For most of my career, I had a clear picture of who belonged at industry association events. Salespeople. They worked the room, traded business cards, and came home with leads. The rest of us stayed back at the office and kept the projects moving.
I held onto that view for longer than I’d like to admit.
Over time, and especially as I became more involved with groups like the Insights Association and Intellus Worldwide, I started to see how much those of us on the production side were leaving on the table. The conversations happening at these events touch every part of healthcare market research, and many of them matter most to the people who actually run the studies: the project managers, field directors, and recruiters responsible for market research fieldwork.
What I Got Wrong About Industry Associations
I saw industry associations as a marketplace. Buyers on one side, sellers on the other, and a lot of coffee in between.
Buying and selling happens, sure. But once I started showing up, I found a room full of people working through the same problems my team faced every week. Like feasibility that looked great on paper and fell apart in the field, or fraud that kept getting more sophisticated. Like physicians who were harder to reach every year or incidence rates that seemed to shrink the moment a study launched.
Those are production problems. And the people best equipped to solve them were often the ones least likely to be in the room.
What Field Teams Really Gain from Industry Associations
Field teams gain direct feedback from respondents, a clearer view of client priorities, early insight into quality standards, and relationships that help when market research fieldwork gets difficult. The more involved I became, the more I realized how much of the value lands with the people closest to the work. Here are four examples.
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- You hear directly from respondents. At the Insights Association’s Ignite Healthcare conference, I listened to a panel of physicians describe what frustrates them about participating in research: repetitive qualification questions, long screeners that end in a disqualification, surveys that run well past their advertised length. A salesperson can take that feedback back to the office. But a field director or project manager can actually do something with it.
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- You learn how clients think. Hearing research directors talk openly about their pressures, their timelines, and what keeps them up at night changes how you approach a project. You start anticipating problems earlier and having more honest feasibility conversations.
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- You stay ahead on quality and standards. Discussions about fraud prevention, verification, privacy, and data quality shape the way healthcare market research works. Field staff who are part of those conversations bring that knowledge straight back to their studies.
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- You build relationships that pay off mid-project. When a recruit starts going sideways, it helps to know the person on the other end of the phone. A field director who has met their partners face to face tends to get faster answers and more candid updates.
How Can Field Staff Get More Involved?
Attending a conference is a good start. The real growth came when I started participating.
Join a committee. Volunteer for a local chapter event. Sit in on a webinar and ask a question. Offer to share a lesson your field team learned the hard way. The people who get the most out of industry associations are the ones who contribute to them, and production people have plenty to contribute. You know where studies break, and that perspective is valuable to everyone in the room.
A Note for the People Who Approve the Budget
If you manage a healthcare field team, consider sending your production staff to these events, along with your sales team. The return shows up in better feasibility, stronger partner relationships, smarter questionnaire feedback, and a team that understands the bigger picture of the work they do every day.
It’s an investment in the quality of your healthcare market research as much as in your people.
The Question I’d Ask Field Teams
Looking back, I wish someone had pulled me aside early in my career and told me these rooms were meant for me, too.
So I’ll put the question to anyone working in market research fieldwork, operations, or project management: When was the last time you attended an industry event, and what would you want to learn if you went?
And for those who’ve already gotten involved, I’d love to hear what it’s given you.
Let’s Continue the Conversation
At AOPS, we believe strong healthcare market research starts with the people doing the work behind the scenes. If you’re looking for a recruitment partner with deep field experience and a seat at the industry table, we’d love to talk.
Contact Jerry Arbittier at jerry.arbittier@getaops.com or 917-327-0533, or visit https://getaops.com/ to learn more.