Hi Debbie In one company I made a permanent time to meet with the SME. We agreed that if he would talk to me at this time I would not disturb him at any other time. It worked well. The time was once a day at 4pm, but once every 2 days may be enough in some cases. I also threatened to sing to another SME but that is an entirely different story. Jill Jill Nicholson N&H Communications 2 Park Ave ROSEVILLE, NSW 2069 61+2+94174302 jpnicho@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx www.nhcommunications.com.au ----- Original Message ----- From: Hope Debbie To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 11:20 AM Subject: atw: Extracting technical information from SMEs Hi all Elementary question I know - but would still like to quiz the list...... Am looking for latest hints, tips, and advice on how to approach, glean and drain the brains (!) of SME / highly technical and sometimes (!) reticent folks. Thanks in advance Debbie