Ash- Somehow I just KNEW you were going to make an instant messaging comment
. laugh. I see your point from the interviewee side. Most of the people I would guess have been interviewed previously & would be comfortable taking questions from engineers, even if they are crazy ones.
For those minority that would be a bit shy, maybe could run a more scripted session then. We would definately need to give a topic before-hand so they could have any info/visual aids handy, I agree. Plus it would be nice to co-ordinate so said materials could be postde/uploaded for all involved to see.
Biggie- I agree, growth is mandated before incorporating an involved process idea like that. It will be a nice step towards a CE TV show...
. I think the minimum post and even a very small user fee would be a easy admission ticket that many members would be willing to do. Some motorcycle forums I'm on have the same and an optional yearly donation via Paypal (help supports the site) allows a member to take part in more advanced features.
As far as an answer to your qusetion #3, that would be free advertising/spreading of their product/ideas via this great professional website exposing them to X number of webpage hits people/customers/clients/peers a month.