Freelance Buffalo is Bigger, Better, and Fully In-Person, for 4th Annual Conference

Freelance Buffalo has added two cities to form a three-city conference that will host the region’s freelancers for one week from April 18-22, 2022

Freelance Buffalo and Beyond is a week-long conference that will be hosted in Buffalo, Rochester and Erie, PA from April 18 to April 22, 2022. Hundreds of local freelancers will gather across the region, in-person to learn, network, and connect.

This is the fourth annual freelance conference for Buffalo, and the first-ever conference of its kind in Rochester and Erie, PA. There are 50+ speakers and dozens of sessions planned throughout the week in each city. Buffalo will host at The Innovation Center by BNMC, Serendipity Labs, TReC by NGTI, Convergence Coworking and UNOVA Coworking.

The agenda includes interactive workshops, educational sessions, panel discussions and is paired with networking opportunities, monthly meetups, and professional retreats. All our speakers are local freelancers or entrepreneurs that support our community. Topics include Leveraging a True Brand, Protecting Your Freelance Status, Amplifying Your Social Media Content, Brain Health for Freelancers, and Networking the Right Way.

This five-day, in-person event will be accompanied by a kick-off happy hour, interactive workshops, educational sessions, panel discussions and is paired with networking opportunities, monthly meetups, and a closing party. See www.freelancebuffaloandbeyond.com for the specific agendas and host locations for each city.

Freelance Buffalo and Beyond organizers include Marie Rachelle (organizer of freelance events in Buffalo since 2019), Madison Bracaglia (Rochester), Amanda Duncan and Jess Royer (Erie, PA). Marie plans to lead these hyper-local events to success with her experience in supporting freelancers, startups, and the small business community for the past four years. Marie has hosted over 500 freelancers from the WNY area to-date.

“This year’s theme was obvious when we started reviewing our speaker applications, but it was difficult to put it into words,” says Rachelle, “But that’s why I’m grateful to have a team helping me put this event together. We started brainstorming and Finding Your Freedom with Freelance was born. This year is going to be unlike any previous year and for that, I’m excited!”

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown states, “I’m pleased to welcome Freelance Buffalo & Beyond back for its first in-person annual conference since the start of the pandemic. This important gathering of freelance businesses gives Buffalo an opportunity to showcase all the features that make our City attractive to freelance businesses. At the same time, it provides me, and other leaders from the region, an opportunity to hear directly from the freelance business community about things we can do to make Buffalo more welcoming to this critical sector of economic growth. I want to thank Maire Rachelle for all her hard work in organizing this year’s event and I look forward to having you all here in person once again.”

Mayor Byron Brown will deliver an official proclamation on Monday, April 18 at City Hall, declaring April 18-22, 2021 as freelance week across the City of Buffalo.

Freelance Buffalo and Beyond is a week-long conference that includes workshops, educational sessions, panel discussions and is paired with networking opportunities, monthly meetups, and professional retreats.

Marie Rachelle is a freelancer, entrepreneur and community builder. She is opening Convergence Coworking, Hamburg’s first coworking space, in the Spring of 2022 and will continue her work with Freelance Buffalo & Beyond. Voted Most Aspirational Freelancer by her peers at the Freelance Conference in 2019, she lives up to her title by constantly connecting fellow freelancers, empowering them to gain authority and partnering with organizations like The Freelancer’s Union to move the needle in the small business community.

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Find out more on our website and claim your ticket at www.freelancebuffaloandbeyond.com.