Interview questions

As part of our final Rural Voices effort we are evaluating this initiative. Below are draft interview questions for participants and our volunteer Forum Managers. We plan a more extensive online survey for interested participants, so those questions are designed more to gather stories in audio or video for storytelling.

Questions for Participants

Questions for Forum Manager

• What initially interested you in the Issues Forum concept?
• What did you do to help launch the forum?
  • What steps were easy?
  • Which ones were more difficult?
• How did others help with the launch? Who helped forum recruitment break through?
• What message or methods seemed to work best to interest people in the forum?
• Since the forum opened to postings...
  • What has been the most rewarding?
  • What has been the most difficult or challenging?
  • Does the forum hear from all or most sections of the local community? Is this an important motivation for the forum or you personally?
• What are some interesting or notable topics of discussion on the forum thus far? Any stories on the impact of media coverage or value to the community or decision-makers?
• Are there some issues which make the local news, but don't seem to come up in the forums? If so, what types of issues are these?
• Imagine you are talking to a potential Forum Manager in a different community, what are the top lessons or advice you would share?
• Looking forward ...
  • What do you think you and other volunteers should do to improve your forum?
  • What can E-Democracy.org work to provide (either through central volunteers or funded efforts)?