AG Forum???

[acorniv]

I know for sure that AG uses several survey companies because I have done surveys for them through other companies. Survey Spot is one I think - I did one today on financial institutins and recently on cars - but occassionally it will be toys and in some I"ve done 75% of the questions were about AG products, so it was obvious who the client was. I do Harris Polls and Zoompanel - it might have been one of them too - I didn't expect to be asked later, so didn't make a note of it!

AGforum is so well established wiht them that they have a website just for this. It looks just like an AG website but I think the company name is Childstudy.

As for how often things really get made, I was told by the head of CS recently that every product they make has a 3 year evolution before it hits the market. I joined the forum in August, and I did not see Marisol, but a future doll of the year - I assume it is 2006

Sometimes you can sense the doll has been definately been chosen to be in the line because of how they run the survey. In the case of this doll, the whole survey was about her - not general questions like would you like a doll that is Aisian, African or Dutch, but do you like this doll with earrings or a bracelet (not actual questions I've been asked, but similar). Do you like green, blue or red shoes on this doll? The whole time they show no other doll. Then you pretty well know.

If you belong to the Club you periodically are asked to respond to a survey and it is always the same questions we on the forum have already been asked.

I agree with Kim that what we were shown today was gorgeous, even if it was not what anyone seems to have expected. I think some people will be pleasantly surprised. I wanted something completely different, but I will be very happy if they do this.

[acorniv]

I'm here now, so no need to pm me [img]smile.gif[/img]

I belong to the official AG forum - www.americangirlforum.com It is not owned by AG - it is an independent field study group, but one that does ongoing surveys for AG. I really like how they run it. I have many times done surveys for other survey companies wher eit was obvious that it was AG products I was discussing, but they did not show photos of products being considered.

Kim mentioned that the one she belongs to seems to be different form mine. I think it is likely the same, but we were given different informaiton in the beginning. For example, I was never asked not to speak to others about what I see. Some feel they were sworn to secrecy. I was never told anything at all, and actually wondered what I was free to discuss so contacted them and asked. They phoned me and told me they would obviously prefer I keep mum, but that they didn't feel they could stop people if they wanted to. I have tried to use discretion when I do discuss anything. For example I feel more comfy discussing what I see with someone else who is also on the forum and has completed the same survey.

Sometimes what you see there is very exciting. Evidently several of us did surveys today, and we're all *flushed pink* trying to keep our big mouths shut, LOL. I am still half insane over not discussing the proposed doll of the year I saw several months ago. One thing that makes it fun is that these ARE things that might not make it to the market, and they provide nice platforms for fantasy.

I will say that AG appears to be in a highly active stage right now. They are playing with a plethora of ideas and my dd and I have loved almost all of them. The next few years bode very well for AG lovers, if they don't sacrifice anything we already love in doing so.

BTW - about it being secretive, thereare all kinds of survey companies, and they are required to keep certain controls in operation. This is a scientific process and so yes, they choose people from particular demographics (speaking of survey companies in general) and do things to make it deliberately diverse and random sometiems too. I am often asked my birth month as part of the sorting process. I recently did a survey where I was asked to compare cars and the car I was given was determined by the month I was born - it's a sorting system.

My point is that no, they don't take everyone because they can't. They only need so many. You get to do this for a year.

I found the forum while googling for discussion groups. I googled under American Girl forum, and bingo - I got the forum instead.

As for other survey and field study companies, mystery shoppers, etc. I belong to several I joined after reading an article about them. I do it for pay, and because I find it entertaining. The amount you get paid varies from nothing at all to a decent wage. I am in the process of one that required me to color my hair. I colored it twice on their tab, and met twice for a total of 3.5 hours. They catered dinner and paid me 235.00.

AG forum pays in gift certificates, and we get no more than five bucks each time. I just bought our first item wiht our gift certificate - I used he code and 21.00 from the Forum for Kit's party treats.

If anyone is interested in joing this kind of company, one place to start is www.volition.com I believe it is where I found out there is a sort of better business association for this industry - the link for it is on their website, I believe. That will help you only choose companies that are on the up and up. You should never pay to join one or pay anyone for leads to one. Or, if you want to, send me the money because I just sent you a lead, ha ha ha.

[linzystar]

I want to join but it says you have to be 7-12! Not Fair! Why do all AG things have age restrictions? [img]graemlins/cry_smile.gif[/img]

[JuliaAM]

Ok, I'm confused. The requirements for joining the forum are #1, you must be a girl between 7 & 12 years of age. So how are adults able to join? Do you fake your age? Or do you say you have a daughter between 7 & 12 but actually don't?

And #2, the rules say no one in the household can belong to any other survey or market research group. So Popsie, how are you able to be a member of the AG Forum since you belong to several survey/market research groups? Maybe I read the requirements wrong. I'm confused.

I got an email invitation to join the forum once but declined since my daughter is not in the required age group. It sure would be fun though to see products in advance though. I encouraged my sis to let my nieces join but she thought the forum would be too much work and take too much time.

Julia

[pajamarose]

Julia

I have two DD's in the required age group and we receive survey's every so often so it does not take a lot of time. The surveys themselves can take anywhere from 5min-20min. on the ones we have done. They send a survey to each of my DD's and one to me for a mother's point of view. We have so many days to complete so we can get our points. Hope this helps. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Lea

[Aunt Cornelia]

Do you get extra points for signing up both dds?

[Lissiefan]

We didn't get any points for "signing up," but you do get points for each survey that gets filled out. For example, the one due April 6 we got 3000pts for the mom survey, and 1500 for each daughter survey. I think the point amount varies with the length of the survey. Sometimes the mom one is longer and gets more points. Sometimes the daughter one is longer and gets more points. It's great fun! [img]graemlins/party.gif[/img]

[felicityprincess04]

How do you sign up? Do you have your parents send them an email saying something like "I give permission to my daughter...etc"?? can I get my mom to do this for me? The forum probably wont let me in since I spilled about you know who. [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]

[dolllover]

Elle, that is exactly what you do and you just have to wait a couple of days and see if they have any openings. The membership lasts for one year only.

[dolllover]

Elle, as long as you don't tell them about Elizabeth you can probably join.