President’s Letter February 2025
President’s Letter: The Best in the Business
We are counting down the days until our 2025 Hall of Fame celebration on July 25 and have some exciting news. First, we changed locations: We will celebrate this year’s MRC Hall of Fame Awards at Arno’s Ristorante, a well-established fine-dining Italian restaurant frequented by agency, publishing, brand, and market research decision-makers. This midtown venue is convenient to Penn Station, Grand Central Station, and most mass transit lines. You can buy tickets or a private table here.
Second, we are thrilled to announce that OvationMR is the Diamond Sponsor for this year’s celebration. OvationMR is a global leader in B2B and B2C insights. Jim Whaley, MRC member and CEO of OvationMR, said, “Ovation wishes to stand with a long list of others who recognize the value of building and strengthening our market research community, and recognizing these leaders fosters that shared sense of pride within the community, bringing us together and encouraging collaboration that leads to a better future.” Contact Rosemarie Sharpe or Susan Hogan for additional sponsorship opportunities.
Finally, the ballot is now set for our 2025 Hall of Fame and will be in your inbox tomorrow morning! All active and lifetime MRC members are eligible to vote. Please check your inbox beginning tomorrow and be sure to vote by 5:00 PM Eastern on February 18.
We are grateful to our members for your vibrant contributions to our industry and look forward to raising a glass on July 25 to the best in the business!
FEBRUARY VIRTUAL EVENT
Navigating Research Challenges and Opportunities: Insights from Leading Brands
How do brands make sense of the fast-changing research landscape, including GPT, synthetic data, online survey fraud, and an ever-evolving media environment? We’ve invited a panel of MRC members and insights executives from CPG, media, pharmaceutical, and insurance brands to tell us how they lead the way.
Learn more at https://mrcouncil.org/event/navigating-research-challenges-and-opportunities/ or RSVP to info@mrcouncil.org.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Happy Hour Gathering in NYC
Members and friends of the MRC gathered for a Festivus-themed happy hour in January. Tim Hoskins and Brett Townsend of Quester led our “airing of grievances” by outlining arguments from their new book, Insights on the Brink. Tim and Brett challenged insights professionals to go beyond presenting findings and to posture ourselves as management consultancies, offering strong advice for how brands can act on research findings.
We are grateful to MRC member and Sago CEO Steve Schlesinger for hosting us and we look forward to holding another NYC-based happy hour in Q2.
WELCOMING NEW MEMBERS
We’ve recently welcomed several new members to the MRC, including Gina Pingitore, PhD, veteran of Meta, NPD, and JD Power; Michael Mermelstein, partner at Nichols Research; Dan Quirk, MRC Change Maker honoree and owner at Quirk’s Media; and Rasto Ivanic, CEO at GroupSolver. We congratulate and welcome these exceptional new MRC members.
We invite you to shape the future of insights and innovation by nominating exceptional individuals to join the Market Research Council. To nominate, simply complete this brief form (only 5 minutes!) for prompt review by the Membership Experience Committee.
