Greetings and happy new year to all our SoCal MRA friends. We hope you all had a joyous and prosperous holiday.

We’ve had a sleepy start to the year and have now picked up full steam heading into March, kicked off by our Joint Conference Chapter Event in Las Vegas, March 3 – 5. We’re putting it on with the Northwest and Southwest Chapters of the Marketing Research Association. Receive an early bird rate by registering before February 1st, at the Southwest Chapter website.

Our final event of the year was the Annual Holiday Party held in December at the Sofitel Hotel in West Hollywood.  It was a wonderful evening filled with good conversation, great food and dancing.  A special thank you goes out to the Board Committee that dedicated a lot of time to put together a wonderful event…including the massive leather-boxed tequila centerpieces that were given away throughout the evening.  Congratulations to Ed Sugar who received the 2008 “Research Pillar” award for his outstanding dedication to the field of market research both as a businessman and MRA volunteer. 

Tobin Bailey, Irene Gustaitis, Lee Nizani & Jerome Bettis