MRSpride: bringing together LGBTQ+ talent and allies across the sector…virtually!

Online bookings for this event are now closed, but you can still book by emailing networking@mrs.org.uk.

MRSpride launched in May 2019. Thanks to our Principal Sponsor YouGov, who have been supporting us from the outset, we have achieved a lot in the last year.

Over 300 people have attended our three events hosted by IPG Mediabrands and Twitter, we started a campaign for more inclusive research and a blog, a panel of our speakers featured on the Evidence Talks podcast and we created our own award.

Whilst lockdown has put a pin in some of our plans – we were particularly excited to hold our first event outside London this summer – we still have some exciting projects on the go, including our first virtual event this Pride month.

Join us on 25 June for another exciting selection of research speakers and role models whose inspirational stories of giving a voice to the LGBTQ+ community will educate and energise discussion, featuring:

• Campaigner and whistle-blower Shahmir Sanni in a keynote Q&A with Michael Brown, Chair of MRSpride and Partner, Insight and Cross Culture at UM

In March 2018, then aged 24, Shahmir Sanni came forward to the Observer to blow the whistle on what proved to be massive overspending by the official Brexit campaign, Vote Leave. The government’s response revealed Shahir’s relationship with Stephen Parkinson, one of the directors of the Vote Leave campaign, outing him to his Pakistani Muslim family. In the aftermath, Shahmir says he lost “pretty much everything. My job. My friends, my career. My privacy. My sense of the future.” Now a writer and campaigner, he will discuss his path to advocacy, his thoughts on data ethics and how society might move forward from the current moment of fracture.

• ITV’s Cultural Insight & Strategy Lead Lucy Crotty on future proofing Loose Women

Lucy will share a qual, trends and semiotics piece of research that looked at how ITV's Loose Women show could grow its audience by better understanding and representing what multifaceted womanhood looks like now and next.

• DIVA magazine publisher Linda Riley and Kantar’s Sophia Papadopoulos sharing highlights from The DIVA Survey: LGBTQI Women’s Insight 2020

DIVA Media Group reaches an audience of 250,000 users every month. They teamed up with Kantar for a brand new piece of research capturing the diversity of the community and highlighting the unique challenges women-loving women face.

With special thanks to:

YouGov

MRSpride principal sponsor. YouGov is an international online research data and analytics technology group. Our mission is to offer unparalleled insight into what the world thinks. Our innovative solutions help the world’s most recognised brands, media owners and agencies to plan, activate and track their marketing activities better. With operations in the UK, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, India and Asia Pacific, we have one of the world's largest research networks.