Would anyone be interested in doing an interview?

As most of you know by now (sorry to be a bother) i run Makezee.com, as well as freely offer IT/Computing advice in this forum.

Something i have been tossing around is doing a weekly blog post on Makezee (tentatively called "Shop Talk") wherein i do an interview with a shop owner, shop worker, material supplier, really any role in production machine.

The thought is either an email with questions to be answered or a recorded phone call to be transcribed later.

I check this forum just about every day, and find myself going several pages deep into the threads regarding building/running businesses (as i have run my own for several years), and have noted there is a wealth of knowledge and experience in that one topic alone, not even getting into the technical machining at all.

Well anyway, just wanted to float it by you guys and see if any would be interested.
At an absolute minimum it would give you an opportunity to spread knowledge, but i can see it easily bringing positive attention to your shop/business.

-Adam

A lack of response might be due to the fact that no one (at least I don't) knows what you mean by "an email with questions to be answered" unless you give an example of what you mean.

I've been interviewed on several occasions and unless the "journalist" knows a bit about what I do then the result can be a disaster. The best "interview" I've had was one where I had already written his article and it was published "as is".

So what are you looking for?

1. How the business is run? IMO that very much depends on location and workforce available.

2. How is the product sold? Probably a big difference between those that make their own product and those that make to customer specs.

3. Will the "picture painted" be truthful? I've heard many at seminars etc. give the impression that what they do is nothing short of fantastic and in most cases that's far from the truth. Of course my own product is fantastic

I've never yet seen a "one fits all "questionnaire" that does fit all.

Gordon B. Clarke said:

A lack of response might be due to the fact that no one (at least I don't) knows what you mean by "an email with questions to be answered" unless you give an example of what you mean.

I've been interviewed on several occasions and unless the "journalist" knows a bit about what I do then the result can be a disaster. The best "interview" I've had was one where I had already written his article and it was published "as is".

So what are you looking for?

1. How the business is run? IMO that very much depends on location and workforce available.

2. How is the product sold? Probably a big difference between those that make their own product and those that make to customer specs.

3. Will the "picture painted" be truthful? I've heard many at seminars etc. give the impression that what they do is nothing short of fantastic and in most cases that's far from the truth. Of course my own product is fantastic

I've never yet seen a "one fits all "questionnaire" that does fit all.

Click to expand...

Yes, i am working on some example questions.

The point is more so to have the reader of the interview "get to know" the person being interviewed. Understand what they do, how they do it, why they do it. Did they build their shop from the ground up, did they buy it from someone else. biggest challenge, biggest success. most important thing/things they have learned over the years. what they think about the future of manufacturing in the US, in the world. I could go on and on.

It would not be meant to be a rigid questionere or survey. I think a lot of the questions about would answered naturally in conversation once you got someone talking about them self and their business.

-adam