Aug 29, 2012

RPA’s a Finalist for the 2012 Red Herring Asia 100

Written by: Diane Wagner

Hong Kong, Here We Come!

It’s always nice to be recognized – especially for when your company is being considered as one of the most exceptional technology companies out there. Such is the case with RPA recently having been nominated to be one of the Finalists for the 2012 Red Herring Asia 100 Award


 
We are honored to be considered for the Red Herring Asia 100 as this award celebrates exceptional accomplishment of Asian technology companies best positioned for explosive growth.  We definitely feel that “explosive growth” is likely for RPA as we’re well positioned to make Asian online research easy – anywhere in the world – with our global HQ in Tokyo and Regional HQ offices in Shanghai, Seoul, Manila and, recently, in Los Angeles.


 
For the 2012 awards, RPA has been selected along with a short list of innovative companies chosen from a pool of hundreds across Asia.  The Top 100 Asia winners will be decided at the Red Herring Asia Forum September 10 – 12, 2012.  Our CEO, Toshiki Sano, will be there in Hong Kong presenting RPA to the judges, with the winners being announced at a special award dinner on September 12th.

In case you haven’t already, Red Herring is a company worth checking out.  Since 1996, their Top 100 lists have discovered some of the most promising private ventures from around the world including Google, Skype, Baidu, and many more.
 

Aug 17, 2012

Conference Watch: ESOMAR Congress 2012

Written by:  Diane Wagner
Dateline: 9 – 12 September in … Atlanta?!

As you may know from my MRMW coverage, I love attending MR conferences.  And the upcoming ESOMAR Congress 2012 is no exception.  My colleague, Rie, and I will be attending for Research Panel Asia (and, shameless plug: we will have a Booth – Booth # 4 – so please stop by!).



It should be memorable as it will be my very first ESOMAR experience.  After years of seeing my colleagues go off to past Congresses (to exotic sounding locations like Amsterdam, Athens, Switzerland and Montreal), this year it looks like I’ll be off to … Atlanta?  Yup, to celebrate their 65th Anniversary, ESOMAR will be holding its Congress for the very first time in the US.  While it’s lovely that ESOMAR is recognizing the importance of the US market, I have to admit, I’m a bit bummed to be missing out on a trip abroad.

Still, I’m excited.  And Just one reason why is the list of keynote speakers.  Among them, Pianist Adam Gyorgy whom CNN World Report called “a rising star” and who is known as a Liszt ambassador.  A “Liszt ambassador”?  As a classically trained pianist myself (though definite amateur who needs to practice more), I’ll be going to his talk.  Even if you don’t play, I think you’ll agree that if the man can play “Flight of the Bumble Bee” this well, I’m sure he’ll have something interesting to say …



Another keynote (the opening in fact) will be given by Sherry Turkle – professor, consultant, researcher and author (most recently of “Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology & Less From Each Other”).  Just check out this clip of her recent TED Talk to see why she may be worth catching:


And, then, of course, when I’m not manning the Booth, I’ll try to catch some of these market research presentations including:
  • Stan “The Man” Sthanunathan of Coca-Cola’s moderated panel on the Next Frontier of Research – including Paul McDonald of Google Consumer Surveys (who filled the ballroom to capacity at MRMW), Frederic-Charles Petit of Toluna and Sean Bruich of Facebook;
  • “What’s a Nice Insight Like You Doing in a Concept Like This?” – by Ipsos (Winner of Best Title in my book!); and
  • “The ‘Irrationalisation’ of Surveys” by Jeffrey Henning of Affinnova … great topic.
So, all told, ESOMAR’s Congress 2012 should be thought-provoking.  Please stop by the Research Panel Asia Booth (Booth # 4) if you’re there and say “Hi” as I’m sure we’ll have lots to talk about!