26 Sep Meet Gina, Our New Director of Research
Gina Derickson has been immersed in market research for a long time; and she’s got some stories.
“I always wanted to do qualitative research,” says Gina, Engagious Director of Research. “My dad was a market researcher for Procter & Gamble, and I have many fond childhood memories of his work.”
She would help him stuff envelopes with surveys and pantyhose samples at night. He would give her old focus-group tapes. She would use them to record songs off the radio, but she remembers hearing his voice moderating sessions. “It’s fun now to share with him what I do.”
Have things changed much since he was in the field? Certainly the technology has developed, Gina says, but the ways to ask questions haven’t really. “I hear people talking about ethnographic research, like it’s new. My dad did that.”
He would go into consumers’ homes to assess how they used products—gaining so much more information than from a survey. For instance, on paper people said that their powder laundry detergents dissolved just fine. But in home after home he found a yardstick parked by the washer. Consumers would add the detergent powder to the water in the machine, and then use the stick to give it a little stir. Sure, it dissolved just fine. . . .
(See what I mean? She’s got great stories from her own vast experience, too.) 
What’s your favorite thing about research?
I’m always learning. I can always find out something new, no matter how long I do this.
Three words that best describe you
Thoughtful, dependable, creative
Role you play in your friend group
Organizer and voice of reason
Something that your friends would say is “so you”
Looking for the positive in anything/anybody
Someone who impresses or inspires you and why
My mom—she’s the strongest woman I know. She left East Germany at 20 years old, without knowing where she would live or work. My life has been easy compared to the struggles she endured.
Person you’d most want to be stuck in an elevator with
Bobby Flay. Even better if I could be stuck in the kitchen with him
Small things that make your day better
A smile or giggle from my grandson (he’s just five months old, and it’s been a while since we’ve had a baby in the family)
Secret addiction
Candy Crush, and I’m embarrassed to say what level I’ve reached
The perfect Saturday
Go to our farm, and take a walk to the creek and waterfalls
Favorite way to show others you care
Make a quilt for them; it’s a fairly unique gift, and I think about them the whole time I’m making it
Irrational fear
The dark, and specifically basements with open stairs and crawl spaces at night
Movie title that best describes your life
It’s a Wonderful Life
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