that's where homeworking comes in.
I'm assuming you mean freelancing from home? That's what I do. I'm saying I used to work for an agency, but they will suck you dry. I now work out of my studio from home.
I also didn't say it was IMPOSSIBLE to find new clients from home - I said a lot of freelancing designers don't have access to multiple clients. It's true - especially with logo work. Businesses don't typically advertise that they need a new logo - they either go to an agency or to a site like this. They don't post a listing in the AIGA boards saying, "I need a logo."
I wasn't trying to be angry - I just didn't know whether or not you had thought out both sides of the argument. Have you worked in an agency? If so - perhaps it's different than the ones I've worked with. When you pitch ideas for a rebrand you RARELY know more information than what sites like this one provide in a brief. If you do have a lot of information, it's usually because you researched the info, not the client. You know what normally happens? A client calls and says they'd like to meet for a rebrand. You go there - you wait 20 - 30 minutes drinking burnt coffee. You sit in a conference room for another 20 minutes while the necessary people are "rounded up". You are then given a speech about what the company does and their beliefs (which are echoed in the 18 pamphlets that the client provided you with when you first at down). They then say something like - "Our current market is women aged 35 - 55, but we'd also like to include urban teenage boys, undiscovered South American native tribes and hispanic people that enjoy having healthy dogs. What are your ideas?"
Then - they MAY have projector set up to show you their website (that's assuming that it's all set up properly). Of course, you already looked at their website on your laptop before you came in and again while you were waiting 45+ minutes. There are a few questions to ask (however, not really any more specific that what is in a typical "crowd sourcing" brief) and then you leave. All in all - you spent two hours at the client's office, but only about 20 minutes talking about what they actually need. The other times spent was either them talking about stupid crap that the last agency did, what they like about their competition's logo or you talking about your firm's "capabilities."
Having been in that situation MANY times with a couple different agencies I can tell you that agency work is often as much spec work as crowdsourcing sites are.
Conversely - I have worked in-house where a marketing manager (unknowingly to my team in creative) set up meetings with agencies to mine for ideas without any intention of paying a cent. It wasn't some tiny start-up either - it was an international company with 2500+ employees.
All that said - it doesn't address your "cancel my account" issue. If you DO cancel your account, it would be easy for someone to start a new account with your same username...so you might as well keep it and just not participate.
