Wrapping up Interviews

It's weird, but I get a bit sad when I'm wrapping up interviews with my participants, both in-person in scattered locations around the globe, at conventions, and by email over the course of a month or two. I almost wish I had more questions to ask, because I want to hear more about vidding, and keep the conversation going. But I've got to move on from collecting information, and into analysis and writing.

I'm considering the possibility of an online focus group to wrap up my data collection phase, but am not sure of the best way to do it. (I'd like to go out with a bang!) Drop me a PM or a comment if you're interested in participating (if you've been interviewed before or not). Also: any suggestions on a good place to host it? Maybe a communal Google chat? Here in my LJ? Skype? What do you think?

Focus Group at VVC

Just sent out a bunch of invitations for people to be interviewed at VVC, and I'm going to send out another round soon.

I'm wondering if anyone is interested in participating in a focus group while at the con, which is kind of like a group interview with four or five people all together. I've found this type of interview format to be really useful, engaging, and tends to be more social and fun than traditional interviewing. The questions will be a bit meatier and more open-ended, and are designed for everyone to discuss and debate with each other, dealing with trends in vidding, remix culture as a whole, the role of gender in the vidding community, and fair use and copyright issues.

If the idea of participating in this appeals to you, hey, let me know! I'm sure we can arrange a time for all of us to chat together at some point, perhaps over dinner?

Email me at fanthropology@gmail.com if you'd like to participate, or leave a comment and I'll get back to you. You're welcome to join the focus group even if I'm interviewing you separately as well!

Any Canadian / Australian vidders out there?

Because I'll be travelling a bit these next two months, I'm wondering if there are any vidders out there who might be interested in being interviewed. Any Sydney / NSW vidders from now until early July, and then I'll be in Brisbane, QLD in early July and in Toronto, Canada from mid-July to mid-August. If you're out there and interested, drop me a line!

Back into the fray

At my office... Taking a break from listening to my first interview I did back in July with a professional editor. I'd forgotten how draining it was to transcribe audio recordings. I'm a pretty fast typist, don't get me wrong, and I'm pretty used to using all the anthropology-style transcription shorthand, but MAN does it suck the life out of you. I've been working at it for a little over an hour now and I'm only 9.17 minutes in to a 1.13.11 long interview! But that's how the cookie crumbles, of course... It's okay. I kinda do really enjoy it, in a sick way. Now that I have my theoretical framework fully in place, it's great to find nuggets in this interview that support what I'm planning to argue.

So yeah, I finished my 6-month review and it apparently went really well (YESSSSSS!!!!!!). Sitting on the edge of my seat until Friday when I find out if I got approved for the money to go to VidUKon. Still thinking about converting into a Ph.D. but I don't know... Seems like a big commitment, and I'm not sure if I could stay so far from home for another 3-odd years. We'll see.

I guess my blogging break is over, and I'm getting back into it!

*ties a headband around her head, anime-style, and rolls up her sleeves*

Bring it!