* Upcoming Events *

July Meeting

Topic: "Getting the Tool Right … Or Getting the Right Tool? Tool Choice and Tool Switching in Complex Software"

Speaker: Will Schroeder, The MathWorks

Location: Iron Mountain Digital, Southborough MA

Date: Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

  Upcoming Workshops

Our next quarterly workshop will be announced shortly.

Getting Started in Consulting: Being the Best Boss You've Ever Had

Presenters:  Lynn Cherny, Gregory Raiz

When:
Saturday, July 19, 2008
9 am - 3 pm

Where:
Bentley College
175 Forest Street
Waltham, MA
Smith Technology Center Rm 221

Cost:
$75 per attendee
Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

This workshop has reached capacity. If you would like to be added to a waiting list or be notified if the workshop is held again please email

Abstract:

Summary: Lynn Cherny and Gregory Raiz both had successful design jobs and quit them to become independent consultants. Learn from their contrasting experiences how to start out as an independent and be successful long-term.  The session will be an expanded form of the Mini-UPA conference talk by Lynn, augmented by advice from other consultants that they've collected. Topics covered will include:

  • Getting started without a big cash cushion (by popular demand)
  • Defining yourself
  • How to find your clients and help them find you
  • Legal entities for consultants
  • Accounting 101, so you don't have to take that class, too
  • How to calculate what to charge and how to ensure you get paid
  • Expenses to track and budget for that you might not have considered
  • Useful references and social networking sites for consultants
  • Bad and good ways to leverage your current network to find jobs you like
  • Client types to avoid at all costs

Biography:

Lynn Cherny has a Ph.D. from Stanford that she hasn't used in years, except for some statistical skills. She has 12 years of experience working at and/or managing interface design at companies including TiVo, Excite, Adobe, The MathWorks, Autodesk, and AT&T Labs. Her current consulting identity is Ghostweather Research & Design, LLC.

Gregory Raiz graduated Tufts University and worked as a program manager for Microsoft on the design of Windows XP. He started Raizlabs Corporation in 2003 and has consulted for companies large and small, including BlueCross BlueShield, Mozilla Firefox, Hewlett Packard, H&R block, Hallmark among others.

If you have an idea for a future workshop, please send email to the UPA secretary.