Once upon a time, when we'd have an uptick in revenue, we'd reflexively add a reporter. Or two. Or three.
In 2022, we've added support.
Quietly and several months ago, we brought aboard Andrew Mundy and Zachary Smith to work with Eddie Provident and form, as they've taken to calling themselves, the 'Special Ops' team. And their mission, with an assist from Jarrod Prugar, is just to help out a zillion different ways in a zillion different directions.
Whether it's whipping up a GIF to illustrate a sequence from a game or event, or producing/hosting podcasts, or photography, or social media, or just jumping in to help with live reporting when one of the rest of is stuck on a rental-car shuttle somewhere ... they've been a game-changer for me and for us. A godsend, really.
And trust me, I'm barely scratching the surface on all they do, in addition to the energy and enthusiasm they've brought.
Andrew's a student at Pitt, studying media and professional communications. He’s always wanted to work in the sports industry and, combined with his passion for production, he’s found a fit working in sports multimedia right here.
Zachary, or 'Smitty,' as literally everyone calls him, is a Beaver County native and diehard Pittsburgh sports fan. His greatest passions in life are sports and people, and he's now found an outlet to combine both of those things.
And Eddie's just Eddie. A pastor. Beautiful human. Our glue, in a lot of ways.
I often get asked how I can possibly record three daily podcasts, do the daily video with Ramon Foster, and still cover events and write columns. These guys are the answer. They're the secret. If all I'm contributing are the words, whether spoken or written, and they're the ones putting them together and distributing them ... I've got the easy job.
That said, we're still adding reporters. (See below.) But we're doing it with a much more solid foundation.
SLIGHT CHANGE TO SIGN
Notice anything different below?
DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPS
Street-front at 224 Fifth Avenue, Downtown, with the Highmark skyscraper in the background, yesterday.
Yeah, for everyone who correctly noted that the word SPORTS was too dark a blue and, thus, didn't sufficiently stand out from the similar background ... we got it fixed. The front of all six letters were replaced with a lighter color, so the contrast's there both in the daytime and when lit at night.
This had to happen. Dali was losing sleep. For real. She wanted the place to be "perfect," as she kept saying. So now we're at perfect in the aesthetic sense, at least as we see it. (And a lot of our visitors, fortunately!)
In case anyone missed it yesterday, my weekly Live Qs at 5 were dedicated to the HQ/shop and what's happening here.
We're open Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.! Come see us!
Or, if you're too far away, all of the DKPS merchandise is available online!
STILL HIRING ... ONE MORE
We've got two hires to announce very soon, one of them full-time, one as a freelancer, and I strongly suspect that our football/baseball fans here will be pleased. We've got one more to go after that, but there's no rush. We're looking for the right people, the right fit, all equipped with writing and multimedia skills.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page views for the past week were 623,221. Our most-read original piece was Danny Shirey's Drive to the Net criticizing Jeff Carter's performance, at 21,683. Broken down by team, articles on the Penguins brought 28.3%, the Pirates 13.9%, the Steelers 10.1%, Pitt 1.6%, and Penn State 1.5%.
• Our podcast downloads for the past week were 242,094.
• Our YouTube video views for the past week were 111,473.
• Our company social media accounts are at 44,879 followers on Twitter, 37,672 on Facebook, 14,537 on Instagram, 13,400 on YouTube.
• We make mistakes. If you see one, email: Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com
• Anything you need, including lost/forgotten passwords, email: Help@DKPittsburghSports.com
