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Insights Industry News
September 12, 2014
Some locations make conferences better, and Nice (in the south of France, just a few miles from Monaco and Italy) is one such location.
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By Ray Poynter
Some locations make conferences better, and Nice (in the south of France, just a few miles from Monaco and Italy) is one such location. The ESOMAR Congress had the advantages of good weather, the friendliness of the people in Nice, great restaurants in the town, a good agenda, a great exhibition, and over 1000 delegates from over 70 countries.
The key takeaway, for me, from ESOMAR Congress was optimism and a lack of angst. This year there was none of the woes and worries that have been common in recent years. There were no widespread wails on the topics of DIY, management consultants, Big Data, lack of relevance, sampling problems, and economic decline.
The main thrust of the papers and presentations was “look at what we can do”:
One of the key features of Congress was the emphasis placed on new talent, including the expanded role of the students, the young researchers, the talent competition, and the soap box sessions. One of the stand out sessions was a keynote from 14 year old Jordan Casey who is the CEO of two start-ups, in the tech space.
For me the best moments included:
From a personal point of view, one of the highlights was the launch of our new book “The Handbook of Mobile Market Research”; followed by two sessions of book signing.
Of course, not everything was perfect, there were rumblings about the food (or lack thereof) at the dinner on the Tuesday night, the air conditioning for the AGM seemed to break down, making the attendees emerge looking like they had been in a sauna, and the soap box was perhaps in the wrong place. But when you put on a show as big as Congress, running from Sunday to Wednesday, with that many moving parts, there are going to be some challenges.
Next year ESOMAR Congress is going to be in Dublin. Dublin is a great location for Congress because a) people love going there, and b) it is small enough to create a real buzz (two advantages it shares with Nice). If you have a big story to tell, a project that has delivered value, or a great example of learning from failure, then Dublin will be a great place to tell that story.
Didier Truchot addresses a packed meeting room at ESOMAR Congress
Disclaimer
The views, opinions, data, and methodologies expressed above are those of the contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official policies, positions, or beliefs of Greenbook.
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