By Ajani Otieno-Rudek
Hey everyone! My name’s Ajani, and I’m WSPN’s Recording Room Director! For this blog post, I just wanted to fill you all in on what’s been happening in my position.
First of all, my time on the WSPN board has been both rewarding and difficult. I’ve had a great time attending team meetings and generally helping out where I can. Last year I was nervous to run since I didn’t know any of the board members I’d be working alongside, especially as my friend dropped her position over the summer, but everyone ended up being friendly and open to collaboration. The current board is also very experienced — mostly comprised of seniors — which has been helpful for learning quickly about the culture of WSPN. Having co-Managed my own club and radio program/podcast, Pass The Mic, for the past year-and-a-half at this point has also set me up well for joining the board. Our board is just as large and busy as WSPN’s!
My role has been a very self-driven experience, one that has been a lot to take on as a new member of the board. Coming in, basically all you’re told is that “We have this empty room, we want it to become a studio, and we also don’t have any money for you to use at the moment. Good luck!” As a student-run collective with regularly-shifting positions, this is no one’s fault, just the way it all goes. If anything, I hope to break that cycle this semester by setting clear goals and plans for the future of the space. I’ve put together a large spreadsheet with all of our equipment possibilities, ranging from affordable to expensive. I’ve also talked to several faculty members in various departments about the project in order to set up for the best results.
Before the semester is over, I plan on making a semester-by-semester plan for the near future that Recording Room Directors can access when they come into the position. This is so that new directors can pick up from where the previous director left off and actual progress is made, rather than starting from scratch every year/semester. I feel like I could have accomplished a lot more this semester if I came into an at least slightly-organized position, rather than having a countdown of a few months to try to create a whole studio with no preexisting budget or specific plans. The General Manager and I also applied for a college radio grant, so I’ll hopefully not only be leaving behind a solid plan to work from and interested faculty to communicate with, but also some money to use.
Nov 3, 2018