Interview

Interviewer: Myles Abdul-Bari

Interviewee: Alan Thiem (President) and John Willmon (Vice President)

Interview Date & Time: October 28, 2018

Interview Location: Alan Thiem’s home

Research Questions:

• How long have you been with the Desert Aquarist Society?
• How long has the Desert Aquarist Society been around?
• What is the Desert Aquarist Society trying to accomplish?
• Why should non-affiliated people support this community?
• What do the members of the Desert Aquarist Society get from joining?
• How would you describe the demographic of the Desert Aquarist Society members?
• What is something about the Desert Aquarist Society that you are proud of and why?
• How do you see the Desert Aquarist Society and the aquarium hobby evolving in 5-10 years?
• What is something in the aquarium hobby that we can improve?
• What do you think the Desert Aquarist Society can improve?

Interview setting:

The interview took place at Alan Thiem’s house in northwest Tucson. When I arrived we chatted outside his house with John and Alan while Alan was replacing the headlights of his car. After a few minutes, Alan took me around his house to look at his aquariums that were spread out and had a different theme and purpose. We then went to his backyard where he showed me a 192 gallon tank that he was getting ready to set up in his house. The interview began in the backyard at 4:15pm with Alan’s daughter running around playing in the background. Alan is a man in his early 30’s with 2 daughters and a wife While John is about the same age and goes to the University of Arizona in the school of plant sciences.

Synthesized Reflection & Analysis:

One of the biggest takeaways from the interview of Alan Thiem and John Willmon is that they are proud of the Desert Aquarist Society for providing a learning experience for everyone that shows up to the meeting. People do not have to be a member to go to the meetings and learn or share their knowledge. This allows the general public to learn from very knowledgeable people in the aquarium hobby. The membership is also only $15 annually and $10 for a student, which the money is returned to the members from the raffles that give members gift cards in every meeting. A lot of other aquarium clubs or aquatic plant clubs in Phoenix don’t have the teaching aspect to their meetings. This is important for getting more people into the aquarium hobby and stay in the hobby by having success in the fish and plants they get from stores and the auctions at the meetings. A lot of people get out of keeping fish and plants because they struggle to keep everything alive and that is what the Desert Aquarist Society is focused on changing.

Continuing Questions:

During the interview the two top leaders of the Desert Aquarist Society answered all of my questions in full and completely elaborated all of their thoughts. Almost each answer came with a story or an example that gave me more information than what I was initially expecting. This fulfilled my curiosity so I don’t have any further questions for the Desert Aquarist Society.

Raw Data: