Rhea Fox, head of marketing for general insurance at Aviva, will chair the More than a numbers game: Reimagining how data and research can work together panel debate. The session will aim to help businesses understand where to focus on skills and organisational structures to enable data and research to work in partnership and deliver accelerated insight. 

 In Gen Zs assemble!, conference attendees will hear from researchers at the start of their career. They will consider the ways in which future research might adapt to accommodate the ever-changing and shape-shifting younger generations.

To reflect the changes in society that the pandemic has wrought over the last two years, the MRS has decided on the theme of ‘reinvention’ for the 2022 edition of its annual conference.

Hybrid working is one example of how Covid-19 has transformed the world of business, making it tricky to maintain relationships with customers. In his session, Keeping close, though far away: How to strengthen client relationships, Daniel Wain, founder of Daniel Wain Consulting, will provide tips on how to cultivate and develop a network of contacts and communicate effectively in a virtual environment.

One of the major challenges faced by today’s employers is that of upholding diversity and inclusion principles in the workplace. The session chaired by Andrew Cannon,  executive director of the Global Research Business Network, entitled DEI: Building a better, fairer and bolder insight business will address this. It will look at what the global insight business is doing to ensure that it operates in the fairest and most representative way possible.

Keynote interviews at the conference offer attendees a glimpse into the minds of those who are shaping the future of the business world. James Timpson OBE, chief executive of  the Timpson Group, is one of these. In this interview session he will outline his vision for “a culture based on trust and kindness” and elaborate on how to achieve it via initiatives such as an employee benefits scheme and mental health support.

Another of the keynote interview sessions will let delegates hear from past and present MRS presidents: incoming president Saj Arshad will be interviewed by Jan Gooding, who will finish her tenure as president at the end of March.

Impact 2022 will run online from 16-17 March. To find out more and to book tickets click here; discounts for block bookings are available. Contact sarah.marchant-heatley@mrs.org.uk for further information.