global business intelligence

so, last night, i participated in my first market research focus group. this particular group consisted of six 23 year old women meeting to discuss wireless providers. can i just say that i felt completely lost as everyone quickly associated different companies with particular television advertisements. god am i glad i don't watch tv. one mention of the word "verizon" and everyone chanted, as if they were part of a well-rehearsed chorus, "can you hear me now?". after discussing at length what we desire from our particular wireless provider, our complaints, our ideal service, etc, we were asked to describe the personality of each company. for instance, sprint was a male, chauvinistic pig that drove a bmw and lived in an exclusive residential area. he was a leader, but people felt like they could not talk to him on a personal level. to conclude the evening, we viewed several wireless television commercials and then gave feedback. i must admit, i was most entertained by team mobile's catchy 2-3 minutes of airtime.

all in all, it was an interesting way to spend my tuesday night. two hours of harmless conversation about how big companies can better serve me, and i went home with $75 cash in my pocket. so, if you're in the need of some extra cash, this is a painless way to gain it - $37.50/hour ain't that bad. join the database of a market reasearch company near you.