreelanceCamp SA EventBrite Signup

When:	Saturday, January 30, 2009
Where:	Radius Cafe, 106 Auditorium Circle, San Antonio, TX 78205
Cost:	Free to attendees
RSVP:	http://www.eventbrite.com/event/222893681/invitefriends

If you're not yet familiar with the groundswell "Camp" unconference movement, it's worth looking into. Highlights:

• The idea emerged from folks gathering in a bar across the street from a big, expensive, formal industry conference.
• BarCamps (and FreeLance Camp SA) are free to attend
• The agenda, sessions or panels are decided on by the participants the day of the conference.
• Everyone is encouraged to present, but not required. Two-way learning and sharing is the focus.

February First Friday: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Join us at Firecat Studio on Friday, February 6, 2009 for a free day of coworking. The brownbag lunch and discussion topic this month is:

Getting Your Business to Page 1 of Google Search

Web presence management specialist John Ray will join Firecat's CEO and chief web strategist Susan Price to discuss the many factors involved in optimizing a website for specific search terms.

Bring your questions and interesting problems. We'll discuss:

• Strategies for discovering which keywords your customers and other stakeholders use to describe your products or services.
• The difference between "natural" search and paid, or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) -- and when it makes sense to pay for clicks.
• Watching your website's traffic reports to see what's working for you.
• Simple coding guidelines to follow that can boost your rankings immediately, and make a better impression on site visitors.

The free brownbag session is part of our normal First Friday Coworking series. Bring your laptop, cell phone, or just a pad and paper. 

Five Minutes with Susan Price and Firecat Studio

Donna Tuttle from the San Antonio Business Journal kindly gave me a few minutes of her time to discuss coworking, social media trends and the like.

Five Minutes with Susan Price article in the San Antonio Business Journal.

Here's the article. I love talking about and learning about all this stuff, so feel free to contact me or comment here to discuss.

Thanks, Donna!

February First Friday Coworking: Getting Cozy with Google (SEO)

Firecat Studio's First Friday coworking session for February is on!

When: Friday, February 6, 2009 from 9 am - 5 pm. Open house format, come and go as you wish.

Where: 918 Nolan #104, San Antonio, Texas 78202. (map)

What: Coworking. Bring laptop, cell phone or just pad, pen and brain. Get some work done. Meet others. We provide the wifi. Suits, jeans and shorts are all fine.

Brownbag: Food is a very important part of the Firecat culture. At noon, we'll start our discussion of Search Engine Optimization, the art and science of getting Google to see and index the various parts of your own web presence. Bring your own to-go lunch or bag, or share the usual light sandwich fare we have on hand.

We had a record number of folks in December. We skipped January 2009's First Friday coworking session since it was the day after New Year's, and the Firecats were all on vacation. But we're fully in gear now, brimming with new ideas for turning a sour economy into sweet community and collaboration. The economic downturn means more freelance projects, more freelancers. Let's create interesting possibilities out of this -- together.