Interview Reflection

            The interviews that I’ve done for this project have been the most fascinating and challenging part of the research experience. Early on in choosing the Glasstown Arts District as my research topic, I realized that the interview portion of the project would be a challenge for me. I am generally a quiet, shy person, not an extrovert at all. While I resolved to be more outgoing and proactive in finding my interviewees, I clung to the idea of conducting interviews via the Internet. I thought that emailing questions to interviewees not only saved me the personal challenge of overcoming my shyness, but also the trouble of transcribing my interviews.

            When I actually conducted my interviews, they turned out to be exactly the opposite of what I had expected. My face-to-face interviews went wonderfully. I started out the project by going to February’s Third Friday, not to do any actual interviews, but to immerse myself in the experience and hopefully find prospective interviewees. I made contact with two of my interviewees, Jim Fahy, who manages the The Rusty Heart, and Barbara Hares, who owns Earth Dwellings. I also met Scott Meyer and Gary Thayer, who I had hoped to interview but who were not present in person while I was doing my face-to-face interviews. However, both of them were kind enough to talk to me a little bit during our first meeting, and I returned to talk to Gary again at the next Third Friday event. Gary also told me to get in touch with my third interviewee, Marianne Lods, the Executive Director of the Glasstown Arts District.

            Perhaps because these interviews were relatively informal, or because my interviewees were all friendly and willing to talk to me without too much prodding, it wasn’t nearly as difficult for me to initiate conversations as I had expected. The interviews were useful, fascinating, and even fun. Each of the three interviewees brought up at least one specific idea that had never crossed my mind when I thought about the arts district. I had considered its effects on the city and the hardships it faced because of the poor economy, but things like the importance of smiling when greeting customers, the issue of crowd control, and the importance of crafting an effective business plan. Jim Fahy highlighted the importance of smiling and greeting customers warmly, two behaviors often overlooked when discussing the maintenance of a successful business. Barbara Hares told me about the problem of crowd control on Third Fridays. She also explained the extent of the “handcrafted” aspect of the arts district, including even the “heirloom” plants that she grows for the Village on High area. Marianne Lods informed me that although the economy has been tough, the arts district as a whole has actually fared quite well and has grown, not declined, in 2009. She also outlined for me the importance of starting with a good business plan, one that is “well-structured, well-written, and well thought-out,” and added that businesses often don’t turn a profit until after they’ve been open for two years.    

            I was also really surprised at how easily I was able to establish a rapport with my interviewees. In the course of our discussions about the arts district, Jim Fahy told me that his daughter is in the process of transferring to Rowan. I also talked for quite awhile with Marianne Lods about the book she is writing, a historical novel based on letters exchanged between her parents during and after World War II.

            The Internet interviews, unfortunately, never materialized. Although I found both the Levoy Theatre and Millville Arts on Twitter, neither of them tweet frequently or regularly enough to have been useful interview contacts. I initially tried to contact Marianne Lods via email, but I received delivery failure notices following both attempts. When I wasn’t able to catch up with Scott Meyer or Gary Thayer in person, I tried to email questions to both of them, but I still haven’t received a reply. I still believe that Internet interviewing can work in its place, but unfortunately my experience wasn’t productive.

            Overall, my interviews went really well. They provided me with a lot of insight on my research topic, and I expect my final article to be heavily influenced by what I learned from my sources. On a personal level, it felt good to know that I can conduct these interviews with relative ease. I have grown as a writer and a researcher by engaging in this interview process. Although I didn’t feel that any of the specific concepts introduced in the readings we have done for this class impacted me, the general importance of not “leading” my interviewees, of recognizing my own possible biases, and of letting the interview take its course without interrupting my interviewees stayed fresh in my mind.

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