Professions

[Neil Ward]

My job title is Director, which is fairly meaningless without 
additional details.  I run an information service for the alcohol 
industry, monitoring information on health, social and legislative 
issues relating to alcoholic beverages. We maintain a web-based 
database, produce publications and deal with enquiries.

If I try to explain what I do at house parties, most people either 
don't get it or they say "that sounds really interesting" (which 
translates as "I don't get it").  About 70% of people ask: "do you 
get given free booze?"  We don't actually, but I do get the 
occasional free lunch or trip to a sponsored event (such as the visit 
the the Grand National I described a few months back).   

By trade, I still regard myself as a biologist (specifically, a 
toxicologist), and I previously worked for the UK's National Poisons 
Unit as a Clinical Biochemist.  My current employers, of course, 
would rather I didn't mention poisons and alcohol in the same 
sentence.

Now wasn't that interesting?

Neil
Flying Ford Anglia