The MediaTech Commons, online community for digital media workers and host of the Digital Media Mixer series, is opening up its mandate – and we wanted you to be the first to know. On May 1 we will launch CMG Freelance, a new organizing movement for freelance digital media workers and more. The events and services offered by CMG Freelance – access to group benefits plans, mutual support, professional development and networking – are very much in the tradition of MT Commons!

We hope you will be able to attend one of the FREE events in Toronto and Vancouver this month:
–   April 24, 2014 (Vancouver): Digital Media Mixer: Coding + Storytelling.
Journalists are learning to code. Coders are being pushed into the world of storytelling. What opportunities and challenges exist at the intersection of these skills? And what are we doing to keep up and stay human? Hear from speakers Elizabeth LaPensée (game designer, researcher, and writer) and Sean Embury (Fulscrn / interactive media). 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Rainier Provisions
RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/digital-media-mixer-storytelling-coding-tickets-11168849329

–   April 26, 2014 (Vancouver): Freelancers Organize – Info drop-in and meet-up
10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Hartwood Community Café (317 E Broadway)
Feel free to drop in or contact Datejie Green at datejie@cmg.ca.

–   April 30, 2014 (Toronto): Digital Media Mixer: Coding + Storytelling. 
Freelance journalist Desmond Cole moderates a Q&A about the intersections of coding and storytelling with speakers Sagan Yee (freelance animator & occasional indie game perpetrator) and William Wolfe-Wylie (journalist-coder hybrid at Canada.com & journalist-tech teacher hybrid at Centennial College). 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Media Bar.

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/codingstorytelling-new-hybrid-career-registration-11306127933

Find out more about CMG Freelance at www.cmgfreelance.ca. Look for us on Twitter at @CMGFreelance and Facebook. If you already followed @EspaceMTCommons you don’t need to re-follow, but keep the new moniker in mind when you tag us in posts.

We hope you’ll work with CMG Freelance to help transform digital media into more collaborative, balanced and sustainable livelihoods. Please feel free to answer this email with any questions.