Did You Know? Freelance Austin

Written by Tracy Sullivan.

Starting this month, Women Communicators of Austin will spotlight a member benefit on the WCA Blog each month with its new “Did You Know?” series. Our inaugural post is on on WCA’s special interest group, Freelance Austin.

For some, Freelance Austin’s affiliation with WCA is a bit of a mystery. In fact, Freelance Austin is a special interest group of WCA and is the longest-running nonprofit network of independent communications professionals in Austin. The group hosts low-cost or free monthly meetings, networking events and is completely volunteer-driven. Learn more about the variety of Freelance Austin’s programs and topics here.

Let’s clear up some of the mysteries of Freelance Austin and freelancers in general:

True: Freelance Austin events are free for all WCA members – even if you’re not a solopreneur. If you need a freelancer or are considering being an independent contractor in the future, Freelance Austin can connect you with the right people.

True: If you’re a WCA member, you have access to all Freelance Austin benefits. However, if you’re only interested in Freelance Austin, you can join Freelance Austin as an Annual Supporter for only $35!

True: Freelance Austin is often confused with similarly named organizations. While Freelance Austin is not affiliated with those groups, we support them as resources for our members.

True: Freelance Austin monitors the health of the industry and freelancers are NOT out of work. The group’s 2015 Pricing Survey indicated that almost half of the respondents who freelance full-time make more than $60K annually and almost 25% earn more than $100K annually.

True: More than half of WCA members also participate in Freelance Austin activities. According to LuAnn Glowacz, Freelance Austin Co-Chair, members who participate in both groups “speaks to the fact that so many women ‘lean in and out’ of the traditional workforce during their careers.”

Mysteries solved! There is a wealth of people, resources and support in both WCA and Freelance Austin!

Thank you to Ginny Murphy, WCA VP of Freelance Programming and LuAnn Glowacz, Freelance Austin Co-Chair, for assisting with this post.