Whether it’s millennial zeitgeist or that the internet has set us free, there's no doubt that freelancing has become easier and more people are doing it. It's why we built Working Not Working. Then a funny thing happened: we started to see many of our freelance members go back to full-time. To find out which companies could tempt our community to give up their independent lifestyle, we sent out a survey last year and learned a lot.
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The Future of Working Not Working
As most of you know, Working Not Working began as a small, invite-only group of freelancers, mostly in New York, and mostly in advertising. But today, we’re over 5,000 creatives in many disciplines, all over the world. Thousands of innovative companies like Apple, Google, Airbnb, Facebook, Droga5, and Wieden+Kennedy have turned to us to source and manage their creative talent.
Read MoreWNW x London
London has become our 4th largest market so we figured it was time to hop on a flight and give London some full-on WNW love. The days were full of meetings with various companies (with a big thank you to Techspace for being our interim office), and nights were spent toasting our members, both old and new.
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WNW is Coming to London
Team WNW is headed to London. We're preparing a series of events meant to inspire, connect, and intoxicate (!) our UK members and friends. Would love to meet and down a few pints with you. #WNWxLONDON
Read MorePreaching Not Preaching: SXSW
Working Not Working took over SXSW in full force with an unsurprising blur of parties, run ins with WNW members and really awesome, late night music. Co-founder Justin Gignac joined Behance's Scott Belsky, Ryan Merkley (the CEO of Creative Commons) and Red Antler partner Emily Heyward at The Rise of the Creative Economy panel, a discussion on how creatives can truly empower themselves to do the work they want.
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WNW TEAM GROWS 66%
WNW TEAM GROWS 66%
Say hello to Claire & Mike.
The offices of Working Not Working have recently added two brand-new humans to the operation. We’d like to welcome Claire Wasserman, our new Director of Marketing, and Mike O’Donnell, our Community Manager.
Claire comes to us from the Art Director’s Club where she led marketing and fundraising efforts for the 94-year-old institution. So right off the bat, she’s got a great understanding of the skill sets and needs of our members. Some of the ADC Young Guns in the community may already know her. Prior to that, Claire was an Account Director for the experiential agency Street Attack, working on projects for Blackwing Pencils, and Adam & Eve (yes, the sex toys). When she was 23, Claire was nominated for an Academy Award (yes, the Oscars) for the Bosnian short "Snovi", which she produced right out of college. Claire will be heading up events and partnerships for Working Not Working, as well as, a few new projects we have in store for 2015. She’ll also serve as Editor-in-Chief of Free Range, creating new content and programs with our members.
Our new Community Manager, Mike O’Donnell, is only a few years out of the University of San Francisco where he majored in English. Mike has been our part-time right-hand man since 2013, writing for Free Range and helping out with all sorts of community building efforts. He’s now agreed to come on full-time, working with Claire on Free Range and assisting Ashley in developing the community and broadening our reach to new markets. In his free time, Mike likes to play basketball and eat ravioli.
We're ecstatic to add these two machines to the WNW Voltron. Join us in welcoming them. You can find Claire on Instagram @claire1128 & Mike on Twitter @mikeohdonnell
THE 3RD ANNUAL WNW FREELANCER HOLIDAY PARTY
THE 3RD ANNUAL WNW FREELANCER HOLIDAY PARTY
Thanks to everyone who braved the snow and made it out to The 3nd Annual Working Not Working Freelancer Holiday Party on December 10th at FINALE in NYC. Our hangovers have finally worn off, in just under two weeks. Check out the video above and the images below to remember what you forgot. And make sure to visit the full GIF gallery and the Facebook photo album.
We'd like to thank the following sponsors for providing the liquids, gifts, and images that tell the tale: Narragansett, Zipz, Prohibition Distillery, Smilebooth, Taquitoria, Harry's, PONY, & Normal.
Zipz is offering 15% off with the code "#ZipzWine", if you have any last-minute shopping on your plate. Also a special shout-out to VA$HTIE and Alex Frederick for DJing killer sets, as well as photographer Ahmed Klink & videographer Josh McCutchen for documenting a night to remember. Happy Holidays from WNW!
THE WNW FULL-TIMERS
Smilebooth GIFs
Party Stills by Ahmed Klink
Photo by WNW Member #2127 Elizabeth Weinberg
WNW'S FIRST HIRE!
WNW'S FIRST HIRE!
This week Working Not Working welcomed our new Director of Talent, Ashley Nowicki. Among other startup hats, Ashley’s prime directive will be heading up talent for the community. This includes the discovery and on-boarding of new members, as well as identifying and addressing the creative needs of the companies in the network. In the year to come, we'll be expanding our reach to more locations, roles and industries as we continue to spread the good word to the rest of the creative world. We’re excited to have her and she brings a wealth of experience to the game.
Ashley has been on the manager side of WNW for the past 18 months as the Recruiting Manager at B-Reel. She knows our community, its strengths and its weaknesses and is uniquely equipped to help bring us to the next level. Previous to that, she was the Talent Coordinator at Media Arts Lab pulling together creatives for all things Apple. Ashley began her career at CP+B in Boulder, a short drive from her hometown – and not a bad place to start.
It’s important to mention that Ashley is Working Not Working’s first ever full-time employee. It’s a very big deal. Up until this past Monday we’ve been grinding it out as a company of two. Her expertise, personality and contagious energy are already making their mark.
Join us in welcoming her at @awickiiwickii.
Elisa Tan, Christine Gignac, Julia Neumann, Laura Fegley, Alison Tsoi (left to right)
WNW MEMBERS NAMED MOST CREATIVE WOMEN IN ADVERTISING
WNW MEMBERS NAMED MOST CREATIVE WOMEN IN ADVERTISING
Shout-outs are in order. Business Insider just released its list of The 36 Most Creative Women In Advertising Right Now. WNW Members Julia Neumann, Christine Gignac, Elisa Tan, Alison Tsoi, & Laura Fegley made the cut, all ranking in the top 15. Check out some of their work below.
JULIA NEUMANN
Water Is Life "Bucket List" Campaign
CHRISTINE GIGNAC
Oreo "Life Raft"
ELISA TAN
Hot Wheels Stunt
ALISON TSOI
Verizon "Inspire Her Mind" Campaign
LAURA FEGLEY
Vaseline Spray & Go
The Top Companies WNW Freelancers Would Kill to Work for Full-Time 2014
The Top Companies WNW Freelancers Would Kill to Work for Full-Time 2014
When we launched The UnJobBoard™ last month we asked Working Not Working creatives to choose the one place that would get them to give up the freelance life. We were overwhelmed with the variety of responses. Of the 187 total agencies, brands, studios, networks, magazines, publishers, blue chippers and startups that were mentioned, these were the 46 most popular. Some want to work in advertising, some want to work in tech and just a few want to shoot themselves into outer space. The diversity of these companies serves as both a testament to our members for finding new places to create and to the companies on this list that they're doing something right.
THE 2ND ANNUAL WORKING NOT WORKING FREELANCER HOLIDAY PARTY
THE 2ND ANNUAL
WNW FREELANCER
HOLIDAY PARTY
Thanks to everyone who came out to The 2nd Annual WNW Freelancer Holiday Party. This post is a bit late, which is a testament to the great time we had. Over 400 of you brought your holiday party A-game. The video and Smilebooth GIFs tell the tale.
We'd like to give a shout out to our sponsors: Smilebooth, Sixpoint Brewery, and Stolen Rum for generously providing both visual and liquid libations.
We need to also thank our friends at Flint and Tinder, Squarespace, Taquitoria, and Tattly for the party favors.
Perverted posters by Member #32 Craig Duffney. Seizure-Inducing video by Josh McCutchen. DJ Sets by John McSwain and DJ Ayres (The Rub).
It's been an amazing year. Cheers to an even more freelancery 2014.
Posters by Craig Duffney
BAKER & LACHER NAMED TO MOST CREATIVE PEOPLE LIST
CHRIS BAKER &
MIKE LACHER HONORED
BY BUSINESS INSIDER
WNW Members #22 Chris Baker and #2444 Mike Lacher, both formerly Creative Directors at Buzzfeed, not only make Business Insider's list, but crack the Top 10 for creating the likes of Seeing Eye People, The Listiclock, and The Startup Legitimizer.
See more of Baker and Lacher's collaborations on their sites and check out the rest of Business Insider's list of the 24 Most Creative People in Advertising Right Now.
Michael's photo by Jesse Untracht-Oakner
MICHAEL GREENBERG SPEAKING AT APPLE STORE SOHO
MICHAEL GREENBERG
SPEAKING AT
APPLE STORE SOHO
Award-winning photographer and WNW Member #1438 Michael Greenberg will be speaking at the Apple Store SoHo on Monday, July 22nd. He's appearing as part of the ADC Young Guns speaker series held monthly at Apple Stores around the world. Michael will be showing a range of work from clients like MTV, Footlocker, Deutsch, BBDO, Steve Madden, Sports Illustrated, and Spin Magazine.
Monday, July 22 2013
6:30pm
Apple Store SoHo
103 Prince Street, NYC
Are you a WNW member with new work to share? Email us.
MEGAN SHEEHAN IN FAST COMPANY & CREATIVITY 50
MEGAN SHEEHAN
IN FAST COMPANY
& CREATIVITY 50
WNW Member #1146 Megan Sheehan and her former partner, Jill Applebaum, are racking up the accolades for their Oreo Daily Twist campaign. On the heels of being named #7 on Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business – one ahead of Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston (Heisenberg!) – Megan also made an appearance on the Creativity 50. Not bad for playing with your food.
ENTREPRENEUR HONORS WNW
ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZINE
HONORS WNW
Well this was some unexpected news heading into the holiday weekend. We just received word that Working Not Working was selected by Entrepreneur as one of the 100 Brilliant Companies of 2013. Two Webbys, one first birthday and now this. What an exciting way to kick off our 2nd year in business. Time for drink and the long weekend. Cheers!
Candle image from birthdayexpress.com
WNW TURNS ONE!
WNW TURNS ONE!
Today marks one year since we launched the full version of Working Not Working. We started as two freelance art directors just trying to improve the industry. In 365 days, we've welcomed over 1,100 of the most talented freelance creatives onto WNW and connected them with some of the best agencies and brands in the world. We've gotten people freelance gigs and full time gigs, thrown a couple killer parties, produced some barely legal habanero tequila and even began expanding our community to creatives around the world.
We couldn't be prouder for what we've managed to accomplish this past year. We owe a huge thanks to the über talents over at Oak Studios for designing and developing the hell out of every pixel on WNW. To Christine & Liz, our incredibly supportive, patient and beautiful better halves. And to the entire creative community who has embraced what we're doing and helped us make it even better. This has been a great first year but is only a fraction of where we see Working Not Working going. We can't wait to continue the journey with you.
A sincere thanks to all of the agencies and brands that have supported us this year:
Mother
Wieden+Kennedy
Google
Mullen
StrawberryFrog
Droga5
Radical Media
Ogilvy
Digitas
John McNeil Studio
Kiwi Energy
R/GA
Smartling
Mistress
VML
Grey
MeringCarson
DraftFCB
Team Detroit
Sid Lee
f360
B-Reel
Sequence
Venables Bell
RPA
Ammirati
KBS+P
PACE
LBi
Union Made Creative
Sarkissian Mason
Chiel USA
Stink Digital
Razorfish
Noise
Exposure
Denizen
DDB
TripTent
Vimeo
Atmosphere Proximity
Chernoff Newman
Publicis Kaplan Thaler
360i
Etsy
Division of Labor
Underline Communications
Deutsch NY
Deutsch LA
Campbell Ewald
SA-5
Roundhouse
TBWA/Chiat Day
Quirky
Unison
Fluid
The Nerdery
Iris
Wunderman
Ignited
Firstborn
Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Goodby NY
McKinney
Merkley & Partners
180 LA
The Brooklyn Brothers
Redsquare
Bossa
Walrus
FancyPants
Heartbeat Ideas
Phear Creative
egg
Autofuss
AKQA
Zambezi LA
SS+K
Translation
VIA
barrettSF
Partisan Records
Van's General Store
The New York Times
GSD&M
Johannes Leonardo
The Fearless Group
Code and Theory
Enso Collective
The Barbarian Group
The Secret Location
BBDO
Big Spaceship
Digitas Health
Campfire
Profero
Media Arts Lab
MRM Worldwide
EVB
Gyro
High on Music
g-NET
CL&S
HUGE
Antebellum
JaegerSloan
JWT
Psyop
Bright Red TBWA
Silver + Partners
Leo Burnett
Crispin, Porter & Bogusky
Design and Acquisition
Good Great Grand
Supersonic
Kemists
Zynga
Showtime
Rosetta
Current TV
Wednesday
160over90
Beam
Respawn
Tonnit Design
Kettle
Team One
M&C Saatchi NY
M&C Saatchi LA
EnviroMedia
Copious
Sigma
Decon
Omelet LA
Deckers
Thinkmap
The Garage
HyperHyper
Anomaly
BBH
72andSunny
Badger & Winters
dw+h
Undercurrent
studerpartner
Praytell Strategy
Oculus VR
Threshold Interactive
Platinum Innovation Group
ProjectProof
flowroute
EWI Worldwide
Berlin Cameron United
tbk Creative
Pappas Group
charity: water
Standard Time
WNW'S FIRST WEBBYS
WNW'S FIRST WEBBYS
Tuesday night we were honored to attend our first Webby Awards. We drank, we dined, we mingled, and then we drank some more. This post took two days to write which is a testament to how great of a party it was. Our acceptance speech for winning the Webby and People's Voice award in the Professional Services category even played on the big screen for all Webby attendees to see. We hear Kevin Spacey was terrified. For those of you who weren't there here's our speech, as well as a few from our WNW members and agencies.
Working Not Working
Google Creative Labs
Unbaby.me - Pete Marquis & Yvonne Cheng
The New York Times
R/GA
The Barbarian Group
Razorfish
Wieden + Kennedy
Digitas
SS+K
Lifetime Achievement Webby - Steve Wilhite
As huge animated gif addicts, Steve Wilhite's 5-word acceptance speech was one of the hightlights of the night.
And here's a gif of our acceptance speech in Steve's honor.
We're also excited to be interviewed for the Webby's "The Web Simplified" series. We're in great company with our friends over at Squarespace and Songza, one of our new favorite apps.
WNW WINS TWO WEBBYS!
WNW WINS TWO WEBBYS!
Working Not Working has won the 2013 Webby and People's Voice Awards in the Professional Services category. Thanks and congrats to all of our talented members and Oak Studios for designing and developing a Webby-worthy site. We couldn't be more excited. We're so excited we made a spontaneous celebratory playlist. LET'S DANCE!
YVONNE CHENG HONORED BY CREATIVITY
YVONNE CHENG NAMED CREATIVE YOU SHOULD KNOW BY CREATIVITY
WNW Member #1980 Yvonne Cheng was just selected by Creativity as one of their Creatives You Should Know 2013. The freelance art director left her full-time job as an associate creative director at BBDO last week. You may have come across her site Unbaby.me, the browser extension that blocks babies from your Facebook feed. More recently, she created MyWhiteGirlName.com.
Read the full article about Yvonne on Creativity.