IPSOS in-person event?

Anyone going to this? Just saw the email. Hopefully someone on the forums goes to this and gives us some feedback/impressions.

Register Today
Talking Shop with iShopFor Ipsos takes place September 24th from 10AM-4PM @ 933 Lee St. SE, Suite B1, Atlanta, GA 30310. We have two registration packages: General & VIP.

General Admission includes access to all 11 sessions during our full day workshop. Complimentary lunch and snacks will also be provided.

VIP Admission
In addition to access to all 11 sessions and complimentary lunch & snacks, VIP attendees will be invited to an intimate reception on Friday, September 23rd. More details to come, but this will be a chance for you to connect with the iShopFor Ipsos team and 25 other VIP mystery shopper attendees over snacks and a good time before our learning sesh the next day.

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More Discussions About Ipsos Mystery Shopping (All Companies)

I’m considering it. I have a bazillion airline miles and points to use up. Looking at flights that leave Friday afternoon and return Saturday night.

I know what they mean by "intimate" but I wonder if someone will come with the wrong impressions/assumptions. :-)

So the basic fee is, what, $35? Who was it that said, "Never pay a company for mystery shopping information?" Oh, yeah, EVERYBODY!!! So they've found yet another way to suck money out of us. All long-term shoppers should be invited for free, as a thank you. They could, and probably will, write it off. Instead we are invited to pay them. I am disgusted right now. I would not give them a single cent.

@sestrahelena wrote:

So the basic fee is, what, $35? Who was it that said, "Never pay a company for mystery shopping information?" Oh, yeah, EVERYBODY!!! So they've found yet another way to suck money out of us. All long-term shoppers should be invited for free, as a thank you. They could, and probably will, write it off. Instead we are invited to pay them. I am disgusted right now. I would not give them a single cent.

I hear what you’re saying, but $60 for the VIP reception is a tax write off for ME (and you), too. And I made $800+ from IPSOS last week in bonused shops. I run hot and cold on IPSOS, but I like the way their money folds in my wallet, know what I mean?

I can understand @sestrahelena point about paying...but should they really give you FREE lunch and snacks? I'm guessing if they are willing to host this event, it won't be a total suckfest. The cost is really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. ColoKate63 might improve their shopper standing and build worthwhile relationships with Ipsos. There are plenty of threads and complaints about Ipsos on this forum, but we can see how much of a beast they are with the clients they have. They practically control all of the oil industry shops. They have several national bank clients.

ColoKate63 could charge people $5 for a word doc writeup of things they learned from the event. So if ColoKate63 sold 20 presentations, they would actually be ahead.

I think if they did this out here in SoCal, I would probably attend.

A few thoughts on this event:

1. IPSOS is a $2 billion international corporation. Unfortunately, I am sure that they will be serving us cheap beer, wine, and snacks at the VIP “intimate” gathering. And Panda Express for lunch -? Come ON, PE isn’t Michelin rated; it’s carb-loaded, greasy, faux Asian cafeteria- style food. You can tell exactly what they think of their ICs and what we are worth by what we are getting served. (I bet they will have some of the pens and vests there for us too, lololol.)

2. The $35/$60 is just to nail down attendees and get an accurate headcount for the venues on Friday and Saturday. It probably covers the cost of the venue and maybe travel for a few of the IPSOS employees who will be dragged down to talk to us.

3. My cynical math: the whole event is roughly 8 hours long, if I do the Friday night cocktail party. For $60, that’s $7.50 an hour I’m paying to network and make a few connections. I’ll probably come away with a handful of emails or LinkedIn connections that will be worth it going forward. That’s very inexpensive for a business networking event. Since I can fly and stay on my points, it’s basically a free weekend. Hopefully the Braves or the Falcons are at home, and I can catch a game.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2022 11:58AM by ColoKate63.

Hi ColoKate63,

I checked for you.
Falcons are AT seattle that weekend
Braves are AT Philly that weekend
Georgia Bulldogs ARE HOME!!!
Georgia Tech Yellowjackets are AT Central Florida

Bulldogs are good (SEC football) and about 1 hour away from Atlanta

I remember in 1998, a group of us went to Arizona to the new Bank One Ballpark (AZ dbacks) and also went to home opener for Arizona Cardinals, and also an ASU Sun Devils game. It was a sports weekend for us.

@ColoKate63 wrote:

IPSOS is a $2 billion international corporation. Unfortunately, I am sure that they will be serving us cheap beer, wine, and snacks at the VIP “intimate” gathering. And Panda Express for lunch -? Come ON, PE isn’t Michelin rated; it’s carb-loaded, greasy, faux Asian cafeteria- style food. You can tell exactly what they think of their ICs and what we are worth by what we are getting served. I bet they will have some of the pens and vests there for us too, lol.

The $35/$60 is just to nail down attendees and get an accurate headcount for the venues on Friday and Saturday. It probably covers the cost of the venue and maybe travel for a few of the IPSOS employees who will be dragged down to talk to us.

My cynical math: the whole event is roughly 8 hours long, if I do the Friday night cocktail party. For $60, that’s $7.50 an hour I’m paying to network and make a few connections. I’ll probably come away with a handful of emails or LinkedIn connections that will be worth it going forward. That’s very inexpensive for a business networking event. Since I can fly and stay on my points, it’s basically a free weekend. Hopefully the Braves or the Falcons are at home, and I can catch a game.

I used to help organize events for non-profit organizations and also for the company I worked for. Advertising something as free meant that we would get tons of sign-ups. Anyone who thought, "Why not, it is free. Maybe I will go," signed up. If it was raining, they didn't come. If they bumped their toe, they didn't come. No excuse was too small to cause them not to go.

For the non-profit groups, we solved the problem by requiring a reservation and saying that it would cost $10 at the door, and no-shows would be billed. We rarely had any no-shows, down from dozens out of 200 local members. We never charged a penny at the door (we had money from our share of national dues). The threat was enough!

At work, we had a different approach. We required them to apply to attend and they needed a letter of support from their supervisor. The number of no-shows went to zero. We accepted everyone who applied and copied their supervisor.

I suspect that IPSOS has learned the hard way that if they hold a free event, the number of no-shows is unmanageable.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

I won't spend the money necessary for travel to attend. Even if it was in my home town, I don't think it would be a good idea for me to go. I could see myself going on a tirade about all of the things they do to mistreat shoppers. Their aggressive, manipulative, and dishonest tactics to attempt to lower shop fees would be front and center in my speech.

How about holding a protest outside the venue? I'm kinda lazy, though.

If I were an IPSOS competitor, I’d definitely sign up for this event and do a bit of corporate espionage. With all the planned sessions, it certainly appears like they are going to give a complete walkthrough of the majority of the profitable programs in their MS division.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

Hi ColoKate63,

I checked for you.
Falcons are AT seattle that weekend
Braves are AT Philly that weekend
Georgia Bulldogs ARE HOME!!!
Georgia Tech Yellowjackets are AT Central Florida

Bulldogs are good (SEC football) and about 1 hour away from Atlanta

I remember in 1998, a group of us went to Arizona to the new Bank One Ballpark (AZ dbacks) and also went to home opener for Arizona Cardinals, and also an ASU Sun Devils game. It was a sports weekend for us.

Thanks for looking it up! But…

Dang it, the Georgia football game is at noon on Saturday, right during the IPSOS seminar. I love a good college game, very bummed that there’s no sports in ATL that weekend!

I'm thinking about going. I do alot of the retail electronic audits and would be interested in finding others that do them. They also have a couple of the breakout sessions for that. I LOVE Panda Express.

Katie states--........it certainly appears like they are going to give a complete walkthrough of the majority of the profitable programs in their MS division.

Bob inquires--Profitable for whom?

I have a friend in Athens, GA. I've been threatening to visit her for years, LOL.

But I'm afraid Atlanta is just too big a city for me -- I wouldn't know my way around, I can no longer read street signs, and I get nervous in traffic. Maybe I could find a shuttle of some type directly to the hotel.....

panda express lol... it's tasty, but you're not doing yourself any favors eating it. you're probably much better off going to mcdonalds.

Maybe they should offer this free to the premium shoppers who were lucky enough to get a vest. Or maybe they could return the vest in exchange for admission.

Wear your vest to the event and get a discount!

@wrosie wrote:

Maybe they should offer this free to the premium shoppers who were lucky enough to get a vest. Or maybe they could return the vest in exchange for admission.

What? I assumed the basic was free and the VIP had a charge. That’s crazy.

@sestrahelena wrote:

So the basic fee is, what, $35? Who was it that said, "Never pay a company for mystery shopping information?" Oh, yeah, EVERYBODY!!! So they've found yet another way to suck money out of us. All long-term shoppers should be invited for free, as a thank you. They could, and probably will, write it off. Instead we are invited to pay them. I am disgusted right now. I would not give them a single cent.

Go to an in-person IPSOS meeting where they beg us to do more work for less pay. No thanks. I have to floss my pet piranha's teeth.

Yep I signed up and am looking forward to it. I live in Minnesota and am driving to it. Plan on doing some shops and audits on the way there. My wife is flying down Friday night with free air fare she has to use up. Are there any good places to see some live music on Saturday night?

That’s true, though as someone who has also organized a lot of events for nonprofits, there is always a formula to use for how many “yeses” actually attend.
But my main gripe is at the figure they’re charging. $35? When this event is to benefit them? This isn’t an industry conference, this is one company looking to recruit new shoppers who will work for less than current shoppers will and to build relationships with current shoppers so we’ll feel more likely to do a shop for less as a favor. Also to train shoppers on various projects so we’ll take less scheduler time in the future.
So a $10 or $15 fee, just so yeses will be more likely to attend, is much more reasonable. If they end up using any of their clients for meals or other services, then they are building goodwill with their clients as well, not to mention that they’d get a group discount on the price of the meals or services.
.
I don’t see this email. Was it sent to all shoppers or only their favored shoppers? Can anyone tell me the subject of the email so I can search again? Thanks!

@myst4au wrote:

I used to help organize events for non-profit organizations and also for the company I worked for. Advertising something as free meant that we would get tons of sign-ups. Anyone who thought, "Why not, it is free. Maybe I will go," signed up. If it was raining, they didn't come. If they bumped their toe, they didn't come. No excuse was too small to cause them not to go.

For the non-profit groups, we solved the problem by requiring a reservation and saying that it would cost $10 at the door, and no-shows would be billed. We rarely had any no-shows, down from dozens out of 200 local members. We never charged a penny at the door (we had money from our share of national dues). The threat was enough!

At work, we had a different approach. We required them to apply to attend and they needed a letter of support from their supervisor. The number of no-shows went to zero. We accepted everyone who applied and copied their supervisor.

I suspect that IPSOS has learned the hard way that if they hold a free event, the number of no-shows is unmanageable.

I doubt it. Those of us who have done hundreds of shops for them, should not have to pay IMO.

What was the subject line of the email? I just want to look for it. Thanks!

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

Anyone going to this? Just saw the email. Hopefully someone on the forums goes to this and gives us some feedback/impressions.

Register Today
Talking Shop with iShopFor Ipsos takes place September 24th from 10AM-4PM @ 933 Lee St. SE, Suite B1, Atlanta, GA 30310. We have two registration packages: General & VIP.

General Admission includes access to all 11 sessions during our full day workshop. Complimentary lunch and snacks will also be provided.

VIP Admission
In addition to access to all 11 sessions and complimentary lunch & snacks, VIP attendees will be invited to an intimate reception on Friday, September 23rd. More details to come, but this will be a chance for you to connect with the iShopFor Ipsos team and 25 other VIP mystery shopper attendees over snacks and a good time before our learning sesh the next day.

I'm waiting to see if they offer a bonus before I figure out if I'll go or not.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2022 09:32PM by wrosie.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha

My email invite said "Let's Talk Shop,shopper name".

It came August 3rd, 10:04 AM PST.

Not sure who they invited.

I understand people NOT wanting to pay, but I also see how setting up this event and expectations, they need to have a good idea of how many will attend. You do not know that they won't refund the money if you actually attend.

I worked for an insurance company for 20 years. They would hold a company event one time every other year. They charged for it. It was a small fee, but this was to ensure people did not just say "yes" and not show.

Some of the events were quite pricey like Disney Hotel ball room with open bar.

Yes some employees would moan that the company made us pay, but I didn't care if I had to pay $20 for me and my wife to go for a night out with a nice dinner and open bar. It gave them a BETTER more accurate head count for an event that could have 1,000 people or more attend.

I would LOVE to be a guest speaker! - I don't think I am on the guest list. lol

Lol

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