Melissa Castello

Hi, I’m Mike with U-Tastic. I’m at Chicago WebConf today and I’m sitting down with Melissa. Melissa is a professional interviewer, unlike yours truly, who is not. As if you’ve watched any of the videos, you would know that I am not a professional interviewer. But thank you for sitting down. This is a little different where I kind of want to learn a little bit and I pick your brain a little bit on camera. So you’re a professional interviewer. Yes. What does that mean? It means I have a degree in broadcast journalism. I went to Columbia College here in Chicago and I kind of fell into it. I started in gaming at Horsin’ Around TV, a show all about handicapping. And I started there reporting for them, teaching people how to handicap their horses by interviewing jockeys, trainers, owners, race goers, professional handicappers. Now were you into this gaming at all before? I was. I worked at the track in high school. So you did have a little… Yeah, I thought it was perfect for me because it was kind of like, you know, when I got into reporting, I didn’t want to work for the news. I initially did. And then when I went to school, I was like, God, the news is terrible. I got to do something fun that would keep me interested. And so when I started off in racing, it was perfect. Unfortunately, there’s not a huge market for horse racing in Illinois. So the show only lasted two seasons. Now, I presume that you have to interview a lot of people. I’m not used to getting interviewed. If you’re engaging jockeys or people who are in the poker world, they might be very intelligent people, very articulate off camera. But when I get on camera, do they change a bit for you? Well, a lot of people in poker are just socially awkward in general. They don’t leave the house. They play online. When they’re in the casino, they interact with only men, which is another thing. So a lot like a tech conference, unfortunately. Yeah, probably. You know, trying to fix that. Yeah, same as in poker, too. But yeah, it’s hard. It can be like pulling teeth with some people. But the best way is just what I do while the camera guy is setting up. It just makes them feel comfortable. Talk to them, joke with them. You get someone laughing before an interview, they’ll open up a lot easier. So basically that banter for the camera world. Yes, it’s very important. I feel it’s very important. Because I don’t, I’m like you, you said how you mentioned you don’t structure an interview before you go into it. You kind of feel where it’s going. That’s, that’s how I, that’s my style, too. I go in with the knowledge of my subject and the person I’m interviewing. And then when I get into it, I listen to what they say. Because a lot of times, a lot of people don’t listen and they jump to another question that they’ve had in their head. That makes no sense. Yeah. So. Which, which I, unfortunately. I, I had actually just done exactly what you said. I was thinking about the next question. And then when you said they’re thinking about the next question, I was like, oh, no, I can’t think about the next question. It’s a hard, you can’t, it’s a habit that you’re not, I mean, you’re, people are going to do that. I did that, too, at first. I had a list of questions. When I first got into poker, I didn’t know everybody, you know, and I didn’t know anything in horse racing. I knew how to bet the horses and I knew, I was familiar with stuff from being at the track. But I didn’t know a certain jockey or owner, you know, I had to look them up. And with poker, especially. I had to research these people and be like, how much has this person won? What has he done? You know, and I could ask them questions. Have you ever had somebody say, like, you don’t know me? Like, like, they, they just assumed that they were so well-known in their circles that you would just know who they were? I. In just an awkward moment? I actually, um, the girl I worked with when I first started, someone kind of trained me. And some players that I really didn’t know that were, you know, big names. Because you know the big names from seeing it on TV and things like that. But there’s a lot of, you know, people make a lot of livings in poker. Like, that you don’t know. And so, she pointed out one guy, and it was an Asian guy, and it was totally the wrong guy. She was like, yeah, that’s Men the Master. Yeah. Not him. Oh, really? So, I interviewed him, and I said his name. He’s like, that’s not me. And I was like, oh, my God, I’m so sorry. It was so awkward. It was probably so embarrassing. I was like, I felt terrible. And then I’m like, oh, my God, I’m not racist. She pointed you out to me and told me that’s who you were. And then she was on the side, just like, I’m so sorry. Oh, my. Oh, did you do this on purpose? Yeah. It was a joke. Oh, my. I couldn’t imagine that. No, yeah, it was awful. Yeah. And, but for, was there anything about being a professional interviewer that when you came out of school, you’re like, oh, it’s going to be like this. But then when you actually got out into the field, it was not like that at all? Or was there anything that you majorly learned over the years of interviewing people that was like, maybe a trademark or a style? Well, it’s a lot more laid back, I think. Because, but I think for broadcasting, it’s a lot more laid back. I think for broadcasting in school, you learn a very new style of reporting. And from working, I’ve only been working in gaming. So, maybe I just haven’t experienced that. But, yeah, for me, it’s a very laid back. What is, I mean, I can think to the kind of confrontational, unfriendly interviews that you see on news, where it’s more like trying to get somebody who’s maybe not a willing interviewee to talk. Right. Whereas, you have somebody who’s probably more than happy to tell you. And it’s really all about how they just want. Yeah. And I’ve had, I’ve had people that don’t want to talk that just lost the tournament or whatnot. I’ve had people that don’t, don’t want to do interviews. You know, they just busted. But I just, I don’t think, and I’ll ignore it. I’ll be like, that’s fine. I understand. I won’t force anyone to do an interview because it’s never going to look good. Right. That’s the thing. I don’t like the way that they do that when they, you know, charge people, I mean, for just a clip. You know, you’re not going to get anything from that. And a viewer’s not going to get anything. And you’re going to look like a jerk doing it. So, someone doesn’t want to do it. I never try and push it. Okay. Well, thank you very much for taking the time. No problem. Thank you. Okay. So, that was the second.