Cris Tarrant, CEO of the BDRC Group, and Piers Lee, Senior Consultant at BDRC Asia, will both be presenting at Global Market Research's Bangkok Event on 24th February 2012. Cris's paper, 'Optimizing the Customer Experience by Using Longitudinal Research Panels', explores BDRC Continental's experience of helping service organisations sharpen their customer experience.  Also included is a series of powerful case studies from some of the UK's largest financial services businesses.

Piers will be on a panel with Sukit Tanskul (Thailand) and Ricky Xie (China) discussing how to re-energise and expand your business through innovative new product development techniques.

For more information, contact Cris Tarrant or Piers Lee.

Our Culture, Leisure and Tourism team sponsored the Tourism Society's Prospects 2012 event on 25th January 2012.  Steve Mills and Jon Young attended the event where a panel of experts representing different sectors of the tourism industry discussed the trends and forecasts for tourism in 2012 and beyond.

For more information on Prospects 2012, visit the event webpage or contact Steve Mills 020 7400 0381.

On 26th January 2012, Dave Chilvers and Tim Barber presented at the Online Research Methods Conference.  The pair's paper, entitled 'From offline to online: Retaining quality while transferring an established survey', explored the key concerns and inhibitors to using an online methodology, and how to counter them to deliver high-quality, cost-effective results.  They also compared online and offline results and discussed the need to establish a robust analysis procedure to take into account methodological differences.

If you would like more information on the event, contact Dave Chilvers, 020 7490 9111, or Tim Barber, 020 7490 9121. Alternatively, read the event's online programme.

Max Clapham presented at the inaugural Taste of the Nation event on Thursday 24^th November 2011, at the Deloitte Academy London.

In partnership with Deloitte, BDRC Continental has launched Taste of the Nation, a consumer going out survey which explores the trends we believe will shape the future of the industry. At this event, Max discussed the survey findings, looking at the trends and patterns of consumers’ going out habits across all the different types of outlets including coffee shops, pubs, restaurants and clubs.

The session concluded with a panel debate to discuss the findings in more detail, looking at the implications for the market in general and how operators can react to the changing environment.

To discuss the report, or to find out how you can get hold of brand-specific information, contact Max Clapham 020 7400 0385 or Jon Young 0207 400 1010.

James Myring and Max Willey attended the Games for Brands Conference in London on 27th October 2011.  The conference looked in to how brands can better engage with their customers through gaming, a specific area of expertise for our Media & Tech team.  In February, the team presented a paper at the MRG - in-game advertising flourishing through the downturn - and James recently wrote an article on in-game advertising for MrWeb.

For more information, please contact James Myring 020 7490 9129 or Max Willey 020 7490 9168.

On 20th October 2011, James Myring attended the Westminster eForum, where was an active speaker in the discussion which considered encouraging behavioural change and discouraging copyright infringement. The roundtable debated questions such as: what approaches can the industry take to encourage indivduals to source their entertainment legally? Do practices by content‐makers, such as cinematic release windows and gaps between US and UK television transmission, encourage file‐sharing? How can content owners strengthen their ability to enforce their rights internationally?

If you would like to find out more about this discussion, read the BBC's article 'Whatever happened to the Digital Economy Act?' or contact James Myring (020 7400 9129).

Our Culture, Tourism and Leisure Team sponsored VAC 2011 on 13^th October 2011. VAC brings together leading figures in attractions to share their expertise. Alan Love will present an early peek at results from the latest ALVA Quality Benchmark Research, joining a panel of expert speakers on current market performance.  We also be showcased our latest research ideas at BDRC Continental’s stand in the exhibition area. Alan co-wrote the chapter on benchmarking research in the 2010-2011 Attractions Management Handbook, which you can have a look at here.

This year, Alan presented the paper Money Can't Buy Me Love. For more details, contact Alan Love, 020 7400 0380.

Mark attended the conference on 13^th October 2011. Last year he chaired the event, at which companies were able to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing them, receiving input from leading research professionals and the sector's most innovative brands.

You can order copies of the presentations from the event web page.

Add Mark Long's contact details to your address book.