Interview on Japanese Radio (?) - Kon-ichi-wa, Japan

[isoaker]

Semi-Final form:
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1, First of all, please tell us general information on water gun and warfare boom in the world.

Water warfare is enjoyed by countless people throughout the globe from the Songkran Festival in Thailand to known modern water wars held in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom., Germany, and Australia. One great thing about water warfare is that it truly is enjoyed by people of all ages. Presently in North America, we have seen a growing number of companies developing new types of water blasters for general use. As well, there is a growing movement of those wanting to push water warfare further, designing and building their own water weaponry. These developments are getting the next generations interested in trying out water warfare. Also, as our world has become more interconnected thanks to the Internet, people from all over the world can share their ideas and experiences with others easily online.


2, How many water gun and warfare related clubs or organizions are there in the world. And which country has the most of them?

The actual number of teams and clubs worldwide is difficult to estimate. I know of at least 15 groups in North America, 5 in Europe, 5 in Australia, and 1 in Asia, but this is far from a complete listing. There are also three large online communities devoted to water warfare: iSoaker.com, SSCentral.org, and Soakermedia.net. Most known teams are located in North America with the greatest number found in the US. However, as interest spreads, groups are being established in Europe, Asia, as well as the Australia and New Zealand region. I suppose the only continents that our online group knows the least about are Africa and South America.


3, Please tell us about recent water gun battle which took place in the last few months if you know any.

Some of the most intense organized water wars occur in the North-Eastern coast of the US around a town called Ridgewood, located in New Jersey. Two rival teams there, the Ridgewood Militia and Waterbridge, specialize in serious, organized, tactical water warfare. Both teams use stock water guns, modified water guns, homemade water guns, and water balloon launchers, as well as camoflage. They also use strong tactical knowledge to battle with each other. Their wars take place in forests with some streams and plenty of trees and shrubs to offer hiding places. From what I have seen and heard from the team commanders and some of the members, their battles are long, challenging, but extremely fun. They have already held many battles this year with the last one in July. They are currently planning a "Regional War" for August 11 and 12 which is even open to anyone who can attend! Due to time limitations, I feel a short summary of any of their battles would not properly cover the events and convey the excitement. I therefore suggest visiting the Forums at iSoaker.com and reading the complete battle reports there. I've had a few water battles of my own this year, but they were much smaller in scale and were mainly just everyone-for-themselves-type water wars.


4, They say heat wave is striking London, New York City and other places in the world this summer. Do you think heat wave is lifting up water gun boom in the world?

Hot weather helps a lot so long as water is still available. Water blasters and water warfare still represent the best, most thrilling way to keep cool when the temperatures go up (at least to me). From personal experience, I've found the hottest days are perfect days to initiate others into joining a good water fight. Few people decline an open and fun invitation to get wet when it's hot outside. Here's one trick I use: When meeting a group of friends on a hot day, I bring along a few water guns, but only take one or two out a first. I start by teasing those I know can get easily excited, then hand him or her my water gun. Then, I pull out another and continue until everyone has one or is running to grab their own. Once a water fight starts, it is usually hard to stop until everyone is soaking wet!


5, Do you have any message to Japanese people, concerning water gun and warfare?

My friends in Japan tell me that Japanese summers can often be extremely humid and hot. Help keep your own friends and family cool and make some new friends by having a water war in your area. Visit our sites and online communities to learn what others are doing and to share your own experiences. Our boards have members from around the globe and anyone with interest or curiosity are welcome to join! Most importantly, never forget to 'Leave NO one dry!'

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Final feedback welcome. They will supposedly call tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully all goes fun and smoothly.

[SilentGuy]

No, that was completely my fault. There's no point trying to prevent things from being buried when the reader is skimming the post--so sorry about that. I'll read through the entire thing this time, and I'll make a few comments in the process :;): ...

I suppose the only continents that our online group knows the least about are Africa and South America.

I suppose?! I suppose!!! That sounds too unassertive to me, and the last thing you want listeners to think is that you (1) are not confident about something, you (2) are not dedicated to water warfare, or that you (3) don't actually know, especially since you were given the questions in advance and that you're discussing them with your online group that you refer to. Okay, sorry about the rant--but take it as a good sign that there weren't really any blaring errors.

Perhaps you could mention that the RM uses water cannons, but then again, that might be jumping the gun. I'll let Duxburian decide. With response number 3, I feel you might not be directly answering the question, but then again I've seen interviews in which the subject goes off on such a huge tangent that the interviewer gets a bit lost. At any rate, be prepared to give a brief description of an actual battle if necessary. However, if you do talk a bit more freely, then perhaps you could convey some of the excitement of having the expertise of online Soakerdom members be brought together to one event--which is something that I feel really does get lost in your answer.

Besides those two minor problems that are really just me being picky, everything else looks good. I like how you removed the

Come drop by our sites and online communities

in favor of

Visit our sites and online communities

As I said above, such figures of might not have a place when translated, or even when used in another location. While I feel the last response was still a bit...vague, and maybe not very helpful to listeners who don't feel like joining the forums at the moment...it still answered the question in a fairly open-ended way.

Congratulations on getting the offer, and I hope you follow through and do well in the interview! Perhaps I was a bit too picky, but then again, that's just how I am--a perfectionist.

[isoaker]

From my understanding, the preferred answer length for each question is 1 minute. That's not much time to say much, actually, which is why most of the answers seem generalized and non-specific. For #3, I opted not to do a battle description since, well, 1 minute ain't enough for it. They want this to fit in a 15 minute segment... that's a handful for seconds for each question, 1 minute for my answer, and 1 minute for a translated version of my answer (at least that's what they said the format would be). I doubt I'd be asked to go into a more detailed description of a battle, but I'll have a page open to one just-in-case.

You're definitely right about the end of #2 response. I'll fix that and make it more definitive.

I appreciate the feedback for sure, though!

[isoaker]

Just found out that this will actually be a 'live broadcast' at 5:15am Monday time in Tokyo. Ok, it's pretty early in the morning so have no idea how many people are awake and listening at that time. However, seems like many people do commute during those hours. Neat opportunity, for sure.

[isoaker]

Approximate final form... in the end, the only differences will come from how I end up saying them. I've emailed them these typed answers as well to help them during the translation part. I don't want a poorer translation in case they can't hear me as clearly over the phone lines.

Thanks for all the input! ~3 hours before interview.

-----------------------------------------
1, First of all, please tell us general information on water gun and warfare boom in the world.

Water warfare is enjoyed by countless people throughout the globe from the Songkran Festival in Thailand to known modern water wars held in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom., Germany, and Australia. One great thing about water warfare is that it truly is enjoyed by people of all ages. In North America, we have seen a growing number of companies developing new types of water blasters for general use. As well, there is a growing movement of individuals who want to push water warfare further, designing and building their own water weaponry and involved in more organized water wars. These developments are getting the next generations and even older generations interested in trying out water warfare. Also, as our world has become more interconnected thanks to the Internet, people from all over the world now share their ideas and experiences with others easily online.


2, How many water gun and warfare related clubs or organizions are there in the world. And which country has the most of them?

The actual number of teams and clubs worldwide is difficult to estimate. I know of at least 15 groups in North America, 5 in Europe, 5 in Australia, and 1 in Asia, but this is far from a complete listing. There are also three large online communities devoted to water warfare: iSoaker.com, SSCentral.org, and Soakermedia.net. Most known teams are located in North America with the greatest number found in the US. However, as interest spreads, groups are being established in Europe, Asia, as well as the Australia and New Zealand region. Currently, the continents that our online group knows the least about are Africa and South America.


3, Please tell us about recent water gun battle which took place in the last few months if you know any.

Some of the most intense organized water wars occur in the North-Eastern coast of the US around a town called Ridgewood, located in New Jersey. Two rival teams there, the Ridgewood Militia and Waterbridge, specialize in serious, organized, tactical water warfare. Both teams use stock water guns, modified water guns, homemade water guns, and water balloon launchers, as well as camouflage. They also use strong tactical knowledge to battle with each other. Their wars take place in forests with some streams and plenty of trees and shrubs to offer hiding places. From what I have seen and heard from the team commanders and some of the members, their battles are long, challenging, but extremely fun. They have already held many organized battles this year with the last one in July. They are currently planning a "Regional War" for August 11 and 12 which is even open to anyone who can attend! Due to time limitations, I feel a short summary of any of their battles would not properly cover the events and convey the excitement. I therefore suggest visiting the Forums at iSoaker.com and reading the complete battle reports there. I've had a few water battles of my own this year, but they were much smaller in scale and were mainly simple, fun, everyone-for-themselves-type water wars.


4, They say heat wave is striking London, New York City and other places in the world this summer. Do you think heat wave is lifting up water gun boom in the world?

Hot weather helps a lot so long as water is still available. Water blasters and water warfare still represent the best, most thrilling way to keep cool when the temperatures go up, at least in my opinion ^_^. From personal experience, I've found the hottest days are perfect days to initiate others into joining a good water fight. Few people decline an open and fun invitation to get wet when it's hot outside. Here's one trick I use: When meeting a group of friends on a hot day, I bring along a few water guns, but only take one or two out at first. I start by teasing those I know can get easily excited, then hand him or her my water gun. Then, I pull out another and continue until everyone has one or is running to grab their own. Once a water fight starts, it is usually hard to stop until everyone is soaking wet!


5, Do you have any message to Japanese people, concerning water gun and warfare?

My friends in Japan tell me that Japanese summers can often be extremely humid and hot. Help keep your own friends and family cool and make some new friends by having a water war in your area. Visit our sites and online communities to learn what others are doing and to share your own experiences. Our boards have members from around the globe and anyone with interest or curiosity are welcome to join! Most importantly, never forget to 'Leave NO one dry!' ^_^

[SilentGuy]

Well, all I can say now is good luck. I had never heard of the Songkran Festival, and a bit of research told me that it seems pretty interesting. I learned at least one thing from this thread!

I'm looking forward to see how it turns out...

[isoaker]

Ack! Questions are very different! gee...

Lessee... they asked question 1.. decided against 2, 3, and 5, substituting in asking my why I like water guns, why I have over 200 over them, and why I'm still interested (though older than most 'kids' who use them). Oh well... goes to show you one can never really predict things with live radio shows. It ended with question 4 and a little extra banter. Man, I have no idea how I sound over the phone, then radio...

Oh well, there goes my 15 minutes of fame on Japanese Radio...

[SilentGuy]

It couldn't have sounded too bad--but of course, if it did and if you received a copy, then I'd understand your possibly not wanting to share it . It's a shame they asked such random questions (at the very least, they could have not gotten you to expect certain questions), but at least they're the type that you hopefully have answers for off the top of your head. It's still bad policy to do that, though...

Anyway, I suppose all publicity is good. I hope you get more offers like this in the future!

[isoaker]

Not a huge spike, but iSoaker.com was visited by 109 or so individuals tracable back to Japan yesterday. This is slightly up from a typical 30-40 individuals who visit (per week). Can't say the interview really did that much in terms of increasing traffic. Oh well... not too surprising since that show aired at 5:15am Tokyo time. The people awake at that time of the day aren't the likely crowd who would be as interested in soaker, I suppose.