Edward Appleton
A few days ago I was invited to be a speaker at the annual conference of Febelmar, one of the two Belgium market research societies. The invitation came via ESOMAR, who jointly hosted the event, so I was honoured and curious.
Febelmar didn’t mean an awful lot to me, other than as the pendant organisation to the guys at BAQMaR, whose conference I had attended. Again as a speaker, in Ghent in December 2013; I knew only a few of the organisers from Social Media.
The event exceeded my admittedly vague expectations, it was very professionally organised, had great speakers, and around 200 people attending.
Rather than giving a detailed MR-analytical take on the day, here are some of the lasting impressions I took away:
1. MR can be fun!
The organisers had invited an extremely polished comedian to the day, Dirk Denoyelle, who summarised and satirised each of the speakers’ after each block session. The guy was brilliant, fast in spotting a humorous line in each of our talks, and translating that into a speedily drafted powerpoint.
It made me nervous as a speaker, true – but this was more than outbalanced by the out-loud laughs I had as part of the audience for the rest of the day. Take out: yes, you can laugh quite a lot at a MR conference!
2. Language Counts…
I was truly impressed by the fact that despite the speakers and attendees being 98% Belgian – only ESOMAR’s David Smith and myself were English speaking guests – the whole event was conducted in English.
Cudos to the organisers. This effectively says: we’re international. It’s something other MR events in larger countries could profit from, it immediately and pragmatically positions the event away from being “local” and obviously encourages attendance from overseas visitors and speakers.
3. High-Class Keynote Speakers make a Big Difference
Febelmar invited Jeff Staes, an author and business consultant, to be the Keynote speaker, and frankly he let rip in an invigorating manner. He was extremely provocative about the changing nature of business, organizational dysfunctionality, and how often and easily large companies conspire to suppress people with genuinely innovative perspectives. He called these change-people “Red Monkeys”.
It’s a speech I won’t forget. It talked General Management issues to an audience of Insight professionals, which is refreshing, because it invites us to think more strategically, and move away from our day-to-day, myopically-endangered analytical focus.
In summary, I would encourage anyone able to attend next year’s event to do so. Brussels is a great town, easy to access, and I can confirm that not only does Belgium have great food, some of Europe’s finest beer and excellent chocolates, it does a nice line in Market Research as well 😉
Curious, as ever, as to other’s views.
Edward Appleton is Senior Manager Consumer Insights, Coca Cola Gmbh
