Nuggets from point of impact

Writing a review of a conference a few months after the dust has settled is an interesting exercise, if only to see what rises to the surface. In this instance, I’m talking about the MRS Conference — Impact 2018 — where we were promised ‘innovation, inspiration and integration’. Fortunately I took notes.

Inspiration was definitely provided by a highly memorable session on the first day, titled ‘Breaking boundaries, overcoming taboo and driving meaningful change’. It featured presentations on such diverse topics as deterring viewing of indecent images of children, age neutrality and perceptions of racial discrimination, and proved a crowd puller. Indeed, the speakers and content were so riveting that I persuaded Versiti’s Dr Marie-Claude Gervais to write a piece on the latter for this issue (page 7).

Dazzling keynotes

The keynotes were the other standouts. Virgin Money CEO Jayne-Anne Gadhia proved the least CEO-like executive I’ve ever heard speak, and was surprisingly approachable and commonsensical. Virgin Money is, she says, out to expose unhealthy practices so as to be able to make changes and ‘inspire’ trust. And it’s definitely not a ‘challenger’ bank.

The lunchtime keynote on day one was Julia Hobsbawm, discussing social health in an Age of Overload. She reminded us that social media is not as intimate as speaking to one another and, instead of pressing ‘reply all’, why not pick up the phone to say, “fancy a coffee”?

She drew laughter when she described how, in her household, she had instituted a ‘TechnoShabbat’ which effectively curtailed digital communication until Saturday night and prompted more family interaction and ‘integration’ — MRS living up to its promise again here.

The closing keynote of the day was Ian Hislop, always good value for money, on obfuscation, his relationship with Piers Morgan, reminding us that Donald Trump was the only man who lost money running a casino and to look at where he is now. Not entirely sure there was that much of relevance to market research, but at that stage in the day, who cared?

Day two

Day two, post-Jane Frost’s welcome, came Maggie Aderin-Pocock, a doctor and scientist who had us on the edge of our seats talking astronomy and science. Her rapid-fire delivery and ability to answer the most complicated of questions with equanimity and charm must endear her to audiences of all ages (she frequently tours schools to champion science as a career choice). She was also able to offer personal memories about Stephen Hawking — who passed away that day — which made us feel privileged in a way.