It’s the end of the week and I’m just a wee bit tired. I’m grateful I’ve been busy with stuff. It’s been more and more of the on-going job hunt activity. And when I say “job,” I’m not necessarily meaning a “traditional 9-5” job. For the record, I’ve looked at a few of those, but I’m more and more interested in being an independent creator. Especially since we are continuing to see more layoffs over here. But anyway, the job push continues. Moving on to why I’m writing this today. . . .

When I wasn’t checking out the job market or shooting basketball games for MaxPreps, I was checking out tech news. One bit of news which got my attention was the announcement of Adobe Max. It was great news. . .sorta.

Each October, Adobe kicks off its creator conference covering everything from new software updates to creator-driven classes which help you get better with their products to networking with other creative artists from around the globe. I LOVE this event. I look forward to it each year.

I had every intention on attending the event this October until I saw that it was moved from Los Angeles to Miami. This hurt my heart. It took me a minute to get over it, actually. I was looking forward to driving down and seeing the event. But I can’t make a promise that I’ll get out to Miami in October. I’ll go over my budget and so forth in the coming weeks, but off the top of my head, I can’t see a cross-country flight happening. Especially since I don’t know if I’ll have to be in Eugene, Oregon screaming #scoducks. I don’t know. We’ll see. I may be able to figure it out. Sometimes, I actually can figure things out. Maybe I can get a gig with Adobe? That could offset costs, right? Hmmm.

Have you attended Adobe Max? If you’re a creator, you SHOULD. It’s an unbelievable event with great energy that can only help you as a creator. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

It’s been an interesting and sometimes frustrating month or so with regards to finding job or gig opportunities. Each day I spend a little time on job boards or job services such as Indeed looking for something that will be a good fit for me.

I say “little time” because I’m definitely leaning into being fully independent and self-employed as a creator, but it’s tough sledding at the moment. This isn’t pre-2019 when I was on the east coast and had a book of business. This is five years later in a new area and a new TIMEZONE. I’m starting over, essentially. Two or three years ago, I tried starting over, but became super frustrated as I was nickeled and dimed so much by potential clients “highly interested” in my expertise, but they didn’t want to pay my rates. I was even stiffed on a job by a client. So I decided to only focus on my duties at TWiT as well as focus on my son’s high school career regarding content I created. I was fine with that because it worked.

Now, I find myself looking at promising roles as well as some roles that should be reported to authorities because the salary offered is too low to live on. This further cements my mindset of being an independent creator. Which means, I need to build my book of business contacts. So if you know of someone looking for photo, video or post-production help, give ‘em my name - Ant Pruitt. I’m easy to find only with that search term, fortunately. And yes, I’ll travel for some gigs.

While I wait on all those referrals to come in, I’ll keep at it on my side looking at opportunities be it part time or full time or client-building. I have two calls on the books for prospective clients this week in an effort to do some contract creative work. Particularly, user generated content (UGC). I’m looking forward that, but can’t (and won’t) stop there. I look forward to it because of the freedom I can potentially have to use my creative vision. I’ve found the service, Backstage, to be interesting and useful. Granted I’ve not signed anyone from the service just yet, I do like being able to see various roles in the creator space. I applied for a camera assistant gig for a film production happening here in the city. This would be a nice short gig on this road of independent creating.

Ok, enough rambling. Be well, people. Thanks for the support and for telling folks about me. Don’t forget to check out the podcast. I’m digging into that production and it’s going to grow up into something great. It’s on my YouTube channel too.

Adobe Max Announced And I'm A Little Sad

Monday (Work)Flow