For many, the New Year is a time for making positive changes. New Year resolutions can include getting healthier, procrastinating less, starting a hobby, and dozens more. Personally, I need to work on getting more organized.

What are your resolutions for 2016? We hope you have some good ones. (If you do, let me know by emailing me at news@ncppanel.com.. Make sure to use the subject line “NCP Blog”)

We also hope you’re making a resolution to be an even better NCP panelist! To achieve this worthy goal, just scan all of your household’s purchases and take all the surveys you receive.

To help you with this resolution, we have our recently announced New Years’ Sweepstakes.

This sweepstakes starts this week, and will continue for the next three weeks. Each week that you scan and transmit, you’ll earn an entry into that week’s sweepstakes. Here’s what you can win:

For more information, see the rules.

Here are some tips for things to do to help you become an even better panelist in 2016:

Scan as soon as you can. Whenever you can, scan the products from your shopping trips as soon as you get home. Scanning your products immediately and while you’re putting them away will keep them fresh in your mind, so you won’t miss any of the items. To make it even easier, use your register receipt as a guide.

Scan it all. Scan everything that has a barcode on it. Also, record your purchases of non-barcoded items using the Barcode Reference Booklet if you have a scanner, or if you have the NCPMobile App, the on-board Non-Barcoded Items feature.

Scan purchases from other household members, too. Whether or not you do all the scanning or other household members get in on the act, make sure everyone’s purchases get scanned. If there’s one designated scanner in the house, to ensure no purchase gets overlooked, have everyone leave his/her shopping receipts in a common area, such as the kitchen table. The designated scanner can use them as a guide.

Scan the correct store name or store type. When recording your purchases, it is important to let us know what stores you are shopping at to ensure that your information is accurate. We know this can get tricky with many online stores. So please make sure to use the correct store name or store type!

Scanning problems? Let us know right away! Please don’t hesitate to contact the Panel Support Center if you’re having any problems. The sooner you reach out for help, the sooner you’ll get back to having a say in the consumer marketplace, and the sooner you’ll earn gift points!

Thank you.

Please note: The Panel Support Center will be closing at 5 p.m. ET on Christmas Eve, and will be closed all day on Christmas Day.

We want to wish a very happy holiday, and we’ll see you in January!

Hi, my name is Taylor Davis and I’m the Assistant National Director of the National Consumer Panel. I’d like to welcome you to the all-new NCP Blog!

I’m relatively new to NCP, but have been in the market-research industry for several years now.  Part of my role here is to help develop better ways of communicating with — and listening to — our panelists.

One of the ways I thought we could do that was by creating this blog. I’ll be posting new content here once a week (with the exception of the week of Dec. 28th), on topics that I think (well, I hope) you’ll be interested in. I’m sure you’re curious to know how all the data transmissions you send us actually help companies make their marketing decisions. My plan is to share with you some of that data, as well as survey results, tips for earning more points and much more!

Of course, the real “owners” of this blog will be you, our panelists. If you have suggestions or comments, you can send them to news@ncppanel.com. Make sure to use the subject line “NCP Blog” — that way the emails will get to me quickly!

What do you think of my avatar? (That’s the graphic at the top of this blog.) This image looks similar to me, so instead of using a real photograph I thought that this would be pretty cool to use.

So again, welcome to the NCP Blog. Remember to check back each week and send us your feedback.

We hope you like it!