While growing up in Weehawken, Dave Pomponio always aspired to become a writer. He just never imagined what kind he would become. “Writing was always one of my stronger points,” said the 23-year-old Pomponio, a graduate of both St. Peter’s Prep and New Jersey City University. “It always made sense to go in that direction.” While attending NJCU, he received an internship at a fashion trade publication,DNR Magazine, which turned him on to the world of style and fashion. “I really took a liking to it,” Pomponio said. “Everything just fit together.” While he was doing his internship, he learned of a new website called Katrillion.com, geared toward the 12-through-19-year-old market. It’s a daily news website strictly for teens, featuring a variety of topics, namely news, sports, television, music, movies, gossip, video games and style. Of course, by now, style was everything for Pomponio. “It was definitely a way I had to go,” Pomponio said. “Do I go and try to get established at a newspaper or magazine or take my chances with a new venture? Realistically, I had no other choice. I knew what I wanted to do.” Sure, it was an easy choice. Pomponio would cover all the New York media events related to fashion, watch high-priced models strut down runways, attend the openings of shows and movies, hobnob with the stars. Style guy Pomponio now serves as the style reporter for the new Fort Lee-based website, which has only been in operation for four months but is growing in popularity, especially with the younger set. And Pomponio has been writing and reporting on a variety of style topics. The site shows all the latest styles in clothes that teenagers wear, complete with photos. “It’s all popular stuff, like who wears what to award shows, what designers have new ideas and products,” Pomponio said. “And we do features on products and different designers. It’s a lot of fun.” Last week, Pomponio figured that he would try to mix the best of all worlds. He needed a location for a back-to-school photo shoot and didn’t have to look far. “I always liked the way Weehawken High School looked,” Pomponio said. “It’s a classic looking school. I thought it was a great idea to use Weehawken.” So Pomponio contacted Weehawken Principal Dr. Peter Olivieri, who thought it was a great idea. “I thought it was a great idea as well, because it was right down the block from my house,” Pomponio laughed. So the shoot took place, with models posing as high school students, at several different sites around the school. Pomponio called upon the services of photographer Mike Montano, also a Weehawken resident, to take the shots. “I’ve worked with Mike before on other projects, so it was only natural that we worked together on this one,” Pomponio said. The Katrillion back-to-school package, with the pictures featuring Weehawken High School, will begin appearing on the website in the coming weeks. “It really worked out well,” Pomponio said. “It was a great shoot.” And Pomponio is having a blast with his new job. “It’s absolutely a fun website for teens,” said Pomponio, obviously not long removed from his teen years. “We’re trying to establish ourselves, but we feel like we’re the first website of the kind, with updates on everything. The idea is to keep everything fresh.” But what’s with the name? What does ‘Katrillion’ mean? “I’m not sure,” Pomponio admitted. “I think it’s a play on the million, billion, zillion thing. But I honestly don’t know.” Have to like his style.
Our Digital Archive from 2000 – 2016
