21 June 2019, Friday, 12noon, Singapore.

After about 2 months of discussion and planning, today is the day it finally happened!

It comes from common question from clients: “Are they (panel members) real?

Then there is the constant discussion about data quality from Online methodology.

So, the idea was born: putting faces to the faceless!

Weeks back, we started inviting some of our Singapore Panel Members to visit our office, Crimson House Singapore, for lunch – chit chat session.

Several signed up and the mission is a go!

This morning, we were excited with some degree of apprehension that none will turn up, but Valerie and Guo Xiang came!

· Valerie, who worked as a PA, had been participating surveys from Rakuten Insight for 2 years.

· Guo Xiang, a Financial Analyst, is still with us after 5 years!

What we learnt from the ‘horse mouths’ earlier was:

· Participating survey is one way to kill time
· Preference of shorter survey, 10-15 mins max, even if it has lesser reward allocations
· Mobile app plays a big part on the participation frequency
· Are put off by surveys which screen them out after 10mins
· Will be disappointed to know survey had expired after 1-2 days when they are available to participate

It is fascinating, isn’t it? That a panel member can be ‘put off’ and disappointed.

We were and realized:

· Research is not about data only, it is about the people
· Research is not about methodology only, it is about the people
· Research is not about project cost only, it is about the people
· Research is not about fieldwork period only, it is about the people
· Research is not about analysis only, it is about the people

With our mission statement being: < Empower individuals and society, by turning clients' ideas and efforts to have a meaningful impact on people's lives >, we hope to impress upon you the importance in appreciating the core of research.

People.