Since we are in the midst of starting the interview for our oral history project, we would like to hear your thoughts on how it is going thus far. Have there been any troubles contacting your interviewees, what were your first impressions, where are you meeting, are you apprehensive about anything, or any other concerns in general about this project. Also, for anyone who has already completed an interview, could you offer advice?
Since Cayla and I are partners for this project, we decided to combine our ideas about this blog. We got in contact with both of our interviewees via phone after only having to leave one message. Both of our volunteers were very friendly and seemed willing and excited to meet with us. They both offered their homes as a place to meet, and we set up our interviews for next week. We were surprised to find out what busy lives both of our interviewees lead. Just from trying to schedule time to meet, we learned that not only do they both volunteer countless at Project Angel Heart, but they both hold time-consuming jobs and are leaders in other organizations as well.
We are not really nervous about the interview, and we are hoping to get some good stories for the paper. The only issue we are somewhat anxious about is uncovering some personal, emotional story and being unsure of how to respond. We would like to take a more creative approach to writing these oral histories. However, because both of us being science majors, we are not entirely confident we can pull this off. Regardless, we are excited to start this project, as it is a different form of research from what we are used to. We get to do the research ourselves, rather than interpreting and writing about someone else’s research. Moreover, our papers have more meaning than just a grade, they will actually benefit PAH.
Kathryn and I did not have too much trouble getting in touch with our interviewees. Because we were warned that Dr. Thrun is notoriously difficult to get in touch with, we were surprised to recieve a very prompt response to our first email. Our other interviewee, Rev. Halverstadt, is out of town, so we were also surprised to recieve a prompt response from him to our second email. Kathryn and I both have very busy schedules, so it was difficult finding good times for both of us to conduct the interview. We suggested these times to our interviewees, whom we knew also had busy schedules, and were once again shocked that both of them could make time for us during one of our suggested times.
ReplyDeleteHowever, our interviewees responded in very different ways. While Dr. Thrun exchanged several friendly messages, Rev. Halverstadt responded with one, single-line message. Obviously, these interactions lead to certain first impressions about our interviewees - friendly and talkative versus reserved and business-like, respectively. I have met Dr. Thrun before and would say that these assumptions about him are relatively accurate, though I'm waiting to meet Rev. Halverstadt before coming to any more conclusions.
Although I am not particularly nervous about the interviews, I am not entirely sure what to expect - I have never conducted an interview that lasted more than about 30 minutes, nor one that has been recorded. I also hope that we will be able to find the right location on time (our adventure will require navigating the RTD system in areas where I have not been before, and we will be pressed for time since our interview is shortly after class). Overall, I am excited to hear these men's stories, to put more specific images with my understanding of PAH, and share their stories with others.
We did not have trouble getting in contact with one of our interviewees, but the other, Bob Woodford was more difficult. He did not respond to my email, so I called him two days later. When he returned my phone call, he explained that he had received my email but had contacted Project Angel Heart about it. I don't think he was fully aware of the project that was going on, and kept telling me how he had just done an interview for some news or other, but was informed that ours was more about his feelings and experiences about Project Angel Heart. When I asked him to schedule an interview next week, he said he would call me back next week and let me know. So I'm not entirely sure how well this interview is going to go; I feel like he's not entirely enthusiastic about the idea and we may have trouble actually scheduling the interview.
ReplyDeleteAnya and I both have very busy schedules, so we have been having a difficult time coordinating interview times, and since neither of us have a car, it will be interesting trying to get to the interviewees houses.
I'm kind of nervous about the interview process, but once we have times established for our interviews I think it will be much easier. I'm worried about the time commitment the transcribing and writing the papers will be, but overall I think once we actually get the interviews done, it will be much less nerve-racking.
I emailed Sandy and she got back to me right away. She gave me some times that worked well for her but unfortunately they didn't work very well for Leah and me. Sandy said that we should figure out a time that works for the two of us and let her know because her schedule is a lot more flexible than ours are. So far, the process of just setting up a time is very difficult. I don't feel like the actual interview part will be that difficult. I think this is the most complicated part and it should be less complicated after this.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'm really apprehensive about much. I'm looking forward to the interviews and I feel really prepared for them. I'm not really worried about transcribing the interview or the actual written part. I'm more worried about writing something that Project Angel Heart finds useful and works for their purpose. Writing for this audience is going to be hard for me because it's something that's almost completely new. I'm hesitant about that but mostly looking forward to getting to see more detail into Project Angel Heart.
Jen and I have only been in touch with one of our interviewees so far. He lives in California, so we are having a bit or trouble scheduling a time to talk on the phone. He wanted to do it today, but as we don't have any way to record the phone interview yet we couldn't do that. I'm excited to talk to him and hear about his experiences.
ReplyDeleteI think that our other interview is going to be more difficult because we are interviewing two people at once. I’m curious to see how it goes, if we’re all going to be talking over each other or if it will be more of a fluid conversation. Hopefully the latter, but four people in one interview is double the norm, so we’ll see. I think it will be interesting to write about their experiences together though and hopefully it will give the writing an interesting perspective.
I’m not particularly looking forward to the transcribing part of this process because I think it will be very time consuming, but the rest I’m excited for. I think that this type of writing will be fun, and a nice break from the academic papers and lab reports that I usually have to write. And hearing about the volunteers’ experiences and what they’ve learned and gained and given should be really interesting.
As Jenna already stated, contacting our interviewees was not overly difficult. The hardest part was finding the time to meet with them. Trying to find a common time with three people with very busy schedules took more work than anything else. However, now that both our interviews are scheduled for mext week, I'm not nearly as worried as I was. One is taking place in Dr. Thrun's office, and I'm not sure where the other one is taking place. I was also more worried about transportation as neither Jenna nor I have a car. Yet, we were able to find a way there by the public transportation system. Hopefully, we don't get lost on our way.
ReplyDeleteI only communicated with one of our contacts, Dr. Thrun. Because he is Geoffrey's partner, he seemed very familiar with the project. Also, he seemed very friendly over e-mail and was very flexible while we were scheduling. In one of his e-mails, he even cracked a joke. I'm looking forward to his interview this Wednesday.
I'm a little worried about the interview because as some of you may have noticed in class, I am not the most outgoing person. I have trouble talking to people that I don't know. Luckily, I have a very supportive partner that I am comfortable with. For me, the interview itself will probably be the hardest part. I don't mind transcribing the interview and the grunt work of the research, but I feel that I may have trouble talking to these people, even though they sound very friendly. Hopefully, though, I can overcome my introverted nature and have an interesting and insightful conversation with these people.
We e-mailed our interviewees and made fast plans to meet both Erin Pulling and David Alexander on Friday. I think it went well. I feel we asked good questions and got a lot of good information to write about. Both Erin and David were very kind and helpful, even though the weather and traffic made it difficult to meet with David at the time we had arranged in the first place. In continuing the project, Steffi will be writing David’s narrative and I will be writing Erin’s. I plan on constructing my narrative somewhat like how I would go about with a creative writing narrative, but while remaining honest to the narrative we were giving and aligning it to the goals of this project with respect to PAH. I am not, however, looking forward to transcribing the interview. That will not be fun.
ReplyDeleteAs far as advice goes, I’m not sure if I really have anything to offer. I think our interviews were successful because we were respectful, but informal and I think that our interviewees appreciated both. We didn’t really sit down and make a game plan or script questions, but just went with it since we knew we had similar goals in mind for the interview.
As Zach said, we have completed both of our interviews. Both of the people we interviewed responded very fast to the emails we sent them and we were lucky to set up interviews for both on last Friday which was one of the few days that Zach and I didn’t have conflicting work or class schedules. We met with Erin Pulling at her office at Project Angel Heart and we met with David Alexander in the conference room in the Writing Center.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest speed bump for us was the weather that caused delays with David being able to get to campus. Both of the interviews went really well. Erin and David were both open and willing to talk about their experiences with Project Angel Heart. Erin’s interview was a little easier because we knew more about her going into the interview because she had come to class and because she knew the type of information we were looking for.
As for advice, I’d suggest not over preparing. Zach and I went into the interviews with a general idea of the information we wanted to gather but then let the questions that we asked follow with the answers that the interviewees gave. This helped us stay relaxed and not worried about getting certain questions asked and it helped the interviewees stay on track with their answers and not have to jump around.
Emily and I only contacted our two interviewees, Jeffery Hopper and Bev Booth, last Thursday. Luckily, both answered their phones on the first call and we were able to set up interviews with both for next Wednesday. We plan to meet Bev at DU and Jeffery at his office in dowtown Denver.
ReplyDeleteFrom just the first call, I think we can tell how different our interviewees are. Both were exteremly nice and eager to work with us over the phone, but they were also quite different in their approaches to that excitement about Project Angel Heart and our project. Bev was much more soft-spoken and reserved and talked of Project Angel Heart in vague terms while Jeffery was very specific about Project Angel Heart and the directions to his office. I am excited to have such different interviewees, especially since thier roles with Project Angel Heart have been as different as their personalities appear to be. Jeffery is a former client who served on the board and now serves on the governance council, and Bev is long time kitchen volunteer.
I think Emily and I will be able to write with greater insight because thier interviews will reveal to us different stories of Project Angel Heart, just as their involvement with the organization has covered so many different aspects.
I am not nervous to interview Bev or Jeff. Like I said,they both seem exteremly nice. I don't think I am nervous to write their oral histories either. I think that if Emily and I stay true to the stories we hear from Bev and Jeff (as we are supposed to),then everything will be more than fine.
Sean and I were eventually able to contact the people that we need to interview. The most difficult part was setting up a time that for the interview that works for both of us. Eventually we were able to agree on times that would work for both us and fortunately our interviewees had times that fit into those time slots. I didn't talk to either of the people we are going to interview so I can't comment on any first impressions.
ReplyDeleteI am excited to start this interview project. As Mary Kate has already mentioned, we are partners and we are conducting our interviews this Wednesday. I see this as a very beneficial project; unlike much academic writing, this involves the outside world.
ReplyDeleteIn our last paper, we delved into a text, discovering how it relates to the world around us. In this paper, we're actually going into the world. It's different, and slightly intimidating. I feel, however, that this assignment can be seen as slightly more useful than many others. Not to degrade the value of normal written work, but it can seem fairly futile and boring at times. This writing holds more of a purpose. I'm excited to see where it goes.
Matt and I eventually reached both the people we had to interview. I talked to Don through email and he seemed very nice and response to our message. He seemed eager to meet with us and I look forward to interviewing him. I talked to Jon on the phone. He also seemed nice, except he seemed to be busier than Don. We have set up a time that works for us to interview Don this Tuesday afternoon;however, Jon wanted us to call him tomorrow when he can look at his schedule. Im slightly worried about finding a time that works for everyone to interview Jon. This is mainly because I had planed a month ago to fly back home to see my just born niece on Wednesday and won't be back until Sunday. Jon did tell me that he could do it sometime on Monday or Tuesday, I just hope that it works out between Matt and I's busy class schedule and that he can do it one of those afternoons. Overall the hardest part so far has been simply finding times that Matt and I were both available.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to complete an interview, and I was a little slow about contacting my interviewees. One of them got back to us promptly, saying we could interview him the next day. However, this proved to be problematic considering we didn't have the necessary voice recorder. We emailed him back telling his this and giving him times that worked for us. He has yet to get back to us concerning the new times. While he hasn't gotten back to us yet, he seems very nice and rather excited to be interviewed. We are still waiting to hear from our other interviewees, so I plan on calling them.
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