April 19th, 2012 — Portfolio Tagged Portfolio, Resume, TCOM 4550
Aaron N. Weiss
EDUCATION
Bowling Green State University – Attended:08/2009-Present
Bowling Green, OH
BAC in Telecommunications
Cumulative GPA: 3.5 (expected graduation in 12/2012)
Allegheny College Attended: 08/2008-05/2009
Meadville, PA Program of study: Communication Arts
Cumulative GPA: 3.0
Columbia College Attended: 06/2007-08/2007
High School Summer Institute Accepted as college credit
Chicago, IL
EXPERIENCE
WFAL FALCON RADIO
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH
General Manager 08/2011-Present
• Awarded full-tuition scholarship for one year
• Create budget and manage finances, recruit talent, format schedule, develop marketing events, and manage day-to-day affairs of the station
• Host weekly two-hour radio show, featuring a wide range of music and genres
Rock Director 08/2010-05/2011
• Solicited rock music from music labels and artists and maintained rock library, ensuring steady flow of new music
• Hosted weekly two-hour music show and co-hosted weekly humor show focusing on news and current events
WXRT RADIO 06/2011-08/2011
Chicago, IL
Promotions Intern
• Worked with the promotions crew at concerts and events, setting up and helping promote the station
• Wrote blog entries and posted photo galleries for the website
• Contributed creatively in sales meetings regarding promotions with other companies
• Received college credit
COLLEGE OF ART 02/2010-05/2010
Bowling Green State University 08/2010-12/2010
Bowling Green, OH
Gallery Attendant
• Greeted patrons and supervised visitors to the art gallery
• Assisted in hanging and taking down exhibitions
• Provided catering and security at gallery openings
VECTOR MARKETING
Park Forest, IL
Sales Representative 05/2009-06/2009
• Sold Cutco brand cutlery by appointment
• Was most successful salesperson of hiring class, making over $1,500 in
first two weeks
OFFICE OF CAMPUS ACTIVITIES 09/2008-05/2009
Allegheny College
Meadville, PA
Game Room Attendent
• Responsible for opening and closing business as needed
• In charge of renting DVD library
• Supervised use of arcade machines and game tables
BOOTH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Office Assistant 12/2006
• Performed general office duties, including filing and managing
documents
Digital Asset Assistant 12/2010
• Assisted in creation of online photo archive
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LABORATORY SCHOOLS 09/2007-06/2009
Theatre Department
Chicago, IL
Box Office, Furniture, and House Manager
• Managed promotions of theater, from production of posters and
programs to ticket sales
• Maintained positions while also performing leading roles in productions
• Volunteer position
OTHER EXPERIENCE
WHPK 88.5 FM 05/2008-08/2008 & 05/2009-08/2009
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Disc Jockey
• Created and hosted weekly two-hour radio show focusing on rock music released on vinyl
• Volunteer position
WARC 90.3 FM 09/2008-04/2009
Allegheny College
Meadville, PA
Disc Jockey
• Created and hosted weekly two-hour radio show focusing on rock music
released on vinyl
• Volunteer position
LEADERSHIP AND ACTIVITIES
• Allegheny College Student Experimental Theatre, 2008-2009
• Contributor, Overkill Magazine, 2009
• Contributor, U-High Midway student newspaper, 2007-2008
• Contributor, U-High Renaissance magazine, 2008
SKILLS
• Film/video editing software Final Cut Pro and iMovie
• Audio editing software Audacity, Cubase, and SoundForge
• All Microsoft Office software
• Some HTML and programming language
April 19th, 2012 — Portfolio Tagged Audio Sample, Portfolio, TCOM 4550
This project is a good example of my skills in each department of radio production. I’m featured heavily as a voice talent, doing multiple voices. I wrote most of my own dialogue and some of the dialogue for other characters. I also was the person responsible for putting the project together. I did this across multiple software applications, ranging from Garageband to Cubase to Soundforge. As a result, the sound quality isn’t the best, but it’s a good example of my ability to do work on the radio, whether it be production, writing, on-air, or anything else. Since radio is the field I want to work in eventually, this is a good piece to showcase in the portfolio. The assignment was difficult, but I got it done and I got a good grade on it.
April 19th, 2012 — Portfolio Tagged Audio Sample, Portfolio, TCOM 4550
I don’t normally do interviews for my show. In fact, they happen very rarely. But I think it’s important to have an example of my radio skills, including the ability to interview personalities, no matter how odd or weird they may be. I know tons of on-air personalities who can’t work with a subject who isn’t “radio-ready.” They falter as their guest falters. I would have this interview be an example of how I can work with any type of guest and keep the show lively and interesting.
April 19th, 2012 — Portfolio Tagged Fiction Writing, Portfolio, TCOM 4550
I love writing. It’s my secret passion. Even though I’d like to work in radio and the TCOM field, I would love to incorporate my writing into my work. My fiction work is the stuff I’m most personally proud of. Every time I write a new story, it gives me such a great feeling inside. I’d like to be able to show a potential employer my more creative side, showing that I’m not just a utility player who can do labor or just work on the technical side of things. I’d like to show that I have a life and interests outside of the workplace and outside my major. The fiction pieces I write I think are a good example of that.
http://doctoraaron.deviantart.com/#/d2jtik7
April 19th, 2012 — Portfolio Tagged Audio Sample, Portfolio, TCOM 4550
I created this piece for my portfolio because I’m very proud of the work I put into my own show. It’s the one instance each week where I get to channel a lot of my creativity and combine it with my love of music. It’s a morning show, but even though I’m tired walking into the studio, I get excited the second I talk into the microphone. The show is a showcase for my true on-air personality and showcases my ability to work on-air and create a full personality that listeners can like and relate to. I’m not the average morning shock jock, but I do have a fun personality that can be somewhat controversial. Since I’d like to be on-air someday in a professional capacity, this would be the crown jewel of my portfolio.
April 17th, 2012 — Portfolio Tagged Portfolio, TCOM 4550, Video, WXRT-FM
I chose this item for my portfolio because it shows my ability to work on the fly. I never had any real video experience before, but part of my job as an intern was being able to work with any media necessary. This assignment made me nervous, because it was an interview with an important artist on a hot day when everyone was already very stressed. I think it all came out very well in the end. I learned how to use a camera, I learned to work on the fly, and it shows that I’m a jack of all trades willing to do anything for my employer
Here is the direct link: http://wxrt.radio.com/2011/07/10/audio-edward-sharpe-and-the-magnetic-zeros-alex-ebert-at-dmb-caravan/
April 17th, 2012 — Portfolio Tagged Nonfiction Writing, Portfolio, TCOM 4550, WXRT-FM
I chose this item for my portfolio because it’s an example of my written work that is 100% original. I was told to write about any subject regarding the festival, and I chose the controversial rap group Odd Future. I don’t have any real training in journalism, but the post was selected for the front page of the website and it, once again, shows my ability to work on the fly and quickly adapt to any situation in the workplace, while still giving my own signature touch to each piece I produce.
Here is the link for the edited article posted online: http://wxrt.radio.com/2011/07/18/mosh-n-sway-odd-future-take-over-the-pitchfork-music-festival/
Below is the unedited article:
Mosh ‘n’ Sway
by Aaron Weiss
The phenomenon that is Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (Odd Future for short) within the “indie” community could be categorized by some as unprecedented. After all, the stereotypical Pitchfork reader is quite enlightened, often to a fault, giving away to pretentious opinions and an overly-critical view of pop culture that surrounds them. They support a group so long as they’re unknown, the stench of “selling-out” driving them away, the garlic to their vampire sensibilities. So when a rap group comes barreling in with lyrics filled with references to rape and littered with cuss words that would make Tarantino blush, it would be expected that the “hipster” crowd would avoid them.
Yet we’ve underestimated this crowd. How quickly we forget that the forefathers to this generation of elitists also latched on to Kraftwerk, Devo, and Cluster, groups that were so avant-garde and so against everything that was on the radio at the time, they became symbols of the underground music scene. It makes sense that OFWGKTA would be so heartily embraced by this culture. To easily dismiss them as “crap rap” is ignorant of their personalities and the culture of the group.
Replacing chains with beat-up baseball caps and switching out scenes of poppin’ bottles with goofy sketches about golf, Odd Future goes against today’s mainstream hip-hop in a forceful way, unafraid to mock the culture of excess it introduced. In reality, the newer artists popping up on critics radars are much more in tune with certain rap groups of the late 80s and early 90s, artists unconcerned with glamour or posturing. Artists such as A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and the whole Native Tongues collective are being done justice today by Odd Future, Kid Cudi, Childish Gambino, and B.o.B.
Odd Future swings the haymakers, unleashing their anger in their stage shows, but jabbing away with more-clever-than-you-think lyrics on their EPs and LPs. Kid Cudi and Childish Gambino bring unprecedented introspection, with Cudi frequently questioning his own mental state and weed-induced visions, while Gambino (the alias of actor Donald Glover) considers swallowing a bottle of pills with a whiskey chaser amidst fears of disappointing his parents, and admits to vomiting due to not sleeping for days in a row. While B.o.B. is by far the most commercially successful of this group, he might be the most bold, effortlessly moving between different genres, masterfully riding the fence between hip-hop and alternative rock with great production quality to back it all up.
Of course, if you’re not a fan of hip-hop, then you’re not a fan of Odd Future. They are unmistakably still rappers. There were more than a few people who opted to camp out for Ariel Pink instead of braving the massive raging tempest that was the Odd Future crowd. Just don’t be too shocked to see these indie kids trading in their swaying and bobbing for moshing at Odd Future. Because if you want to find today’s alternative music, hip-hop is where you’ll find it.