ANNOUNCING THE PHILADELPHIA MRA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

The Board of Director is very thrilled to announce the creation of the Philadelphia Chapter of the MRA Scholarship Program. We feel very strongly that it is our responsibility to the industry to encourage interest in market research and to assist in the training and preparation of future market researchers.

The Scholarship portion of this program will consist of a $1000 scholarship and the opportunity to "intern" at local market research companies. At this time, we are in conversations with marketing departments of local universities to determine interest and explore the process requirements of such a scholarship. The plan at this moment is to accept nominations for the scholarship during the Fall semester. The scholarship would be awarded to a senior marketing major for the Spring semester.

The Internship portion of this program is something that we feel is unique to this type of program. We will be asking your help in this effort. We hope to solicit local market research firms to offer a two-week internship opportunity to the recipient. In talking to students and to new "fresh out of school" employees, we found that many wished they had had a chance to better understand all of the possible career paths that market research offers. We hope to give our "student” the opportunity to gain a first hand look at the various activities that make up our industry.

Much is yet to be accomplished to make this program a reality. We could use your help. We will be sending all of you letters explaining the program in more detail and asking if your company is willing to support the intern for two weeks. We are asking for a volunteer(s) to co-ordinate the internship program. We will be asking an attorney to review our plan and be sure that we are in compliance with all statutes and regulations. We plan to have all the i's dotted and t's crossed by this spring.

Please think about how you can help in this exciting effort because without you, this program will not be possible. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call any Board member.