#WOW (as in “WOW, I’m inspired!”) ESOMAR Congress Rewind

By Kristin Luck

If you’ve been on the conference circuit grind as I have for the past 10+ years, generally the first big event of the season ends with “WOW, I’m exhausted”. ESOMAR Congress, just a few short weeks ago in New Orleans, delivered on their “#WOW”** theme both literally and figuratively, leaving me feeling “WOW, I’m inspired!”

At 2014’s Congress in Cannes, ESOMAR asked what INSPIRED us as researchers. In 2015 they invited us to Dublin to explore the latest research REVELATIONS from around the world. For their 69th international annual Congress ESOMAR continued the story with research transformation and impact at its heart, by returning to the US and #WOW’ing us in New Orleans.

And what better city than New Orleans to unite over 1000 participants from around the globe? New Orleans is known not only for being a fusion of influences and cultures that have melded to create a unique identity but also, most recently, as a hotspot for reinvention, regeneration, transformation and growth- much like our industry today.

Whether you’re a researcher, analyst, data scientist, consultant, sales and marketing specialist, decision maker or academic; a start-up or developer looking to share your vision, or a rising star who may have been undecided if a career in research and analytics is for you, this year’s Congress had something for everyone.

In the US, we tend to be somewhat insular as researchers. Many of us don’t travel outside our own country, much less conduct research internationally, making an ESOMAR event in the US all the more important for providing a global perspective on our fast changing data driven industry. From topics that ranged from data fusion to Virtual Reality, to implicit and non-conscious methods, and presenters that came from over 80 countries including Argentina, Cambodia and South Sudan, attendees learned not only new research techniques but were challenged to think about new ways of collecting and reporting data, presented by researchers from some of the most conflict challenged markets in the world.

Couldn’t attend Congress this year? Over 1200 researchers around the world watched a simulcast of the conference online via ESOMAR TV and you can view a recording at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLla7RJ85h7CSMQ-yIz6W4LiGHryXbNvmu

Next year marks ESOMAR’s 70^th anniversary and Congress will return to ESOMAR’s European roots, in Amsterdam.

Looking for the next ESOMAR event in the US? Join the team in Seattle on January 23/24 for ESOMAR Bootcamp, with presenters from the UK, Germany, Belgium and the US, and workshops that include deep dives into social media insights, data visualization and storytelling among other topics.  https://www.esomar.org/events-and-awards/events/global-and-regional/bootcamp-2017/bootcamp-2017_overview.php

** No, that’s not a hashtag for “World of Warcraft”, gaming nerds.