Holy Freelancer! Episode five rocked the house. The Dogs Bar is somewhat of an institute in St Kilda and there was never any doubt this one would be a hit. I rolled in before four, giving myself the well deserved early minute that Freelancer Fridee is designed to encourage. Barely had I the chance to sit down before actor Don Bridges joined me for a glass of red, quickly followed by local film maker JP O’Brien. Game On. Graphic designer Ken Taylor, whose work graces the covers of CD’s by Tim Rogers, Skybombers, Liz Stringer and the Shout! Australian Music Sampler managed to find us for his inauguration along with web designer Jay Dillon from Subgroup, who I’ve discovered since has an impressive portfolio worth checking out. And the delightful Dogs Bar staff were very hospitable for a rowdy bunch of Freelancers.

Performer, musician and entrepreneur Nina Nicols (hereafter affectionately known as Kate Ritchie - the only original cast member besides myself - it’s a Home and Away reference) and actor Trent Baker were soon in the door and within an hour episode five was well under way. It was good to see Nina’s buddy Margaret who popped in after missing the last few episodes. Paul Gildae from Monkeesee and actor/voice artist/yoga teacher Tamblyn Lord soon arrived to inject some humour, which they did with style along with actor/voice artist and all round goog guy Adrian Mulraney.

Tim Gaspar from Hatch Financial Services, who shares office space with Ken Taylor and Jay, made himself known and gave me aheads up on Tim Ferriss and the Four Hour Work Week which I have been enjoying since. Local music manager Theo Nicola is now officially a regular and photographer Paul Wesley-Smith was welcomed to his first Freelancer Fridee as was Shelley Panton. Actors Elena Pellone and Scott Gooding were in the house for the first time as was film editor Ben Eriksen. Tony from Big Ears Audio came along with his colleague Laz, as did singer Atlanta Frith, actor/voice artist Abbe Holmes, actors Drew Tingwell and Robert Lobosco.

Meanwhile Amy Felman and Don Bridges were having way too much fun.

By this time I was starting to lose track of who was where, who knew who and which conversation I was in the middle of. The lovely Mel Parente appeared as did actor Ezra Bix, Mel Coffey Amy Felman’s buddies Marty and Tim.

Then I lost count and forgot how to use my phone. There were many conversations overheard starting with “What do you do?”, “How do you know him/her?” and even one that started with “Hi, I’m (insert name here), want to come back to my place for a spa? I don’t have a spa but do you want to come back to my place and pretend?”

Thank god for Drew Tingwell who bought his camera so we ended up with some half decent shots for this episode. So we thought it would be fun to take photos of each other pulling faces. Yep. High brow, I know.

And so on and so on into the wee hours and the back of a taxi with something that resembled food to home, bed, sleep, headache.

Another one bites the dust!

The Prahran Hotel provided a cosy yet spacious location for episode four of Freelancer Fridee. I was on time. Cold and in need of a red wine. Barely had I settled when Samantha Geoghegan and sister Eleanor surprise me with a quick pop in on their way to see Wicked the musical. A quick “how do you do” and they were tagged out by actor Don Bridges and writer Jo Villanti who I had spent the previous night with at the theatre. So four Freelancer Fridee virgins with an hour of kick-off. Cool.

Christiana Hille from Inspired Coaching bounced in shortly afterwards as did cinematographer Wayne Aistrope - his third Freelancer Fridee in a row. Atlanta arrived with her friend Susan in tow and was literally followed in the door by Chris “Bunzy” Bunworth - arm in plaster and all. Apparently he’d come off his push bike after refusing to participate in the global fuel price hike. And let me tell you - a broken arm ain’t gonna stop the big man from entertaining us…

God love ya’ Bunzy!

Actor Drew Tingwell was inducted into his first Freelancer Fridee along with yoga teacher, actor and voice artist Tamblyn Lord. Theo Nicola came back for his second as did Adrian Mulraney - who I think took at least forty minutes to leave the building after deciding to. You know how time consuming saying goodbye to every one can be. Nina Nicol landed her fourth Freelancer Fridee (she’s been to every one - looks like she and I could become the Ray Meagher and Kate Ritchie of FF) and actor Trent Baker ticked his third along with Paul Gildea from Monkeesee.

I know I’m eventually going to lose track of who’s turned up how many times but for now it’s kinda fun to test my memory - especially after a few vinos. And I’m sorry Drew - I know you’re straight and sober here but my camera had different ideas about your portrayal.

The delightful Amy Felman helped round out the evening along with Paul (insert last name here), “Wog Boy” director Aleksi Vellis, actor / journalist Belinda (insert last name) and her friend Carla (insert different last name).

Random girl Deirdre joined our celebrations and became a friend of Freelancer Fridee on Facebook (I love that alliteration).

This is either a good idea that’s getting better or too many freelancers are desperate for social interaction. I’m guessing it’s the combination of the two that gives this thing legs.

I was left standing at the end of the night with Trent Baker and Amy Felman. Hmmm, there might be a pattern developing here.

Cue exit music…

So it turns out that having a Freelancer Fridee withing walking distance to my house is a sure way of making sure I’m not late to my own event. And the fantastic Pause Bar on Carlisle Street was the perfect venue. I arrived a few minutes after 4pm this month and was determined to enjoy the early minute I had granted myself as a reward for a productive week. I settled in with a copy of The Age and ordered a coffee to combat the icy afternoon Melbourne had dished up. I’d almost finished reading all the good bits and was contemplating a red wine when Trent Baker walked in to his second Freelancer Fridee. It seems this idea really has got legs and people are coming back for more. Excellent.

Bart Bee was the next Freelancer to wander in having given himself an early minute also. After some brief introductions we were quickly joined by the effervescent Nina Nicols, Wayne Aistrope and Theo Nicola (not necessarily in that order - I don’t quite remember). Actor and voice over artist extraordinare Adrian Mulraney finally made good on his promise to attend a Freelancer Fridee as did the lovely Sonia Bednar. And so we demolished some dips and I started ordering red wine by the bottle.

James Cowling from Mirka @ Tolarno soon joined us as did actors Ezra Bix and Amy Felman. It was about then that the lovely staff at Pause suggested we relocate down the back to the couches and get a little more comfortable. So we did and welcomed Atlanta Frith to her second Freelancer Fridee along with Kate Scholem from Theta Magic and actor Chris “Bunzy” Bunsworth also making their second appearance. The lovely Melissa Parente, actor/voice over artist/drama teacher/all-round top chick, dropped in and joined the party while Trent Baker and Amy Felman laughed out loud… a lot.

I must say that ordering red wine by the bottle turned out to be an interesting choice. I don’t remember exactly when it was but at some point I realised that we were in the middle of a regular party here. It had all the essential ingredients - booze, conversation, laughter, food and music. No dancing though - sorry Bunzy. Libby Butler from The Entertainment Store joined her first Freelancer Fridee along with friend Lucinda whose last name escapes me - or maybe I’ve just never known it. Regardless, good to see a wider variety of attendees joining in the shenanigans and sharing the love.

And then I thought it might be fun to order some Russian Qualude’s. Why? Why not? They set them on fire before you drink them. Whoo-hoo!

Troy: Trent, you want a Russian Qualude?

Trent: Sure

Troy: Amy, Russian Qualude?

Amy: A what?

Troy: Three Russian Qualude’s

Not long after the Russian Qualude incident I lost all track of time and spacial awareness. Freelancer what? Bugger off, let’s have some more wine. Who’s up for a dance? Or a hug? Or a roll in the grass? I’m not fussy. It’s Fridee. The weekend. Whoo-hoo! And Trent Baker’s funny. Really bloody funny.

(My head’s gonna hurt tomorrow)

Everyone was happy and enjoying themselves and slowly getting drunk. There was lots of talk about how excellent Pause Bar is as a venue and that Freelancer Fridee should have a regular home and that Pause Bar should be it. I explain that I want to roam the event around town until at least the end of the year and then re-assess for 2009. Partly because I think the element of surprise is fun and partly because I’m a bit of a venue tart.

Nina decided it was time to call it a night so I bid her farewell - despite what the photo suggests.

After this the night becomes a bit of a blur but I do remember a lovely after party courtesy of Atlanta Frith’s generous hospitality involving red wine, beer, music and a spring wishing ceremony.

And, as expected, my head hurt the next morning. But it was worth it.

Roll credits.

Okay, so let’s get a few things straight. As the host, I shall not always be late to Freelancer Fridee. However, as a freelancer, when a client needs you to do a last minute job for them at 4pm on the afternoon of Freelancer Fridee, I have to take the work. Especially when it’s a new client.

Another thing that needs clarification is that Freelancer Fridee is not strictly for Freelancers. It’s a social and networking opportunity for freelancers, self-employed people and small business operators or people who work in small business. We also encourage friends of freelancers to come along. So the beauty of Freelancer Fridee is small business people get to learn from people who work in larger corporate environments and vice versa.

The other thing that needs to be straightened out is that Freelancer Fridee is a social and networking opportunity. So if you want to come along, socialise and booze on without thinking about work you can. On the other hand if you want to come along and chat about the challenges and perils of being a freelancer or bounce some ideas around, you’ll be sure to find some other monkeys who are keen to chat.

So let’s wrap up episode #2.

Even though a little late I was the first one in the door at the beautiful and somewhat quaint Palace Hotel in South Melbourne. I perched myself by the fire place in a comfy loung chair and began to read the Emerald Hill Times, or whatever that bloody awful local paper is called. Thankfully, not far behind me was the lovely Abbe Holmes. We chatted about the concept of Freelancer Fridee and Abbe suggested a family sports day at some point. So the Freelancer Fridee Family Fun Day was born. Happening sometime early in 2009, the FF Family Fun Day will be a kid friendly great day in the park with Bocce, BBQ’s, Cricket, Three Legged Races and other assorted bits of fun. All suggestions welcome.

Not long after I ordered my second Sapporo Beer, which I must say I was quite impressed with having never had one before, Nina Nicols arrived and of course already knew Abbe from around the traps. Wayne Aistrope and his lovely lady Tracey appeared soon after and we quickly rearranged some furniture so we could all sit on the big comfy couches and have a good chin wag. Tracey announced she had just given notice to her employer to much cheering and was looking forward to some part time work and a change in lifestyle. Another freelancer in the wings?

Adrian Mulraney texted me to say that he couldn’t make it due to his lovely partners birthday but he’ll definitely be at the next one.

The couches were quickly rearranged again to accommodate Paul Gildea from Monkeesee and the lovely Heather Everard from Tribal Media Makers. Good to see people who have heard about each other but never met finally hooking up and chewing the fat about all sorts of stuff.

Tony Lazzaro from Big Ears Audio turned up and was duly welcomed to episode #2 of Freelancer Fridee. As was Margaret, a friend of Nina’s and a friend of Freelancer Fridee. To round out our rather intimate evening we welcomed Kate Scholem from Theta Magic, Atlanta Frith as well as Lisa Wood from the Belong Group.

As the fireplace was stoked and another log thrown on, the girls wondered aloud about the absence of the marshmallows. The very friendly Palace Hotel Melbourne hospitality staff promptly ducked across the road to the seven eleven and before we knew it we were toasting marshmallows in the open fire place. Yum!

And so we chatted until the wee hours about life and work and education and social justice and healing and music and art and the film Kingpin starring Bill Murray, Woody Harrelson and Randy Quaid. Business cards and numbers were exchanged along with ideas and passions.

And then episode #2 came to an end.

So I arrived late to my own function and thankfully I was still the first one there. It was only 4:30pm after all. Most people were still working. They’ll come. I’ll order a beer and read Beat Magazine. That’ll kill some time. Oh, and I’ll take in the ambience of the Railway Hotel in South Melbourne. The venue chosen for the inaugural Freelancer Fridee. Why? Well, it’s a central location, it’s kinda grungy and Melbourne-like (whatever that means) and possibly because I think it will add some cred to the whole idea of Freelancer Fridee.

Oh, why Freelancer Fridee? Well, because as freelancers we don’t get to hang out with our fellow office workers and have a beer after work on a friday. Now I know lots of people who couldn’t imagine anything worse than spending more time with colleagues than necessary - but the thing is we don’t spend all week with our colleagues. So it seemed to me that if I was thinking it might be nice to hang out with some fellow freelancers every now and then and shoot the shit then I may not be alone. But alas, it was after five fifteen now and I was. Alone, that is. I know, I’ll read the Emerald Hill Times (the local paper). That took three minutes and was very unrewarding. Hmmm. Another beer.

Oh, you meant why Freelancer Fridee instead of Freelancer Friday? Well, I’d like to pontificate about some sophisticated reference to a witty in-joke between myself and someone very important and well-respected, but the truth is far more shallow. A: It’s fun to say and 2: It made the wet-floor reflection effect in the logo easier without the letter “y” hanging below the line. So now you know. Don’t tell anyone. I’d also decided that Freelancer Fridee wasn’t strictly for freelancers but designed for freelancers, self-employed and small business people as a social and networking opportunity. The name just stuck, so sorry about the confusion.

I’d also ruminated at length about the frequency of Freelancer Fridee and concluded that every week was way too big a committment and once a fortnight was too hard to remember. So once a month it was. In fact, to avoid things like Anzac Day and Christmas stuff I slotted it into the third Friday of every month. Easy. Done. Now, where is everyone?

Well I know Wayne Aistrope is in Queensland so he’s off the hook. Adrian Mulrany called to say he thought the idea of Freelancer Fridee was excellent but unfortunately

I’m doing a show tonight and can’t make it but please keep me posted.

The girls from 2 Divas casting agency had indicated they liked the idea but they too couldn’t make it. Tony from Big Ears Audio had called previously in the week to say he loved the concept and was going to try and make it down.

And then just as I was lamenting that Freelancer Fridee may not have legs - I saw Paul Gildea from Monkeesee pull up out the front. Whoo-hoo! Game on.

Simultaneously, Nina, known only to me as the auto-cue operator, arrived and it seemed we had a party. Nina and Paul already knew each other. This shouldn’t have surprised me because having only met Nina four weeks ago, it was becoming apparent that Nina knew everybody I knew. In fact it was a miracle that Nina and I hadn’t met previously because it turned out Nina knew absolutely everybody that I’d ever met (it was discovered much later and after many beers that Nina and I had actually met about four years ago, once, randomly, and neither of us had remembered until now).

Within half an hour Peter and Rolf had joined us. Musician friends of Paul Gildea’s and fellow freelancers. Nina had invited Myles who was quick to join us along with Chris Bunsworth fresh from rehearsals. Rolf decided we should all migrate to the beer garden and take advantage of the fine weather (and that being outside allowed the smokers to smoke). So we migrated.

Trent Baker arrived shortly after the migration also from rehearsals, head clearly still spinning. As we bumped into each other in the front bar he said

Mate, I love the idea about your freelancer thing, but I’m sorry I can’t make it I’m just flat out with rehearsals. I’m just here to have dinner with Chris.

I had to inform Trent that he actually had made it, that this was Freelancer Fridee and that he was now part of the inauguration. It must be beer o’clock.

Kiera had convinced Jac to venture south of the yarra and joined in the celebrations as did Nina’s friend Margaret. With only four days notice, Freelancer Fridee was well and truly under way.

And then Chris wanted to dance.

So off to PA’s in Port Melbourne for dancing to the eighties DJ. But no! PA’s was full. Or at least that’s what they told us. We suspect they just thought we were a bit drunk and boisterous. So we ventured down the road to some terrible bar with a terrible duo where Kiera and Trent tore up the dance floor.

After a group decision declared the terrible bar too terrible for another round we sent Chris and Margaret on a recon mission to see if we could get in to PA’s. A little while later, communication came back to base that PA’s was a no-go zone but they had discovered an empty dance floor and a bar serving alcohol at The Exchange Hotel, down the west end of Bay Street. Move out troops!

Once Nina had collected yet another comrade walking out of PA’s as we passed (she really does know everybody) we made it to The Exchange for drinking and dancing. It was agreed the DJ had noooooo idea and there was only one thing left to do. Head to the vineyard!

So after many hours of drinking, dancing, card and number swapping and possibly a bit of action (?) it became clear that Freelancer Fridee has legs after all. Stay tuned for the next instalment.