Behind the Mirror Part 1 - The Funny, the Wild, the What-Just-Happened?

Elvia de la Garza: Welcome back to Moderating Life, DLG’s 20th Anniversary Podcast, episode three, and today we’re pulling back the curtain even more because yes. Research is a serious business, but it can also be hilarious, awkward, and sometimes just plain wild. 

Edgardo de la Garza: Absolutely. There is what happens in the focus group and then there’s what happens behind the mirror, and today you’re getting both think tequila pole dancing, a love story, and a very confused participant who thought Elvia was famous.

Elvia de la Garza: Spoiler alert, I am not, but he would not believe me. We’ll get into that in a little bit. 

Edgardo de la Garza: Yes, we’re gonna tell you a few real life stories that give color to our days and evenings as moderators. Elvia, why don’t you start? 

Elvia de la Garza: Yes. Let’s start with something unforgettable. Really. I was conducting a one-on-one.

Mm-hmm. In a research facility. As usual, you know, there’s always a two-way mirror, right? Clients can observe the session as you are moderating. Um, so this participant, a lovely lady, a sweet lady, she was. So comfortable that completely forgot that A, she was being recorded, and B there was people observing the session.

Oh, no. So towards the end of the session, you know, I, I told her that I was going to check mm-hmm. In the back room mm-hmm. For questions like we always do. Mm-hmm. And as I leave the room and as I enter the, the observation room where the client, uh, the clients were, I see her. Lifting her skirt. 

Edgardo de la Garza: Oh no.

Elvia de la Garza: Completely fixing her under something. I don’t know. She was fixing something. And the client, I just see the client going like this, looking down at the moment, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I should just run and tell her or just ignore it. At the moment I was very uncomfortable.

But it sure gave us a laugh during the debrief. 

Edgardo de la Garza: Oh man. And I’m sure that’s a reminder to tell participants you’re being filmed.

Elvia de la Garza: Yes. Yes. 

Edgardo de la Garza: There’s a two-way mirror. Remember that? 

Elvia de la Garza: Yes. And we always do, but you know, sometimes it’s worth telling them several times throughout the session because again, they are so comfortable that they forget.

But yeah, that’s a story I will never forget. And I, I have to add that. For the recording, I made sure to delete that part because,

Edgardo de la Garza: oh man, that’s so nice. That’s great. That’s great. Tell us one more. 

Elvia de la Garza: Yes, yes, I sure do. There was this other time I had a participant that from the very beginning, as soon as he walked into the room mm-hmm.

He saw me with, you know, with a certain different look. Mm-hmm. You know, he was just observing me. 

Edgardo de la Garza: Okay. 

Elvia de la Garza: Um, and, and he started asking if I was famous. And I, you know, with everybody there, I was like. No, I am not. I am.

Edgardo de la Garza: He thought you were somebody famous.

Elvia de la Garza: Oh, but like, famous. Famous. But he kept asking, are you being in in tele novellas?

Have you been in like, he was just trying to figure out who I was.

Edgardo de la Garza: Who you were.

Elvia de la Garza: Uhhuh. Little did he know. I was nobody, right? I was just the moderator, but he would not believe me. He kept asking. Anyways, I kept my session, um, as usual. And towards the end of the group, well, at the end of the group, um, he waited for everyone to leave the room.

Oh, eh. And then he comes to me with a notebook and he ask for my signature, for my autograph. I must say,

Edgardo de la Garza: oh, how cute you give it. 

Elvia de la Garza: Of course, I, I was not going to disappoint my biggest fan. I remember just putting, okay, I’m gonna sign it, but I’m not famous. And I actually put to my biggest fan. Signed Elvia not so famous.

Edgardo de la Garza: Oh man, that’s awesome.

Elvia de la Garza: It was so cute. It was so cute. And I, I’m almost sure he still has that somewhere thinking that I’m someone that he couldn’t put a name to remember. Put a name into it.

Edgardo de la Garza: That’s a great, a great story. That’s a great story. 

Elvia de la Garza: So, yes. Um, what about you? Do you have a, a story for us? 

Edgardo de la Garza: Oh, absolutely.

I have one for the ages. We were doing friendship groups. You know, when we recruit one participant to be the hostess and she invites her friends because that’s how people shop, influenced by their friends. So that is the, the logistics behind that. We want to really understand how people shop and how they influence each other.

So, um, we arrived to the hostess home and from the outside it already looked a little suspicious, but you know, we went in, we knock on the door, and a delightful young lady opened the door and she welcomed us in and I noticed that there was very little natural light. There were thick curtains blocking the light and there was a certain aroma in the air, if you know what I mean.

Elvia de la Garza: I assume it wasn’t scented candles.

Edgardo de la Garza: Nope, not. Not at all. Okay. But you know what? That’s fine. Each his own, it was perfectly fine. So we started talking and I noticed they had, she had several cats, so I asked her very kindly, how do you, like, I see cats, do you like kittens? And uh, she showed me her.

Tattoos of kitten paws that went all the way up her leg. And that was a little uncomfortable, but we chatted and she was delightful again. 

Elvia de la Garza: That’s a way to warm up.

Edgardo de la Garza: Yeah, that’s a way to warm up. Of course. We waiting for her friends to show up and all of a sudden they’re there with chips and salsa and cheese and two bottles.

One of tequila and one of vodka. Wow. And it turned into a full pregame. They said Yes, sure. Yeah, questions, shots first, questions later. So, you know, they started drinking and it actually made for a very fun and lively interview.

Elvia de la Garza: Yeah, I mean, and, and it’s really, it’s a reminder that. Participants and consumers come in pretty much all colors.

Edgardo de la Garza: Yeah, absolutely. They actually turned out to be dancers and not the ballet kind. Nothing illegal or nothing like that.

Elvia de la Garza: Not judging here, but

Edgardo de la Garza: No, not judgment at all. But you’re right, a reminder that. Consumers come in all flavors. Now, good thing that the client did not attend that session. She had to take a flight out.

But from that moment on, we made it a requirement to ask for pictures and videos of the houses when we’re doing in-homes so that we know what kind of environment we’re walking into.

Elvia de la Garza: Yep. That’s definitely a practice that we implemented, uh, you know, along the way. Well, that was wild. Um, do you have another story?

Edgardo de la Garza: I sure do. I sure do. And this one cracks me up, and it’s still a little bit cringey. Uh, we were doing sessions, focus group sessions for an adult beverage company, a scotch whiskey to be precise.

Elvia de la Garza: Oh, I, I know this story. Continue.

Edgardo de la Garza: Oh my goodness. We have prototypes, bottles, and also competitors bottles, and we have a group of young men testing and tasting the product. And you know, at the end of the session, I go to the back room, as we always do to make sure that we have covered everything, that the client doesn’t have any more questions as, and as I step into the back, I see this young guy getting up from his seat very casually, grabbing a bottle and putting it in his backpack, just like nothing.

And we’re like.

Elvia de la Garza: Oh my God. 

Edgardo de la Garza: Uh, man, I can see you. Come on. So I had to go back into the room, play it. Cool. And say, guys, thank you so much. Before I let you go, I just want to tell you, I have another session coming right up. I’m gonna need all the bottles back where you found them, and just ca just as casually as he put it into his backpack.

He took it out of his backpack and placed it back into the, uh, placed it back on the table.

Elvia de la Garza: Oh my God.

Edgardo de la Garza: I know, but you know what was the worst part? He tried to steal the competitors brands.

Elvia de la Garza: Oh my, my gosh.

Edgardo de la Garza: Not even the client’s brand.

Elvia de la Garza: Double embarrassment.

Edgardo de la Garza: It was a double embarrassing, man. That was a great story.

Elvia de la Garza: Wow. That is crazy. Well, we’ve talked about consumers and participants and we talked about moderators, but you know, who’s not off the hook? 

Edgardo de la Garza: Uhhuh 

Elvia de la Garza: Clients. 

Edgardo de la Garza: Yes. 

Elvia de la Garza: I have a story about a client, um, very often clients get excited when, during the, the sessions, you know, they, they, whether it is because they like what they’re hearing or they don’t like what they’re hearing. There’s always excitement

Edgardo de la Garza: And they have personalities that we have to manage.

Elvia de la Garza: Absolutely. Yes, yes, yes. But this one, there’s, there was this one time that I was conducting sessions, eh, for a dairy product.

Edgardo de la Garza: Mm-hmm.

Elvia de la Garza: And the client, we were doing tastings, so the participants were giving so many compliments to the client’s brand. He was so happy, so happy behind the group that with no notice, he just walked into the room and introduce himself.

Edgardo de la Garza: Oh, no.

Elvia de la Garza: To the people saying, hi, my name is so and so. I am the owner of the company. And it’s not a little company, it is a big company.

Edgardo de la Garza: Oh, wow.

Elvia de la Garza: So obviously the, the participants loved it. They were like almost clapping and everything and he. Thank them for their comments and you know, he was just being charming and, and being very excited, but I had no idea he was going to do that. I mean, I have to be fair. Thank God it was towards the end of the session.

Sure. So really no, no. The insights were not,

Edgardo de la Garza: it didn’t disturb as much. 

Elvia de la Garza: No, no. But it was surprising, surprising. He caught me, let’s just say off guard, right? Yeah. 

Edgardo de la Garza: But we love an engaged CEO. 

Elvia de la Garza: Yes. And he loved the moment, he loved that contact with the consumers. And he actually asked me to, if he could do that for, for every, all the other sessions.

Edgardo de la Garza: Awesome.

Elvia de la Garza: And of course, we incorporated into the guide, uh, towards the end of the session. And he did that for the, of all of the other groups. He loved it, consumer loved it. So why not?

Edgardo de la Garza: It’s good and it’s great to have your client very engaged. Yes. And really listening to the consumer.

That’s great. 

Elvia de la Garza: Yes, yes, yes. 

Edgardo de la Garza: I have an awesome client story. This one happened here in Houston. We were doing research with a very big financial service company. Um, national, big, big name. So we were at the, uh, nice area here in town, very fancy offices. And the receptionist was very attractive.

Young lady who was in charge of checking everybody in and making sure that copies are made, that all the logistics for the focus groups were up to par. And, you know, we started the sessions. One of our clients that was observing, also a attractive young man, um, all of a sudden took a lot of interest in the logistics.

He kept asking for, more M’n’Ms and oh no, we ran out of sparkling water. So, you know, that reception is that.

Elvia de la Garza: Of course, I see where this is going.

Edgardo de la Garza: She, every time that she walked into the room, you could feel the eyes and the tension there.

Elvia de la Garza: Love was in the air, I guess.

Edgardo de la Garza: Exactly. Uhhuh.

Exactly. And you know, we continued the sessions and everything was okay until the very last one. And our groups were designed so that I would go back to the room a couple of times throughout the session. So the first time in the last session that I went back and, um. I noticed that he wasn’t there. The other clients were, and we did the what we needed to do, but he wasn’t there.

And I asked, and they said, oh, he had to go and take a phone call. Okay, fine. 50 minutes later I go back into the back room and he’s still not. There. So we finished the session. You know, we are wrapping things up and I see the receptionist a little bit anxious and looking at her clock and rushing to get going.

So I’m like, okay, well that, that’s fine. We picked up our papers and whatever we needed, and I text the client on my way out. Hey, I noticed that. You know, you weren’t there in the last session very much. Is everything okay? And he just texted Everything is good. Apologies for ducking out early. I’m having drinks with the receptionist.

Elvia de la Garza: Oh my god. You know, double purpose for the research. Good insights. Plus a date. 

Edgardo de la Garza: Exactly. Exactly. It’s, we don’t judge. We don’t judge, of course, but it’s a reminder that when you are observing sessions, you are also being observed. Us as moderators, we see everything. 

Elvia de la Garza: Yeah. I mean, it really, I mean, if you think about it, research is a structure, strategic and insightful, but it’s also real life and real people and sometimes that means stories that make you laugh for years, like these ones. 

Edgardo de la Garza: Yes. That’s it for this episode. Thank you for joining us, and if you’ve ever been in a focus group, we see everything. Kidding, not kidding. And everything is recorded. 

Elvia de la Garza: So that’s all for this episode. Thank you. From your friends at DLG Research.

Insightful Research, 

Edgardo de la Garza: Actionable Results. 

Elvia de la Garza: See you next time.