This September Environics Research had the privilege of hosting the 2017 IRIS Conference at our downtown Toronto office with great success. Not only did this give us the chance to show off our newly updated office space, but it gave our entire team a chance to really appreciate the spirit of diverse view points that being a part of the IRIS Network provides.

By kicking things off on a Thursday evening with a cocktail reception, we were able to invite our entire staff to share a drink and chat with our visiting partners, and we couldn’t have been more excited with the results.

While the benefits of being a part of the IRIS Networks are fully understood and often espoused by the senior management who participate actively in the network and see first hand the advantages it brings, this year, our staff were able to experience for themselves the diverse range of ideas and insights a world-wide network like IRIS brings.

With 35 Conference participants from 14 different countries on 5 different continents, our entire company got the chance to exchange their ideas on a range of topics in a fun and relaxed setting that really got everyone excited for the coming days of the conference.

Over the following Friday and Saturday, we got the chance to share some of the uniquely Canadians research insights we’ve collected on topics ranging from emerging healthcare trends to recreational marijuana legalization. Moreover, we were able to bring in a client panel that included representatives from TD Bank, the Toronto Transit Commission and Google Canada, to share their thoughts on the future of research from a client consumption perspective.

We, of course, were also treated to insights from conference participants across the globe including topics such as voter analytics in the USA, the use of CGI in research in the UK, rural farming mindsets in India along with many more. On top of the partner presentations, we were able to participate in several smaller breakout round table discussions on topics such as qualitative research methodologies and behavioral change modeling.

We topped the conference off with a fun filled trip to Niagara Falls for the whole conference to get the chance to relax and reflect on the wealth of insights shared over the weekend.

Without a doubt, the conference was a great success that gave us the chance to show off our offices, our employees, and the diverse city Toronto that we live in. We hope that our participants enjoyed the experience as much as we enjoyed hosting them and can’t wait for the next conference to start sharing some our latest research ideas and innovations.