Wordcon 2018 – Freelancer’s International Conference

“Wordcon 2018”, 3^rd International Conference by Freelance Foundation took place last Friday (9th February, 2018) at the Park, Kolkata.

The first one was in Jameson Inn in 2015 followed by 2^nd one in 2017 at Sonnet, Saltlake.

In these three years, the journey was not only exciting, but also evolved lot many opportunities, ideas and off course synergies across the globe. Freelance Foundation core philosophy revolves around harmony and collaboration. The activities were focussed towards handshaking between freelancers across the borders. Apart from two major conferences, it has taken many interesting and innovative steps like EPIC (entrepreneur’s picnic), Global Exchange Program at United Kingdom (Oxford, London, Birmingham and Glasgow), Outbound Programs (Hyderabad, Silk Route, Orissa, Silchar, Siatale, Dhaka), Musicals (Hammer and Violin / Spring – Summer) , Cricket Match (Fructus et Virtus) and many others.

The key dimensions for Freelance Foundation and Wordcon are as follows:

• Uniqueness and Diversity of Audience: Wordcon is Eastern India’s only and perhaps the country’s only Platform of Freelancers. Since freelancers are everywhere in the economy, the audience is diverse and layered.
• Solving the fundamental business problem: Every business would like to configure the right talent, the right price and the right timing to deliver value to the client. HR’s greatest problem is achieving this configuration consistently. Freelancing answers this problem, especially for smaller organizations and by building relationship with freelancers, you have local talents whom you may not get through the employee route and the additional advantage of cost flexibility and overhead reduction.
• International Access: Our international sponsors are looking for Indian partners for access to Indian markets in segments. Wordcon is increasingly becoming a credible platform and it is wise to be associated with such a platform at an early stage.

In line with the same flow, this years’s conference was designed. The theme for this year’s conference was “Freelancing – a unique way to earn income, leisure and fame”.

Eminent personalities like Mr.Bruce Bucknell (British Dy.High Commissioner), Dr.Parthasarathi Bhattacharyya (Renowned Pulmonologist and Founder-Director IPCS), Swami Sarvalokananda Maharj (Secretary, Narendrapur Mission), Mr.Jawhar Sircar (ex-CEO, Prasar-Bharati ), Mr. Nirupam Sen (Regional Head, BSI), Mr.Gaurav Purkayastha (Advocate, Calcutta High Court), Mr. Mohammad Zahinul Islam (Managing Director, Inter Exchange Solutions Ltd, Bangladesh), Mr. Kashinath Bhattacharyya (Sports Journalist),  Mr.Gobinda Roy(Research Scientist, VGSOM, IIT-Kharagpur), Mr. Subhasish Chatterjee (CEO, Connect India), Mr.Sanjay Sen (Renowned Football Coach),  Mr. Saurabh Mukherjee (A certified Master Practitioner and International NLP Trainer with NFNLP, A certified Practitioner of Transactional Analysis), he is also a certified Past Life Regression Therapist) Mr. Goutam Choudhury(Founder of salilda.com and Music Researcher and Archivist, Rotterdam, Netherlands), Mr.Jigar Kantharia (Translator from Ahmedabad), Mr.Abu Sayed Ahmed (CA from Bangladesh), Mr.Joyshankar (Surma-Dohar Musical Group), Dr.Devasis Ghosh (Mental Health Professional and Holistic Healing Researcher) and other dignitaries had graced the occasion with their deep insight.

The Agenda, Speakers, Panels, Topics were designed in a fashion so that diversified domain experts starting from music, sports, accounts, healthcare, translation, Media etc. could open up areas of engagement for the audience.

Overall 120+ attendees, 30+speakers, 20+ Press People, 10+ Sponsors joined the program to make it a grand success. Great networking, sumptuous foods, Awards for Recognition, Music were few additional areas of attraction.

Pease kachuri, Peas and Corn Pulao, Chana Dal with Coconut, Dhokar Dalna, Matar Paneer, Grilled Fish with Lemon Capers, Chicken Rezala, Mixed Raita, Chanar Payesh, Gajar Ka Halwa were few gracious items in the lunch menu.

The event witnessed the launch of three books:

• Bootstrapping Market Innovation – a book by two freelancers as how to build an effective and reality-tested marketing plan with virtually no financial cost.
• Freespace – Freelancer’s Journal – 3^rd Edition
• অবকাশ সমগ্র (Collected works of Leisure) by Dr. Abakash Ranjan Kar

Wordcon will continue conducting small – local and hyper-local events with freelancers, followed by cultural, musical and literary showcasing.

The spirit of “Wordcon” is briefed through the small assemble of limericks:

ভাল্লাগে না বদ্ধ জীবন, রোজের চাকরী খাতায়,
মুক্ত স্বাধীন ভাবনাগুলো চড়কি কাটে মাথায়,

সম্মেলনের আসর ঘিরে,
পার্ক হোটেলে জমাট ভীড়ে,

ওয়ার্ড কনের মঞ্চে সকল ফ্রিল্যান্স সন্ধি পাতায় |

Last but not the least, Wordcon and Infocon both feel that there is an increasing conflict in our life and livelihood and we are missing quality leisure and healthy social mixing.

Stay tuned thorough our website (www.wordcon.in). Three cheers for “Wordcon”.

Wordcon 2017 – International Freelancer Summit

Wordcon 2017, 2^nd International Freelancer’s Conference was concluded last week on 9^th February, 2017 (Thursday).  Our sincere thanks all delegates, speakers, panelists, media, partners, sponsors, volunteers to make Wordcon 2017 a grand success.

Wordcon aspires to build a collaborative platform of freelancers from various specialties, this very event is a fruit of collaboration of many freelancers, institutions, associations, businesses and individuals.

Wordcon’s genetic root lies in the art, science and commerce of having a totality of work and life. Wordcon speakers will be telling stories which they know best – their own journey and what they learnt and what they think we should unlearn and learn.

Wordcon 2015 premiered on 28th November 2015 in Kolkata in the form of its first Conference attended by local freelancers, entrepreneurs and professionals with three freelancers joining via webinar from Australia, Germany and the UK. Wordcon spirit was carried to New York and Bangladesh in March 2016, in the UK in July 2016. In last two years, we gathered an insight – a hunger of the post-industrial age perhaps, of having a balance of living life and earning our livelihood.

Wordcon 2017 Conference has been the culmination of Wordcon’s yearlong activities and campaigns in Kolkata / India, Bangladesh, Scotland and England, New York, Seattle in connecting Indian Freelancers with the global community and to share best practices.

Wordcon 2017’s theme was Freelancing – The post-industrial generation Career Opportunity.

Freelancing has been as old as war. In bygone ages, most of the people fought for one’s monarch, nation-state, religion, freelancers (lance means sword in old English) were fiercely independent and free-spirited. The English word “freelancer” first appeared in Sir Walter Scott’s novel in the late nineteenth century.

Functionally, many major functions of the society were conducted and are now being conducted by freelancers: doctors, lawyers, health care professionals, CA, musicians, authors, designers, translators, beauticians, content writers, journalists, photographers, performing artists, priests, SEO, social media analyst, ethical hackers, freelance consultants of all shades and the list goes on. Anyone who does not have a fixed employer and sells his/her skill directly to the marketplace can be technically considered a freelancer.

Wordcon2017’s core objective was to bring authentic, useful, fresh and inspiring stories of various freelancers or those who share the spirit of freelancing from our contemporary ecosystem.

Wordcon’s commitment to freelancers of India and abroad to build a global collaborative platform finds an echo of our own vision. For this, we have carried campaigns in Bangladesh, Africa, UK and US – Coast to Coast.

The event started with the chanting of Vedic mantras “Shiboham” by Sri Raja Bhattacharya and then the Inaugural session continued with the welcome address by Sri Pritam Bhattacharyya, Chairman – Wordcon, Chief Wordsmith – Wordsmith Communication, Sri Sushobhan Mukherjee, Chairman – Infocon Global, CEO- Prime Infoserv LLP, Sri Radhakrishnan, President – TiE, Kolkata, Dr. Parthasarathi Bhattacharya, Pulmonologist, Founder – Institute of Pulmocare and Research, Dr. Ashutosh Bhattacharjee, Chief Trend Analyst and Consultant – Vedic Life Trends, Chief Guest Sri Samarpan Maharaj, Belur Math and a formal Inauguration by lamp lighting., Swami Samarpanananda delivered the address on the theme of How to decrease the divide between Life and Livelihood. He clarified on the difference between life, livelihood and philosophy of life.

  

The plenary sessions covered all diversified domains like PR, Sports, Media (Print, Radio, Television) , Academia, Translation, Sports, Literature, Writing, Filmmaking and off course music.

Speakers and Panelists like Ms. Rita Bhimani (Ritam Communications), Mr.Jamshed Nasiri (Formal Player and Football Coach), Mr.Jimmy Tangree (Friend’s FM), Snehasish Sur(Doordarshan), Professor Rajdeep Chowdhury (JIS College), Dr.  Buroshiv Dasgupta (Ex Director, NSHM), Dr. Dilip Shah (Professor of Bhawanipur Education Society), Mr.Sailen Sengupta (Wordsmith University), Mr. Avelo Roy (Kolkata Ventures), Mr. Rhitobrata Bhattacharyya (Media Specialist), Mr. Joydeep Ganguly (Business Strategist and Practitioner for International Business), Mr.Binod Ghosal(Bengali Fiction Writer), Mr. Deepak Kumar Khaitan (Practicing Company Secretary), Mr.Arif Ahmed (South Asian Management Technologies Foundation), Mr.Nirupam Sen (BSI), Dr. Sudip Sinha (NLP Master Practitioner), Mr. Kaushik Bhattacharya (Business Management Consultant), Ms. Malabika Chatterjee (Mono Translation Bureau), Mr. Pinaki Talukder (Anubadak Lingo Services), Mr. Subhasis Chatterjee (Connect India, Mozilla, Indus Universe), Mr. Subhas Mohanty (PRSI), Dr. Arnab Gupta of Saroj Gupta Cancer Care Centre focused on the theme of freelancing from the various fields and future directions and how we can apply the learning from one domain to another.,

    

The event had witnessed the launching of Journals – Infoquest – 2^nd Edition– a journal of Infoquest security, Freespace – Freelancer’s Journal.

 

Wordcon 2017 was full of musicals as usual. The inaugural started with “Shiboham” by Mr.Raja Chattacharya , Post lunch was by Mr.Parijat Biswas with his own composition (lyric, music and performance) and Finally there was orchestra by Kolkata Youth Ensemble.

   

The evening conclusive session was blend of indian, Bengali and international themes both in instrumental and vocal such as Bhoopali Raga, Titanic theme, Amra Sabai Raja collage, Mozart meets Ray, Mozart Symphony 40,  Aj mon cheyechhe,  Jibone ki Pabona, Mere Sapno ki Rani and Journey based on Mishra Jog Raga. We had a 21 musician fusion orchestra, conducted by renowned musician Amitava Ghosh.

Wordcon will continue conducting small – local and hyper-local events with freelancers, followed by cultural, musical and literary showcasing.

The spirit of “Wordcon” is briefed through the small assemble of limericks:

তুখোড় গলা গানের? মন মজেছে ড্যান্সে?
ছকে বাঁধা চাকরী জীবন ভীষণরকম পানসে?

সিংহ হৃদয়? সাহস তূণে?
গড়বে জীবন স্বপ্ন বুনে?

ভরসা রেখো “ওয়ার্ডকনে” এবং ফ্রিল্যান্সে |

কর্পোরেটে ক্লান্ত জীবন, অন্যরকম গল্প লেখে,
দশটা-পাঁচটা বাঁধন ছেড়ে একলা নিজেই বাঁচতে শেখে,

এমন অনেক টুকরো জুড়ে,
ওয়ার্ডকনের হৃদয়পুরে,

ফ্রিল্যান্সমুখী বঙ্গবাসী, সন্মেলনে সল্টলেকে |

ফ্রিলান্স মানে স্বাধীনচেতা, ইচ্ছে ডানায় গঙ্গাফড়িং,

শঙ্খচিলের উজান গাঙে, জাপটে ধরা সোনার হরিণ ।

সঙ্গে থেক বন্ধুজনে,

আস্থা থাকুক ওয়ার্ডকনে,

ভবিষ্যতের যাত্রাপথে, ফ্রিল্যান্সের রাস্তা ধরি ।

Last but not the least, Wordcon and Infocon both feel that there is an increasing conflict in our life and livelihood and we are missing quality leisure and healthy social mixing. As a demonstration of this value, we have been organizing musical event called “Hammer and Violin” every winter, a picnic for entrepreneurs called EPIC, planning for a yearly sports event so that we have a total and harmonious growth.

With your help and support and with the grace of the Supreme Lord of the Cosmic Government, we hope that we shall continue our collaborative journey with Kolkata.

 

Wordcon – The Spirit of Life

“Wordcon 2015” was organized last Saturday of November(28-11-2015). This was first time the same took place in Kolkata, India with larger vision, viewpoint in mind.

This year it was themed as “Freelancers International Conference” and it was one of it’s first kind in the country as per our knowledge goes. Yes, it is neither a typo mistake nor an over ambitious statement. There are plenty of business meet-up, events in various domains everywhere, but those are meant for corporates (even upto SME). There used to be renowned speakers and people in the audience intended to be a patient listener.

Our objective was intended towards a small gathering (max 30 to 35) where people can take part in discussions of real life problems instead of just listening.  More precisely freelancers (individuals who works for themselves instead of an employee in a company) were meant for participants who feel themselves “very small” to the big business meetups to get engaged with the speakers/agenda.

But why the name is “Wordcon “. You are right. It is having relationship with “Words”. Wordcon aspires to find out keywords of life which balances between business and life. “Peace”, “Delight”, “Spirituality” are few of such words to have harmony, resonance, positivity of life.

The event was initiated with the inaugural lamp lighting and speech from Sri Kritarthananda (Pradip Maharaj), the monk from belur math. Apart from his inaugural pitch, he sang a song as well post lunch. All participants admitted that they had never experienced a chief guest continued almost till the end of the event with his blessings.

  

Then Pritam Bhattacharyya initiated the session on behalf of the organizers.  He briefed on his journey of transition from government employee to translator, teacher, author, entrepreneur off course a wordsmith.

 

Arindam Chatterley (alias chats), a professional trainer, life skill consultant, elaborated ten commandments of entrepreneurship with real examples from life. He explained how everyone can learn from even taxi driver to shoe polish person.

Next was Pinaki Mazumder, founder Anubadak Lingo Services. With his life experiences, he stressed of relationships with customers. By his personal touch he bonded with his customers and in effect yielded much larger revenue base. Not only it resulted orders with premium values, but also stickiness was with years.

Subhas Mukherjee our good old friend joined us from Bhutan. He narrated his life story to demonstrate the importance of the alignment with the cultural heritage of the geography in order to get success in business.

Then it was the time for the desired break to drive into the Bengali traditional cousin through the traditional Bengali lunch.

Post lunch, I had initiated the discussions with the importance of attending meetups. Off course there was few recitations as well. “Depression” by Srijato was more of a relevance to the event as it has dual meaning (Depression can be applied for Weather or even to Mind). Do you know the poem? If no below is the same:

Gobindo Roy, founder of Lakshya Foundation, present researcher at IIT, Kharagpur presented on scopes, opportunity, platform in global arena for freelancers.

Next was live interactions with Matteo Preabianca from Australia. He briefed his experience as freelancer. Desire from Germany further illustrated through recorded webinar on “How to manage your time in global time zones with work/life balance?”

  

Anindya Kumar Banerjee (alias AKB) joined us from Bihar. He was instrumental on his session on vertical reading. The session was focused on reading a 100 pages book in 90 minutes and the philosophy was inspired by Swami Vivekananda (he was farm believer and practitioner for rapid reading)

There was small token of gratitude to the speakers and the same was extended through our Chief Guest.

The event was concluded by the music by sankhadip as planned.

 

The entire show was aspired of co-existence, harmony, peace and delight. We intend to comeback with the same spirit in the coming year as well.

Stay tuned thorough our website (www.wordcon.in). Three cheers for “Wordcon”.