Working for Free

Presented at reboot 10 in Copenhagen, Denmark, I focus on my practice of working for free, and talk about the benefits of this approach to engaging with clients.

Transcript

1. working for free
2. Raise the Dead of Wintertime A sighing wind brings heavy snow Every good woodcutter knows It fills the road and blocks the door It lays and stays and waits for more The Jeffery boys are strong and lean The best damn workers you’ve ever seen They’ll cut more wood than a horse can haul Near six chords before nightfall We’ll get up at the break of day And hitch the morgan to the sleigh And as we work we’ll sing a rhyme And raise the dead of wintertime Deep in the woods our fuel is born It meets the axe to keep us warm We trim the branches, pile it high And leave it for the wind to dry The yellow birch, the spruce so red And juniper to bake good bread Hard maple when the flame’s in doubt And cedar if the fire dies out And when at night we’re by the stove Our bellies full and our stories told The winds of winter might blow cold But none of us will feel it Allan Rankin “New Branches” Wild Garden Music 1995
3. working for free
4. is not...
5. not charity
6. not volunteering
7. not interning
8. not bartering
9. not businesslike
10. not altruistic
11. and
12. (perhaps)
13. not rational
14. working for free
15. involves no...
16. no selling
17. no advertising
18. no estimates
19. no invoices
20. no payroll
21. no taxes
22. no boss
23. no meetings
24. no fear of losing a job
25. and
26. no money
27. working for free
28. provides...
29. creative license
30. influence
31. access
32. equality
33. power
34. risk
35. respite
36. opportunity
37. and
38. freedom
39. working
40. is like prostitution
41. working for free
42. is like home-based sex
43. ❧
44. huh?
48. procrastina tion
49. o I- [ ]  [Casa Mia] o I - u () the talk
50. o I- [ ]  [Casa Mia] o I - u () the talk
51. o I- [ ]  [Casa Mia] o I - u () the talk
53. happy
54. satisfied
55. nothing more needed
56. working for free
59. selfish altruism
60. targeted injections of free labour to enhance local sustainability
61. working for free
63. • Find some “visioning” money to get hired as a consultant. • Negotiate contracts for services. • Hold meetings with potential stakeholders and users. • Prepare a report of findings, with suggestions for next steps. • Find additional funding to move to the practical planning stage. • Hold meetings with involved parties, negotiate responsibilities, reporting structure. • Develop action plan. • Proceed with project.
64. called a meeting [ University] o I - [ ] --- --- --- - o I - [] ___ = \ -  o I- [ ] -
65. another meeting [ University] o I - [ ] --- --- --- - o I - [] ___ = \ -  o I- [ ] -
66. my work here is done [ University] o I - [ ] --- --- --- - o I - [] ___ = \ -
67. happy
68. satisfied
69. nothing more needed
70. cross-domain scripting
71. leveraging contacts and personal curiousity to build business-academic partnerships
72. working for free
73. how to make it work
74. trust each other
75. or
76. ignore each other
77. not “almost free”
78. not “a good deal”
79. be clear about the basics
80. passion is good
81. small is good
82. local is good
83. be prepared for suspicion
84. be prepared for rejection
85. working for free
86. why I love it...
87. feeds my curiousity
88. try out new ideas
89. access to cool people
90. access to “backstage”
91. creative control
92. influence my community
93. and
94. it’s fun
95. working for free
96. thoughts?