Anil Gaba to speak at this year's Leaders' Forum

The 2010 Leaders' Forum, as always, allows members to meet in a relaxed atmosphere. It is a rare opportunity to network, learn the latest on issues affecting the direction of our industry, provide input on important policy matters and set the agenda for the next 12 months.

Hobart is the venue for the Forum this year, from 18-19 March. The venue is the Henry Jones Art Hotel, an award-winning hotel, standing on the waterfront in Hobart. The old jam factory and a row of warehouses have been transformed into Australia's only dedicated art hotel, displaying a fascinating mix of old and new.

AMSRO is delighted to welcome as keynote speaker this year Anil Gaba, the ORPAR Chaired Professor of Risk Management and Dean of Faculty at INSEAD, France and Singapore. He is a highly entertaining speaker and co-author of a book entitled Dance with chance about modelling risk and the ability to assess risk and uncertainty, a topic affecting our businesses and personal lives.

As one reviewer wrote about Dance with chance: ‘While luck plays a huge role in our lives, our goal should be to increase the likelihood of making wiser decisions about the future. Here is a brilliant guide to doing just that!'

In a slight departure from the usual format, AMSRO members will be invited to submit topics, questions and issues to form the basis of a plenary session about the direction and management of AMSRO. This is designed to provide members - even those unable to attend - with the opportunity to raise issues not already in the program.

As always, an outstanding dinner is planned for Thursday evening at the Design Gallery in the Henry Jones Hotel.

After the Forum, lunch is organised at the highly praised Meadowbank Winery, in the Barrel Room overlooking the Coal River valley.

Golfers can enjoy the view during a round of golf at the Royal Hobart Golf Club, Tasmania's premier golf club, located at Seven Mile Beach.

Visit www.amsro.com.au for more details.

Quality assurance

ISO 26362 published in Australia
The standard ISO 26362 for online and offline panels was published in December 2009 in Australia. AMSRO is organising a workshop for members seeking certification to this new standard. The workshop will be held in Sydney and Melbourne in March 2010 and will run by Cruse Partnership, the AMSRO QA manager.

A training session for internal auditors for ISO 20252 will also be held in Sydney and Melbourne in March.

More details on both workshops are available from the Secretariat.

QSOAP changes
As a result of the publication of ISO 26362, various changes have been made to the QSOAP standard for online panels developed by AMSRO.
On the recommendation of the quality committee, no new applications for QSOAP will be accepted.

QSOAP Gold Standard (formerly Best Practice) will be retained and will be available as an additional certification for companies with online panels. It will be managed through a third party audit process.

More details are available from www.amsro.com.au

ISO 20252 certification
The following AMSRO members have recently gained certification to ISO 20252:
• Piazza Research
• Instinct and Reason
• Direction First
• GA Research

Professional development for supervisors
AMSRO's new one-day workshop entitled ‘Leadership skills for supervisors' is being held in Sydney on 17 and 18 March and in Melbourne on 24 and 25 March. The workshop is being repeated on consecutive days in each city to allow members to send all their supervisors.
With a host of new challenges and responsibilities to tackle, new supervisors need training like never before. Learning how to supervise and manage employees on a trial and error basis can often lead to conflict within the workplace, de-motivation of staff and sub-standard work performance, ultimately affecting output.

This one-day workshop is for supervisors and middle managers working in operations within the Australian market and social research industry.

The course is designed to help participants overcome many of the supervisory problems they encounter in managing staff and making decisions relating to project management, the achievement of objectives (KPIs) and overall job performance.

Specific learning objectives include:

• Clarifying the scope, nature and responsibilities of the supervisor and middle manager's role, as their position specifically relates to managing personnel within the market and social research industry.
• Recognising the responsibilities you have as a supervisor, to yourself, to your team, and to your company.
• Learning techniques to plan & prioritize more effectively.
• Obtaining an understanding of the regulatory issues impacting on employers today.
• How to manage projects effectively, while ensuring quality standards are maintained.
• How to be an effective leader.
  

Further information is available from the Secretariat.

New members

Welcome to the following new members of AMSRO:

• Piazza Research represented by Grant Piazza
• Hall and Partners represented by Louise McCann
• Australia Online Research represented by Brian Fine
  

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