Ken Trapp

Ken Trapp is an example of a student who "went for it." Starting out as an intern, he worked his way up to hosting evenings Monday-Sunday at WKHY-FM. While attending Columbia College, Ken worked as a student worker and interned at two stations. Currently Ken is hosting evenings at 93-5WKHY-FM in Lafayette, Indiana. Information on the station can be found at: http://www.wkhy.com/

1. When you look back at your Columbia education, what comes to mind?

Experience.. I think when you are at Columbia you take WCRX experience for granted. However, the very first time I went on air at WKHY it was the first thing that came back to me. I was telling myself "oh this is just like WCRX, this is going to be easy"...that made me relax more and be able to be myself as opposed to being nervous and scared.

2. What attracted you to Columbia's program? Were your expectations met?

The availability of teachers...especially in the Radio Department. If you ever had a question or problem the instructors were always glad to help and get you going in the right direction.

3. Your first internship was at WSCR. What did you take from that experience that you have used in your current position?

I chose Columbia, because it had a department completely devoted to radio. I knew that this was the field that I wanted to work in, and Columbia offered a wide variety of classes to learn more about all different areas of the business, and it didn't hurt that it was in the third largest market in the country.

4. What course or courses had the greatest influence on your future?

First and foremost was Radio Studio Operations. Making sure when you are talking that the music doesn't drown you out. I learned to schedule guests while interning with "The Jay Hood show" at WSCR. Currently, I book bands for our morning show and I find myself getting to the point and not rambling on and on.

5. What was your most memorable experience at Columbia?

Interviewing Chicago Bears safety Tony Parrish on the sports show I did with Joe Ostrowski. It was our very first show and I remember the excitement of the moment and coming to school the next day and being congratulated by fellow students. Definitely the highlight of my Columbia career.

6. You networked quite a bit while at Columbia. Has that carried over into your professional career?

Not really and that's mostly because I work in a small market and two companies own 85% of the stations. The company I work for owns 5 stations in the market. Anyone I would talk to about a new job at a new station is in the building I work at.

7. How did you get started at WKHY?

Funny story. I was supposed to intern at ESPN Radio during the summer of my senior year. Unfortunately an intern at the time did such a horrible job that they were hesitant to take another intern for the summer semester. Throughout my stay at Columbia, Tom Joyce(Radio Dept. Internship Coordinator), made it clear that when you intern, you are not only representing yourself, but you are representing Columbia as well. After ESPN fell through, Tom asked me if there were any stations in Indiana that I might want to intern for. I remembered WKHY because of my trips to Purdue to visit friends who lived there. Tom called the GM of WKHY and assisted in setting up an interview for the week of June 2004. I secured the internship and began interning June 14th of 2004.

8. You took a big chance with the internship at WKHY. To pick up and go for it takes a lot of mojo and a strong belief in your talent. What was the deciding factor in taking the internship at WKHY?

Several things. One, I was familiar with the area. I had been here before so that took the fear out of moving. The other thing was I thought interning in a small market would allow a better opportunity to obtain a job. That's the one thing I would tell students at Columbia...don't be afraid to go to small market USA. It's a great chance to work on your skill level and possibly get on air experience at the same time. Most PD's in small markets know that jocks sending them stuff are first timers and the PD seems less hesitant to give you a shot.

9. Did you have a sense that this could turn into a paid position?

After a month I did. Everyone at the station that was my age started off as an intern at WKHY.

10. Lately there has been a lot of talk regarding syndicated programming versus local coverage. It must have been quite rewarding to beat a syndicated program in your current time slot. Please tell how you felt about that.

It was great. Most stations that run syndicated programming do it to save money. However, they sacrifice that local flavor. Being in a small town like Lafayette, Indiana you need to be in touch with the listeners. People in this town want to know that when they call the request line, they are going to talk to somebody from their town, not get a busy signal. It wasn't a feeling of, I beat Alice Cooper...it's more like the people in this town actually like listening to me.

11. What advice can you give students who are pursuing radio as a career?

Look into interning or working in a small market. There are people that I went to school with that haven't had their first on air job yet and I have two years of commercial radio experience. I'm not saying don't try finding a job in Chicago, but keep your options open and don't pass up a job because it's not your dream job of working in Chicago. Get your experience, learn your craft and you'd be surprised how much you can improve.