ICF Member Interviews

[Gollum]

Wanted them at one place, easier to refer that way. Also for those who avoid 'Cricket Talk' section where these interviews are posted. Will keep updating this thread as well.

 

rahulrulezz

 

Mariyam

 

maniac

 

coffee_rules

[zen]

@Straight Drive is one of the senior members (age wise. I do not know when he joined) of the forum (probably watched Sobers too iirc) 

 

I think he would be a good prospect for member interviews

[zen]

There is @express bowling too, who is brilliant with his insights on cricket

[zen]

To get a diverse PoV, among fans of other teams, there is @Tattieboy 

 

He is a senior poster with abundance of cricket knowledge. Though, I am not sure if he is open to interviews but his interview can focus on cricket through various decades, cricketers that he has seen, and so on  

 

Other good poster from outside subcon is @YCCC

 

Of course, these two would have enjoyed Eng (Even secretly if one of them happens to be Scottish ) win the WC in 2019 esp. for the first time after making it to 3 finals before so an opportunity to delve into the excitement of the final 

Not sure how active the above two are 

 

 

From other subcon countries - @Autonomous
 

Shed light on the trend of Pak ex cricketers on YT  

 

Edited August 27, 2020 by zen

[Gollum]

Thanks for the recos @zen. The 1st 4 interviewees were chosen because they are long time members and quite active, known to most ICFers, hence we were able to field a variety of questions covering many topics including their personal lives since we want to get to know each other better. Some great posters who joined more recently but not all may know them that well, moreover I thought of first finishing the interviews of the ones who joined earlier, seniority and all that . Also wanted to keep diversity in mind, women posters, foreign posters (most were either new or not active when we started this initiative), those based outside India etc.

 

Eventually I think all ICFers will be covered, but it will take time. We can go at the rate of one interview per month, thoda aage, thoda peeche. The process takes that much time, sufficient gap between two interviews so that people can engage/interact/debate and ask follow-up questions to the interviewee, 5-7 days for questions thread, 1 day for compiling the questions and giving options (since some questions they may not want to answer)/guidelines (flexible, relaxed, helpful, I am sure they will vouch for it ) for the interviewee, then anywhere between 2-4 weeks for the subject to answer them. Since they are answering 30-50 questions not cool to rush them, most of us are working professionals and have other priorities, no deadline here, let people express themselves freely. That is why there is no word limit, IMO we shouldn't burden the said posters with stupid rules, let them have fun answering them, let words flow out without constraint. Finally editing takes time, a couple of 3-4 hours sessions, at least!!!!  I don't change the words and posting style of the interviewee since it has to be authentic but multiple proofreadings, checking of facts and other miscellaneous changes take more time than one would expect. For example when someone talks about IPL I have to go and check the facts from scorecards and match reports, since I am not a follower of the league. Similarly when someone talks about movies/songs which I am not familiar with or some old cricket matches (didn't know Kumble smashed Waqar in 1996 QF), history etc. For coffee's interview I had to do some readings of art/culture, Carnatic musicians etc, from sites like NIOS  since I wanted stuff to be accurate, and know next to nothing about Poorvikalyani or the various Rasas in Indian classical arts (Shringaara Rasa in that interview). I am sure the interviewees take due diligence but even they can go astray with a few facts/terms here and there. In fact I am sure there will still be a couple of mistakes somewhere but you know, law of diminishing returns.

 

I do enjoy the process, learn a lot about various subjects because of editing them, but it takes time. I would love to do more but guess can't push beyond 10-12 per year. I know there are many outstanding, active posters here but covering all of them will take a few years and who knows how many of us will be active in 2022? If someone else wants to be a part of this initiative we can cover at a faster rate, or do it when I am on a hiatus because of work. But as of today I have no problem taking responsibility, have already informed the next two interviewees and they are on board. Sometimes there may be a longer gap between two interviews but hope folks here can understand. 

 

One thing we can do is give the option to ICFers: who they want to be subjects of future interviews. Eventually (I hope) all members here will have dedicated interview threads but order can be left to the discretion of majority. Some posters you guys may wanna see interviewed sooner rather than later, so if we could have a process where you get to choose by popular vote and that member is active and has his/her schedule worked out I am fine with it. Maybe use this thread to present options, and I hope more than one poster can recommend names. A few other factors like their date of joining, diversity etc. but we can work our way around that. The first six interviewees were chosen by myself, sandeep, tics and Mariyam. We could democratize the process of selection in the future, at first we were not sure how the reception would be, whether posters were actually interested in this initiative, but I think now we are in cruise mode. 

 

And one last thing, important, thanks to ICF community for partcipating in these member interviews (some are passive, would be great if they could be more active ), right from asking initial questions to interacting, giving feedback, asking follow-up questions in the interview thread. We try to cover all posters from questions thread, some of the interviewees have even been kind enough to answer obvious troll questions (big thanks to @velu ) and topics touching upon their private lives (no compulsion there). And we value your feedback and recommendations. If you want some changes please be upfront about it. 

Edited August 27, 2020 by Gollum

[velu]

2 hours ago, Gollum said:

Thanks for the recos @zen. The 1st 4 interviewees were chosen because they are long time members and quite active, known to most ICFers, hence we were able to field a variety of questions covering many topics including their personal lives since we want to get to know each other better. Some great posters who joined more recently but not all may know them that well, moreover I thought of first finishing the interviews of the ones who joined earlier, seniority and all that . Also wanted to keep diversity in mind, women posters, foreign posters (most were either new or not active when we started this initiative), those based outside India etc.

 

Eventually I think all ICFers will be covered, but it will take time. We can go at the rate of one interview per month, thoda aage, thoda peeche. The process takes that much time, sufficient gap between two interviews so that people can engage/interact/debate and ask follow-up questions to the interviewee, 5-7 days for questions thread, 1 day for compiling the questions and giving options (since some questions they may not want to answer)/guidelines (flexible, relaxed, helpful, I am sure they will vouch for it ) for the interviewee, then anywhere between 2-4 weeks for the subject to answer them. Since they are answering 30-50 questions not cool to rush them, most of us are working professionals and have other priorities, no deadline here, let people express themselves freely. That is why there is no word limit, IMO we shouldn't burden the said posters with stupid rules, let them have fun answering them, let words flow out without constraint. Finally editing takes time, a couple of 3-4 hours sessions, at least!!!!  I don't change the words and posting style of the interviewee since it has to be authentic but multiple proofreadings, checking of facts and other miscellaneous changes take more time than one would expect. For example when someone talks about IPL I have to go and check the facts from scorecards and match reports, since I am not a follower of the league. Similarly when someone talks about movies/songs which I am not familiar with or some old cricket matches (didn't know Kumble smashed Waqar in 1996 QF), history etc. For coffee's interview I had to do some readings of art/culture, Carnatic musicians etc, from sites like NIOS  since I wanted stuff to be accurate, and know next to nothing about Poorvikalyani or the various Rasas in Indian classical arts (Shringaara Rasa in that interview). I am sure the interviewees take due diligence but even they can go astray with a few facts/terms here and there. In fact I am sure there will still be a couple of mistakes somewhere but you know, law of diminishing returns.

 

I do enjoy the process, learn a lot about various subjects because of editing them, but it takes time. I would love to do more but guess can't push beyond 10-12 per year. I know there are many outstanding, active posters here but covering all of them will take a few years and who knows how many of us will be active in 2022? If someone else wants to be a part of this initiative we can cover at a faster rate, or do it when I am on a hiatus because of work. But as of today I have no problem taking responsibility, have already informed the next two interviewees and they are on board. Sometimes there may be a longer gap between two interviews but hope folks here can understand. 

 

One thing we can do is give the option to ICFers: who they want to be subjects of future interviews. Eventually (I hope) all members here will have dedicated interview threads but order can be left to the discretion of majority. Some posters you guys may wanna see interviewed sooner rather than later, so if we could have a process where you get to choose by popular vote and that member is active and has his/her schedule worked out I am fine with it. Maybe use this thread to present options, and I hope more than one poster can recommend names. A few other factors like their date of joining, diversity etc. but we can work our way around that. The first six interviewees were chosen by myself, sandeep, tics and Mariyam. We could democratize the process of selection in the future, at first we were not sure how the reception would be, whether posters were actually interested in this initiative, but I think now we are in cruise mode. 

 

And one last thing, important, thanks to ICF community for partcipating in these member interviews (some are passive, would be great if they could be more active ), right from asking initial questions to interacting, giving feedback, asking follow-up questions in the interview thread. We try to cover all posters from questions thread, some of the interviewees have even been kind enough to answer obvious troll questions (big thanks to @velu ) and topics touching upon their private lives (no compulsion there). And we value your feedback and recommendations. If you want some changes please be upfront about it. 

considering the length of this post , I am absolutely positively sure that you have plenty of time to burn

[Austin 3:!6]

Get an interview for @Harsh Thakor and bore him with all 'Top 10' questions.

[Norman]

Yes we want one from  @Harsh Thakor 

 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2020 by Norman

[Tattieboy]

14 hours ago, zen said:

To get a diverse PoV, among fans of other teams, there is @Tattieboy 

 

He is a senior poster with abundance of cricket knowledge. Though, I am not sure if he is open to interviews but his interview can focus on cricket through various decades, cricketers that he has seen, and so on  

 

Other good poster from outside subcon is @YCCC

 

Of course, these two would have enjoyed Eng (Even secretly if one of them happens to be Scottish ) win the WC in 2019 esp. for the first time after making it to 3 finals before so an opportunity to delve into the excitement of the final 

Not sure how active the above two are 

 

 

From other subcon countries - @Autonomous
 

Shed light on the trend of Pak ex cricketers on YT  

 

I think on here I am not a senior not even an Uncle but a Great Uncle . I think I played against Indian players  ICFrs grandfather's remember 

[maniac]

52 minutes ago, Tattieboy said:

I think on here I am not a senior not even an Uncle but a Great Uncle . I think I played against Indian players  ICFrs grandfather's remember 

More than that interested in knowing about associate cricket especially one with a good cricketing history like the scots

[Tattieboy]

8 minutes ago, maniac said:

More than that interested in knowing about associate cricket especially one with a good cricketing history like the scots

That I can definitely tell you , with having done some coaching in India I can tell you the difference between an Associate and India , some good some bad on both sides , Scotland was definitely good enough for a whole lot of Test stars to play in . 

[zen]

8 hours ago, Austin 3:!6 said:

Get an interview for @Harsh Thakor and bore him with all 'Top 10' questions.

Looking at his avg word count per post (in this case - question), be prepared to read an epic response .... But since he writes it interestingly, reading those should not be an issue (may have to read in multiple slots) 

Edited August 27, 2020 by zen

[Straight Drive]

On 8/26/2020 at 11:26 PM, zen said:

@Straight Drive is one of the senior members (age wise. I do not know when he joined) of the forum (probably watched Sobers too iirc) 

 

I think he would be a good prospect for member interviews

I think I joined in 2011.Followed end of Sobers career.

[Gollum]

Vilander's interview ka questions thread posted in members' lounge 

Future mein the interviews will be done in that section but I will keep bumping this thread, keep you guys informed since some may not check other sub-forums regularly.