It was a night to celebrate in the spoils of all the hard work that went into producing KPCRadio.com for the last two years in the Great Hall Tuesday night.
But, while former and current radio personalities laughed and shared memories amongst each other, they all had one common thought: the future of KPCRadio.com.
James Hermon, is one of two program directors this semester.
He works together with Melody Soto to keep the station going.
“We have 16 weeks to make a mark in history,” they told each other at the beginning of the spring 2012 semester.
The motto of KPCRadio.com is community first, and both Hermon and Soto have taken that motto to heart.
This semester the radio station covered events expanding their coverage beyond Pierce College, including a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new parking lot and pedestrian signal in West Hills.
One of the new additions to the station is “KPCRadio: After Dark”, which was the idea of Hermon.
“It’s a different aspect of KPCRadio,” Hermon said. “[After Dark] will go to different venues where up in coming bands are performing, and cover them.”
Edgar Rodriguez, a 21-year-old philosophy major, is the singer and guitarist for Drooms, which performed late in to the night.
He was first introduced to the radio station by contributing music to different programs, both with his band and acoustic sets.
As a avid listener to KPCRadio he hopes to see the radio station exposed in different parts of the campus.
“I would like to see them [KPCRadio] collecting local music from artist who are enrolled at Pierce College and having their music play inside the Freudian Sip,” Rodriguez said.
The anniversary also brought back familiar faces to Pierce.
Erich Anopol, a former communications director for KPCRadio.com, was the master of ceremonies for the second year in a row.
While he did not wear the white tuxedo like last year, Anopol’s enthusiasm was the same.
He was all smiles when he saw what had become of the radio station, and was even more excited of what was to come.
“We have only [been on] for two years and we’re still going,” Anopol said. “And that means that the ball is rolling, and it’s going to keep on rolling.”
Arnavaz “Rosie” Fatemi, 22, was part of KPCRadio from the very beginning.
“This radio station is my baby,” Fatemi said.
She still remembers when creator Natalie Yemenidjian asked her to be part of the radio station, and becoming a program director later on.
“I literally would spend 12 hours a day locked in a room with no windows with padded walls,” Fatemi said. “I literally thought I was losing my mind.”
Now she is the associate producer for RGH Games, but credits everything to KPCRadio.
“This is what got me my start in the real world,” Fatemi said. “It gave me so many opportunities that i just didn’t think were possible for me.”
Louis Heredia, was the first multimedia editor back in 2010.
He is excited to see how much it had grown in two years, but is eager to see what is to come for the radio station.
” It would be really cool to see it be more documentary style, man on the street kind of thing,” Herdia said. “More like KCRW, but more into the story telling.”
KCRW is the radio station at Santa Monica College.
Amara Aguilar is the faculty adviser for the radio station.
She knows that one of the major factors of the station is out of her hands.
“The future of the station is also in the hands of the students, and we have had really good experiences with students producing meaningful and powerful content,” Aguilar said.
To learn more about KPCRadio visit their website at: KPCRadio.com
