Elance’s “New Way to Work” Contest

Many of you may be familiar with Elance. If not, now’s a great opportunity to learn more and to get involved! Here’s what Elance is:

Elance, where companies find, hire, manage and pay contractors online, is transforming the way businesses get work done. On Elance, companies gain instant access to more than 97,000 rated and tested professionals who offer technical, marketing and business expertise. Independent professionals use Elance to meet clients and get paid for delivering great results.

Another thing you unfortunately may be all too familiar with as a freelancer is the lack of affordable health care. Sure, you can buy coverage outright through a provider, but the cost is astronomical!  This past Labor Day Elance launched their “New Way to Work” contest. The contest will recognize the most inspirational real-world demonstrations of this important labor movement and will reward the Grand Prize winner with a year’s worth of health insurance premiums or $10,000 in cash!

“Labor Day is an appropriate time to revisit the way we think about work. For millions of professionals, traditional career paths and even full-time employment are becoming obsolete.” said Fabio Rosati, CEO of Elance. “At the same time technology, competitive pressures and economic necessity are making online work increasingly attractive to businesses This comes as no surprise given the impressive pool of independent talent and the tools that are available to work online instead of onsite. The New Way to Work celebration will shine a spotlight on this very compelling segment of the workforce.”

A New Way to Work

Here are the details straight from Elance:

The “New Way to Work” contest begins on Labor Day, September 7, 2009 and ends with the winner announced on December 11, 2009. The contest will give the broader world of online workers and their clients an opportunity to earn their moment in the spotlight. To take part in the contest, participants need to:

1. Showcase their “new way to work” through any medium they choose, be it photography, a blog article, a Web page, YouTube video, tweet, cartoon, art installation, song, haiku, or any other means to demonstrate their point.

2. Publish and promote their example to capture the attention and imagination of a broader online community.

3. Notify contest judges of their effort via Twitter (use #new-way-to-work) or by posting a link on Elance’s Facebook fan page.

Everyone can get involved, as people are encouraged to either craft their own work, or simply submit nominations that they find inspiring as great examples of this new way to work, using the methods outlined above.

Throughout the contest, Elance will highlight the most creative, compelling, innovative and inspiring entrants on the Elance blog. After narrowing the contestants to a set of finalists, the Grand Prize winner will be selected by Elance and an elite panel of judges including Tim Ferriss, American author, technology investor, and productivity expert; John Jantsch, award winning social media publisher and author of Duct Tape Marketing; and Tory Johnson, career expert, founder and CEO of Women For Hire and New York Times bestselling author whose latest book is Fired to Hired.

Be sure to check out their blog for contest rules and regulations!