Monday, February 2
12:00 pm - Cultural Event (optional ticketed event)
Those who purchase a ticket will meet in the hotel lobby at 12:00 pm.
1:00 pm - Registration desk open for badge pick up
4:00 pm - Leadership Meeting & Reception
5:00 pm - First Timers Welcome Meeting
New to QRCA? Join our First Timer Welcome Session for a warm welcome and information session.
6:00 pm - Early Arrivals Dinner (walking distance)
Many attendees arrive the night before the conference. In recognition of this, we are organizing an Early Arrivals Dinner for a first-look meet-and-greet opportunity within walking distance of the conference venue. The setting is fun and casual as we unwind from our travels and prepare for the days ahead. Our conference veterans recommend this event as a wonderful way to step into the QRCA conference experience.
Tuesday, February 3
7:00 am - Healthy Connections - Zumba
Ditch the workout and join the party! Fuse hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow moves to create a high-energy, calorie-blasting, total-body dance-based workout!
8:00 am - Marketplace & Registration Open + Breakfast
9:00 am - Conference Welcome & Keynote
- Sonny Melendez
10:00 am - Sponsor Spotlights
10:45 am - Marketplace Break
11:15 am - First Timers Networking & Roundtables Breakouts
12:15 pm - Lunch
1:30 pm - Workshops
- Sara Bodde - "Acting for Insights: Acting exercises to help improve your moderating"
- Emma Bonilla - "That’s Not an Insight… Or Is It?"
- Jonathan Schneider - Qual Core: "That's A Great Question"
- Jen Spainhour - “The Insight Starts Within: Using Self-Awareness to Elevate Your Moderating and Analysis”
- Jay Zaltzman - "Accessing participants’ subconscious minds"
3:00 pm - Breakout Sessions
- Qual Core: Abby Leafe & Kate Watson - "Crack the Pack: An Intro Playbook to Packaging Research"
- Tech: Susan Saurage-Altenloh, PhD - "Human-First Insight in an AI World: Future-Proofing the Qualitative Researcher"
- Tools: Susan Newhouse - "The Bold Spark: Energizing Insights Through Creative Engagement"
- Moderating: Reginald Alston - "Seeing the Respondent in the Best Light: Mastering Nuances in Qualitative Research"
- Analysis: Jeffrey H. Witte, PhD - "Old School: Manual Coding and Analysis of Qualitative Data"
4:15 pm - Breakout Sessions
- Tech: Andy Garlikov - "From Duct Tape to Doing it Right: Tech for Solo Quals Who Do It All"
- Qual Core: Laura Quinn - "The Basics of AI in Qualitative Research Preparation and Analysis – Maximizing Gains, Minimizing Risks"
- Tools/Method: Martha Cowley and Alex Chew - "Real People, Real data: Fighting Fraud in Qualitative Research Using Probability-Based Panels"
- Naomi Henderson Winner: Marta Villanueva & Ally Johnston - "It's Not Me, It's You: Why Consumers are Breaking Up with Brands"
- CRIC: Andrew Stavisky & Darby Steiger - "Cognitive Interviewing 101"
5:00 pm - Marketplace Social
6:30 pm - Dinner Dine Arounds
Wednesday, February 4
7:00 am - Healthy Connections
Yoga - Led by Simon Salt
Local Walk - Led by Cher Chislett of Insight Culture
8:00 am - Marketplace & Registration Open
9:15 am - QRCA VIEWS
Tamara Kenworthy & Dean Stephens - "Quallies Afire: QRCA VIEWS Lights up the Stage with Hot Topics in Market Research"
10:00 am - Sponsor Spotlights
10:30 am - Marketplace Break
11:00 am - Workshops
- Carina Crabbe - "Yoga Principles in User Research: Mindfulness, Observation, and Unbiased Insights"
- Claire Kuhn - "Maintaining Human Magic in Digital Workshops"
- Qual Core: Pam Goldfarb Liss - "DIY Your Own Projectives: A How-To Create Your Own Workshop"
- Allison Rak - "Let Them: The Mindset Shift That Could Change How You Do Research"
12:15 pm - Lunch
1:15 pm - Breakout Sessions
- Analysis: Chris Hauck - "How does competitive context make your research better?"
- Biz Dev: Benjamin Allen and Kai Fuentes - "The Business Behind the Breakthroughs: Money Management in Qual Research"
- Tools: Tom Rich - "Laddering Up to the Astral Plane. What qualitative researchers can learn from psychic cold reading techniques"
- Tech: Lauren McCluskey - “Talking to a Bot: What Moderators and Participants Really Think About AI Moderation”
- Qual Core: Martha Hayward - "What is Strategy? A Market Researcher's Guide to Strategy Fundamentals"
2:00 pm - Roundtables (Small Groups)
3:15 pm - Breakout Sessions
- Analysis: Paul Peterson - "The Real Research Problem? Listening to the Wrong People."
- Biz Dev: Crystal Kendrick - "The Business of Research: How to Market, Prospect, and Partner Like a Pro"
- Tech: Allison Wilt - "The Impact of Agentic AI on Corporate America"
- Qual Core: Jeff Hecker - "Smart Starts: The Art and Science of Qualitative Research Design"
- TBD: Chris Kann