[Jobs] RoR Co-op/Group of Freelancers

[Mark Stephan]

Hello All!

I've sent this out before, but wanted to remind people. This spring   
I've been passing around the idea of creating a RoR Cooperative/ 
Development Community/Knit Group of Freelancers with a Purpose/ 
whatever you want to call it. (Ultimately it might expand to include  
designers etc.. but we're not to that stage yet.)

The concept is that there are a lot of freelancers (or individuals  
with a lot of free time) out there trying to make it on their own.  
They love the benefits of independence, but really don't like the  
negatives of independence.

Especially with the current economy as it is, perhaps banding together  
might not be such a bad idea, and while developing this in a bad  
economy, I believe in a good economy such a model will flourish and  
can grow. I already have parties interested in Dallas, Houston, and  
beyond.

I think this is an awesome opportunity for those who are trying to  
build their own products, but want to work within a community to get  
extra work/mentorship/and build community.

Our hope is to build an environment that developers find exciting and  
beneficial to them, while keeping some independence, not selling their  
soul to a company working on stuff you really aren't interested in,  
and sometimes signing contracts that keep you from working on your own  
products.

Right now I'm trying to pull together those who are seriously  
interested in such a concept.

I don't think this would be a fit for people who just want work, but  
no community. Community as defined by you not only taking, but also  
giving back to the community helping make it better for everyone  
involved, whether that takes the form of mentoring others, building  
tools that helps everyone, evangelizing the community to others, etc...

Whether this ends up as an official "cooperative" or just a well  
organized tight-knit group of freelancers, I'd love to hear from  
anyone intrigued by the idea.

I have created a mailing list for this group.

Join it here: http://groups.google.com/group/Calcedon-Coop

Also I am willing to meet with anyone interested as well. So email me  
if you'd like to catch a coffee/lunch.

Thanks,
Mark Stephan

----------
Mark E. Stephan

Managing Partner / Founder




Ruby On Rails Web Application Development Services
Austin, Texas

Http://www.calcedon.com

Austin Office: +01-512-961-6059

Email: mstephan at calcedon.com

IM: markestephan (Skype)
IM: markestephan at yahoo.com (MSN/YAHOO)
IM: markestephan (AIM)
IM: markestephan at gmail.com (Gtalk)
IM: 63071782 (ICQ)
Twitter (Personal): http://twitter.com/mstephan
Twitter (Corporate): http://twitter.com/calcedon

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