Rena Shaw, representing the Marketing team of the MSPA board,  asked some of the new Conference attendees what their opinion of the conference was (good and bad!). It was great to approach people from all over the world to see how they felt about the few days they spent in the Algarve.

The feedback was insightful, positive and helpful, and we are grateful to the below for taking the time to respond. Here are some of their comments;

Sabine Kohlbauer, from  langl & partner og in Austria said; My first MSPA conference was an inspiring experience ... The programme was arranged with care and dealt with important up to date topics. Several interesting discussions with awesome people from around the world about trends and challenges in the industry left a permanent impression and will certainly contribute to new creative ways of project realisation and collaborating. All expectations exceeded!

Tomohiro Tsuzuki of AJIS Research in Japan said that it was a good opportunity to have many meetings with partners and potential partners, and thought that the best thing was the last "Official DINNER Event ".

Paul-Emile KAKOU of Spirit Trusted Insights, Ivory Coast and Cameroon said that  ‘The conference exceeded my expectations. The organization was perfect. 10/10 …I will come back again for the next 20 years’.

When asked if he would return in the future, Christian Künert, GfK Germany said ‘Definitely! It would be a missed opportunity not participating!... I have several highlights, such as Chris Brindley’s session, knowing, which colour I am, having lovely discussions at moonlight with a stunning view over the sea and lots more… the worst thing was: it was way too short!’ 

Niamh McCarron, Pan Research, Ireland commented ‘I really enjoyed the content -  the quality of speakers and the topics were excellent. The topics were relevant and presented in a clear and informative way.  The hotel/conference facilities were great – we were very well looked after. It was really good to meet other mystery shopping providers, and to find out more about how they run their programmes. It is a great way to get feedback and new ideas, and to make connections which will hopefully lead to new/expanded business’.

Jo Ebhomenye of MTI Nigeria gained most from ‘the Conference papers such as Chris Brindley’s "Opportunity is Nowhere" or Opportunity is Now here" and Thomas Mundia’s "Doing Business in Africa: Why colors Matter"’
 
David Butruille of Qualimetrie, France  felt that attending the conference was definitely worthwhile, ‘especially for the networking and thinking outside the box part. I also enjoyed the social time’. He believed that the best things were ‘Organisation, location, value for money, Riccardo’s conference on the automotive industry and Thomas’ conference on everyone’s colour - fantastic energy and insights.’ David suggested things which could be improved, such as some sessions which could be more in depth and more neutral (i.e. not presented by a member of MSPA)