HAPPY NEW YEAR and may you make it Great in 2008! This is our first issue of Pulse in the new year and please note that we will continue to distribute MRIA’s eNewsletter bi weekly and on Mondays (instead of Fridays). Your comments and news items are welcome – write to amgabriel@mria-arim.ca.

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD: CAST YOUR VOTE IN MRIA'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION and NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Make your voice heard in the 2008-09 MRIA National Board election, and help shape the future of your Association! Let's set a record for voter participation in this year's Board election. The elections package will be included in the January 2008 issue of Vue Magazine, or you can download it now by clicking here (PDF).

The 2008-09 Board of Directors will take office on Monday, March 31, the date on which the Association's Annual General Meeting will be held in Toronto. More details to follow.

New Year's Resolution to Stop Procrastinating? Renew Your MRIA Membership TODAY...!

For more information on MRIA Membership dues and fees:
• for Individual members: click here.
• for Corporate members: click here.

The deadline to renew your MRIA membership is January 31, 2008.

If you are associated with a Corporate member of the Association, your Corporate Representative should renew all the Individual members associated with the company.

Please note that until January 31, 2008, Individual members working for a Corporate member of MRIA can benefit from a Group Discount on their Individual membership dues.

You can process your membership transaction in the MRIA Portal.

CONGRATULATIONS to our new Gold Seal Agencies granted in 2007! Gold Seal Certification is a world class mark of distinction. It is earned by Research Agencies through a comprehensive self-assessment, follow-up interview, and sample evidence examination process -- conducted by an independent, third party Reviewer from a major Canadian CA firm – which attests to their being consistently in compliance with MRIA’s rigorous professional standards.

2008 National Conference: “Open Skies, Open Minds” –
Winnipeg May 25 – 28, 2008

Become a sponsor now, as the sky’s the limit at the 2008 MRIA conference! Canada’s premiere Marketing Research Conference attracts 300 to 400 decision makers and marketing research practitioners from research agencies and user organizations. For more information, please download our Sponsorship Prospectus (PDF format).

Call for Presentations - DEADLINE: Jan. 11, 2008: The Conference Planning Committee plans to offer a number of streams with concurrent sessions intended to encourage people to open their minds to new potentials in the industry, which can provide solid research results. For details on the Conference, preferred topics, deadlines, formats, etc. , click here.

Visit www.mria-arim.ca/Conference2008 for Registration information on this exciting, not-to-be-missed event.

Exploding Paradigms: Rethinking Traditional Approaches and Patterns: Upcoming Qualitative Conference, Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at the Granite Club in Toronto.

This year, the QRD sets out to stretch the boundaries of our industry to dig deep into the current challenges that we as, recruiters, research buyers and suppliers, are faced with on an ongoing basis. The goal is not only to expose and discuss these challenges but also to look at them from a different perspective.

• Call for Presenters deadline has been extended to January 11 2008 – more info click here.
• For Sponsorship Info click here.
• More information on this exciting event is available on the Exploding Paradigms website.

VoxPop – Media coverage of the third VoxPop release continues to grow

On December 20, MRIA distributed its third Media Release based on its ongoing VoxPop information campaign – designed to give voice to Canadians and encourage participation in survey research, on behalf of the industry -- this one titled VoxPop Survey on Canadians’ New Year’s Resolutions for 2008. The results were somewhat surprising and requests for radio interviews began almost immediately. Our thanks to the team at Research House for fielding this VoxPop survey on a near pro bono basis.  To view the complete Media Release and resulting media coverage, go to the VoxPop website. Look for the new monthly VoxPop column in Vue.

Vue 2008 – get the coverage your company deserves

Vue has grown rapidly, since the early days of Imprint and we have even bigger ideas for 2008, with special themes (VoxPop, HR and Quebec) and a new editorial team with Stephen Popiel as Editor in Chief and Anne Marie Gabriel as Managing Editor within MRIA. Barb Justason continues as Publications Chair. A warm thanks to the authors, regular columnists and advertisers who contributed to Vue’s success in 2007. We welcome feedback and inquiries from members who wish to contribute or advertise in 2008. FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE.

Will you be Vue’d in 2008?

Ottawa Chapter Speaker's Event - January 24

Join us on January 24, 2008 at 8:00 am at the
Sheraton Hotel, 150 Albert Street, Ottawa for our first Speaker Event of the year, entitled, Simple Practitioner-Oriented Tests for Multiple Response Survey Data with Roland Thomas, Ph.D., Sprott School of Business, Carleton University. Breakfast included. For more information, please visit the Ottawa Chapter website.

B2B 2008 Learning Series Event:
Look What We Did With Our Research!

The Duke of Kent Pub
Monday, January 21 @6:00PM
2315 Yonge Street, 2nd Floor

Do you remember the episode of M*A*S*H in which somebody sends Hawkeye and BJ a hot new mystery novel with the last page missing, and they spend the rest of the show going crazy trying to figure out “Who dunnit”? Research Agency people often feel like that. They do the research, but they never find out what (if anything) happens as a result of it. Join us to hear a presentation by Ted Flewwelling of I.R.P. Industrial Rubber and Bob Inglis of Technalysis as they “spill the beans” on how I.R.P. used some fascinating research about industrial hose and belting – for more info click here.

Admission charges: $10.00 +GST for MRIA members, $15.00 +GST for non-members, pre-registered only, not at the door.

BBM Canada, in partnership with the Broadcast Research Council (BRC), NADbank, and premier sponsor Lang Michener LLP, is pleased to host the Staying Tuned 2008 Annual Conference on February 5, 2008. As Canada's pre-eminent electronic media research conference, Staying Tuned brings together many of the world's leading media measurement thinkers and researchers. The conference is attended by 250-300 specialists to hear from a panel of international experts speaking on the latest audience measurement theories, practices and ideas. This year, the conference will focus on the latest theories, practices and ideas surrounding audience measurement. For more information on this event or to register, please click here.

ESOMAR World Congress 2008 - FRONTIERS
Montreal, September 22-25, 2008

The world is transforming. Each new day presents unexplored terrain and uncharted frontiers. Venturing into these new spaces can be daunting but with knowledge, creativity and experimentation the opportunities for growth are vast.

Congress 2008 wants to challenge the status quo, inviting you to think beyond the here and now, focusing your attention on everything that is cutting edge, innovative, creative, and ‘business unusual’. Click here for more info.

63rd AAPOR (American Association for Public Opinion Research) conference, May 15-18, 2008
The conference will bring together almost a thousand of the country's leading public opinion research scientists to discuss and analyze the latest research on public opinion and survey methodology, theory, and results. This year's conference is being held in the fascinating City of New Orleans.

Registration begins February 1, 2008. For details, visit the AAPOR website.

Mark your Calendars
BBM 2008 Staying Tuned Conference in Toronto - February 5, 2008
Qualitative Conference in Toronto - February 22, 2008
MRIA Annual General Meeting in Toronto - March 31, 2008
AAPOR 63rd Conference in New Orleans – May 15-18, 2008
MRIA National Conference in Winnipeg - May 25 - 28, 2008
ESOMAR Congress 2008 in Montreal – Sept 22-25 2008