Resume: India Hart Wood


EXPERIENCE

Hart Business Research

Principal, 2002 – Ongoing, Boulder, CO


  • Client: The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA), 2010, 2007 and 2005 » Produced 200-page industry report, The State of Specialty NeedleArts, used by businesses and investors to plan key business initiatives including acquisitions, sales, product development, marketing, customer service, and strategic partnerships. Read the executive summary. TNNA is an association of more than 2,500 wholesalers and retailers. Hart developed and managed three print and online surveys of consumers, retailers, and wholesalers, analyzed data, interviewed industry experts, and wrote report. Gave well-received presentation at 2008 TNNA winter trade show.
  • Client: Specialty crafts retailer, 2010 » Produced survey-based report to help retailer make profitable decisions about products, pricing, Web investments, store redesign, and staff training. Began by helping retailer prioritize important upcoming business decisions. Built list of information needed for those decisions. Wrote print and online consumer survey to gather information. Evaluated survey data in Excel.
  • Client: Crafts media company, 2010 » Sliced past survey data into meaningful graphs and tables to help publisher decide upon further audience-building magazine changes.
  • Client: International Art Materials Trade Association (NAMTA), 2009 »  Produced 160-page industry report Artists & Art Materials USA 2009 based upon Hart surveys, government data, and extensive industry interviews. Surveyed 2,714 artists, 141 art materials retailers, and 78 suppliers. Set up sweepstakes incentive online. Brought together NAMTA and American Artist magazine as co-sponsors. Developed Business Innovation Awards concept for NAMTA. Collaborated with NAMTA board members to define industry's information needs and build consensus on industry direction. Delivered 8-month project within budget and on time.
  • Client: The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA), 2009 » Developed and gave survey-based presentations to guide TNNA's trade show planning. Surveyed TNNA's 2,500 business members online. Response rate 30%. Gave well-received keynote presentation at TNNA winter show regarding value of shows, competitors, show pricing, features, time of year, exhibitor categories, location.
  • Client: Lantern Moon (knitting market supplier), 2008 »  Presented research results and gave recommendations that helped Lantern Moon make productive market-based decisions about product lines, marketing, sales, and customer service. Interviewed 40 customers (yarn store owners) by phone about their wholesale purchasing habits, product needs, and supplier preferences.
  • Client: Stitch N’ Pitch (TNNA), 2008 »  Analyzed data from internally-produced survey of Major League Baseball team representatives. Produced summary of survey results and gave recommendations for promoting and managing Stitch N' Pitch.
  • Client: The American Philatelic Society, Bellefonte, PA, 2007 »  Conducted print and online surveys of APS members, former members, and other stamp collectors. Produced Executive Summary, presentation, and full report. APS used results to plan initiatives to support membership and strengthen the philatelic community.
  • Client: Astronomy instruments company, 2007 »  Conducted survey of amateur astronomers to gather feedback on a product category.
  • Client: Primedia Lifestyles Group, Peoria, IL, 2006 »  Produced Sewing in America, published by Primedia. Analyzed third-party survey data and wrote detailed easy-to-read report with graphs and text.
  • Client: University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 2006 »  Developed set of recommendations that helped CU Continuing Education reduce advertising costs while increasing ad effectiveness. Surveyed students online and in print regarding where they get information and notice ads.
  • Client: Interweave Press, Loveland, CO, 2004 »  Produced The State of Beading in the USA, published by Interweave Press. Individually interviewed retailers, conducted extensive research online, created questions for consumer survey, analyzed data, and wrote comprehensive report. Bead companies and equity firms used report to help plan business initiatives.
  • Client: Association for Community Living, Boulder, CO, 2003 »  Conducted consumer interviews that helped ACL plan a cost-effective marketing program to attract volunteer hobby teachers for people with developmental disabilities.
  • Client: ARC Science, Loveland, CO 2003 »  Conducted research which increased sales leads list by 100% for museum-exhibit globe. Interviewed museum staffs and grant donors, conducted research online, and generated list of decisionmaker contacts.
  • Client: Interweave Press, Loveland, CO 2002 – 2003 »  Helped Interweave evaluate plans to improve PieceWork magazine. Conducted eight individual qualitative interviews, created mail-based survey, analyzed data, wrote report, made recommendations for magazine changes. Interweave used information to complete a successful design and content makeover of magazine.

Sky Publishing Corporation

Electronic-Publishing Manager, 2000 – 2002, Cambridge, MA


  • Directed specifications for and development of SkyandTelescope.com, a finalist for the 2004 American Society of Magazine Editors award. Kept large year-long project on budget and coordinated team of 20 staff and contractors. Site served hundreds of thousands of visitors a month, attracting new customers for Sky's books, products, and magazine. Site included e-commerce, location-driven sky chart and almanac, PDF-based magazine archive, event calendar, club directory, and e-mail bulletins.
  • Conducted phone and mail surveys, customer interviews, and usability tests of astronomy Web sites. Used research results to plan site features, test integration with print magazine, and evaluate pricing.

Family Education Network (FEN, now Pearson Education)

Product Manager, 1999 – 2000, Boston, MA


  • Collaborated on managing feature set and marketing, editorial, and production for FEN.com, a parenting and education site which had page views of over 10,000,000 per month. FEN sold to Pearson in 2000.
  • Individually interviewed parents to establish inventory of parental needs; used inventory to develop and evaluate new product ideas. Teamed with business development to acquire school fundraising site after overseeing usability tests of three candidate Web sites.

Newsedge Corporation (now Thomson Financial)

Content Manager, 1996 – 1999, Burlington, MA


  • Managed marketing, business analysis, intellectual property licensing, and software development for news content products obtained from Reuters, AP, Dow Jones, The Economist, and others. Increased content sales by 35% per year, to $17 million.
  • Conducted research interviews and surveyed 15 corporations about their industry news needs. Used data to design news packages for chemicals, banking, pharmaceuticals, high tech, and retail. Packages generated $600,000 in new sales in first year.

Houghton Mifflin Company

Riverside International Guidance & Evaluation Consultant, 1991 – 1993, Boston, MA
Advisor, International Projects Development, 1989 – 1991, Cambridge, MA


  • Increased Riverside's distributor-based international sales by 100% and overall international sales by 62%. Marketed Houghton's textbooks and tests to schools, governments, distributors, and retailers worldwide. Negotiated intellectual property agreements.
EDUCATION

MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA

Master of Business Administration, Strategic Management Track, 1996

  • Completed courses in marketing channels, new product development, new enterprises, assessment of emerging technology, advanced strategy, finance, managerial decisionmaking, data models. Managed editing and production of 1994 – 95 Sloan Guide.

Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

Bachelor of Arts in English literature, 1988

  • Completed courses in statistics, developmental psychology, experimental design.

AMA Applied Research Seminar, Washington, DC

  • Completed five-day tutorial on market research methods, including research planning, pricing research, measuring customer satisfaction, statistics, multivariate analysis, and questionnaire design, 2003.
ACTIVITIES

Boulder Valley Rotary Club, Boulder, CO

  • Served as chair of community service 2006 – 2009, Chair of international service 2004 – 2006, and board member 2004 – 2006. Received club's 2004 Pacesetter award and 2008 Service Above Self award . Increased volunteer activities 200% and revitalized grants program. Volunteered for Growing Gardens horticultural therapy, YWCA Children's Alley day care center, BCATH homeless transition program, and Intercambio de Comunidades Latino-Anglo community-building events.

Association for Community Living (ACL), Boulder, CO

  • Volunteered as a hobby teacher, 2003 – 2008. Served as board member 2003 – 2006; served on finance committee and helped formulate board conflict of interest policy. ACL is an advocacy organization for people with developmental disabilities.

Boston University School of Management, Boston, MA

  • Guest lectured on marketing and product development strategies and processes, 1999 – 2001.
PUBLICATIONS

Yarn Market News, New York, NY

  • Contributing Writer, 2009. Wrote article "Smart Marketing: Surveys with a Smile" (January, 2009 issue), a brief on how independent retailers can conduct their own productive surveys, and an article on the most effective marketing practices for independent retailers (March, 2009 issue).

    • © 2009 Hart Business Research LLC