As I approach the two decade mark of my career I'm excited to add founder to my title. When you work for another organization, regardless of how great they are, you have to look to others to tell you what the company stands for and why what you're doing is important. When you start your own business those answers can only come from you. The Research Design House is built on four key themes. I've always been an explorer, someone who seeks answers to even the most trivial of questions. Answers can lend themselves to exaggeration without being grounded in scientific method. Science is fundamental, however, even the most reliable methodologies have no value if the answers they produce don't inspire change. For inspiration, I've always turned to art and storytelling. The best art, fashion, books, articles, TV shows and experiences are the ones that we can't wait to share with others. Sometimes a one page infographic can accomplish more than a forty page report. I want to elevate research through great design and insights that will be told and retold throughout your organization. We embody exploration, science, artistry and storytelling. I'd love to hear your story and that of your organization. Feel free to drop me an email (david@theresearchdesignhouse.com) or LinkedIn message. If you are in the Halifax area I also move my office to Lion & Bright on Agricola from 2 pm - 5 pm on the first and second Wednesday of each month.

It's an exciting time to be in the research business. Data driven decision making has never been more prominent or fast paced, but data is more than just numbers. To inspire your organization the data needs to tell a compelling story. The story is that of your customers and what drives their thoughts and feelings. It's a complicated story to tell - making it relatable to your organization is part of the art. After more than a decade on client side I've decided to re-enter the consulting space. As the Director of Insights and Innovation at Thinkwell my goal is simple to articulate if challenging to achieve. Through technology, data and story-telling I will help my customers make the decisions they need to make to achieve their objectives.

As the Director of National Research I had the opportunity to work with an amazing and driven team of marketing professionals and leaders. While the projects I worked on are too numerous to mention the journey is worthy of reflection. During my time with the organization, Eastlink has moved well beyond its cable TV roots and offers some of the fastest fibre powered internet, home & business automation & security, some of the best cell phones plans in Canada and an immersive gateway DVR experience that takes TV to you tablets and smartphones. As one of my clients I’m looking forward to what comes next!

Would you buy a car from someone who's never driven one in their life? Probably not. Voxco recognized the value of having one market researcher talk to another so they hired me to have real conversations with potential customers about their research software needs. Once I made the customers feel comfortable with the solutions available the sales person would come in and close the deal. It got to travel and meet with peers across North America, get in on the ground floor of online interviewing and had some great mentors. Thanks to Maurice, Raymond, Miles and Louis).

The Research Department was the vision of Greg Trask and I feel very fortunate to have been involved with RDI from day one. I started as a research assistant and CATI programmer and worked my way up to the position of Vice President. It was at RDI that I develop my love of questions that needed answering. There were so many great clients that I got to work with including Eastlink, Government of Nova Scotia, Government of Ontario, MacDonalds, MT&T, Department of National Defence, Atlantic Lottery Corp, Halifax Regional Municipality, PC Party of Nova Scotia, Atlantic Superstore and Coca Cola to name a few.