July 2005 GMI Newsletter

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GMI expands Latin American presence in Sao Paulo, Brazil

GMI is dramatically expanding its Latin American presence to better serve all of the Americas. Led by Marcio Boiajion, Sales Director, Latin America and Adriana Karr, Director, Sales and Marketing, Latin America, this powerful new group attests to GMI's commitment to operate globally by providing strong regional support.

Offering both operations and service bureau capabilities, the Sao Paulo office in a larger new facility, will now provide localized support for GMI's Latin American client base. This includes many of the largest market research clients in Central and South America such as TNS, InterScience, Ipsos-Group, Vox Populi, Abaco, and Enfoque.

One hour ahead of New York time and staffed by fluent English speakers, Sao Paulo will also provide invaluable support to North America customers who have been previously served by the Bulgarian operational center.

GMI has also significantly expanded its research panel base in this part of the world. Through a new strategic partnership, we have added more than 150,000 panelists across Latin America, with major gains in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina.

Since 1997, Marcio Boiajion has served as the Executive Director ABEP (Associacao Brazileira de Empresas de Pesquisa) where he developed relationships with major market research companies, and created and implemented a database system to easily identify the frequent presence of respondents in discussion groups.

Adriana has extensive experience in Information Technology and developed automation systems executed in approximately 65 advertising companies in Europe and Latin America.

The Sao Paulo office now has a staff of six and will rapidly grow with eight additional staff planned over the next three months.

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Website feedback surveys, free on your site!

How would you like to be able to track why users visit (or leave) your website? Now you can find out:

• If visitors are getting the information they need.
• How to improve the look and feel of your site.
• What people think of the navigation and the content.
• Ways to improve all aspects of your website.

With our 5 question website feedback survey you can improve or update your website and keep consumers engaged by getting direct, immediate and actionable feedback. It's an excellent competitive tool.

GMI offers you the surveys and data free of charge. All we ask is that you allow us to post a link at the end of the survey, with the text: "This survey is powered by GMI."

I would like to set this up on my website.

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New Net-MR ad reveals competitive secrets

How do companies compete globally, conduct thousands of interviews in just days, constantly monitor brand health, and save millions in hardware and software development?

Our new ad doesn't reveal identities, just the secret competitive weapon of top research organizations: Net-MR software.

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Donna Schneider, GMI HR Director, wins Woman of Distinction award

Every two years the Alpha Xi Delta organization honors outstanding alumnae members with their national Woman of Distinction award. The award recognizes those who exhibit excellence and extraordinary leadership both in their profession and in their philanthropic pursuits. Women are nominated by Alpha Xi Delta members, or members of its college chapters, alumnae associations, advisory boards and housing corporations.

Donna Schneider was one of four Alpha Xi Deltas honored at this year's National Convention in Tucson, Arizona, June 29-July 3. She is among just 51 women who have received this award since its inception in 1986.

Donna has more than 25 years of experience in human resources, working for a wide range of rapidly growing companies such as Wizards of the Coast and Zones before joining GMI in 2004. Very active in the human resource community, she served on the board of the Society of Human Resources Management, Seattle Chapter for eight years including three years as President, making school-to-career programs a major initiative. During her presidency, the Chapter was honored with the SHRM Olsten Pinnacle Award, their highest honor. She co-authored an award-winning booklet titled "How to find your First Job," and in 1999 was named Distinguished Member of the Year by the Northwest Human Resource Association of Washington, Oregon, and Alaska for her contributions to her profession, community, and the organization.

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Fresh new content on the GMI Web site

GMI continues to update and refresh the content throughout our website to make sure you have access to the latest information. Take a look at these new pages:

Net-MR Market Research Software suite
Manage and automate market research across the globe with the latest version of Net-MR. From this page you can launch a demo or sign up for a free 30-day account.

Panel Management
Build and manage your own consumer panel with the world's leading Panel Management Software.

Data Collection
Whether you are looking for CATI software, web survey software, or online focus groups, Net-MR offers an integrated and scalable set of data collection tools for reliable quantitative data collection.

Global Panels
One of the world's largest actively managed panels, GMI Global Panels offer a single-vendor solution for the highest integrity sample.

Service Bureau
Staffed by more than 100 professionals located on 5 continents, the GMI Service Bureau operates 24x7x365. Delivering a broad range of high-quality, cost-effective services including survey translation, survey programming, data processing and much more, the Service Bureau is your research outsourcing solution.

GMI Omnibus
Explore trends and compare consumer attitudes with the only online, international Omnibus. It now runs monthly in 20 countries (weekly and in additional countries on a custom basis).

GMI Poll
GMI Poll is a fast, accurate means to gather international opinions about topical issues and critical global events. Real-time results are available electronically in as little as 24 hours. You can also take advantage of the GMI Poll library for a wealth of information- from consumer use of electronics and cell phones to global opinions of government and brand image. Use it with your next new business pitch. It's free to all Net-MR clients.

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Who's New at GMI

Matt Cadby, Director of Operations, Europe
Matt joins GMI from Frost and Sullivan, where he served as Global Data Collection Manager, supervising an international team. He is experienced in managing major, multi-region research projects, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Previous positions include General Manager for General Question, Ltd, Sales Manger for Courier Newspaper Group, and Managing Director for Resolve Computing. He holds a degree from Curtin University of Western Australia, and competes in motor club races for fun.

Sarah Henning, Associate Sales Director, Toronto
Sarah spent the last three years with Novintel, most recently as Senior Analyst, responsible for new client acquisition targets and client consulting seminars across North America. She has also been an Analyst for Forex Technicals Ltd., analyzing financial data to support equity research. She holds a degree from McGill University in Montreal where she was an Economics major.

Teressa Trusty, Associate Director, Business Process Analyst, Seattle
Teressa has five years experience researching, developing, and marketing products. Most recently she served as Mobility Product Manager for Onyx Software where she developed strategy, wrote strategic alliance plans and cultivated key relationships. Previously she was Product Manager, Wireless, for Siebel Systems and Product Manager for Pacific Bell Wireless. She holds a BS from Stanford University, a BS in Computer Science from University of Washington, as well as a Masters in Anthropology from the UW.

Michaela Corning, Project Manager, Seattle
Michaela brings more than eight years of sales and customer relations experience to GMI. Previous positions include Operations Manager for HFZ, and Manager of CAIR-Seattle a national civil rights organization. She was also International Sales Manager for Teltech Communications, selling wireless infrastructure equipment to Latin American and Middle East carriers. She holds an MBA and is fluent in Spanish, English and French, and also reads and writes Arabic.

Matt Samadony, Project Manger, Sydney
Matt joins GMI from Fujitsu Services, Ltd, a multi-national IT firm in Egypt where he held positions of Bid Specialist, Business Developer, and Systems and Applications Tester. Clients included organizations in the government, financial, petroleum, healthcare and retail sectors. He holds a business degree from AAST Alexandria, Egypt, as well as multiple specialized diplomas in e-business, marketing research, and business systems analysis and design. Languages include English and Arabic (Lebanese, Egyptian, and Classic).

Katherine Bollmeier, Project Manger, Minneapolis
As Program Manager for the Center for Business Excellence at the University of St. Thomas, Katie managed and coordinated the education seminars for healthcare and medical technology professionals. She has previously served as Program Coordinator for the University's Center for Health and Medical Affairs. She holds a business degree, and a mini master of project management both from the University of St. Thomas.

Elizabeth Philpot, Inside Sales Representative, Seattle
Fluent in French and English and with a business degree from the American University of Paris, Elizabeth joins GMI from Medallion Imports where she oversaw day-to-day office operations. Previously she served as Marketing and Sales Representative for Pollardwater.com and Assistant Marketer, Customer Service Rep for Flow Products, both in the water treatment and equipment market. She also holds a diploma in Superior Culinary Arts from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

Terri Kalan, Executive Assistant to CEO, Seattle
A proactive problem-solver with excellent project management and organizational skills, Teryl brings years of experience to this position. She has served as Executive Assistant to President and CEO of Nimble Technology (a former Microsoft executive), as well as 13 years as Executive Assistant to the Senior VP of Design and Product Development for Eddie Bauer, international retailer.

Marina Goldiner, Office Manager, Seattle
After spending two years working as a marketing assistant for Prudential Financial and marketing intern for MetLife, Marina spent the spring interning for Sedgwick Rd. developing media plans. She is bilingual in English and Russian with two years study in Spanish. She holds a business degree from the University of Washington.

Charlotte Sim, Business Development Assistance, Seattle
With a business degree from Seattle University, Charlotte has four years of accounts payable experience working for the university. She served as Lead Intern for The Traderbug Network, assisting with sales and marketing, presentations, and web development. She also interned for the China Program of the International Trade Division of the Washington State Dept. of Community Trade and Economic Development (CTED).

Victoria Carlos, Associate Director, Panel Services, Vancouver
After more than 13 years with Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) Trends, one of the world's leading market information groups, Victoria moves to GMI. Her accomplishments include responsibility for setting up, building and maintaining TNS Access Panel Database, successfully launching Panel-in-a-Box used for sample selection and panel maintenance, and developing a Project Expense Monitoring System. Positions held include six years as Panel Database Administrator and five years as EDP Assistant, Systems Analyst and Programmer. She holds a Computer Science degree and is fluent in English and Tagalog.

Michel Pelegrin, Associate Director of Sales, France
Previously a GMI reseller, Michel comes to GMI from SOFT2YOU in Montrouge as Director of Development and Project Manager. There he was responsible for marketing integrated e-business solutions to large and mid-size corporations including enterprise network restructure and outsourcing, and business process automation. He is also the founding partner of TEAMEX in Gentilly, developing intranet portal software aimed at companies with 500-5000 employees. Previously he spent 13 years with Computerland, France, the last four as Director of Operations.

Seth Bradley, Data Center Director, Seattle
Through his distinguished 23-year career, Seth has proven his exceptional capacity to implement cutting-edge technology and lead teams to top performance. His background includes 15 years with Intel Corporation, spending two years as IT Mountain West Region Manager, and five years as PMD Engineering Computing Site Manager where he achieved "highest customer satisfaction rating of any Engineering Computing organization within Intel, worldwide." He has received numerous technical awards and commendations and holds degrees in both Electronic Engineering and Computer Information Systems.

Cynthia Phimmasone, Project Manager, Minneapolis
A 2005 graduate of the College of Saint Catherine in Minneapolis, Cynthia studied abroad in London, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Shanghai. She also completed an Internship for the Diversity and Democracy Project for the Bush Grant and Multicultural Education Office of her college. Work experience includes Office Manager and program Coordinator for the TMCA Camp Induhapi in Minnesota.

Yuko Watanabe, AP Accountant, Seattle
A native of Japan, Yuko recently completed her business degree from the University of Washington with a concentration in Accounting and Finance. She has worked for both Sankyo Corporation and Asahi Corporation in Tokyo and is a CPA candidate who is now qualified to take her CPA exam in Washington state.

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Net-MR Tip of the Month

Did you know?

Have you ever read about an innovative survey technique that you wanted to try, but weren't sure how to implement it? Chances are, we've already programmed it into Net-MR.

Net-MR Tip #2: GMI's Net-MR gives you the ability to show your respondents REAL-TIME RESULTS as they take your survey! Respondents can access any question within the survey, as well as any pre-defined respondent attribute information.

Real-time results are defined by the administrator and can include tables, charts, pie/line/bar graphs, as well as 2-D and 3-D cross-tabulations.

Watch a short demo of Net-MR's real-time results by going to http://globaltestmarket.com/survey/s.phtml?sn=32532&lang=E.

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Best Practices

Caution: global forces at work - Gigatrends are shaping the use of online research

Authored by Mitch Eggers, PhD
GMI Chief Operating Officer and Demographer

Powerful market and technological forces are fueling unprecedented demand for online, global market research. In the relentless drive towards "cheaper, better, faster" communication technology, that demand will not abate anytime soon, according to our own Mitch Eggers, author of a featured article in Quirks, July/August issue and reprinted here with permission. The day has finally arrived when we can apply the best of the old tried and trusted market research disciplines to the new opportunities offered by Internet-now the world's most powerful listening device. John Deere and Apple Computer offer notable examples. More...

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