To date Kath Harris and Paul Vittles in Leeds, Jan Gibson in Manchester, Barrie Hawker in Stockport and Helen Cotterell in Gloucester have not yet met but they assure In Brief that they will shortly.

"When we chatted over the phone, we all discovered we had at least one thing in common," says Hawker. "We'd make a note of the AQR events in London but then never get down to them."

He points to the ability of the Marketing Society to put on well-attended events in the regions by virtue of the topic and the speakers. "I am sure that the same people who go to these would come to an AQR event if it was good enough and well-publicised," he adds. It would need non-members to attend because there would probably be too few regional members to make a go of it currently.

The main sticking point is exactly how to split the country, whether to impose a North/South divide and, if so, from where. Answers on a postcard please, or send an email to: barrie@parklaneresearch.fs.net.co.uk with suggestions or offers of help.