Members of the Techie Seniors and Retirees and other seminar participants. View our Facebook gallery for more photos of the event.
More and more people are leaving their day jobs to be their own bosses, work at their own time, in the comfort of their homes for more money and less work-related stress. The freelancing scene is thriving, but who would have known our techie grandparents are already in on the secret?
The attendees of our most recent seminar on freelancing were in for a special treat. For the first time ever, our very own Techie Senior Citizens and Retirees Philippines members shared their experiences on freelancing.
Speakers pose together for a group shot.
Female Techie Seniors members, despite their age, have conquered the blogosphere and the freelancing arena are living proof that, truly, learning knows no age. Paula Ventura, a breast cancer survivor, tackled how she shares her advocacies with the world through blogging and Gina Camus talked about how she earns money with just the click of a button through digital marketing. Freelance writer Anca Paje discussed the basics of blogging, while Techie Senior Citizens founder Koree Monteloyola tackled the fundamentals of freelancing and how members can kickstart their careers online.
Freelancing 101, the sixth free digital literacy seminar for seniors was held last November 23, 2019. It was done through the kindness of Kairos IT Services and Canva Philippines, who graciously sponsored the venue and food for the third time around.
Breaking into the blogosphere
Paula Ventura sharing her Techie Seniors experience.
Paula, one of the group’s pioneering members, started blogging as a way to share her breast cancer story. As she gained momentum, she shared more of herself to the online world. Grateful for having joined Techie Seniors, she believed that to truly make a dent in the world, you must be a part of something bigger than yourself. Blogging, she soon found out, was her own avenue for change.
Freelance writer Anca Paje on the basics of blogging.
Anca, for her part, discussed the importance of blogging as a way to market your brand, regardless if you want to monetize it or not. She gave writing hacks and tackled free online tools that writers have at their disposal.
Cashing in with clicks
Gina Camus demonstrates how to use Canva for digital marketing.
Canva, a simplified graphic design tool website, has made Gina’s job as a digital marketer easier than ever. Digital marketing is basically promoting products or services on the internet using digital technologies.
Now, with just a few clicks of a button, Gina can upload her work on several platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Canva’s creative but customizable templates give her enough room to make the design her own.
Freelancing seniors
Techie Senior Citizens founder Koree Monteloyola discusses how to launch an online freelancing career.
Koree, once a freelance programmer herself, listed down other online jobs including web development, copy-writing and designing. Drawing from her own experiences, Koree discussed how to launch an online career. She narrated how she started from a freelancer and eventually opened her own enterprise. Encouraging the participants to take a second shot at their dream job, Koree said senior citizens have so much to offer in terms of their experience and wisdom.
As we all wish, we do not want to be idle. But still productive at our age, in this technology-driven world. – Ms. Myrriam Calma
Myrriam Calma, a new participant, pointed out on the Techie Seniors and Retirees Facebook group how helpful the seminar was for seniors and early retirees who want to make use of their time. “As we all wish, we do not want to be idle. But still productive at our age, in this technology-driven world.”
Techie Seniors and Retirees PH Group is a growing community of retirees, seniors, and young at heart technology enthusiasts who help and inspire each other in exploring the online world. Our doors are open to anyone in their retirement and senior age.
We are also on the lookout for individuals who share our passion in making digital literacy more accessible to people of all ages, especially seniors. Interested in volunteering? Don’t hesitate to contact us here or on Facebook.