The presenters had a brilliant grasp of their material and were able to communicate it so effectively that we were able to start thinking how it could actually be applied to the work we do.
Everyone agreed on the merits of Observation Research. People were keen to debate how it can add even more value especially to sophisticated clients with a good knowledge of their consumers.
In the session on Post Modernism, we were intrigued to learn that 'qual is a ghost made up of proplasmic signs, brands, texts and discourse symbols'. Well, it was an 'advanced' course!
The Neuropsychology paper made us think how to help consumers recall and articulate the way they behave, think and feel.
The Qualitative Data Mining Session discussed software, still in development, with the potential to help qual researchers organise and even analyse their data.
Myth and Ritual as Commercial Tools was a great session to end on, applying the theory to analysing Bacardi Breezer advertising. I wonder if the creatives behind the work intended 'the cat/the drink to be the symbolic trickster figure capable of transforming us'.
The future? I suggest a seminar on each of the areas we looked at, and exploring in even more detail how we can apply them.
