MRS Conference: Question Time

For those readers who are neither insomniacs nor business travels who find themselves tuning in to the BBC in far flung hotel rooms, Stephen Sackur did need some introduction... DRNO's Teresa Lynch does the honours.

Sackur presents BBC World's 'Hard Talk': a genuinely hard hitting interview programme which is broadcast in the UK at 4.30 in the morning. Perhaps mindful that they are keeping him up, he shows no lenience to corrupt African dictators or officious European bureaucrats - and he took a similarly rigorous approach to chairing Research 2010's Question Time.

The panel were: Peter Duffy of Audi, Michelle Harrison of TNS-BMRB and Chair of the IIPS, Peter Mouncey, Editor of the IJMR and James Turner of FreshMinds.

Sackur had done his homework and launched straight into the topic of social networking's encroachment on conventional market research's turf. The panellists fell fairly neatly into their expected roles until their agreement about the continuing need for conventional research skills drew a cry of 'Rubbish' from the back of the hall. Sackur was probably the only person in the room who couldn't identify Ray Poynter of The Future Place by his voice alone and after Ray went on to explain that in his opinion in 20 years time there would be no such thing as a commercial market research survey, Sackur asked him who he worked for. 'Anyone who will pay me', Poynter replied - we're not sure that's true but it was very spontaneous. He went on to make a remark about the industry using 'crap surveys' with which Peter Mouncey wholeheartedly agreed.

Ray's intervention was as much excitement as this one could take and the remainder of the discussion, which inevitably also touched on political polling, proceeded at a more sedate pace.

The question time format worked very well and it may have earned itself a reprise for next year. Now, if we could have got Sir Martin Sorrell... Sadly, he was already booked for the real thing.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.