Speakers
We’re excited about the extensive lineup of industry leaders offering their insights into a changing marketing research landscape at this year’s QRCA Annual Conference.
Each speaker brings a unique perspective, providing valuable knowledge on the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in qualitative research.
Labrador Agency
Benjamin T. Allen
"The Business Behind the Breakthroughs: Money Management in Qual Research" Helping practitioners and small agencies manage the financial uncertainties of the market research world. How to find and manage capital, how to build bandwidth, how to weather the storms.
Ebony Marketing Systems
Reggie Alston
"Seeing the Respondent in the Best Light: Mastering Nuances in Qualitative Research" Respondents view their world through nuances of identity and background. This session helps you practice seeing respondents in their best light to add greater depth and value.
Priority Designs
Sara Bodde
"Acting for Insights: Acting exercises to help improve your moderating" This workshop explores how being a research moderator parallels being an actor by relying on trust-building, active listening, narrative guidance, and navigating unpredictable human behavior.
Insightly
Emma Bonilla
"That’s Not an Insight… Or Is It?" This session helps early-career researchers understand what truly counts as an insight through examples and an interactive ad-analysis activity to identify insights that drive strategy and action.
NORC at the University of Chicago
Alex Chew
"Real People, Real data: Fighting Fraud in Qualitative Research Using Probability-Based Panels" This session shows how probability-based panels can strengthen qualitative recruitment by reducing fraud and increasing participant authenticity.
NORC at the University of Chicago
Martha Cowley
"Real People, Real data: Fighting Fraud in Qualitative Research Using Probability-Based Panels" This session shows how probability-based panels can strengthen qualitative recruitment by reducing fraud and increasing participant authenticity.
Carina Crabbe
"Yoga Principles in User Research: Mindfulness, Observation, and Unbiased Insights" This session applies yoga principles to bring more mindfulness and presence to study sessions, along with simple grounding techniques for managing emotional load and long workdays.
ebony marketing systems
Kai Fuentes
"The Business Behind the Breakthroughs: Money Management in Qual Research" Helping practitioners and small agencies manage the financial uncertainties of the market research world. How to find and manage capital, how to build bandwidth, how to weather the storms.
HowSo
Andy Garlikov
"From Duct Tape to Doing it Right: Tech for Solo Quals Who Do It All" A lot of us work solo and subscribe to a lot of different types of technology services. But what tech is essential and ensures we are compliant - this session will cover this and more!
LitBrains-Igniting Ideas!
Pam Goldfarb Liss
"DIY Your Own Projectives: A How-To Create Your Own Workshop" Projective techniques use creative exercises to uncover deeper thoughts and feelings. This session Pam will share her go-to tools and how to create your own.
Athena Brand Wisdom
Jeff Hecker
"Smart Starts: The Art and Science of Qualitative Research Design"
HauckEye
Chris Hauck
"How does competitive context make your research better?" This session shows how adding competitive context through both qual and quant examples, leads to stronger research design and deeper client understanding of their market.
Bird Dog Insights
Martha Hayward
"What is Strategy? A Market Researcher's Guide to Strategy Fundamentals" This session clarifies what strategy is (and isn’t) and offers simple frameworks to connect research to strategic decisions and elevate your impact beyond data collection.
PSB Insights
Ally Johnston
Naomi Henderson Winner "It's Not Me, It's You: Why Consumers Are Breaking Up with Brands"
The Voice of Your Customer
Crystal L. Kendrick
"The Business of Research: How to Market, Prospect, and Partner Like a Pro" This session teaches you how to market your services, build a reliable pipeline, and become a trusted subcontracting partner to grow your reputation and revenue.
On Point Strategies
Tamara Kenworthy
"Quallies Afire: QRCA VIEWS Lights up the Stage with Hot Topics in Market Research"
OvationMR
Claire Kuhn
"Maintaining Human Magic in Digital Workshops" This session shows how to keep virtual workshops human and engaging by preserving spontaneity, empathy, and connection through intentional design and thoughtful use of digital tools.
New Leafe Research
Abby Leafe
"Crack the Pack: An Intro Playbook to Packaging Research" This session reveals how smart methodology and creative exercises uncover the stories behind great, and not-so-great, packaging, offering practical tips and inspiration to find powerful insights.
Responsive Research
Lauren McCluskey
"Talking to a Bot: What Moderators and Participants Really Think About AI Moderation" This case study highlights how AI moderation feels, where it helps or fails, and the practical and ethical insights researchers need to use it without sacrificing empathy or trust.
Susan Newhouse & Associates
Susan Newhouse
"The Bold Spark: Energizing Insights Through Creative Engagement" This high-energy session equips you to become a Creative Catalyst, using bold thinking and imaginative techniques to spark engagement, shift perspectives, and energize collaboration.
CoinJar Insights
Paul Peterson
"The Real Research Problem? Listening to the Wrong People." This session shares a framework for finding engaged, constructively critical customers who can sharpen insights, speed innovation, and deliver stronger strategic value.
PJ Quinn
Laura Quinn
"The Basics of AI in Qualitative Research Preparation and Analysis – Maximizing Gains, Minimizing Risks" This session covers how to use it effectively across design and analysis, with tips, examples, pitfalls to avoid, and guidance on keeping the “qual” in qualitative.
Vatoca
Allison Rak
"Let Them: The Mindset Shift That Could Change How You Do Research" This session explores Mel Robbins’ 'Let Them' theory and other pop-culture concepts to see how they can elevate research and deepen understanding.
Thomas M. Rich & Associates
Tom Rich
"Laddering Up to the Astral Plane What qualitative researchers can learn from psychic cold reading techniques" This session explores key principles and tools used by successful psychics and shows how those practices can meaningfully inform qualitative research.
Saurage Research
Susan Saurage-Altenloh, PhD
"Human-First Insight in an AI World: Future-Proofing the Qualitative Researcher" As generative AI becomes mainstream, this session shows how to balance automation with safeguarding human voice and strategic nuance offering practical examples and tools.
The Candor Company
Jonathan Schneider
"That's a Great Question" This session highlights how well-crafted “regular” questions can reveal emotional drivers, brand perceptions, and usage behaviors; often delivering meaningful insights faster than with projective techniques.
Position for Success Coaching & Consulting
Jennifer Spainhour
“The Insight Starts Within: Using Self-Awareness to Elevate Your Moderating and Analysis” This workshop helps you build self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and intentional mindset practices to strengthen the traits that shape how you show up as a moderator.
US Government Accountability Office
Andrew Stavisky
"Cognitive Interviewing 101"
SSRS
Darby Steiger
"Cognitive Interviewing 101"
Happy Talk Research
Dean Stephens
"Quallies Afire: QRCA VIEWS Lights up the Stage with Hot Topics in Market Research"
NuThinking
Marta Villanueva
Naomi Henderson Winner "It's Not Me, It's You: Why Consumers are Breaking Up with Brands"
KCW Global Research
Kate Watson
"Crack the Pack: An Intro Playbook to Packaging Research" This session reveals how smart methodology and creative exercises uncover the stories behind great, and not-so-great, packaging, offering practical tips and inspiration to find powerful insights.
ContextualY
Allison Wilt
"The Impact of Agentic AI on Corporate America" As Agentic AI enters the workplace, this study explores how it’s reshaping leadership, employee experience, and culture, drawing on interviews with experts, leaders, and employees to reveal what’s changing
Missouri Valley College
Jeffrey H. Witte, PhD
"Old School: Manual Coding and Analysis of Qualitative Data" Qualitative data relies on interpretation, and while software can help, manual coding offers key benefits by keeping researchers closer to the data and giving them greater ownership over their work.
Bureau West: Facilitating Growth
Jay Zaltzman
"Accessing participants’ subconscious minds" One place AI can’t go: people’s subconscious minds. We already know some of the tools to access the subconscious but we can also adapt approaches from hypnosis and NLP.
