Know-How Exchange : Research/Metrics

Define the size/region of the organizations you'd like to work with. Contact professional organizations likely to hold these meetings (Chambers, professional affiliations, unions, etc.) and find out about the last 1-2 years worth of meetings they've catered.

One of our problems is that the organizations that we have contacted refuse to participate with our research. We are now trying to find any recent study that would be useful to our project as another tool in determining our demand.

I think Jay had the best idea - talking directly to potential customers is not only the best way to assess potential demand but also to find out what benefits companies are seeking in such services and how you can position yourself towards them. Since you're finding it difficult to talk to these potential customers, another possible approach is to try various search terms on Google Trends:

https://www.google.com/trends

This may at least give you some insight into whether online searches for these services are increasing or declining, and it can also provide you with some ideas for key words to use. It's not as good as the approach of actually talking to people, but it might give you some general direction and overall trending information.

Thank you for all that wonderful responses. Everything would be helpful but i think i didn't quite find what i am exactly looking for.

Thank you!