Trade Show

Wham! I just got hit with my first interview. Today, Denise took me to a tradeshow in Belfast for social economy organizations, to see if I could make any contacts that would help me with my research. Even though this is what I'm studying this summer, I still find it kind of wierd when organizations that are dedicated to helping people take part in stereotypical business activities. When we got there, I was a little intimidated by the suits and business cards. It always helps me to imagine everyone in a beige tunic. Visualizing tunics: covered.

Next, Denise sent me out among the different booths to explain to people that I was an undergraduate student asking for their time. I gained a new appreciation for the salesman. You have to be a certain type to walk up to a stranger, chat them up, and remember eveyone's name and what their company does for the ten minutes that you talk to them. Add a wink, a smile, and sparkly teeth, and we've narrowed the Master Salesman field down to about 5% of the world population. Most people at the tradeshow either gave me a lukewarm reception (they were mostly there to get their products out to paying clients), but a few were really nice and helpful. Some of them explained that they were students themselves, going for a masters or a doctorate in their free time. When you're only in an area for a short time, the access problem can be greatly ameliorated by creating a network of other students and internshippers.

I was just getting over my go-up-to-people-in-suits-and-explain-yourself nerves when someone offered to do an interview right there. Wait. What? The man was the head of a street carnival/peace and reconciliation group in Belfast. He told me to come back in half an hour, at which point I had to prise him away from his African drum circle, fighting the urge to lose all of my professionalism by breaking out some serious dance moves with one of the performers: a clown on stilts.

For a first interview, it went well. It was more conversational in style, since I hadn't cemented my interview questions yet. The concept that stood out the most was that of "shared space." His carnival venue provided a neutral place for people to come together in the streets, which was of vital importance during violent years when people were reluctant to go out and celebrate. Now, the shared space still operates out in the street, but also provides a neutral venue for making friends across communities and learning neutral music that is not tied to any specific N. Irish community (mostly drumming). At the end of the interview, he told me he thought it was better to record them on tape. He said the risk that a tape would cause people to self-censor was small, because, as he put it, "everyone here is used to that kind of thing--people waving recorders in their faces."