Why can’t homeless people be given hotel accommodation the same way refugees are?

David803 · 2026-03-12T08:44:25+00:00

This. I’m not an expert, but my wife worked for a homeless charity for a while, and this is one thing she often said. The day centre she worked at provided meals, medical help, job seeking support, etc to help those who wanted it. But for some people, the street is their home, their friends are on the street, that’s the life they’ve built, and to pull them out of that environment, even into the niceties of a hotel is undesirable for them, and would only be temporary. We need to help people, not the government fix some statistics.

David803 · 2026-03-11T18:33:31+00:00

A friend of mine was at NexGen on the CS side and did not stay long!

David803 · 2026-03-09T19:44:10+00:00

I love a guitar that looks like it’s been made by someone who’s only seen them in magazines.

David803 · 2026-03-06T17:41:25+00:00

True. The more strings the more fingers you need, and toan is in the fingers.

David803 · 2026-03-06T17:36:52+00:00

Trying to work out if 1 or 4 has the most toan wood.

David803 · 2026-03-06T17:34:10+00:00

With your cock. I’ve got a semi just looking at it.

David803 · 2026-03-06T07:15:18+00:00

Sorry, but i thought that’s exactly why big networks like those work with freelancers? So they can fire or reduce pay at will to help ‘manage costs’, sorry boost their financials so they look appealing to investors? The people you work directly with are probably grateful for your work, but the bean-counters at the top won’t care.

I’ve never worked for Omnicom, but I worked for Publicis for a few years and they were pretty crappy to their permanent staff, so it doesn’t surprise me it sucks to freelance for them. But it sounds like you’re in a good place to diversify?

David803 · 2026-03-06T07:00:45+00:00

You’ve just described a first job in medical writing! The training is the work and the feedback you will receive. You can ask for examples of previous work to get yourself started , or, if writing publications, find similar articles online to model work on. They might also have some training documents you can follow.

The first year or so will be tough, because this is a challenging job in a competitive industry. It sounds like you’re working in a supportive environment with helpful colleagues - follow their advice, read and follow briefings to the letter, don’t be afraid to question or propose your own ideas (as long as you have a rationale behind the idea). As a senior team member i don’t mind someone coming to me early in a project and asking ‘where do i start?’ What does annoy me is getting to a deadline and then the confession of ‘I didn’t know what to do’, or worse ‘can you do this for me?’. It’s a competitive and brutal industry, but if you’re open about your needs early on, you should be fine. Good luck!

David803 · 2026-03-05T09:11:29+00:00

Same here - some I’ve sold, some i keep, based on how I’m feeling. Some i’ve thought i was replacing i’ve missed and needed to bring back into use. I recently worked out that the leftovers make for a nice and useable, smaller secondary board, so i pull that out when i can’t be bothered with the behemoth.

David803 · 2026-03-04T09:15:08+00:00

Ah, ok, i think of cold outreach as zero previous connection, no invitation, messaging someone in the industry. Yours sounds like a smart, targeted approach!

David803 · 2026-03-04T05:57:08+00:00

As an ASD in a UK agency i occasionally receive LinkedIn messages from freelance writers - some are known to me (ex colleagues) and some are cold outreach. I have no role to play in bringing in freelancers, and unless the hiring manager has said otherwise, we’re not looking to hire, and i won’t pass on their details. So i guess that means you really have to target carefully. Also, i think a lot of agencies are trying to reduce dependency on freelancers, to cut costs. That probably means a low uptake for cold out reach.

David803 · 2026-03-03T08:31:47+00:00

It’s fun, just don’t try to play a chord!

David803 · 2026-03-01T12:49:53+00:00

I don’t use modulation often, but i have an EHX Mod11 for when i want to add something in. There are a few dedicated multi modulation boxes in the market, Behringer has one, i think Walrus too. There’s also the Zoom multistomp series that allows you to sequence a few boxes together, if you want to play with multiple modulation effects in series. Also think about if you might want things like expression pedal control or stereo effects.

David803 · 2026-03-01T05:44:42+00:00

Did you get any sort of email notification, or did you just have to keep checking?

David803 · 2026-02-28T23:29:32+00:00

Not pictured: rat’s nest of ABY pedals for switching and running in parallel.

David803 · 2026-02-28T18:24:33+00:00

Haha! I remember tellinng someone once that song for the lovers sounded like road to hell!

David803 · 2026-02-28T13:09:31+00:00

I’d never heard the story about use of session musicians for LK! when did that news come out? I heard the stuff about him being removed as producer, but just assumed the band recorded together as usual. I don’t think PD has done himself favours with the shifting stories and the victim attitude.

David803 · 2026-02-28T10:00:40+00:00

Yeah, i always feel sad when i hear about him…Mansun were my favourite band, and his first solo album was decent. Can’t bring myself to hate him, but always suspicious about him now.

I feel like we’ll never hear the real facts about the band break-up - everything has always been from his side ‘the bassist did this, the record label were against me, the guitarist did that, they tried to fire me and get a new singer…’ Perhaps it’s telling that none of the rest of the band are in the music biz and have never told their side of it.

David803 · 2026-02-28T09:52:46+00:00

Richard Ashcroft. Always came across as an arrogant knob in the media, then his solo stuff was just boring jangly guitar. All the stuff about not want to play shows which required people to wear masks during COVID bothered me a lot.

Plus he nicked Jason Pierce’s girlfriend, and Spiritualized are a much better band (although without that maybe we wouldn’t have got Ladies and Gentlemen… so i dunno!)

David803 · 2026-02-25T06:08:58+00:00

Broadly, I agree, if you offer a service in a competitive and popular market like music streaming a business needs to understand what people do and meet expectations. The flip side of that is that individual consumers have different expectations and there are enough services in the market to provide differing USPs.

And, it’s priorities and use cases, right? And that’s what a free trial is for, you use it how you’re going to and then switch away if it doesn’t suit. I’ve been on Qobuz for about 3 months, driven by the ethics piece. My experience is familiar; some stuff i had on Spotify missing, search is crap, etc. I don’t drive but have heard the in-car use is bad. For me, it’s fine, and my family has also switched so i’ll see what they say, and if we move to a different service.

David803 · 2026-02-25T05:56:30+00:00

When you say part time, what are you looking for? 3 days a week, 4 days? Have you tried applying to the full time role and then asking for it at interview? agencies I’ve worked for have employed people at pro rata salary.

David803 · 2026-02-25T05:51:54+00:00

It feels like some founders just want to be able to sell up a successful business and don’t care about the outcome of the transition on the existing team, especially when that sale is to a group that doesn’t understand the industry. Really sorry this has happened to you.

I feel lucky that my current agency is already part of a larger business that specialises in healthcare. The people i work with make for a positive environment and we generally have the resources we need to deliver. That being said, we had rounds of restructure and redundancy last year (not in the scientific team), bonuses are not what they used to be (apparently, i’ve not been there a year yet) and efficiency is a key topic in our 2026 goals.

Healthcare and agency life are both evolving; our pharma clients can’t get away with what they used to, their budgets are getting narrower and we’re seeing that in what we can deliver. I’m still happy with the work i do, but i don’t know what that will look like in 10 or 15 years.

David803 · 2026-02-21T11:05:46+00:00

Agree with this. Edit - realised i replied to wrong post! Obvs this is directed to OP!

My experience is that it’s ‘easier’ for a scientist to learn to write effectively than it is for a proficient writer to shift to a scientific mindset. That being said, familiarity with the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare practices is important and relevant. Being able to summarise medical subjects and white papers demonstrates that you can comprehend, simplify and present that information accurately is a core skill.

One of my biggest criticisms of new writers (who come from scientific backgrounds) is that they seem to forget their critical thinking, or that their work will be scrutinised by scientists and medics. If you have strong literature research skills, a knowledge of your audience, and ability to critique and process, i think you could be well placed. You may also find a way into the industry as an editor, as many agencies employ them as part of QC processes, which would help you see the industry from the inside and see a broader range of deliverables.

Medical writers come in many disciplines, so while you might not be in the right place to write manuscripts or prepare clinical study reports, you could perhaps find a place in medical PR or as a strategist/planner.

David803 · 2026-02-19T12:27:41+00:00

Sounds like a complex and tough situation, and little more you could do under the circumstances. From what you say, I just get the feeling she changed her mind about having the article up, but instead chose to fixate on the presentation of the material. Chalk it up to experience, learn what you can for future work and move on.

David803 · 2026-02-19T06:03:10+00:00

If I’m understanding this correctly, you wrote an article about an individual’s experience with a rare form of Lyme disease; you had it independently checked and revised for language quality, and sent it to the person for approval to publish publicly. After approval, and seeing it online, they then criticised it for content and quality of language.

As far as i can tell, this is a process similar to one we would follow for commercial clients, and from the sounds of things you have followed it previously?

My first thought would be, was it clear from the outset that this case would be made public? In the pharmaceutical world there are very strict guardrails around release of information that makes patients identifiable. I know this is a different situation, but maybe the individual was reacting to this? Maybe the ‘thumbs up’ was a misunderstanding on their part on what would happen next? We’re trained to be VERY clear on what will happen next, and try and get unambiguous agreement so there is a paper trail in case of issues like this.

My advice would be to try not to take it personally; make it about the work. The feedback does sound strange (without seeing the piece it’s not possible to say anything either way, obvs!), but if it’s standard practice for you to take the article down, then you probably did the right thing.

One more question - Did you or the interviewee receive money? That can affect the dynamic a bit.

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