HISTORY
The Media Research Club of Chicago was founded in 1953. Sometime that year, three good friends met for lunch at a restaurant named L'Aglon on the southeast corner of Rush and Ontario. They were Gene Blackwell (then research director of American Weekly), Ira Bix (research director of Farm Journal), and Jean Fletcher of the Newspaper Advertising Bureau. They formed the nucleus of what was first an informal association of research directors from various Chicago print media companies.

The club's membership was initially limited to researchers from the print media: magazines and the Chicago newspapers. They were Myra Fox of Million Market Newspapers, Tom Patrick and Don Parise of the Chicago Tribune, Barbara Johnson of CBS Publications, Martin Tarpey, Angelo Juarez of the Chicago Sun-Times, Larry Tootikian of Woman's Day and Paul Gillete of Pulse.

The first president of the club was Jean Fletcher. She was responsible for inviting speakers at every club luncheon. It is not known who succeeded Jean as president, but we do know that Angelo Juarez, Hugh Martin, and Larry Tootikian served as presidents in the 1960's. Hugh Martin, then research director at WIND, had the distinction of being the first club president from the broadcast community. Through the early 1970's, the following people served as president: Tom Patrick of the Chicago Tribune, Barbara Johnson of CBS Publications, Andy Donchak, Linda Fischer of WIND, and Sue Hodgson of IMS. Sue was the first president from the media research supplier's side.

Other individuals who served as club president were:
1976 Aldona Masilionis, WLS-AM
1977-78 Ted Sheldon, Chicago Tribune
1979-81 Ray Sheehy, WGN Radio
1982-83 Kevin Killion, Leo Burnett/Needham Harper Worldwide
1984-85 Alice Sylvester, J. Walter Thompson
1986 Pam Baxter, Tatham-Laird & Kudner
1986-88 Cynthia Evans, Mediamark Research, Inc.
1988-90 Roger Baron, Foote, Cone & Belding
1991 Bernadette Cognac, Simmons Market Research Bureau
1991-92 Beth Uyenco, DDB Needham Worldwide
1993-94 Bill Ross, Nielsen Media Research
1995-96 Garnet Pike, BBDO Chicago
1997-98 Helen Katz, Optimum Media, a division of DDB Needham Worldwide
1999-2000 Scott Turner, Mediamark Research, Inc.
2001-2002 Nancy End, Telmar
2002-2004 Jamie Arvizu, OMD Ignition, Chicago

Luncheon meetings from the fifties to the late seventies were quite informal. Four to fifteen people would attend. Luncheon speakers were usually from advertising agencies or research suppliers. Occasionally, the members would present some of the work they themselves had done.

Some of the first people who came to speak at club luncheons were Jim Yergin, who developed radio's NuMath, Seymour Banks and Joe Plummer of Leo Burnett, Ron Kaatz of J. Walter Thompson, Gale Metzger of Statistical Research, Inc., Leo Bogart of the Newspaper Advertising Bureau, and Joan Baer of Post/Keyes/Gardner.

During Ray Sheehy's term as president (1979-81) there was greater participation from advertising agencies and media research suppliers. It was Ray's desire to expand the membership that led to increased attendance at Media Research Club luncheons. Indeed, Kevin Killion, then with Leo Burnett's Media Research staff, succeeded Ray, thus becoming the first club president from the agency side.

Alice Sylvester, in her first year as president, organized the club's first biennial research symposium. The topic that year was TV commercial zapping. They symposium drew a surprisingly large number of people from New York as well as Chicago, since it was the first event of its kind that dealt with the issue of commercial avoidance. The club also formalized its Academic Exchange Program which provided college students with their first exposure to media research as a profession.

Under Roger Baron's tenure as club president the MRCC established a scholarship fund for college students majoring in the field of advertising. That same year, 1989, the MRCC also established and promoted design standards for media research software development. The following year the club held its first computer applications exposition and also began to publish its monthly newsletter, The MRCC Review, with Bernadette Cognac, vice-president and senior account manager of Simmons Market Research Bureau, as editor.

In 1991, the Media Research Club decided to change its academic grants from funding scholarship to funding original media research studies. Two doctoral students were the first recipients of the MRCC research awards: Rose Johnson of Georgia State University looked at how television commercial clutter affects older viewers; Lauren Tucker of the University of Wisconsin-Madison examined African-American values and how they may affect product and media usage.

Beth Uyenco's presidency filled the club's coffers, and brought in a wide range of speakers. The 1992 Symposium on micromarketing was a big success, and a concerted effort to attract more interest in the academic community resulted in educators joining us from universities in Illinois and Wisconsin.

During his 1993-94 presidency, Bill Ross resurrected the MRCC Media Research and Computer Expo originally started in 1990. It has become one of the best attended industry expositions outside of New York. In 1994, Bill spearheaded "Media Research in an Interactive World" the first Symposium of its kind that concentrated on the issue of measurement in the interactive arena.

In 1995 the Club newsletter, The MRCC Review, was redesigned and expanded. And for the first time, the MRCC began to co-sponsor events, including "Guerrilla Media" in conjunction with the American Marketing Association, and "How Media Work" with Inside Media and Katz Television Group. In 1996, the Club expanded its educational activities, supporting two $1,000 research awards to doctoral students, and establishing the $1,000 Ronald Kaatz Student Internship in media research.

The Media Research Club continues to have many speakers from media research suppliers, but the scope has expanded to include speakers from advertisers, agencies, and the media as well. Attendance at monthly meetings is open to members and non-members.

The Media Research Club of Chicago has matured into one of the leading professional media organizations in the country. In 1997 the club has 17 member corporations and about 84 individual members. Its monthly meetings draw an average of seventy people, of whom about half are full members.

The MRCC has gained national stature through its biennial symposia, research supplier workshops, research grants, and luncheon programs that include speakers from across the country. It has evolved into a genuine national forum for the exchange of ideas among media research professionals.