ICG 'Speed Dating' 4
2020-06-03 13:45 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online
Following on from the success of our first three ‘speed dating’ events, we are thrilled to be running a fourth one.
Open to the first 30 ICG members who register, this event has two key purposes;

Get to know other ICG members in virtual ‘rooms’ for 10 minutes at a time. A great opportunity to say hi, put a face to a name, and learn more about each others’ businesses, personalities, likes/dislikes….whatever!
Experience first-hand the online research platform, HT Face, thanks to the generosity of ICG member Arthur Fletcher who co-owns it and is loaning this to us for this event. Note that HT Face offers ICG member a discount when hiring it.

Don’t delay in registering. We usually have a waiting list. First 30 registrants only.
A full set of instructions about how to use the software and how to navigate your way around will be sent to you a couple of days before the event . We will also be sending your room schedule around this time. Have this to hand during the session.
REGISTER HERE

Making It Pop: An Introduction To Data Visualisation
2020-06-04 11:00 - 12:00 | Online – GoToWebinar
ICG member Soti Coker, Data Chronicle, will take us through how to gain a unique edge by presenting your data and insights in a way that gets noticed, remembered and acted upon. You will also learn data visualisation best practises (both quant and qual) and tips to get you started for free.
REGISTER FOR THIS FREE WEBINAR HERE

ICG Bring-Your-Own Meet-Ups
2020-06-09 10:30 - 11:30 | Online
Welcome to the ICG’s Bring -Your -Own Meet-Ups; an opportunity to login at specific times during the working week – every week – and have a chat with other members who also want to chat then. No agenda, no fuss, just a chance to say hi to other members for whatever time you can spare.
We’ve set up the links, you just bring your own drink*
(*we’ve called the links by a different drink depending on the time of day they’re scheduled for, but don’t let that dictate what you actually do :))
Each time slot has 2 possible links. We’ve done this so that if there’s more than a handful of you on at any one time, you can try the next link. We think that 6-7 people in any one session is probably about right.

Choose to join at any – or all – of these slots, on any week that suits you.

Every Tuesday morning, 10.30-11.30am: https://meet.jit.si/ICGBYOcoffee1 OR https://meet.jit.si/ICGBYOcoffee2
Every Thursday afternoon, 4-5pm: https://meet.jit.si/ICGBYOtea1 OR https://meet.jit.si/ICGBYOtea2
Every Thursday evening, 8-9pm: https://meet.jit.si/ICGBYOwine1 OR https://meet.jit.si/ICGBYOwine2

ICG Bingo Night - Knock At The Door, Number 4
2020-06-10 17:00 - 18:00 | Online
Gather all your family members, grab a cuppa and a pen, and join us on Weds 10th June at 5pm for our first online bingo session.
A lighthearted opportunity to bring members together and have a break.
All you need to do is;
1. register here (so that we have an idea of numbers)
2. print out your cards. We’d suggest printing 2 per person
3. click on this zoom link at the time.

With huge thanks to ICG members Deanne and Marc Gold for hosting this

Duck and Dive, Halfway There, Danny La Rue – This event is definitely for you!

Taking Qual Online Using Mobile Ethnography
2020-06-18 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This webinar is generously sponsored by Particity, the faster, easier and more secure way to manage and pay research participants.
Please note that Indeemo are offering all webinar registrants a 20% discount until the end of November 2020. Your contact details will be given to Indeemo unless you opt out here.
Since the start of March, Indeemo has recorded a 100% increase in Brands who urgently need to digitise their approach to Qualitative Research. They are looking for remote, agile, digital solutions to help them quickly do research.
As the majority of these brands do not have the resources in house to run projects, Indeemo predicts strong demand for Qualitative Researchers to run remote studies in Q3 and Q4 this year.
In this webinar Founder & CEO, Eugene Murphy will introduce Mobile Ethnography and explain how you can recruit for, incentivise set up and run asynchronous qual projects remotely. He will also share strategies on how you can pitch this remote service offering to your clients.
This webinar will include a demo of the Indeemo dashboard showing an example of a typical Consumption Diary / Shopper Research study and a UX Journey Mapping project that leverages their Mobile Screen Recording and Journey Mapping capabilities. https://indeemo.com

RECORDING OF THIS WEBINAR IS HERE

Please note that Indeemo are offering all webinar registrants a 25% discount until the end of September 2020. Your contact details will be given to Indeemo unless you opt out here.

ICG Mini-Group Speed Dating
2020-06-24 13:45 - 15:00 | Online
Come and meet other ICG members in small groups, 10 minutes at a time, for our next speed dating event.
We’ve changed the format slightly to now bring together small groups rather than pairs. We hope that this will bring greater dynamism to your conversations and get you in front of more people per session.
Login details will be sent to you by email nearer the time.
This event is open to the first 30 ICG members who register. Don’t delay – these events have been popular in the past.
REGISTER NOW

Upskill: Future-proof your market research career using semiotics
2020-06-25 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This webinar is generously sponsored by Talkback Studios, Nottingham – Celebrating 20 years of supporting the qualitative research industry.
We are delighted to have Dr Rachel Lawes presenting this important webinar.
Marketing is changing. Market research is changing with it: this was true even before the pandemic. Clients think they can do their own research in-house. They are by-passing the traditional interviewer. They are no longer impressed with long market research reports, they want quick answers. If you are a market researcher, especially if you are an independent without the security of a large organisation behind you, this can be very scary. How will you stay relevant and stay in business?
There are some bright aspects to this landscape. The marketing industry has become quite good at collecting ‘things’ (attitude statements, videos of people’s homes, photos of their possessions) direct from consumers using digital tech. But the question arises of what to do with them. Most brand owners don’t have a clue what to do with qualitative data, especially visual materials. What’s more, the ability to have new ideas about marketing strategy is never going to go out of style. Here is where you can solve a problem for the people who used to buy market research and are now doing it themselves.
But wait – where are you going to get this near-magical ability to find original insights in qualitative data that other market researchers can’t see? And how are we suddenly going to become experts on marketing strategy when the entire MR industry has traditionally been focused on discussing consumers rather than businesses? The answer is found in semiotics. It is not just a research method but a quite large set of tools for thinking and generating new ideas. Now, for the first time, there’s a book on semiotics written especially for marketers, which takes you through the entire business cycle of semiotic research, from conception to commercial application. It’s a self-contained course that anyone with a basic grasp of marketing can use to teach themselves and set themselves apart with robust skills. Best of all, there’s no requirement to physically go out and spread coronavirus among consumers.
Are you ready? The book “Using Semiotics in Marketing” will boost and future-proof your career in market research and this webinar, developed exclusively for the ICG, is where your journey begins.
REGISTER TODAY
About Rachel

Dr Rachel Lawes is a social psychologist specializing in the interface between individuals and consumer culture. She has supplied brand strategy and consumer insight, using social psychology, semiotics and discourse analysis, to brands in 20 countries, mainly via Lawes Consulting Ltd (established in 2002). Her academic career started with a PhD from Loughborough University’s internationally renowned Discourse and Rhetoric Group and recent academic positions include that of Principal Lecturer in Marketing at Regent’s University London. For more than 10 years she has convened the Advanced Qualitative Methods Masterclass for the Market Research Society in the UK. Her extensive publishing history includes over 40 conference papers at the annual conferences of the Market Research Society, ESOMAR, IIEX, Qual360, the Social Research Association, QRCA (USA), AQR (UK), ASMRS (Australia), Social Intelligence World and many more. Her writing spans marketing industry trade journals, academic publishing in psychology and market research, and journalism. She is the author of some of the most well-known methods papers and case studies in semiotics, including ‘Demystifying semiotics’ (2002), ‘Futurology through semiotics’ (2009) and ‘Rebranding Charmin’ (2011). She is recognized as one of the original founders of British commercial semiotics and is known for her engaging style and ability to make difficult concepts and theory accessible to non-academic audiences. Rachel is a Certified Member of the Market Research Society.
Rachel’s new book, ‘Using Semiotics in Marketing’ (2020) is the first book to set out a step-by-step course in semiotics for marketers. It is available worldwide from Amazon and Kogan Page.

ICG Webinar: Accelerating your storytelling skills: How to transform research summaries into a captivating narrative
2020-07-09 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This webinar is generously sponsored by Taurho Transcribes
This webinar conducted by Insight Narrator, a specialist in helping insight professionals create evidence-based stories.

The difference between insight and recommendations that stick and spread throughout the client organisation and just another interesting research report that sits on the client server has rarely anything to do with the quality of the work itself, but the quality of how that work is communicated. That is why Insight Narrator are supporting the ICG community by providing this webinar on how to accelerate your storytelling skills.
Storytelling regularly features on the must-have list of skills for research professionals and client wish-lists from their partners. Whilst great visualisation and use of multimedia in your project outputs can add interest and variety to keep your stakeholders engaged, in reality it can be very time consuming to produce – time that we don’t often have if we want to meet our deadlines.
If you want to showcase the brilliance of your insight and grab stakeholder attention immediately, as well as producing the story quickly, you need to put your best story efforts into your executive summary. In this 60 minute webinar Caroline Florence, Founder and Director at Insight Narrator will share her secrets to creating a compelling narrative in your executive summary, provide the anatomy of a great insight story, and share a framework to help you to convert the narrative into engaging copy.

REGISTER FOR THIS FREE WEBINAR HERE

WeSeeThrough: Making The Most Of Your Video Footage
2020-07-23 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This webinar is generously sponsored by Indiefield, delivering great market research fieldwork so that you can use it to deliver everything else.
Learn more about the functionality of platform provider, WeSeeThrough, which enables researchers to easily mark up and manage video footage, as well as from various ICG members who’ve used it. A practical and honest appraisal of this platform.
REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR HERE

Note that WeSeeThrough are offering ICG members £300 worth of tagging to get you started and 50% off your first 3 months. Contact Lucie (ICG) for more info.

NEW AND IMPROVED: Member paired 'speed dating' on Zoom
2020-07-29 10:00 - 11:15 | Online
Introducing our new and improved fifth member speed dating event.
HURRY – WE HAVE SPACES FOR ONLY 30 MEMBERS AT A TIME.
A great opportunity to get to know others.
This event will involve spending around 15 minutes with 4 different members, each randomly assigned to you at the time, in a ‘virtual room’ on Zoom. After the 15 mins is up, you come back to the main room and get allocated your next partner/room. We will conclude the event all together back in the main room.
To join this event, register here

Making The Most Of Interpreters In International Research
2020-08-06 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
All too often in the market research industry, interpreting is an underused and undervalued tool in the market research tool box, being seen as just a bridge to cover the language gap. The process of finding and briefing an interpreters is also often patchy.
It can – and should be – a whole lot more than this. Using the right interpreters in the right way can add significantly to your project.
In this webinar, ICG member Iris Griffiths, a qualitative market research consultant, experienced conference interpreter and translator and a teacher of interpreting and translation modules for universities and courses, will take us through;

how to improve and optimise the quality of the interpreting in international research projects when working with interpreters in-person, remotely or in hybrid situation.
The best way of briefing an interpreter to make sure you make the most of the interpreter as a tool to get more insights for your market research project.
Interpreting from the interpreter’s point of view: what impacts on the quality of the interpreter’s output.

She will also talk about Simultaneous Interpreting (RSI) and the changes in the interpreting industry which can be a benefit or a threat for market research projects. What are the advantages/disadvantages of having an interpreter “live” at a viewing facility vs. working remotely? There are many RSI platforms in the market that will enable researchers to get a bit more control of how they work with interpreters in the project.
REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR HERE

ICG Webinar: Common Mistakes That Researchers Make When It Comes to GDPR
2020-08-20 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This webinar is generously sponsored by Field Sauce, Global Fieldwork Providers.
Kim Smouter-Umans, Head of Public Affairs & Professional Standards at ESOMAR, talks us through his experiences of the common mistakes market researchers make when it comes to GDPR and how they can best navigate it going forwards.

REGISTER FOR THIS FREE WEBINAR HERE

ICG Webinar: Using Behavioural Science To Get Better Insights
2020-09-03 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This webinar is generously sponsored by Made in Studios, an MIS Group brand, offering the most modern and stunning viewing facilities in Birmingham (UK), and across France in Paris, Lyon and Lille.
In this webinar, Phil Barden, MD, DECODE marketing ltd., and author of ‘Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy’ will take us on a whistle-stop tour of the principles of behavioural science and how applying them to the work that we do can help improve the validity of the insights we deliver.
You can expect to hear about…

how an understanding of the way humans process stimulus and information can enhance how we evaluate marketing materials, and advise our clients on how best to convey their messages, their brand values and their assets
how consumer and shopper goals, not their emotions, drive behaviour
how an understanding of System 1 and System 2 processes and roles can enhance the way we understand the roots of brand equity.

REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR HERE

The ICG's Business Ideas Exchange
2020-09-09 10:00 | Online
Presenting the ICG’s second Business Ideas Exchange!
We’re getting together on Zoom on the 9th September 10-11.30am to tackle two perennial issues that affect small businesses.
8-10 ICGers will talk ‘solutions’ with each other using the spirit of collaboration come up with good ideas…
Be part of the solution (and hear new solutions from fellow ICG-ers) on the following two big topics:

Business development: best practice and easy solutions for winning new clients
Time management: procrastination; switching off; balancing the quiet times – should I be enjoying it, should I be doing marketing activity?

We’d like you to do a bit of pre-work before the 9th so we’ll be sending out a pre-task…
Our outputs will be shared amongst all members but please do sign up today to access your place. Only 10 places available.
Looking forward to seeing you on the 9th
REGISTER HERE.

ICG Webinar (Pre-Recorded): TSAPI - Your Questions Needed!
2020-09-14 08:00 - 09:00 | Online
Calling all ICG members to send questions (however challenging) to Matt Gibbs directly, or ICG Manager Lucie (if you prefer to be anonymous to Matt), in order to shape the content of this pre-recorded webinar. Final deadline for questions – Friday 4th Sept. Webinar will be available to view on Monday 14th Sept.
The ICG recently helped launch a new initiative to create an API standard for Transferring Survey data – TSAPI. Since launch ICG members have asked several interesting questions and generally wanted more information about the initiative. The launch video can be viewed here.
The TSAPI initiative is currently in its first consultation period, and Matt Gibbs (ICG member and core TSAPI team) is very keen to include independents and micro businesses in that discussion. Matt will answer any questions ICG members have about TSAPI in an upcoming webinar. Webinar content will be defined by ICG member questions, so please send any queries and ideas you have to Matt or Lucie (if you prefer to stay anonymous to Matt) by Friday 4th September. No matter how general or specific, Matt will consult with the TSAPI team and answer as best he can.
A webinar for everyone – not just for quantitative researchers
This session is not just for quant techies, but should be of interest to everyone. It’s an opportunity for us all understand more about the non-profit initiative, to share our ideas, and discuss how it might influence the future of market researching practice. As Matt says, from coders to clients TSAPI needs your ideas and support. Everybody’s welcome!
The TSAPI initiative was launched globally on the 5th of August, via the Australian National MR Conference, in the UK via the Association for Survey Computing (ASC), the Market Research Society (MRS), Independent Consultants Group (ICG), and Research Live. Then on US time via Quirk’s Media and publicised by MRweb.
About Matt Gibbs

Matt is Managing Director and Founder of Bayes Price – offering data connection, analysis, visualisation and insight to the market research and business intelligence communities.
He is keen to promote innovation and collaboration throughout the industry, not least by participating in, and helping to organise national and international conferences. He’s an ICG member, part of the core TSAPI development team, a full member of the Market Research Society, an active member of The Australian Research Society, and sits as Vice Chair on the committee for the Association for Survey Computing (ASC).
Matt combines a Masters in Sociological Research Methods with over 15 years’ experience in professional Market Research. He enjoys merging established theory with contemporary technique, finding solutions which offer more for less, and is very keen to add to the conversation at any industry event with a good bar. Should that conversation move beyond data and into the realms of music and/or cricket, more’s the pleasure.
Presentation slides/webinar recording will be available here by Monday 14th Sept

ICG's AGM 2020
2020-09-24 10:15 - 10:45
Please join us for this important meeting, where we outline budgets, elect committee members and run through proposals for our forthcoming year.
Login is here:
Thu, Sep 24, 2020 10:15 AM – 10:45 AM (BST)
Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/916893109
You can also dial in using your phone.
United Kingdom: +44 20 3713 5011
Access Code: 916-893-109
More phone numbers:
United States: +1 (571) 317-3116
Australia: +61 2 9091 7603
Austria: +43 7 2081 5337
Belgium: +32 28 93 7002
Brazil: +55 11 4118-4898
Bulgaria: +359 2 906 0606
Canada: +1 (647) 497-9373
Chile: +56 2 3214 9681
Colombia: +57 1 600 9954
Czech Republic: +420 2 96 21 62 28
Denmark: +45 32 72 03 69
Finland: +358 923 17 0556
France: +33 187 210 241
Germany: +49 892 0194 301
Greece: +30 21 0 300 2693
Hungary: +36 1 933 3700
Ireland: +353 15 360 756
Israel: +972 3 376 3071
Italy: +39 0 230 57 81 80
Luxembourg: +352 34 2080 9220
Malaysia: +60 3 7724 4060
Mexico: +52 55 4624 4518
Netherlands: +31 207 941 375
New Zealand: +64 9 913 2226
Norway: +47 21 93 37 37
Panama: +507 308 4337
Peru: +51 1 642 9425
Romania: +40 31 780 1159
South Africa: +27 11 259 4925
Spain: +34 932 75 1230
Sweden: +46 853 527 818
Switzerland: +41 225 4599 60
Turkey: +90 212 900 4812
New to GoToMeeting? Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts: https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/916893109

Below are the draft statements for your perusal.
Financial Statements 2020 (For e-Approval)

Don’t forget to register for our ‘Mindfulness for Researchers’ webinar at 11am, straight afterwards.

ICG Webinar: Mindfulness For Researchers
2020-09-24 11:00 - 12:00
This webinar is generously sponsored by Perspective Research Services
Join us for a one hour workshop to explore the world of mindfulness and how it can support your role as a researcher. Through a mix of theory and practical exercises, the session will cover:

What mindfulness is
How mindfulness can support your wellbeing, creativity and empathy as a researcher
An introduction to meditation
Advice on starting a mindfulness practice

You’ll leave with practical tips to start applying right away and a new understanding of how you can optimise your brain and body for wellbeing and insight.
Your speaker, Sam Toon

Sam was previously Research Director at Trinity McQueen and is now a freelance Research Professional and ICG member. After practicing mindfulness for some time, she trained to teach mindfulness during a career break and set-up her own consultancy teaching mindfulness workshops and courses. She now runs this alongside her research work and enjoys bringing calm to the sometimes hectic world of Insight.
Website: https://www.mindbrilliance.co.uk/

REGISTER FOR THIS FREE WEBINAR HERE

JOIN US FOR 30 MINS BEFORE THIS WEBINAR FOR THE ICG’S AGM TO HEAR MORE ABOUT OUR PLANS FOR OUR FORTHCOMING YEAR.

Using reporting innovations to come out of Covid stronger and with greater profit margins
2020-10-01 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This webinar is generously sponsored by Perspective Research Services
With thanks to E-Tabs for running this webinar.

There is an increasing demand for interactive access to survey results, and many clients are asking for secure and instant visualization of their data online to complement or even replace static reports of their survey results. There are many online dashboard platforms, mostly built for the BI (business intelligence) industry, but these tend to be expensive to deploy and require significant project setup time. We will explore Iris – designed specifically for MR, and ideally suited for making a big impact on results delivery without impacting on budget.
Speaker Bio

Benjamin Rietti is the CEO of E-Tabs. His innovative approach has seen the company provide reporting services and solutions to the MR industry for over 25 years. With over two decades of industry knowledge, Benjamin is a talented entrepreneur who recognises the integral role technology plays in market research. A doting family man, he enjoys spending time with his children and grandchildren, and has a passion for skiing.
ICG Member rates:

ICG Member
Non ICG Member

Monthly
£400 per month
£500 per month

Annually
£3500
£4000

THE RECORDING OF THIS WEBINAR IS HERE

ICG webinar: How To Sweat Your Insight Assets: Get Smarter Without Spending A Lot Of Money
2020-10-15 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This webinar is generously sponsored by Accu-Scribe, for all your transcription needs

We are frequently asked to do more with less. This is especially true in the insights world where our jobs include not only turning information into knowledge but then communicating knowledge to others. One obvious but sometimes overlooked money-saving tactic is “sweating your assets”, i.e., getting as much use as possible out of what you already possess.
ICG member Curtis Arthur, founder of KnowledgeActiv8, will share practical tips for sweating insight assets by using simple, low cost templates and tools. These include:

The advantages of building and maintaining a knowledge system that can be searched, skimmed, and quoted easily by anyone in the organisation
A framework to create a one-page abstract of projects that includes relevant findings as well as links to the source materials and contact details
A What We Know summary which ensures baseline knowledge, shuts down factual misrepresentations, and provides a context for future learnings
A What We Don’t Know summary which identifies knowledge gaps vis-à-vis your customer strategy and allows you to develop and prioritise upcoming projects.

Please join us…
REGISTER FOR THIS FREE WEBINAR HERE.

Understanding and mapping omnichannel user and shopper journeys
2020-10-29 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This webinar is generously sponsored by Perspective Research Services
In the new normal, “online” has rapidly evolved to omnichannel. In this presentation, Eugene Murphy, Founder & CEO of Indeemo will share remote qualitative research strategies on how you can use mobile diary studies to understand, map and quantify user experiences and shopper experiences for omnichannel user and shopper journeys. This webinar will be relevant to anyone in Qualitative Research, UX or CX.
Specifically, Eugene will cover:

Some context on what we’re seeing recently
What you can use Indeemo for i.e. how you can use this presentation to evolve your service offering to their clients
What a typical project timeline / workflow looks like e.g. recruitment, task design etc.
Quick introduction to Indeemo and the capabilities (app and dashboard)
2 sample projects / scenarios.

REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR HERE

Small Steps, Giant Leaps : Applying Principles of Diversity and Inclusion to Our Market Research Work
2020-11-12 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This webinar is kindly sponsored by the MIS Group.
Theo Francis, ICG member and co-founder of Colour of Research (CORe) will take us through the key principles of what we need to be aware of, and best principles for, better inclusion and diversity within our market research work.
Specifically, you’ll cover;

The origin of CORe – Who we are and why it came to be
Key CORe initiatives – What we are doing to bring about more ethnic diversity in the research industry
Breaking down BAME – Why the term is so problematic
Redefining Nat-Rep – Demonstrating the pitfalls of traditional nat-rep sampling
Empathy vs Sympathy – Why the diversity of our research teams matters
Normalizing the conversation – Making race no longer a taboo subject.

REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR HERE

Small Business Ideas Exchange
2020-11-18 10:00 | Online
It’s time for another ICG Small Business Ideas Exchange – an opportunity for 10 ICG members to get together online and discuss some pressing business and professional topics.
Weds 18th November, 10-11am, GoToMeeting.
This time we’ll be focusing on;

How to match your business service to your client’s needs (and how to pivot in response to Covid19)
Which methods/sectors/businesses are ‘winning’ at the moment, and why?

Register for this free event here – first 10 people to register get places.
We will then send out the GoToMeeting login nearer to the time.

ICG In Conversation With Dominic Proctor and Eric Salama
2020-11-26 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This event is gener0usly sponsored by Web Creator Suite
We are thrilled to present our first ‘In Conversation With’ online session with Dominic Proctor, ex-President of Group M, and Eric Salama, ex-CEO of Kantar, about some broad business and research topics relevant to our Covid-19 world.
We invite you to send in your questions beforehand and we’ll endeavour to cover as many of these as possible.
Join us for what promises to be an inspiring, thought-provoking, and interesting session.
REGISTER FOR THIS UNIQUE EVENT HERE
Dominic Proctor

Dominic spent his whole professional career in the advertising and media business , the last 30 years of which he spent running various agencies and groups within WPP.
He retired from WPP in 2017 and has spent the last 4 years consulting to emerging businesses and helping local companies and sport .
He had several leadership roles at WPP including CEO of JWT UK , founder and CEO of Mindshare Worldwide and President of GroupM , the word’s biggest media investment group with 30% market share, £100bn billing and over 30,000 staff in 100 countries.
He is chairman of 2 national charities as well as being a trustee of Tommy’s, a charity he helped launch 28 years ago.
Since 2016 he has been the senior independent director on the board of the RFU and has chaired various board committees.
He lives in Wimbledon near his 4 children and growing list of grandchildren.
Eric Salama

Eric is a global business leader with a track record of transformation.
He is currently the Chairman of Comic Relief, a Senior Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School and a director of Morning Consult.
He has recently stepped down as CEO of Kantar, one of the world’s leading research, insight, data and consulting companies after leading its carve out from WPP and a sale of a majority stake to Bain Capital. During his 18 years as CEO the business grew to over $4bn of revenue, 30k employees, operating in all markets around the world and working with major multinationals and local giants – clients and partners such as Google, Facebook, Alibaba, Globo, BBC, Yilli, ITC, JBS, Coke, Unilever, Loreal, VW, Group M, Omnicom.
Prior to Kantar Eric served on the main board of WPP for almost a decade as the CEO of wpp.com and the Head of Strategy, working as part of the team which built it into the largest marketing services company in the world.
Eric has served as a Trustee of the British Museum, a Director of UK Government Department DFID and a Governor of Birkbeck College London. He has presented extensively around the world in Government and Parliamentary forums, public conferences and client events. He was both a Chairman and a juror at Cannes Lions Festivals of Advertising.
He worked for the Labour Party Front Bench Team on Foreign Affairs 1983-6, was appointed by Tony Blair to the UK Government Creative Industries Task Force in 1997 and served as an advisor to Gordon Brown in his roles as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister from 2000 to 2010.

REGISTER FOR THIS UNIQUE EVENT HERE
Generously sponsored by Web Creator Suite

Celebrating Christmas In A Properly 2020 Way
2020-12-04 12:00 - 14:00 | Online
Join us on Zoom on Friday 4th December, 12-2pm, for a proper 3-part virtual shindig;

Josh Horus, 2019 Finalist of Britain’s Got Talent, will wow us with his magic skills
We open the floor to 6 of our talented members for our own ‘ICG’s Got Talent’ show (prizes available)
Deanne and Marc Gold will entertain us with a short festive quiz

Pre-party festive items, generously sponsored by Prevision and Indiefield, will be, beforehand.
Our magician is generously sponsored by Teneo Translations.
Tickets are £10+VAT each. Any profits made will be donated to the MRBA.
What are you waiting for?
Buy your ticket here (UK members).
Email to reserve your place here (non UK members).
And then immediately send manager@theicg.co.uk your postal address (if UK) for your festive gift.
You’ll need to book by Weds 25th November latest so that you’ll be in time to receive your gift.
And your talent?
If you want to wow us with a short joke/poem/song/special something, let events@theicg.co.uk know. If we’re inundated with talent we’ll pick 6 out of a hat and confirm whether or not it’s your chance to shine by Monday 23 Nov.

Cyber Security For Your Small Business
2020-12-10 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
We are grateful to Marsworth Computing for running this webinar for us, designed to highlight what you need to do to remain 100% cyber secure. A must for any small business owner.

More specifically, the webinar will cover:

Why is cyber security needed?
What can be done with common-sense?
How GDPR relates to cyber security
What to be wary of
What standards to expect when working with large organisations
What is best practice for cyber security?

You have the chance to ask questions at the end.
Our presenter – Junior Murrell, Helpdesk and Customer Liaison Manager, Marsworth Computing

With over 30 years in the IT business looking after corporate and end user interest, Junior has seen first-hand how failure to apply good Cyber Security practices can leave a business exposed and decimate years of hard work. He has been involved in the IT services and helpdesk delivery sector from North America to the EMEA region for two of the largest ‘Blue Chip’ Companies on the planet where he has received customer service awards for his skills.
Marsworth Computing Ltd
The Marsworth Group was started at the end of 1988 and has one office location at The Sunday House, Harrow-on-the-Hill. Marsworth Computing Ltd was incorporated in 1996 and is owned/managed by the director and staff.
Our objective is to provide a high quality computer management and consultancy service to professional firms, commercial companies and schools. Long term relationships lasting over 15 years have been built up with many of our clients, especially in the areas of management and audit of computer systems, the design and implementation of computer strategies and the design and management of on-premise and cloud-based computer networks.
Expansion of the digital world has seen our expansion into provision of CCTV, VOIP phones, Cloud computing and cyber security, the last item demanding higher and higher priority in the corporate spend. The recent publication by the National Cyber Security Centre of their Cyber Essentials standard, has set the benchmark for cyber-aware organisations. This has been followed rapidly by those setting compliance standards for GDPR, cyber insurance and consequently, a higher priority in the digital services provided by Marsworth Computing.

REGISTER FOR THIS FREE WEBINAR HERE

ICG Training: Comfort and Delusion in Perpetuating Racism
2020-12-17 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This session was kindly sponsored by Web Creator Suite and Teneo Translations
THIS SESSION TOOK PLACE IN DECEMBER 2020. A SHORT SUMMARY OF IT IS HERE.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE THE FULL RECORDING OF THE SESSION (£10), CONTACT LUCIE ON MANAGER@THEICG.CO.UK

Chris Arning of Creative Semiotics Ltd and Asif Noorani of Epiphany Productions, will take ICG members through a session to encourage better awareness and empathy when dealing with issues around racism in their work and lives. Chris and Asif are communication professionals who come with a unique background – effectively they are both inside and outside of mainstream white British culture which means that they won’t duck the issues but will come at it with a nuance and sensitivity that transcends the unhelpfully polarised nature of mainstream media discourse.
More tangibly, the uniqueness of the session will the fact they will weave together and share their own experiences, and then ground these in a specialist knowledge of Semiotics and Behavioural Economics, finally opening up the discussion for participants’ own experiences and thoughts.
The session will not just be educational but should lead to commercial benefits that include:

Better, less biased overall decision making by overcoming Comfort and Delusion
Encourage awareness across all aspects of business (clients, colleagues, respondents)
Higher value derived from more collaborative, diverse projects and organisations.
Ensure more inclusive communication that caters to and attracts more diversity
Can lead to the ICG publishing a diversity policy that shows its commitment to this.

Our speakers will be setting out two hypotheses about how racist thinking becomes perpetuated in well-meaning people, each rooted in an area of expertise. The Comfort Hypothesis, rooted in behavioural economics and The Delusion Hypothesis rooted in semiotics. What you’re getting in this session is the distillation of combined 40 years work in each of these areas. The speakers also bring their background and lived experience not only as British People of Colour, but as private school educated insight professionals, and self-employed consultants. Their methodology and approach will be challenging while constructive (not accusatory), conceptual but personal, and above all human, since no panaceas exist for this.
This will be more than just a webinar to raise awareness, awareness is higher than it has ever been. Though there are no easy fixes though we will learn about immediate steps we can take to identify, acknowledge and overcome the empathy gap, address it and start to nudge behaviours.
Above all our speakers look forward to sharing knowledge but also learning from your experiences in and around this still taboo societal issue.
Chris Arning

Chris the son of a Caribbean born mother and Anglo-Irish-German father born in Manchester. Chris is Brit-ish and grew up in London politically black but was raised culturally white, which was confusing and which if he’d been born in another country might have led to the Presidency. In the UK he has had to settle for being a ‘poor man’s Richard Ayoade! Chris writes poetry, does stand-up comedy, runs Creative Semiotics, teaches Contextual Studies and is a member of #HipHopEd. He has conducted semiotic studies on cultural identity for the BBC including for 1Xtra. He recently reviewed #BlackOutTuesday responses for trends house Canvas 8 and has been writing and blogging on race and representation since the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Asif Noorani

Asif Noorani is the son of immigrant Pakistani Muslim parents. Growing up in Manchester, he managed to disappoint everyone by not becoming a doctor. His lived experience of the second-generation culture clash, fed an appetite to embrace the unknown, find patterns of meaning and share stories through film. Asif heads up Epiphany Productions where as a behavioural economist and storyteller he has worked with organisations including NHS, BBC, Home Office, Arts Council, and the Digital Democracy Commission to explore and tackle diversity and inclusion challenges. The burning question in all his work right now is whether after the pandemic and George Floyd’s killing, we will make good on our good intentions?

IR35 : Concerned about your status? What are the solutions? RECORDING
2021-01-06 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This webinar is generously sponsored by Talkback Studio, Nottingham
Following on from the success of her last webinar to us, Liz Norman of Elizabeth Norman International (ENI), will take us through the latest developments in IR35 regulation and outline what this means for us as small businesses.
About IR35
IR35 legislation already exists within the public sector. The government intended it to include the private sector from April 2020 but postponed it because of the pandemic; it’s now scheduled for April the 6th 2021.
Liz Norman ENI, and Tina Holt JT HR Solutions, will talk about what the legislation covers, the changes to the contract market that will result and possible solutions for individual contractors.
As the legislation still isn’t statute there is a very small possibility of further delay, however most think it’s inevitable. The cost to the government of delaying is £1.9 billion a year. So now is the time to think what this means for you and the best way to approach working as a contractor moving forward.
WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE

Liz Norman – ENI

Liz had a short career as a ‘market researcher’, in truth more of a market analyst – there was confusion with job titles even then! Working first for IBM, part of a small market research team, looking at whether IBM should go into the PC market and then for Media Audits (then a competitor of Ebiquity) conducting campaign analysis.
Liz then joined a small marketing recruitment firm, setting up their market research division, before setting up ENI specialising in recruitment across the insight industry in 1989.
Working across a wide variety of clients, including large manufacturers, advertising and media agencies and a variety of research agencies, ENI eventually branched out into international markets with offices in Asia and Australia.
Today ENI’s recruitment is 80% permanent, but the 20% contract and temp market is growing steadily with our longest established contractor working for us continuously now for five years. ENI’s continues to work across a range of clients and countries. We currently have contractors working for Samsung, PepsiCo, Kantar, Relish, Hall and Partners, and 2cv.
A member of APSCO the professional body representing the recruitment industry, Liz has taken their legal advice as well as the advice of individual lawyers on IR35 and its implications.
Tina Holt – JT HR Solutions

Tina Holt of JT HR Solutions Limited is an HR Expert who for 20+ years worked within two major global oil and gas/technical engineering recruitment businesses as a Global HR Director. In 2018 Tina established JT HR Solutions to bring the HR knowledge and expertise gained in a global recruitment business into the SME market. JT HR Solutions work predominantly within the recruitment sector, supporting SME’s who require HR support and guidance with their people strategy as well as their people related issues.

Small Business Ideas Exchange
2021-01-07 10:00 - 23:30 | Online
Presenting the ICG’s third Small Business Ideas Exchange!
We’re getting together on GoToMeeting on Thursday 7th January 10-11.30am to tackle the issue of business planning and goals. Perfect for the very start of a new year.
8-10 ICGers will talk ‘solutions’ with each other using the spirit of collaboration come up with good ideas…
Be part of the solution (and hear new solutions from fellow ICG-ers).
We’d like you to do a bit of pre-work before the 7th so we’ll be sending out a pre-task on the 4th.
Our outputs will be shared amongst all members but please do sign up today to access your place.
Looking forward to seeing you then.
REGISTER YOUR PLACE TODAY – ONLY 10 PLACES AVAILABLE

ICG New(ish) Members: How To Maximise Your ICG Membership
2021-01-12 11:00 - 11:30 | Online
Calling all new (ish) members – say last year or so. Join us for a half-hour virtual meet up to discuss how to maximise your ICG membership, have the chance to ask questions, and give us your ideas for how we can improve. Also a great chance to meet other new members.
Join us here.
We’d be grateful if you could register your interest as well so we have an idea of numbers.

Deliver better, faster, more affordable insights on your terms with QuMind
2021-01-14 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This webinar is generously sponsored by MIS Group
Join this webinar and learn more about how QuMind can help you meet your clients’ needs fast, flexibly and cost-efficiently.

Frustrated with having to deal with multiple suppliers for various tools needed for your research?QuMind’s centralised toolkit allows you to access all your research instruments – surveys, Qual, sample, analytics & insight communities – from one place, leaving you to spend more time on your clients, rather than suppliers.
Too many points of contact across different suppliers? With QuMind you’ll be assigned one point of contact to look after your needs throughout your research journey.
Tired of overcomplicated insight softwares? QuMind was designed to make your life easier, not more difficult, through a user interface that’s intuitive, easy-to-use and easy-to-learn, meaning more time to spend with your clients.
Need a self-serve supplier that doesn’t leave you afloat? QuMind is not just a software provider: Our in-house team of seasoned researchers can help you at every step of the way with guidance & any extra resources you may need.
No time to waste on configuring your survey tools & sample? Save time by sourcing your sample & running your surveys on one automated platform, with no need to worry about compatibility.

QuMind’s agile self-serve insights solution helps ICG members deliver excellent service fast, flexibly & cost-efficiently through a fully scalable toolbox of Quant, Qual, Insight Communities & instant global Sample – as and when you need it. Designed by researchers for researchers, ease-of-use and automation are at the heart of our tools, and the DIY approach means you are always in control of your studies, which translates to faster, better-quality insights for your clients. Do more with less, anytime, anywhere – thanks to our mobile-first technology.
LISTEN TO THE WEBINAR RECORDING HERE
Alan Hargreaves. Co-founder/ Director – QuMind

Alan is an ICG veteran, having been a member in the past for many years under his previous venture called Effective Research (Fieldwork, panel and tech provider). Experience has covered panel, Quant/Qual technologies and research implementation (the full research life cycle). Mainly driven by his own frustrations of using Market Research platforms which often didn’t seem to deliver to his own bespoke market research needs – he was spurred on to create QuMind. His aim, to centralise a set of Quant/Qual tools into one platform that actually talked to each other! Whilst at the same time, giving the user the power to take back control of their research by doing more with less.
Katja Ahola. Sales Manager – QuMind

Katja is a business development & partnership professional with a strong background of working with small businesses in the fields of travel technology, tourism & hospitality e-commerce, before entering the world of market research at QuMind. Her responsibility at QuMind is to collaborate with new & prospective clients to understand their specific insight needs and provide a cost & time effective research solution customised to their requirements.
REGISTER FOR THIS FREE WEBINAR HERE
