Geography and People
How academic theory has evolved into business benefit

Chris Denham (Chair) a former head of ONS Census output and geography, has been involved for many years in putting geography into information, most recently with the innovatory 2001 Census. He wants users to get the most from such information, and suppliers and users to work together towards greater benefits.

Bob Barr is an academic, journalist and geographic activist, and has been close to the centre of the, often controversial, debates on addressing for over 20 years.

Emma Reid was formerly Head of Customer Information at Saga, Emma now runs the 'Grey Sells' consultancy, specialising in marketing to the over 50s, and also ObiT, pooling data to stop mailing dead people.

Dan Vickers is a lecturer in Social and Spatial Inequalities at the Department of Geography, University of Sheffield. His research interests focus around social and economic differences between places. Dan created the Classification of 2001 Census output areas (OAC) on behalf of the ONS.

Martin Callingham has used geodemographic systems for over 25 years as Research Director of Whitbread. Currently he is Visiting Professor in the Geography Department at Birkbeck College, researching into applications of geodemographics.

Marc Farr concentrates on developing applications of geodemographics for healthcare, targeting health messages and siting health facilities. He has been widely published and has appeared regularly on TV and in the press commenting on these applications.

Richard Webber was the originator of the Mosaic and Acorn neighbourhood classifications. He is the developer of OriginsInfo, a system which enables organisations to code and profile name files on the basis of people's origins.

Paul Boyle is Director of the Social Dimensions of Health Institute and the Longitudinal Studies Centre - Scotland and has published widely in population and health studies.

Nick Buck is Associate Director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, and Principal Investigator for the British Household Panel Survey. He has published widely on spatial aspects of social processes, and has been involved in running longitudinal surveys for more than 15 years.

Nick Moon is Director of GfK NOP Social Research. He has worked in social research for over 25 years, on many of the most prestigious social surveys, and has a keen interest in survey methodology.