Thank you to the QRCA for providing the ICN with the opportunity to set up camp with our mobile insights career center for their 2026 annual conference. However welcoming the host or the environment, conferences can be overwhelming and often intimidating. The mobile insights career center is operated by volunteers from the insights community with the charge of listening, welcoming, and helping people and companies through career challenges. With our presence, we work to normalize career transitions of all kinds and work to remove friction in the insights labor market.
Our most recent stop: QRCA Annual in San Antonio. It was a first for several we met from the ICN community, and each had great things to say about the experience and the welcoming environment.
As the name suggests, the Qualitative Research Consultants Association is here to educate, connect, and enable the qualitative researchers at the core of a $10B sector of the market research industry, focusing on the “why” behind consumer behavior, motivations, and emotions, and one with a rich tradition of independent innovation. QRCA was originally founded to enable consultants in the field, but has long welcomed, encouraged, and featured qualitative practitioners who work in insights departments and agencies.
Qual researchers go the deepest in our research into people’s behavior. They meet people where they are, and they look participants (customers, users, prospects, citizens) in the eyes.
ICN Volunteer Voices from QRCA 2026
Brian Fowler, ICN Executive Director
I have worked with too many qual professionals to count over my career and feel fortunate to have had the experience of organizing and moderating dozens of qual interviews and sessions. A few days after returning from QRCA left me with this idea that lingers: AI is starting to stick in Qual, despite what seems to be low direct investment by AI platforms.
Qual researchers know they need to be using AI, and they want to be using AI…safely. Major restech platforms were not visibly present at QRCA, and probablywith good reason. Qualitative researchers have been the fiercest defenders of humanity in insights during this AI evolution, and AI interviewing technology does put a bot in place of a researcher.
But it’s past time to come together for a reason: Quality control. Powerful Platforms Need Qualified Drivers. Who better to trust with AI than insights professionals?
Qual research has the greatest opportunity for growth in reach and depth with today’s qual-at-scale, and our pro researchers, with decades of best practices experience, should be at the helm of the development and use of our tools. Insights should always drive AI restech.
I was pleased to hear that the QRCA leadership was discussing the need to develop recommended guardrails and guidelines for the use of AI in insights work and that the organization was moving to make their VIEWS content more regular and more accessible this year.
Z Johnson: Head of ICN Learning & Research
QRCA is what conferences used to be: a place where people shared projects they’d completed and learnings from those projects, rather than a series of sales pitches loosely disguised as talks.
QRCA is described as a particularly special type of conference, unique in an intangible way. My own theory is that when you get a group of people together whose primary role is knowing how to talk to people, you get very rich conversations and a very welcoming and inclusive atmosphere. You get people who listen and you get fascinating questions. Small-group dinners add to the ability to meet others and not get lost as a first-timer (in addition to all of the first-timer experiences and supports built into the conference).
Pile on the fact that this is volunteer-run, and you get the energy and passion that a volunteer-led organization brings (as we know from the ICN!). As someone looking for fractional or full-time roles helping companies with strategy and building capabilities, the moment I said that, people were all about helping me make connections, introductions, and learning more about what I do so that they could help me with my career aspirations. It’s a conference I will absolutely return to!.
Brian and Z were flanked at QRCA 2026 by three ICN volunteers, each looking for new opportunities. Meet our volunteers!
Jannet Torres, ICN Volunteer
Read Jannet’s QRCA reflections on LinkedIn
Jannet Torres is a seasoned market research consultant proficient in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies applied across a wide range of target segments and industries. Jannet’s tenure in research has been on the provider’s side, where she has served clients in both the commercial and government sectors. She possesses a deep understanding of diverse markets, with a particular emphasis on the U.S. Hispanic demographic. Jannet is a bilingual (English-Spanish) moderator.
Brian Sarfatty, ICN Volunteer
What stands out most about QRCA is the people. I went to my first QRCA in 2024 on a bit of a whim, after someone mentioned it to me during an informational interview. I walked in knowing no one and with only a loose sense of how the qualitative research world actually worked. I was immediately welcomed. People were patient with my questions, generous with their time, and genuinely interested in helping me learn.
Over the last few years, QRCA’s conferences and year-round programming have played a big role in giving me a foothold in this industry. I’ve picked up practical tools, methodologies, and a shared language that helped turn curiosity into confidence. What keeps me coming back is the culture. People openly share what they know and support one another. Even though many members have been part of QRCA for decades and I still consider myself relatively new, it already feels like reconnecting with colleagues while continuing to make new connections.
Brian Sarfatty is a qualitative researcher with a background in documentary video. He brings over two decades of experience transforming real-life stories into meaning. His work spans global B2B and consumer projects, including voice-of-the-customer studies and video ethnography. He’s worked across categories from CPG and automotive to construction equipment. Brian holds a BA in Film and Television from Northwestern University, an MBA in Marketing from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and in 2025 completed Burke’s Moderator Training Essentials. He’s freelanced with market research firms Bazis Group, Candor Co, and Right Arm, providing video deliverables, qualitative analysis, and collaborative report writing.
Jodi Koehler, ICN Volunteer
Read Jodi’s QRCA take on LinkedIn
Jodi is an insight strategist and master facilitator with over 25 years of experience, including 18 years at P&G leading product-focused R&D and consumer research. Now an independent researcher, she combines technical depth with consumer empathy to help teams explore Jobs to Be Done, customer journeys, and holistic user experiences across industries like CPG, healthcare, and tech. Known for turning complex insights into action, she leads full-spectrum qualitative research and facilitates strategic workshops, innovation sprints, and co-creation sessions that help cross-functional teams align and move forward with confidence.