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Ariel Bryan

Mrs. Stanford

ENG 231

31 October 2017

Face to Face Communication: When Does it Need To Be Used?

As I walk into the MAPS Air Museum, an area known for heroic actions and even more

heroic people, I take a deep breath. Surprisingly, I am somewhat nervous as I open the glass

doors to this world of its own, filled with imagination and creativity. These role models in

society have risked their lives to help make ours a better one. Unexpectedly, I didn’t think that

this would be such an eye-opening experience as I pushed the door open for the first time. I knew

that these people gave up certain things that the everyday person has so that they could help

others, but it never occurred to me that I could actually put myself into the shoes of veterans that

volunteered at this museum. I looked around and saw children enthralled by the idea of being

able to sit in a real airplane used in combat. They ran their fingers up and down the sides of the

plane, feeling the scratches and dents from previous wars and battles. I could feel the emotion as

tour guides spoke about how they had to jump from hundreds, maybe even thousands of feet up

in the air, just to get separated from their colleagues. How they spent sleepless nights in the

shuddering cold and brutal days in the scalding heat. I could feel what they were feeling and

could visualize each and every word that they said, although I was only sitting in a cold metal

chair. If it weren’t for that visualization through emotion and words, I would probably never get

that eye-opening experience that I did with the tour guides and the others around me. (MAPS Air

Museum Observation, 2017) Face to face communication plays a massive role in why I was so
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engaged. Of course, some would still feel some sort of emotion if they were to read this from a

book or online, but there’s no way that they can feel the same way without actually having some

sort of direct communication with a person that has actually been through some of these horrific

events. There’s nothing like the opportunity to feel a veteran’s pain, happiness, and love in

person. When conversing with the employees at the MAPS Air Museum, the best form of

communication would be face to face because of the idea of being able to express a veteran’s

vivid, personal experiences to the community around them.

Every day, our society finds another way to incorporate technology into the lives of

Americans, whether through cell phones, computers, iPods, television, and many others. 2017

has been the greatest year for advancements yet, and it’s only going to get better from here.

Advancements in technology have allowed people to speak over the phone, communicating via

live chats like Skype and Facetime, and even talking through social media. Although people can

use this to their advantage, old-fashioned face to face communication is the best way to speak

and connect with others. According to “Try Talking for a Change” by Michael Morella, speaking

to someone directly gives off the idea of trust from one person to another. “When interacting

face-to-face, "you're getting more information from the people around you," says coauthor

Gregory Northcraft, which "is allowing you to trust them more."(Morella, 2010) Actually

directly speaking to someone allows you to have a bond with the person that you are speaking

with. Being able to have that close of a bond, not only just with a regular person but with one of

our country’s heroes is something that I wouldn’t trade for anything else.

This type of communication not only works between a tourist and a tour guide but also

between workers. I was able to interview the MAPS Air Museum executive director Kim
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Kovesci, who runs most of the business, management, and usually plans most of the events. One

of the questions I had asked him how the mood was in the workplace. For some reason, I

believed that it would be very quiet and that everyone would keep to themselves. Surprisingly, it

was the exact opposite according to Kovesci. “People are always cracking jokes and teasing one

another. We all are having a great time in there. There’s never a time when we aren’t laughing.

We’re always in a good mood. ”(MAPS Air Museum Interview, 2017) Nonverbal cues also play

a great role in face to face communication, although some might categorize it as another form of

speaking. I wouldn’t, just because workers are still able to see the other person’s face in real life

and not virtually.

“Northcraft says that employees who interact in person also feel more engaged with one
another and the work. Only 7 percent of communication that deals with feelings or attitudes are
conveyed in the words used, with the rest of the meaning coming from the tone or nonverbal
cues, according to oft-cited communications research from noted University of California-Los
Angeles psychologist Albert Mehrabian. "We miss a lot when we only look at the words," says
Sue Johnston.”(Morella, 2010)
Nonverbal communication plays a big role in the MAPS Air Museum. People are smiling while

doing their job, whether giving a tour to some students, fixing up one of the planes, picking up a

phone, or even facing a computer screen. It allows for others to speak their mind and get their

thoughts across without even taking the time to speak. It creates a mood and shows others how

that person wants to give off what they’re trying to say.

Once I left the museum for the last time, I felt like I left a part of me there, as if the only

way to get that piece of me back is to push open the doors once again. I made friendships with

the tour guides, I was able to see some of the greatest structures I had ever laid my eyes on, and

most importantly, I gained much more knowledge about the true heroes of America. Being able

to speak directly to these truly good people was absolutely wonderful, and from it, I learned
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more about myself. I now look at everyday discussion completely differently, and I cannot wait

for the next time I go and see these men and women of courage.
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Works Cited

Bryan, Ariel, and Kim Kovesci. “MAPS Air Museum Interview.” 19 Oct. 2017.

Bryan, Ariel N. “MAPS Air Museum Observation.” 29 Sept. 2017.

Morella, Michael. "23. Try Talking for a Change." ​U.S. News & World Report​, vol. 147, no. 11,

Dec. 2010, pp. 48-51. EBSCO​host​,

starkstate.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&

AN=55277948&site=ehost-live​.
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Transcript

Interviewer- Ariel Bryan (AB)

Interviewee- Kim Kovesci (KC)

Setting- The Executive Director’s Office, MAPS Air Museum

(AB) Have you had any other jobs before this?

(KC) I went to Canton South, graduated in 71. Then I went in the United States Navy, and I went

to school in Memphis, and then I went to Vietnam. I was in Vietnam from 72 to 73. I went to the

Mediterranean, and then I got out of the Navy. I worked on jet airplanes, weapons navigation

radar systems. I was all attached to VA 105 which was an attack squadron, and we were

stationed on the USS Saratoga aircraft carrier. My very first job was to be a flight deck

troubleshooter on an aircraft carrier on the flight deck during combat operations. Then I got out

of the Navy and I went to the University of Akron, and I got a degree from there and then I went

to work and while I was at work I got two more degrees so I have Electronics degrees and a

Masters in Business, one from the University of Akron and the other ones from Kent State. The

MBA was from Kent. I've worked at multiple places. First I worked at a Laboratory Supply

Company in Cleveland, then I worked at Monsanto which was rubber testing instrument

company, and I worked at Goodyear Aerospace as a defense contractor. I worked there until they

were sold out, and then I worked at Kidron Body for a while and I was a representative

consultant and I went around fixing companies. I did about 30 companies. After that, I was an

MIS director at a high school up in Akron and same time I was teaching business classes at the
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Kent Stark branch, and now I'm here.

(AB) Wow! That’s a lot. That's super exciting, especially because I want to go into aerospace

engineering. That's one of the reasons that I actually came here because I could observe the

airplanes and see how they’ve been made, and see of the scratches and everything in it. I thought

that was really cool because it really showed that they were real and really used in combat.

Moving on to the next question, what is one of your favorite things about working at the maps

Air Museum?

(KC) Moving airplanes. I love to move airplanes, but the most important thing is the people. The

fact that I'm working with a bunch of guys and girls that are like family. 95% of us are veterans,

so there's a different camaraderie with the veterans and the people who have been around

veterans then there is among the normal population. Now, only 1% of the population is veterans.

It's not very much.

(AB) That’s crazy to me, I would expect there to be more than that.

(KC) There was. It was 10%, but all the World War II vets have died. They're dying off quickly,

so that bubble that went through history, what's after that? Korea. How big was that? Very small,

so that bubble’s very small. How about Vietnam? Vietnam was a big bubble, but Vietnam has its

own challenges. There's 23 guys a day killing themselves that are a part of the Vietnam War.

Then you have Afghanistan and Iraq, and the bubble is very small because those guys did
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multiple tours. In Vietnam you did a year. There was a large population that people that went

there, but in Afghanistan and Iraq, it's all the same guys doing it over and over and over again.

We owe a lot to those people.

(AB) Is this different from any of the other jobs that you've worked at? Why?

(KC) Absolutely. I'm the executive director, so I'm responsible for the whole place. I've used the

computer technology that I used at the high school, I used the purchasing part and project

management that I've used at Monsanto, I've used the operational things that I used as a

consultant. I've used everything I've ever learned in this, and even what I learned in school.

Actually, when when I taught at Kent Stark, we actually did what I taught. We actually wrote a

business plan, a grant plan, a marketing plan and we executed it.

(AB) That’s really exciting! Is there a specific age group that people like to teach more than

others?

(KC) Not really. We enjoy all age groups. The older come back for the memories, and the

younger get very excited to see the different planes. Their faces light up when they see them.

Although the high schoolers that come try to seem cool and such, when they see that they’re able

to sit in the planes they get really excited.

(AB) Can you describe your job setting, and what you work on mostly?
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(KC) I mostly work on capital projects and displays. We have so many other things going on in

the museum, such as a library, a gift shop, Boy Scouts are able to come and spend the night at

the airport and in the museum, we have an aviation program and pancake breakfasts. We also

rent out the place for wedding and such.

(AB) If someone wanted to work here, what is one thing they should know?

(KK) They need to know how others around the workplace work. They need to have a passion

for aviation, and need to be willing to get along with others. They can’t have an “ego” or a want

for attention. Everyone here is an extreme hero.

(AB)Would you change anything around the workplace?

(KK) Some people here think that quantity is better than quality, and rush to do their work. They

need to work on the art of management. Other than that, no.

(AB) What drove you to volunteer at the museum?

(KK) It’s very interesting actually. My son called me and said that one of the planes I had used in

combat was at the MAPS Air Museum, and that I need to go see it. I asked if he meant a version

of the person I used in combat, but her actually meant one used in my firing squad. I went to the

MAPS Air Museum, and saw a plane that was broken. I asked if I could fix it, and then spent the
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next 2 ½ years rebuilding an airplane. The volunteers learned about my background, and then I

was voted in as the executive director.

(AB) WHat is the usual mood of the museum?

(KK) People are always cracking jokes and teasing one another. We all are having great time in

there. There’s never a time when we aren’t laughing. We’re always in a good mood.
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Reflection

Overall, doing these essays have been absolutely terrific. I have learned so much about

the idea of communication, and how to improve my communication skills. I learned about the

idea of flow, not only in my interview but in my essay. If you have a choppy interview, things

will not flow well, giving you not the right kind of information at the right time. Some goes for

an essay. Things that have affected my interviewee’s life are things like his background, where

he had worked before going into the Navy, actually going into the Navy, and the everyday

workers around him. Something that really caught my eye was how everything was coincidental,

such as the places he had worked before becoming the executive director, and how if it weren’t

for his son he wouldn’t have been working at the museum at all. That was very interesting to me,

and I would really like to go back and get further research on his firing squad and the whole

process of war.

If I were to go back and change things, I would ask more specific questions. I felt like my

questions were very vague and they could relate to having so many different answers. At the

same time, keeping them vague allows the opportunity for the conversation to have more flow,

and creates more of a sense of transition. Those questions could lead you anywhere, whether it’s

to the next question or another question that comes to you on the spot.