Sep 02, 2014 #imprintpresents Jan Chipchase at the Downtown Independent recap
Imprint’s Jeffrey Ng introduced Jan Chipchase as a guy who specializes in gathering impossible-to-get information for clients. Chipchase is famously able to extract data from the most insular communities around the world, ranging from the very richest to the most poor. His #imprintpresents talk at the Downtown Independent on Tuesday, August 26, was a rare chance to see him in a casual, non-conference, non-corporate setting.
Although the Bay Area-based expert researcher, nonstop traveler, and founder of Studio D Radiodurans (named after the world’s hardest-to-kill bacterium) is contractually and ethically unable to share his actual findings, he gladly shared his techniques with fellow researchers and open-eared listeners. Start with the basics: What do you do, who is on your team, and what is your learning curve? After figuring those out, it’s time to get to work.
The first step described by the outspoken-but-camera-shy presenter was to define a surface area. What can you do with how much you have? Then, gather a local crew to supplement your team. For every eight new people he gathers, Chipchase typically wants to fire one of them. Five will do the job. The final two will provide information that he never even thought about asking for. They are keepers. When it comes to assigning tasks, he likes to let the newest team members choose first. With this “upside down” order, more experienced contributors are pushed out of their comfort zones and stay fresh.
Chipcase also stressed the value of setting up pop-up studios (for both living and working) in a nontraditional spots, from guest houses to treetops. He also described his preference for using bicycles and motorcycles to get around and reach the people who are being researched. Often, he leaves the bikes for the locals to keep.
There are moral considerations, too. How does one reconcile having a project with a daily budget that equals any of its subject’s monthly expenses (or more)? Just because you are able to get information, should it be shared? He makes sure that local researchers approve everything that is reported to the client–corporate, government, or other–so they won’t be exploited.
The former Executive Creative Director of Global Insights at frog design (where he lead the firm’s global research in mainstream and emerging markets) calls it a “beautiful challenge” to discover financial information in a place like Myanmar, where much of the commerce takes place under the table. Similarly, he considers Egypt, the Ukraine, and Thailand “places of change” where he has the privilege of seeing and measuring human behavior at its most heightened.
Thanks, Jan, for the engaging talk with additional thanks to the Imprint audience that we appreciate very much. Look for Chipchase’s full thoughts on pop-up studios at the Studio D Radiodurans site and other resources at the D-Rad Store. Keep an eye out for the James Bond-like SDR travel bag that he alluded to there, too!
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