The Insights Association is pleased to announce that the North Central Chapter has been named Chapter of the Year for 2022. Leaders from the Chapter received the award during a dinner celebration at IA’s Annual Conference in Hilton Head, SC, on April 25.

“Our Chapters play a key role in fulfilling the core tenets of the IA mission – connecting their local members as they inform and inspire them to excel in the profession,” commented Melanie Courtright, CEO of the Insights Association. “We appreciate their considerable efforts and applaud the North Central Chapter for their outstanding efforts this year.”

Added Alice Butler, Senior Vice President at M/A/R/C Research and IA Board Secretary and IA Chapter Committee Chair, “The North Central Chapter approached the IA Chapter reorganization in 2022 with enthusiasm and passion as their Board embraced the new territory and larger member base. They didn’t delay in providing content, learning opportunities, and communication to the members of the newly formed Chapter, which was a merger of the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest Chapters.”

In their first board meeting of 2022, The North Central Chapter established goals and created an operations plan to meet them. Specifically, the Chapter was chosen for this Award based on the following accomplishments in 2022:

• Hosted 10 in-person educational and networking events across five metro areas: Cincinnati, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, and Minneapolis. 
• Managed a multi-day Fall Conference in Chicago that featured presenters from a diverse range of industries discussing new and innovative ways of conducting research.
• Hosted two virtual events.
• Their Professionals Committee connected with local universities to launch a first-ever Market Research Student Competition where groups of students from Northern Kentucky University and Michigan State University conducted a research project and presented findings to the Chapter Board. The winning team from NKU received an award of $2,000.
• Their Diversity and Inclusion Committee awarded their first DEI Champion Award.
• Awarded two $500 Professional Development Awards – one to a young professional and another to a student – to grow their research skills and knowledge.

“The strong foundation and enthusiasm developed last year are flowing into 2023,” observed Charlene Darko, IA’s Director, Chapters & Councils. “North Central is planning to expand events this year to three new metro areas: Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Louisville. We’re very excited for the members in the region moving forward and appreciate the hard work of all the volunteers and Chapter leadership.”