Welcome to the latest edition of the Cactus Call! I am so excited to represent the members of this Chapter in 2014 and 2015. We have some exciting things happening, so make sure you don’t miss out.
Welcome to the New Southwest Marketing Research Association Board
I have personally served on this board for seven years and have been in the industry for well over a decade. I continue to learn so much from my fellow board members and enjoy every step of the journey. Board positions at the Chapter level of the MRA are volunteer positions. These people put a tremendous amount of passion and effort into ensuring our events and education topics are relevant to our industry. They bring so much value and intensity to those that take time to attend that I would have thought they were getting paid seven figures to do what they do (let me assure you, they do not). And it all seems effortless due to their experience and endless smiles. It is my goal this year to continue to add value through education programs and relative topics with the same level of enthusiasm as before. I am thrilled about stepping into the President’s position, and look forward to filling some big (and always cute) shoes left by my predecessor, Nancy Hernon. It’s going to be a fun and educational ride- I hope you come along! Please check out the 2014-2015 board at http://www.swmra.org/board/
The Educational Forum in the BIG D Recap!
The event started on Thursday, August 7 with a Texas style reception where Alice Butler, currently serving as a Past President & Advisor to the SWMRA board, received the Chapter Service Award. Alice holds the Senior Vice President of Operations position at M\A\R\C Research in Irving, Texas and somehow finds the time to volunteer endless hours, providing a high level perspective and experience to everything the SWMRA board does. Over the years she has become a great professional leader in our industry, and a trustworthy friend to many. Please be sure you thank you Alice next time you see her at a conference. She is instrumental to the board and to our industry as a whole.
We had well respected industry leaders like Merrill Dubrow, CEO of M\A\R\C Research, speaking about industry challenges, changes & solutions. In addition, we learned about biometrics & facial coding presented by Anne Hedde, Executive Vice President of Schlesinger Interactive. Lisa Panchal with Coty, Inc. and Per Smith with Research Now shared a successful mobile case study that gave the audience great pointers on how to utilize technology for research. Michelle Adams, Founder & CEO of Brainology, taught the attendees about NeuroMarketing & the power of understanding human behavior. Katy Mallios, Insights & Intelligence Consultant at SPYCH Market Analytics, led the discussion on how to redefine the ROI of market research. Faith James, Vice President of Strategic Marketing at Sentient Decision Science, concluded with an exciting session about implicit research. A BIG TEXAS thanks to the event sponsors and all the speakers who made the day exiting, fun and educational. Please also take time to thank our sponsors, which include Critical Mix, Consumer Opinion Services, G3 Translate, M\A\R\C Research, Research Now and Sports Authority. We would not be able to host the education forum if our sponsors didn’t invest in the association & industry.
Webinar Recap
Just in case you missed the latest webinar on November 5, 2014, visit the “Events” tab to hear Tracey Ellis of Precision Opinion teach us about new technologies & qualitative facilities.
VEGAS Baby!
If you have attended the Vegas conference in the past you know it is filled with education, networking and fun! The dates for the 2015 conference are February 10 – 12. Make sure you block it out on your calendar, and reserve budget for the conference and sponsorship. You don’t want to miss out!
Communication
As you all know, one of the ways the Chapter continues to improve is from listening to you. I want to know what you are interested in learning about this year. Please call, email or click on “Reply” and tell me what is important to you. Think BIG- because we are.
Jami Pulley
Southwest Chapter President
[email protected]
214-365-3838
