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 65^th 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!

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