Giving young researchers a public voice to talk about their passion for research, or to outline what the world will look like when they run the market and social research industry, feels very right for the times and for the profession of market and social research.

It is exciting to see confident, talented people talking and shaping our thinking. This is not an easy thing to do and IMHO (i.e. in my humble opinion for anyone like me over 35) we should ensure that young researchers who take risks and put themselves out there should be rewarded - and heralded as heroes to encourage similar behaviour.

Given this month's theme, which is all about researching children and youth, I'd like to illustrate how the Society is making it possible for young researchers to participate in this year's conference.

For the first time, a young researcher has been involved in organising the annual AMSRS national conference, which takes place in Sydney on 1 and 2 October. Duncan Rintoul is co-chair of the conference committee and, alongside Paul Vittles, has led a diverse and energetic committee who have developed the 100 stories theme and designed the program.

The line up of speakers they have attracted and papers they have chosen are some of the most engaging I have ever seen. As well as the main conference program, there will also be a Young Researchers Group (YRG) stream, along with a stream for operations and the inaugural Asia Pacific forum with contributors from Japan, China, Korea and many other research nations.

Judging from the response to the call for papers, young researchers have been particularly keen to be involved in this year's Pecha Kucha session, which was held for the first time at last year's conference in Melbourne. Then, four young researchers took our profession by storm and the Pecha Kucha session was an amazing success. I have no doubt it will be again this year.

All young researchers who present a paper at the conference will be in the running for the George Camakaris Award for the best paper from a young researcher. Last year's winner Emma Hislop has already been invited by international conferences to present her award-winning paper, ‘How do consumers relate to marketing? Research 2.0 in an FMCG perspective', demonstrating that getting involved in the conference is a wonderful way to launch or further develop your career.

If you have not been to a national conference before, there is an opportunity to win a scholarship to attend. The Mike Larbalestier National Conference scholarship opened for entries on 15 May and closes on 26 June. This scholarship allows for a researcher with passion and talent from each state/territory division to attend their first conference. If you are interested be sure to download an application form today from http://tinyurl.com/qyhamc

Finally, in the spirit of this month's theme, Research News commissioned a young designer to create this month's magazine cover. Siobhan Jamieson, who has just turned 18, is a media and design student at Box Hill TAFE. The cover shot, which was conceived, art directed and executed by Siobhan, features her friends and fellow students in the course.  
I hope you enjoy Research News this month and I look forward to seeing you at the Hilton Hotel for our national conference in October.

Peter Harris, national president
Blog: http://aussieresearcher.blogspot.com/

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