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MRA Conference Moved to Vegas
The MRA has announced that the new venue for its Fall Conference is the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas Resort, Spa and Casino. The Conference was due to be held in New Orleans, devastated by Hurricane Katrina this week. Also today, the Association has launched a new membership section for End-Users of research.
The Association said it had received official word from the Hyatt in the stricken city to say that they could not honor any group contracts at this time; but that it had been 'working diligently behind the scenes to prepare for this scenario'.
The Conference features keynote speakers and session leaders from American Airlines, Market Dynamics and Dow Corning, and is taking place from 1st to 3rd of November. Education sessions, held on all three days, center around topics including Qualitative, Business Strategies, IMRO Online, Quantitative and International/Multicultural.
The Conference will also feature the first-ever End User Education Track, following the MRA's unveiling today of a new membership section, designed to address the specific needs of End Users (buyers of research). The section has been in development over the past two years, with input from End user forums.
The End User Education Track will include three round-table discussions moderated by a marketing research expert to provide End users a secure forum in which to share effective ways to utilize research and discuss industry challenges with their colleagues.
The End User membership section will also offer online access to MRA's team of advisors for research related questions, an End User Office University for distance learning (coming soon), an End User Forum (coming soon), and updates on regulatory and legal issues affecting the profession.
Executive Director Larry Brownell says there has 'never been a better time for end users to get involved with MRA, and we're eager for new members to play a role in shaping future programs based on their needs'.
On Wednesday the MRA launched the Researcher-to-Researcher Relief Assistance Blog for researchers to provide help and support for colleagues based in the region and severely affected by the storm. The blog already has around 100 messages including expressions of support, specific offers of help and notes from those affected, and can be found at www.mra-net.org/rrBlog.cfm . The Association is online at www.mra-net.org
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