> Record Zoom calls with my mother's closest friends?

Will they necessarily talk to you, based on the relationship with your mother? Outsiders can often get info from people they wouldn't share with family members.

> All that is both pretty straightforward and fun.

Not for most people, and not with any reasonable assurance you'll get something 'good' at the end. Even scheduling time between multiple people can be a deal breaker. The OP had posted there never felt like a 'good time' to do it.

Asking good questions, prompting people who aren't great (nerves, whatever) can all add a lot of stress to the process.

I think you're probably a bit of an outlier. If it works for you, great, but... I know far more people that want the end result of something like this than have the time to do it.