Previous Blogs:

• Coming Soon!
  December 07, 2009

• Wisdom of Crowds
  January 13, 2010

• Using Twitter to Further My Market Research Learning
  January 20, 2010

• Take Control of Your Global Online Sample
  January 27, 2010

• Success Strategies
  February 16, 2010

• Baby Steps
  February 22, 2010

• Vox Populi: A Case of When It Isn’t
  February 24, 2010

• Votes & Quotes
  March 03, 2010

• Up in the Air About Low Incident Studies
  February 03, 2010

• What Not to Expect When Conducting International Surveys
  January 05, 2010

• This Business Isn’t Fun Anymore
  January 06, 2010

• The Carnival and the Amusement Park: A Tale of Two MROCs
  February 11, 2010

• The Extra Mile
  February 04, 2010

• A New Twist on Garbage in, Garbage Out, or if it has Graphs, it has Got to be Good
  February 17, 2010

March 10, 2010

Market Research Community – Not Another Post About MROC's

By Melissa Pepper, PRC

I was sitting on a plane last week, checking in with different social networks, when I read Linda Brazel's Facebook post that her husband Jim had passed away. So there I was on Southwest Flight #1007 tearing up, thinking about Linda and how we had become good friends through MRA. How we were unlikely friends - our politics on opposite ends of the spectrum, Linda with all her ducks in a row and me barely even knowing how many ducks I have. But working together with the rest of the Southwest Chapter board was all it took for us to recognize each others’ talents and find that we enjoyed each others' company. And Linda's husband, Jim, well he was one of those market research spouses you loved to see tagging along to conferences. He was an industry ambassador by marriage, always happy to meet new folks and encourage them in their efforts. My thoughts then carried me through the host of friends I've made in our market research community and how much richer my life is because of them.

As much as MROC's are one of the next best hopes for our industry, market research community (associations and, now, online groups) has been and will continue to be a key to a healthy, thriving industry and healthy, thriving market researchers. I encourage you to volunteer for your associations, join some of the online groups, and start to reach out and make friends. You will learn not just about our business, but about being a leader, about being an innovator, about being effective in the social networking and media arenas, and you'll make lifelong friends.

Have you become friends with someone you've met on Twitter or LinkedIn? How about friends you've made at conferences or through volunteering? Share your stories in the comments section.

Melissa Pepper, PRC is the CSO of Tammadge Market Research, Inc.