Station manager of KBVR TV, passionate photographer, leader and professional yo-yoer

Sometimes in life you end up where you never thought you’d be, but it turns out to be exactly where you need to be. For Aaron Davis, station manager of Orange Media Network’s KBVR TV at Oregon State University, that is exactly what happened.

Davis is from the small town of Philomath, Ore.

“If you’ve been to the coast you’ve seen (Philomath), unless you blinked then you probably missed it,” Davis said.

Growing up in Philomath, Davis played played soccer, basketball, and track and was raised by his family who he praised.

“I wish everybody knew how awesome they were. My brother is great at everything he does, and my parents are amazing. I feel completely blessed by the upbringing I had,” Davis said.

Davis came to OSU with the plans of becoming a doctor. However two years into his studies he decided that wasn’t for him, so he switched to exploratory studies to find a new path. As part of the exploring he came to an open house for Orange Media Network, which at the time was in the basement of Snell Hall. With this he had the opportunity to crew his first show, Game Night, where he also starred as a serial killer. This opportunity, along with his passion for photography and video lead him down the path that brought him the Station Manager position.

Outside of KBVR Davis is a professional yo-yoer and loves photography. He is sponsored for yo-yoing by Caribou Lodge Yo-Yo Works based out of Canada. Working with this company, Davis has learned a lot about management from the owner, Chris Mikulin. Davis learned that transparency, not just as a manager, but as person, is key to great communication. Although Mikulin is not a station manager, his leadership in the business has greatly impacted Davis’ own leadership skills.

Although Davis is a station manager for television, his true passion lies in photography. Davis loves traveling, and his dream would be to buy an old van and drive around taking photos until the van dies.

Those around Davis said Davis is also very organized.

“He is incredibly driven. He likes to make check lists. Even if they are meaningless to everybody else, he needs them and he gets them done,” said Jordan Foster, Davis’ girlfriend.

Davis claimed that the checklists help him stay organized.

“Looking at my room you wouldn’t know it, but I am really organized, especially mentally organized,” Davis said.

In addition to his responsible nature, his advisor at KBVR TV, Steven Sandberg, said Davis does a great job interacting with his co-workers.

“Davis does a great job of encouraging his staff and pushing them to go above and beyond what they are capable of,” Sandberg said.

Sandberg credits the growth in size and quality KBVR has seen in the past few years for Davis’ improved management, drive and passion.

As of today, KBVR hosts five shows which include Welcome to the Show is a comedy that airs on Tuesdays, Split Screen, which is a video game show that airs on Wednesdays, Beaver News and Beaver Sports which air on Thursdays, Locals Live which is a show that brings in live bands that airs on Fridays and State of the Artist which is a show on local artists that airs sporadically.

In conjunction with the releases every week, Comcast channel 26 is now programmed to play shows 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Davis’ first show with KBVR Game Night can be found on YouTube. His current photography portfolio can be found at aarondav1s.com.

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