Hip, Hot, Happening, and New

Cross-posted from The Market Research Event Blog!  

It order for us to not become stagnant in our jobs and careers, or career, it’s incumbent upon us to continue to seek out the new things happening in our industry. There are lots of ways to do that, from reading industry publications, attending regional association events, watching webinars, reading blogs, being active on social media, and yes national conferences like TMRE.

No matter what sector of the industry we’re in, from qualitative face-to-face interviewing to ‘big data’ analysis, it’s always helpful to hear what other folks are doing.  Not to say that for example if you’re a small qualitative shop hat you’re going to jump into the deep end of neuromarketing immediately. But you never know: 

• What your clients may ask (and it’s good to be informed)
• What inspiration you might glean from other companies’ projects
• What new product or service you might learn about that would serve your company well

I know I know, we only have so many hours in the day and there can be absolute information overload. 

So figure out what works for you to stay on top of the ‘hot trends’ in the industry.  

Maybe it’s booking some time for yourself each Friday over lunch to watch a recorded webinar. 

Perhaps you hold on to your industry publications and those become airplane reading. 

It could be setting up a few minutes at the beginning and end of each day to check the #mrx Twitter feed.  

And, of course, it could be spending a few ‘concentrated learning’ days at an industry conference such as #TMRE13. As luck would have it, the savvy #TMRE13 team has created an entire track called “Disruptive Technologies & New Methodologies” so there’s some concentrated learning right there!

Whatever your method, it’s good for you, your job, and your career to keep your finger on the pulse of the industry.