GirlGeek of the Week
October 1999

Kiki Hernandez

I studied communications and media in school. After graduation, I was hired to demonstrate PC software to New York corporations. I quickly learned all of the hardware and software while on the job, and then moved on to a job with a Wall Street firm as an internal PC consultant. However, I was much more interested in the entertainment industry than the traditional, corporate world, so I ended up working in fashion show, club event and concert production and promotion.

My computer skills remained up to speed by temp work between events and my use of the computer for marketing materials and mailing lists. When I moved to San Francisco, I found database-related work to survive, both in the business world and academia. Once again, music drew me in, and I began working on the side at two top San Francisco concert venues, ending up on the production team for the 1997 Rolling Stones stadium shows.

Then, I fell in love with the Internet. I started learning HTML, Photoshop, and Illustrator and began writing a weekly column entitled "San Francisco at Night" for a Web zine called Coolgrrrls.com. I invested in a home computer, scanner and digital camera, and started working for a startup company that offered training and consulting on Adobe software. What fascinated me though, was the juncture where the entertainment world and the Internet met. I began researching music-oriented companies in this arena, and my efforts to promote the Coolgrrrls Website taught me about the wonderful world of email networking, cross-links, and Internet searches.

The day that I found the Website for Green Witch Internet Radio, I had a strong hunch that this was the company for me! I stayed in touch with them, and after working part-time for Greenwitch.com, after a couple of months, I took up a full-time role, working with the music database, marketing, promotion, label relations, and more.

It's a small startup, so I get to do a lot of different things, from scoping out talent, working the booth at trade shows, planning special events, getting the channels up and promoting them, and working with our technology staff to make things better for our listeners. It's a lot of hard work but I love it!!!! Like many Internet start-ups, Green Witch is technology driven, but I can add a human element so that our artists and listeners know there is a human team behind the music.

I am so excited to be with a company that is a pioneer in the world of streaming audio and Web radio. It's really a chance to help music artists and revolutionize the music industry! I look at the Internet as the newest medium, with Web radio just in its infancy, so it's quite an appropriate field for a former Communications major like myself.

When did you first discover your love and/or obsession with computers and technology?

I always caught on very quickly when it came to personal computers and their applications. However, it was with the advent of the Internet and the new ability to use computers to communicate and provide music, to create community, and to entertain, that I just became obsessed. I have to admit that I am usually on-line at least 14 hours a day.

How do you earn a living?

I am employed by Green Witch Internet Radio to do marketing and promotions as well as content development. We create online, commercial-free music channels and I work within a huge database to categorize songs by genre and combine genres to create channels. We are the source of the genres too! I travel to music conferences and Internet events, sometimes giving hands-on demonstrations and educating people about the world of streaming audio and Internet radio.

I am also working with independent artists, small record labels, other Websites, local music venues and event producers. Give me a computer with a web connection and a phone, and I am in business!

Do you consider yourself a Geek?

Well, it's all relative, but I do try to keep up with current technology and the Internet/Music world. I'm happily submitting all my digital photos along with my writing for the Coolgrrrls.com Web zine. I spend daily time in MIRC chat rooms with our programmers and tech. staff. I love surfing the Web when I should probably be getting beauty sleep.

What is your favorite Website?

Well, of course I love Coolgrrrls.com and GreenWitch.com Other sites I like are Burningman.com, Swingingchicks, Frankenstein.com and UBL.com. The Internet has made the computer world fun!!

What do you do when you are not working?

Luckily, my interests do feed in to my Web zine writing and Internet radio work. I love to go out and hear live bands from many different musical genres. Punk, reggae, grrrl rock, alternative, Latin, lounge, I am there! I'm also a pop culture fiend who collects vintage clothes from the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies. Hunting through thrift shops relieves my stress. I like independent and foreign film, travel, art, fashion, and discovering trends that are still somewhat underground. I adore living in San Francisco and do try to get to the gym, and outside in the fresh air, to balance all that time in front of the computer.