• Members of the Association are not individuals but companies.
• Key decisions in the Association (including decisions about admission and exclusion of members) are made by consensus (unanimously), not by majority vote.
• There is no regular Chairman in the Association. Chairman and Council of the Association are elected annually.
• Meetings of “Group 7/89” are held in the facilities of one of the member companies of the Association not less than once a year. The 16th Meeting of the Association took place in Perm in March 2010.
• There has been developed a system of mutual reimbursement of expenses for participation in the Meetings. This system enables companies from “faraway” cities to reduce expenses for participations.
• The principle “one region – one company” is a myth. According to the Charter of the Association, any company which has received recommendations and passed its “probationary period” can become its member.

The Association of regional sociological centers “Group 7/89” was founded in 2001.

Till 2007 the Association was an informal (but really functioning) community of regional sociological centers.

In 2007 it was registered as a nonprofit organization – as Association of legal entities.

Currently the Association unites more than 20 research companies working on the territory of 46 regions of the Russian Federation.

• Contribution to the development of civilized market of sociological and marketing research in regions of Russia.
• Carrying out of independent research and infrastructural projects corresponding to the interests of the Association members.
• Creation of the environment for professional communication of top managers of research companies.
• Improvement of the professional qualification and protection of interests of members of “Group 7/89” and other market participants.

• Charter of the Association of regional sociological centers “Group 7/89”.
• Professional code for the researcher - member of the Association.
• Provisions for the Association membership.

All normative documents and rules of admission to membership in the Association are presented on its website.

During its lifetime the Association “Group 7/89» has conducted about 20 independent research projects. The most interesting projects of the last years are:

• Project “RIK” (“Ranking of research companies”, started in 2004) – this project is designed to the estimation of performance of metropolitan researchers by regional research companies.
• Project “MIX” (“Interregional index of the crisis consciousness”, 2008-2009) – it was studied how different social groups of population of Russian regions percept consequences of the global economic crisis.
• “Internal projects” of the Association (“Estimation of the research companies value”, “Monitoring of government order websites”, “Summary table of costs”, etc.).

The 17th Regular Meeting of the Association “Group 7/89” will take place in Yekaterinburg in May 2011. An open Forum of regional research companies will be held within the framework of the Meeting.

A decision about carrying out of the Forum was made at the 16th Meeting of the Association in March 2010. The minutes of the Meeting have been published on the website of the Association.

The Forum will be dedicated to the issues which arise in work of regional companies, to the experience and practice of dealing with them.

We invite regional research companies to participate in the open Forum and to cooperate within the framework of the Association “Group 7/89”.