What'cha Drinkin'? with Susan Fader
Editor's note: Automated speech-to-text transcription, edited lightly for clarity.
Steve Quirk:
Hello and welcome to another edition of What’cha Drinkin’? I'm Steve Quirk, president of Quirk's Media. My guest today is Susan Fader of Fader Associates. Hello Susan, and welcome. It's so nice to see you. Tell me what you're drinking.
Susan Fader:
I am drinking a Toronto.
Steve Quirk:
Ooh, tell me what's in it.
Susan Fader:
I don't know everything that's in it, but it has rye. It has two things I love. It has rye in it and it's not too sweet, and I first drank it in Paris, so Paris and Rye.
Steve Quirk:
Oh, nice. I am drinking a Loose Hound, which is vodka with a grapefruit liqueur and simple syrup.
Susan Fader:
It’s good for me.
Steve Quirk:
Yeah, really sweet and lots of calories, so it is not –
Susan Fader:
But they taste good. They taste really good.
Steve Quirk:
Yes. Well cheers.
Steve Quirk:
So, you recently wrote an article for Quirk’s where you talked about your qual research that you've had from the past and how it has been applicable to these kinds of shelter-in-place people who are stuck at home and so forth. And I know, do you want to talk a little bit about that article and how it came about to be?
Susan Fader:
Okay. So as a qualitative researcher who obviously has done a lot of, I've done online telephone, but I've also done a lot of in-person research. I saw in the discussions that people really would come and really want to just talk and kind of mingle. And then sometimes after these groups people would hang around and just talk. And it wasn't because they're trying to do a business connection, it was just that human interaction that they wanted. So, I've always been aware that if you want to do qualitative research well, you have to create an atmosphere where people can connect, have that social type of connection.
Then Sigma did a study, which was published in 2018, where they had talked to 20,000 Americans and almost half of all Americans at this time in 2018 felt lonely all the time or some of the time. And then in 2019 they found it had increased that 60% of the people, more than 60% felt lonely. So, this was before COVID-19. So, if people were feeling lonely before COVID-19 and now they've been cut off from the social interaction, which is not the 17 Zoom calls you have, because that's not social interaction, it's the just standing in line and talking to someone that you've never met or walking down the street and seeing something you haven't seen before. Those are the – or just going out to lunch with a friend with no agenda and just talking, that's the type of social interaction that people really crave and being shelter in place, you're not getting it.
People think binging on Netflix or downloading a thousand podcasts are, they're being entertained, but that's really just a passive where you're sitting, you're not interacting with people. So based on qualitative and based on, I've also got a lot of feedback from the article, from people with additional suggestions. I have some suggestions of what people can do.
Steve Quirk:
Wow, that's really great. So, do you find that now, I mean, are people more apt to want to participate in research at this point?
Susan Fader:
Oh my God. I actually had two projects that were in the field in person that had to convert to online in the middle. First of all, based on my prior experience to online, really people weren't necessarily, especially in a focus group, one-on-one or a board that's some, but in a focus group online, people generally were not as engaged. And in these two cases, not only were people more engaged than in the past, many of my groups and I pride myself, if it's a two-hour group, it's over at two hours. People didn't want to stop talking. They said, no, no, we know it's the end, but we want to stay and talk some more. Because they were just there. Totally different topics, but it was just people having a conversation in a social interaction. And that's what people need.
One of the things from qualitative research that I've been doing online that I've learned is the most people you can really have on to have some form of intimacy is six. And then really four or five is really where you should be because then there's also me. But if you think about these people who are having Zoom calls, if you're having business Zoom calls, very rarely is less. But even these happy hour ones where you have 20-30 people that's above, you can't have the intimacy when you go above that number and people don't understand.
One of the things that I've heard over and over again, you know what I'm doing, I'm making phone calls. I never used to call but I'm really low tech. I'm calling my family members who I don't live near me. I'm calling friends who I never had time talk to and we're just talking and it makes me feel so great because that's that human connection. So, there are a lot of other things, but there needs to be the recognition that Zoom calls and the passive of watching Netflix and being entertained is not giving you that social interaction that you need. And you can come up with a lot of, I have friends who are jamming over a conference call, musicians, so they can just jam you. These are just, there are a lot more examples in the article of what you can do. But these are things that people have to recognize, that they have to be interactive. It has to be with a small group of people, less than six.
Steve Quirk:
And that's great. And people should definitely check out and read the article. And also, people get on the phone because there are people out there who are lonely and might be living alone and being unfortunately locked in by themselves. It's a great reminder for people to reach out and actually have conversations with people. Alright, so I'm going to go to this, the part where we ask you a question. What is one of your quirks that people might not know about you?
Susan Fader:
I can only share one.
Steve Quirk:
Well, you can share two.
Susan Fader:
All right, so you know about my Burning Man quirk, so not that. I like extreme natural challenges.
Steve Quirk:
Alright, what does that mean?
Susan Fader:
So, I have done the polar plunge in Antarctica, only wearing a bathing suit.
Steve Quirk:
Oh wow.
Susan Fader:
And so, saltwater freezes below 32 degree. It's less so it was even colder. So that was an experience. I've done the Devil's Pool, which is on the lip of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Zambia. So that, that's an insane thing. If I had really known what I was doing, what was going to happen. I've cycled on a tandem from Pittsburgh to Washington DC. So, I like that type of natural challenges.
Steve Quirk:
Wow. Wow. Alright. So, I think next time we have a cocktail, hopefully it'll be in person, I want to hear more stories about that as well as Burning Man, because that is something that I haven't been to, but it's sounds like it's quite the experience. So yeah,
Susan Fader:
We’re not going to have it this year.
Steve Quirk:
I know, I know. But still it will come back. So. Well thank you Susan, for your time and cheers.
Susan Fader:
Cheers.
Steve Quirk:
And stay well.
Susan Fader:
You too. And everyone, wish everyone reach out, have conversations and just shoot the breeze.
Steve Quirk:
Sounds perfect. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Susan Fader:
Okay. Thanks so much.
Steve Quirk:
Yep. Thank you.