Meeting notes from The Skiff on 10th September 2025
Posted by Paul Silver
On the 10th September, 13 freelancers met in The Skiff coworking space to talk all things self employment and tech.
Thanks very much to The Skiff for offering us their space and providing some drinks and snacks too!
I was busy talking and forgot to take many notes, so take this as a small sample of the conversations:
- How the market has evolved recently
- Always be chasing work
- Using AI tools to boost productivity
- Using React Native in projects
- Laravel Nova
- Automating version control
- Using migrations rather than altering the database direct
- Alien Earth
- Getting a teenager to do things is a hassle
- Using simple projects to learn something new (e.g. AWS Lambdas)
- The different parts of AWS are hugely variable in quality
- The Skiff evening and weekend package
- Making sure you can re-use knowledge and code between different client projects
- Some ice cubes are better than others
- Crocs and tariffs
- You can drink a toe in Yukon – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHMNX3IXnvs
- The Yukon is in Canada
The Skiff
I’ve been a member of The Skiff for many years, for a while in parallel to a coworking space I used in Worthing.
For me the community and facilities are great. It’s got a lot of very nice people who are members and I’ve got to know well over the years. It’s got big desks and decent office chairs, and a free to use monitor on every desk. It’s a little scruffy, but so am I.
A key part of The Skiff is the kitchen-dining area. This is a kitchen with microwaves and fridges and bits so you can prepare your own lunch, with a long table with bench seating and a large sofa nearby. It gives a place for members to eat lunch together and that’s been the source of some great conversations over the years and is a perfect way to meet people. This area also moves a lot of longer conversations away from the desks as people know they can move off for a fresh coffee and have a break and chat without annoying anyone trying to work intensely.
If you live near Brighton, I strongly suggest giving it a try.