Dear Safreans, What is it with clients who do not pay their service providers? This past week alone, I have heard of four people who have not been paid since January. In all four cases, they have carried on working - and carried on asking politely...
Any time that a group of freelancers get together, you can be sure that the conversation will turn to rates. How much to charge is the perennial question that for years has been answered by the Safrea Rates Report. This year we have gone bigger and...
Dear Safreans, February has been a month of planning for Safrea. Earlier this month, we held a meeting with the current contributors to the Safrea Chronicle / Media Hub. The initiative has gone through some torrid times, and we wanted to ensure its...
Dear Safreans, The Safrea Google Group, fondly known as the Oracle, is the hub for connections within our organisation. It is a place where we can get to know each other, ask questions, provide help and advice and to let off steam. Occasionally the...
Dear Safreans, It is the end of another long/short year. Isn’t it strange how the changes that Covid have brought have had such an impact on our perception of time passing? In some ways it feels like just a month or two ago that I wrote an...
Dear Safreans, I am mindful that when November comes around and many people are starting to look forward to the holiday season, for freelancers this can be a time of uncertainty and stress. Some clients may be demanding extra work with tighter...
Dear Safreans, Excitement is building for the World Conference of Science Journalists 2022! Join the South African Science Journalists Association (SASJA) to attend. The last time science journalists from around the world got together was at the...
Dear Safreans, I am better equipped to take a photograph that says a thousand words, than to write them. However, photographers, generally speaking, are the proverbial “fly-on-the-wall.” We are trained and skilled in observing and creating moments...
Dear Safreans, Any organisation is only as strong as its members. We know that the ability to retain members is just as important as getting new members. During my recent meeting with the regional chairs, the topic of retention was paramount. They...
Dear Safreans, For Safrea committees, the new year has just begun, and I am really excited about the commitment that has been shown and the progress that has already been made. Our new deputy chair, Hush Naidoo, has taken on the responsibility of...
Dear Safreans, No man’s land – an indeterminate or undefined place or state. As I write to you, Safrea is in that strange “no man’s land” where the AGM has been completed, but the regional chairs have not been confirmed and the new Exco has not...
Dear Safreans, It goes without saying that any organisation is only as good as its members. And, if a membership organisation is to run smoothly, it needs people who are prepared to spend some time making sure that the needs of the members are met....
Dear Safreans, This month I have given the Message from the Chair space to a professional body within Safrea to appeal to you to join. Read more about the South African Science Journalists Association (SASJA) below. Stay safe, stay healthy! Yours...
Dear Safreans, Last year, when Covid-19 hit us, one of the results for me was that a big conference I was working on was postponed to December, and then eventually went totally online. It was just one of the impacts that the pandemic had on my...
