The Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma has partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association to offer a new award for journalism that reports on the mental health of young people.

The Mindset Award for Reporting on Young People’s Mental Health will be offered annually to celebrate excellence in stories about the mental health of children, youth and young adults. The award comes with a prize of $1,000, with potential Honourable Mention prizes of at least $250 each.

Work published in 2021 will be eligible to be entered for the new awards, which will be offered for work published in both English and French. Freelancers who have published journalism on young people’s mental health in national or local Canadian print, broadcast or on-line news or current affairs media will be eligible to apply for the awards.

Applications open on January 11, 2022.

The Forum already offers an award for workplace mental health reporting. Applications for that award open on January 10, 2022.

You can find out more about both awards on the Forum’s website.

Nicholas Boothman already dazzled some of you at the end of June with many helpful tips to use while connecting with new clients or networking opportunities.

He shared how to use the ABCs of face-to-face communication: Attitude, Body-language, Conversation, Communication and Convincing, to create instant connections, gain confidence, make friends, ace interviews, and get people talking.

Nick’s webinar “How To Connect in Business” is now available for streaming on the CFG website.

This webinar costs just $5 for CFG members and $20 for non-members. You can buy it from this link on the CFG Pay-Per-View website, hosted by Dacast. If you’ve never registered on that site before check out the step-by-step guide below. If you’re a member, check your email for a discount code, sent out late last week.

1. When you arrive at the link, click on BUY.

2. Login or Sign Up.

3. If you’re a CFG member, click on Add Voucher.

4. Add the voucher code?and proceed to payment.

Your video should then start playing. You can return to the original link any time in the next 28 days to watch or re-watch the video.

If you have any problems getting into the system or viewing the video, please let us know at organizer@canadianfreelanceguild.ca. And stay tuned for new webinars and exclusive discount offers from the Canadian Freelance Guild in the coming weeks.

This?series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

It’s part of the darker side of the creative process, rarely put under the public microscope.

The late great Christopher Plummer, in a 2011 CBC Radio interview recently rebroadcast on the always engaging “Writers & Company” claimed — and I am paraphrasing — that anger is an absolute necessity for any kind of meaningful artistic activity.

That struck an immediate and responsive chord within me.

Now I don’t appear to be an angry person.

Indeed, I don’t feel like an angry person. I believe myself to be a pretty even-keeled, well-balanced kind of individual.

Well, for a writer anyway.

But almost all of us have the capacity for anger at times. I know I do.

So what do I do with mine?

Lean in closer.

It’s one of my best kept secrets.

When angered I use it to help drive my creativity and increase my productivity.

Anger – the deep dive

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The CFG’s burgeoning Audio/Podcast Community invites you for a casual conversation about networking for podcasters. This meeting will most interest those already working in the audio/podcast medium or seriously considering it.

Our guest is Fawnda Mithrush, the program manager of the?Alberta Podcast Network?and a longtime podcaster.

Fawnda will talk about?how the Alberta Podcast Network began and how it has evolved. She is also the executive director of?Litfest Alberta?and the?YEGPodfest. She’ll answer your questions after her presentation.

Following Fawnda is “Ask/Offer“. Folks can stay on and introduce themselves and ASK for something they need or OFFER?a skill or volunteer to help someone.

This event is scheduled for Wednesday, July 21st?from 7 to 8pm Eastern Time. The one-hour session will be conducted using the Zoom platform. It is free for Canadian Freelance Guild members and non-members alike. Your link to the session will be sent to you shortly before the start time. Please make sure you have the most up-to-date version of Zoom.

You can register to attend this online event right here. Your link to the event will be sent just before the start time.

Freelance video journalists living anywhere in the world can now submit their work for the 2021 Rory Peck Awards.

The awards come with a cash prize and focus on international news and current affairs, with one category dedicated specifically to local journalists and field producers. Work submitted must have been broadcast in the past year.

The awards have been celebrating the work of freelance journalists working in news and current affairs worldwide since 1995. They were established in memory of freelance cameraman?Rory Peck, who was killed in Moscow in 1993.

The deadline for entries is Wednesday, August 4. For more information or to submit your work for an award, see the Rory Peck Trust website.

CFG’s The Business of Freelancing Presents:

How to Connect in Business in 90 Seconds or Less
Presenter: Nicholas Boothman
Tuesday, June 29th, 2021
7 – 8pm Eastern Time

In this webinar, Nicholas will share with us how to use the ABCs of face-to-face communication:?Attitude, Body-language, Conversation, Communication and Convincing,?to create instant, trusting connections, gain confidence, make friends, ace interviews, get people talking, and most importantly, learn how to make the best of the most important 90 seconds in any business or personal relationship.

Whether you are selling, managing, negotiating, planning, collaborating, pitching, or instructing, the secret of success is based on creating instant rapport with other people.

About Nicholas Boothman

Nicholas Boothman?is a revolutionary best-selling author with over 3 million copies in print. He learned how to establish instant rapport with strangers while working as a fashion and advertising photographer. A Licensed Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, today he is a consultant to individuals, groups, and corporations.

CFG members = $5

General Public = $20

Please let us know if you will be attending on this registration page.? A link to the Zoom URL will be sent to you half an hour?before the meeting.? Check your spam or junk folders if you don’t receive the email with the URL.

Please log in ten minutes before 7pm ET so we can start promptly. You should have the latest version of the Zoom application downloaded to your computer ahead of time or use the Zoom webpage when prompted.

A recording of this webinar will be made available, but it will still cost $5/$20 to view it.

Questions? Contact CFG Vice-President? Montaha Hidefi at?montaha.hidefi@yahoo.com.

This?series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Some of the most frequently accepted words of advice in the many self-help books I have read — designed to bolster self-confidence and creativity — is to “step outside your comfort zone.” In other words, to challenge yourself in new ways in order to encourage growth and combat stagnation.

What freelancer does not wish for those things?

This pandemic would seem the perfect time to “step outside of our comfort zone.” With so many gigs disappearing and so much free time available, what better use can we make of it?

In theory, this is all well and good.

But in practice, “stepping out of your comfort zone” taken to its extreme can be a problem.

I would posit it is far more advantageous to reimagine your “comfort zone” as a positive construct well worth remaining in and to reframe “stepping out” of it as simply expanding and enriching it.

So what is this “comfort zone” anyway?

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CFG members, please join the CFG Board of Directors for another online ‘Casual Friday’ mixer on May 28 at 4:00 EDT.

Part of the chat will be about the Board’s upcoming Strategic Planning Session. We’d love to hear your thoughts as we form strategy for the CFG over the next year.

Agenda:

– Welcome from Organizer Don Genova
– Update on New Membership Management System
– Next Webinars Planned
– Errors and Omissions and Professional Liability Insurance
– Strategic Planning
– How You Plan to Spend Your Summer!

These casual sessions are always your chance to tell us what you’d like to see on the menu in the coming weeks and months. Whether you can attend next Friday or not, you can offer your thoughts in advance by filling out a short survey — members can find a link to that survey in the invitation email that went out this week.

You can RSVP for the mixer here, or check your email for the invitation.

Your link to the Zoom session will be e-mailed to you around half an hour before the start time on Friday. Check your junk or spam mail folders if it’s not in your inbox!

After the poll closed last night, Sunday May 9th, the following result has been certified by the Election Committee.

Lisa Caroglanian Dorazio has been elected as the Director – Membership Management and Recruitment.

Thanks to all who voted, the candidates, and to all members for your patience in the process undertaken to elect this position a second time.

The very first Canadian Freelance Guild Board of Directors is now complete.

President: George Butters
Vice-President: Montaha Hidefi
Secretary: Helen Edwards
Treasurer: Trevor Beckerson
Director at Large, Membership: Lisa Caroglanian Dorazio
Director at Large: Tina Pittaway

Regards, Your Election Team:

Karen Tankard, Elle Andra-Warner, and Don Genova (Organizer, Canadian Freelance Guild)

CFG members in good standing may now cast their ballots in the CFG election for Director-at-Large (Membership).

The poll will close at 11:59pm Eastern Time, Sunday, May 9th.

To read more about the candidates and view their introductory videos,?click here.