(Pre Con) continued from page 20

research. “That’s going to let our attendees touch, feel, and get a better understanding of a hot automotive product,” James said. “We improve the industry by bringing everybody together to have a simultaneous conversation about the product.”

Also on the agenda for Re:think 2011 are “bigger and better” versions of the ARF’s annual David Ogilvy Awards for Excellence in Advertising Research dinner and Great Mind Awards luncheon; a preview of the second edition of The ARF Listening Playbook, to be published in April; and programming tied to the 50th anniversary of the ARF’s Journal of Advertising Research, which is publishing a bonus issue for the event. Said James: “This is our big knowledge confab.” n

— Christopher Durso

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.thearf.org

(Long Beach) continued from page 26

nary scene offers more than 100 restaurants within walking distance of the convention cen- ter, many of them on Pine Avenue’s “Restau- rant Row.” We stopped for a wine tasting and light lunch at District Wine. On Tuesday, I attended The Women’s Confer-

ence 2010, which has been hosted in Long Beach by California’s governor and first lady since the 1970s. Over the last seven years, under the direction of Gov. Arnold Schwar- zenegger’s wife, former NBC News corre- spondent Maria Shriver, the conference has grown enormously — in size, glitz, and political presence. Most attendees had to get up before dawn to accommodate the security required by the presence of First Lady Michelle Obama, who spoke at the conference along with U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Conner, Oprah Winfrey, Mary J. Blige, Rob- ert Redford, Jane Fonda, and dozens more. n — Barbara Palmer

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.visitlongbeach.com