Rocco Cima is the evening DJ for Q102 on Sundays from 5p.m. to 10 p.m. Q102 is owned by Clear Channel Communications. I came in contact with Rocco for another assignment in which I had to interview a media professional. My favorite radio station has always been Q102, ever since I moved to New Jersey in 7th grade. My obvious choice for the assignment was to try and contact someone from the station. Once on the webpage for the station, www.q102.com, I clicked on the link for DJs and randomly chose one, my cursor happened to land on Rocco. From this point, after clicking on his link, contacting him was relatively easy since his email was right on his personal page. After emailing back and forth a few times I was able to set up a date to do an in-person interview. The best part about the interview was that I was able to do it in the studio while he was live on the air! I will use the interview to complete both my assignments of my station profile and my interview with and electronic media professional blog.
Rocco is not only an on-air personality for Q102 but he also has recently opened his own restaurant LA Café. Originally, Rocco had no intention of perusing a career on the radio, and he attended a culinary arts school after high school. He met some of the Q102 DJs while they were at a bowling alley promoting the stations name several years back. He just walked up to them and said, “I can do your job,” they responded by giving him an internship to see what he could do. During his internship he performed random silly stunts in the streets, such as getting people to sign his body completely naked. After about a year of working in his internship a job opening appeared for a night time DJ, Rocco got the job and became part of the “Freak Show” from 6p.m. to10p.m. on weeknights.
The road Rocco took to become a DJ is unusual because he has been able to stay at the same station and also was able to begin his career at a major station. He worked his internship at the young age of 17, before the rules of receiving college credit were strictly enforced, and by this he was able to decide early if it was something he enjoyed. By working at the station through an internship he was able to get “a taste of entertaining people.”
He feels that the new media that has come out has only helped the station and whatever new technologies come out in the future the station will use those to their advantage as well. With the popularity of social media Q102 has gained much more interaction with the listeners, also the fans can get more of a visual of the station. Through the social medias, such as facebook and twitter, the fans feel a greater connection with Q because it is easier to interact and no longer can only talk with the DJs through calling in. I noticed while performing the interview the stations facebook page was up on one of the computers the whole time, so I could get a sense of how serious they are about their connection with the fans. It was also great to see that it was the actual DJs speaking their minds on the pages, it isn’t someone in a PR department putting on the allusion that the fans are talking to the DJs. The addition of the texting feature has also added more interaction with the DJs. Fans can send in song requests and get through more often than calling on the hotilnes.
With any job there are going to be some perks and some disappointments. Rocco explained his favorite part about the job is his ability to make the listeners happy. He loves to make other smile and laugh. He also enjoys how interactive the station really is to all the listeners, the DJs really care about the fans. One downside to working in the entertainment Rocco explained is the instability of the business. One day a job can be there and the next someone can walk in and be fired on the spot.
The best advice Rocco can give to students is to go out for internships, they are the best way to learn. He also pointed out that many DJs start out in promotions, although it may not be the ideal job for many it is a great way to interact with other once in the door. For Q102 specifically students can apply for internships online or pick up applications at the studio. He also adds that receiving as much experience as possible is of huge importance. A great way to gain experience besides internships is working for local or college stations.
The best quality for a DJ to have is to be a “people person”. As Rocco says, anyone can be taught how to work a machine but you can’t teach just anyone how to work with people and be relatable. It takes a charismatic person to stand out. People also have to understand that working at a station isn’t only the time while on air, it’s also the time the DJ has to put into research for the show. It takes long hours to do the research, update personal pages on the website, show preparations, and also appearances at clubs, malls, or wherever they may be.
As far as extra readings such as trade journals there really aren’t that many for radio, but Rocco did say he would recommend checking out www.allaccess.com and www.mediabase.com .
Click here for Rocco with the Ting Tings
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