Can’t Miss Events

Recently I’ve been honored to have been asked to participate in several MR industry events in various ways. It’s been an interesting by-product of my blogging and social media activities, and I am deeply appreciative of the opportunities to work with my colleagues in these new and exciting ways!

As my way of saying thanks for the involvement, I thought I’d profile these events here. I also hope that you’ll consider getting involved with these or other organizations as well; during this time of  rapid change in the MR industry, it’s important for us to engage in meaningful dialogues with each other and explore new opportunities for the growth of our industry. Events like these are an ideal way to do that!

Next week is The Market Research Event, arguably the biggest and best MR industry event each year. TMRE unites the world’s most influential researchers to share best practices, industry innovation and showcase the business value of market research. Over 800 attendees are expected to attend in 2010 with more than 60% representing client side companies. As usual the agenda is chock-full of fantastic sessions and topics. The 2010 Focus Areas include:

• Segmentation Symposium: Targeting New Opportunities
• Media & Measurement Symposium: The New Media Mix
• Shopper Insights Symposium: The New Shopper
• Social Media & Community Research Symposium: The New Frontier
• Cultural & Research Trends Symposium: What’s Next?
• Insight Driven Innovation: Research for New Market Opportunities
• Market Research Leadership & Strategy
• Marketing & Brand Insights: Understanding consumer psychology
• The New Insights Toolbox: Transitioning to a New Era
• Data Analysis & Measurement: Quantitative Insights
• Business to Business Market Research
• EXPLOR Finalists
• Discussion Den All Interactive. All About You

Also, new for this year is the NGMR Disruptive Innovation Award. This is an exciting new development that further solidifies the TMRE as the home of MR innovation!

Myself and Kathryn Korostoff were asked to be the official guest bloggers for the event, a singular honor to say the least! Unfortunately, the imminent birth of my son (any day now!) prohibits me from attending, but my good friends Bill Weylock and Robert Moran are attending for me and will be blogging in real time from the various sessions they will be attending. For those like me who can’t make this exciting event, Kathryn, Bill, Robert, and the TMRE team will keep us all in the loop! Look for posts here and on Twitter, and stay tuned to these TMRE Resources starting Monday to follow along with the event:

Official TMRE Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/tmre
Official TMRE Twitter Hashtag: #TMRE

The Market Research Event Blog:
http://themarketresearchevent.blogspot.com

So tune in and be a part of the event even if you can’t make it in person!

Speaking of attending events virtually, another exciting development is the Festival of NewMR.

The Festival of NewMR, 6-10 December 2010, is a collaborative online event aiming to both define and shape the future of market research. The Festival of NewMR is different from regular conferences in the following ways: 1) Most elements are free 2) The program will be shaped by the participants 3) Most of the material will be from the participants.

I’ve been involved with the Program Committee from inception, and I can tell you that the amount of talent, intelligence, and creativity being channeled into this event is extraordinary. The Program was primarily developed using a co-creation model with 65 synopses submitted and 300 participants voting on which ones would be included.

The program is still being worked on but the key elements at the moment are:

• A website as the hub for the Festival
• An open Poster session (with prizes)
• An open Video session (with prizes)
• A Twitter backchannel using #NEWMR
• The Main Stage, 8th December – a mega global conference using webinar technology, with the speakers being a mixture of selected speakers and presenters selected by participants

The main event during the week of the Festival is the Main Stage, a massive global webinar on 8th December. Click here to find out news about key speakers, details, and information on how you can be involved.

Tickets for the Main Stage Webinar are now available and are limited (because of the technology). You can buy a ticket for one six hour Part of the webinar for $24 or a $50 ticket lets you attend all three Parts.

You can find out more about the tickets HERE.

I’ll be chairing a session during the conference and I hope you’ll join me in attending this truly innovative, grassroots MR event!

Following the co-creation theme, The Merlien Institute is adopting that model for one of their upcoming events, Qualitative Consumer Research and Insights 2011: Developing actionable business propositions from cutting-edge qualitative research being held 7-8 April 2011, in Malta.

I’m privileged to have been asked to be on the Program Committe for this one as well, and it looks to be an exciting event. Jasper Lim, Executive Director of Merlien Institute blogged about the event and here is an excerpt:

An idea that has been floating for quite a while is to have the public co-create our next qualitative research conference. A key feature for this co-created conference is that the public will be able to vote for presentations they like to hear, a concept inspired by Ray Poynter’s NewMR virtual conference. The fee for attending this conference will be a fraction of what other organizers are charging.

The theme of the proposed conference is Qualitative Consumer Research & Insights 2011. This event will benefit researchers and practitioners who are seeking to advance their knowledge on implementing qualitative consumer research. To see a list of topics of interests, please click on the event link above. The event will be held on the 7 & 8 April 2011 in Malta, a country rich in prehistoric archaeology and megalithic temples.

Apart from the main conference days, Ray Poynter who is an authority in social media research will be conducting a pre-conference workshop on the 6th April. The conference will also include a complimentary half day tour sponsored by the Malta Tourism Authority on the 9th April.

Researchers and practitioners are encouraged to submit their presentation abstracts including, but not limited to, the topics of interests listed below.

• Utilizing effective DIY qualitative research tools for capturing insights
• Mapping the consumer mind through neuromarket research
• Converting qualitative data into actionable business propositions
• Market research online communities (MROCs) and insights communities
• Qualitative mobile research and new mobile data capturing techniques
• Utilizing qualitative insight tools and how to use them efficiently and effectively
• Designing effective questionnaire inquiry & interviewing
• Integrating social media and online methods into traditional qualitative methodologies
• Determining the quality and reliability of qualitative research
• Complementing quantitative work with qualitative data
• Discussing the latest social media techniques for marketing research
• Using qualitative research to develop and steward brand strategies
• Unraveling the the complexities in buyer and supplier behavior
• Co-creation and collaboration: how to avoid research overlaps and data overload
• Capturing post-recession consumer mindsets and translate them into business innovation
• Integrating qualitative consumer insights into the heart of the marketing mix
• Ethical and regulatory implications in data protection and privacy issues

For software solution providers or other suppliers, please consider sponsoring or exhibiting at this event. To submit your abstract, please click here to download the abstract template. Please save it in your name and send it to [email protected] before 30 November 2010.

The TMRE, NewMR Festival, and Merlien Institute events are great examples of how MR is harnessing the power of social media, crowdsourcing, and co-creation methods to pioneer whole new models for networking and collaboration. They follow on the heels of other initiatives like Researchvibes to add significant value to the lives of those engaged in MR on a global basis, and it’s truly exciting to be a part of such innovative opportunities!

I hope you’ll join me in embracing these events via attendance, sponsorship, or pitching in with time, energy, or content to help make them a success. They fill a vital role in helping our industry stay connected and to keep growing!