Contract developer - looking to interact more with peers

[Zigenare]

Have you had a look on MeetUp? Loads of things going on there, I'm sure you'll find something

Swipe left!!!!! For all that is holy, swipe left!!!

[jbond007]

Hi everyone,

I've been contracting as a software developer for about 15 years. How time flies!

Overall it's been a blast. I've enjoyed the money as well as the constant challenge and the variety of people businesses, challenges and locations.

On the flip-side, I think I've had a slight deficit of professional support. Like mentorship, sharing ideas, building up good practices.

When I started out, I was more interested in the money and the challenge but less interested in professional development. I wasn't sure whether software was the field for me or whether I wanted to jump to something else. After some time and introspection, I've concluded that software is really more than just a job, and it's a bit of a hobby, passion and maybe even calling.

BUT - and this is a big but - I still want to keep contracting and earning as much coin as possible. For many reasons, not the least of which is, to have some hope of retiring or at least taking long breaks, and because who knows when our whole industry (or big parts of it) might be made obsolete by AI, etc.

So I'm looking to interact more other contractors. Ideally it would be great to form or join a loose network of other contractors, and have a common place like a chatroom or forum, where we chat about the industry, share tips and tricks, and slowly build up a solid core of people and knowledge, which can help us to better establish ourselves long-term.

Maybe sort of like a union, in the sense of common and shared interests, but hopefully avoiding the bad parts of traditional unions, like internal politics and ostracising outsiders. More like, a collegial grouping of like-minded and like-practicing people, with the criteria of entry just being that you have to be a software developer and a contractor.

Does this already exist somewhere and I'm just not aware? Perhaps this forum is just what I'm looking for?

Thoughts?

Thanks for reading!

Have a browse around the forum and see if it matches what you're looking for. I suspect not, I think like suggested by ladymuck MeetUp is what you are really after.

[ladymuck]

Have you had a look on MeetUp? Loads of things going on there, I'm sure you'll find something

[jconway]

Hi everyone,

I've been contracting as a software developer for about 15 years. How time flies!

Overall it's been a blast. I've enjoyed the money as well as the constant challenge and the variety of people businesses, challenges and locations.

On the flip-side, I think I've had a slight deficit of professional support. Like mentorship, sharing ideas, building up good practices.

When I started out, I was more interested in the money and the challenge but less interested in professional development. I wasn't sure whether software was the field for me or whether I wanted to jump to something else. After some time and introspection, I've concluded that software is really more than just a job, and it's a bit of a hobby, passion and maybe even calling.

BUT - and this is a big but - I still want to keep contracting and earning as much coin as possible. For many reasons, not the least of which is, to have some hope of retiring or at least taking long breaks, and because who knows when our whole industry (or big parts of it) might be made obsolete by AI, etc.

So I'm looking to interact more other contractors. Ideally it would be great to form or join a loose network of other contractors, and have a common place like a chatroom or forum, where we chat about the industry, share tips and tricks, and slowly build up a solid core of people and knowledge, which can help us to better establish ourselves long-term.

Maybe sort of like a union, in the sense of common and shared interests, but hopefully avoiding the bad parts of traditional unions, like internal politics and ostracising outsiders. More like, a collegial grouping of like-minded and like-practicing people, with the criteria of entry just being that you have to be a software developer and a contractor.

Does this already exist somewhere and I'm just not aware? Perhaps this forum is just what I'm looking for?

Thoughts?

Thanks for reading!