I’m sad to say I don’t really have anything to report from the interview. I managed to remain upright despite my shoes and I didn’t say anything noticeably appalling. Well, at least there weren’t any audible gasps while I was speaking. The interview was laid back and unstructured. No one said the infamous line you sometimes see in interview help books: “See this pen? Sell me this pen!” I wasn’t asked about my strengths (punctual for lunch) or weaknesses (chocolate) just a few questions about my experience at PBS. This group seems to really just be starting to get serious about its fundraising, but I was a little surprised by what they haven’t started – things I just considered a given. My worry on this point is that I may have come off a bit cocky. When I started off one sentence with “the theory behind this…” and the alarm bells were sounding off with a big “whoop! whoop! ICEBERG AHEAD! and I tried to change mid sentence “… well, I don’t mean theory – more this is why this might be a good idea…”

Anyway, the details are going to be boring to most of you except Lori who would drop her jaw and mostly say “they don’t do THAT either?” as I rattled off a laundry list.

When I offered up my references, they told me that they really didn’t need those yet. I take that as a bit of a bad sign, but I’m not an optimist at heart. They then explained that they were going to finish up interviews this week then call in some finalists for more interviews with their head person next week.

I sent them a note this morning thanking them for their time. I had to find new ways to express the word “enjoy” since it appeared almost every other word in the note in some form “enjoyed” “enjoy” “greatly enjoy” – you get the idea. Yes, I did send it through e-mail because I’m a geek and because they did say I could send them e-mail to ask questions – I just figured it extended to thank yous, too. Plus, a note through USPS would run the risk of not making it before they decide on the finalists tomorrow.

One small bone I can toss. They were talking about the characters they have there and there’s one gentleman whose been there 26 years who is the authority on all things related to the Civil War and the Confederacy. The people who interviewed me said that if I were to ask him about a pariticular thing like theater during the Civil War for example, he could go on at length about it. He supposedly wears a cap with the Confederate flag on it every day. I had a hard time not offering, “I will tell you all my stories about the characters at our local PBS station if you hire me.”