Here's the final call for a spot on our wall!
By the close of business Monday, 5 p.m., we'll have to send all of our orders for the Building Bricks to the printers, so that'll be that for what goes on the right-side wall of our new DK Pittsburgh Sports headquarters/shop on Fifth Avenue, Downtown. This way, we can ensure they'll be done in time for our opening, as each one's being hand-crafted.
So far, our readers have committed 154 Bricks -- as of 10:15 p.m. Sunday -- which is amazing and appreciated beyond anything Dali or I could conceivably put into words:
• 16 Gold at $1,000 each!
• 70 Blue at $250 each!
• 68 Black at $75 each!
As I made known in announcing this proposal, the cost of the hardcore construction -- which was completed yesterday, by the way -- will approach and possibly exceed $50,000. And almost all of that goes into stuff we'd never get back, being that we're renting, such as floor, ceiling, paint, signage, etc. So, rather than settle for some ordinary place, we asked readers to get involved in an attempt to go first-class, and man, did they ever come through.
No one's going to be disappointed, as I hope you can see in this two-minute video we made there last night:
Here's how it works: It's a 13x13 wall that'll be the backdrop for our open podcasting studio. The Bricks themselves come with your names -- plus messages for Gold and Blue -- professionally embossed. The Gold Bricks are 12x6 inches, the Blue 10x3, the Black 5x2. And the Gold and Blue come with replicas for you to keep.
If you're interested, email me directly with your preference at DK@DKPittsburghSports.com
HQ/SHOP UPDATE
As the video shows, we not only made progress in the past week but also pretty much got it done. At least most of the components handled by contractors. The floor, the ceiling, the walls, the trim, that sheathing of wallpaper that'll be behind the merchandise, all the lighting ... everything's there and even cleaned up for the first time.
What's left?
Well, there's furniture, shelving, additional signage, and then the stocking of the merchandise on the left wall. But the bigger issue, and what'll ultimately decide when we open, is that the City of Pittsburgh's Planning Commission and the Historic Review Board both still have to approve our street sign. We're supposed to learn more about that March 11. And it's only after that decision that we can begin making the sign.
A NEW ERA
I've talked internally a ton about this being a 2.0 period for our company. It's been a long transition, I guess one could say, considering it began with the new custom app. (It had to, really.) But there's still much more to come, running as long as the rest of this year, and it'll be founded on a fresh attitude, some new additions in terms of both personnel and content, and it'll all be anchored to the HQ.
I know that last part sounds a little off, but you'll see what I mean. Our vision here always has been 'COVERAGE THAT CONNECTS,' and those three words will be seen prominently on the back wall as one enters the HQ. That's what we're about. That's what we'll always be about. And that means that we owe everyone who commits here our very best ... as one-on-one, as face-to-face as it gets.
More to come, obviously.
NEW BUTTONS ON APP
If you missed it last week: The right button of the main bottom bar on the home page has been committed to our burgeoning podcasts. They're now one simple tap away, and in the easiest possible position for the thumb on the right hand.
That's not an accident, of course. The podcasts have become an enormous part of who we are, both editorially and financially, and we want anyone who's got our app on their mobile device to feel like we're a podcast app like any other. This is another step toward that, in addition to -- and we already have this -- allowing listeners to enjoy our podcasts even while our app's minimized.
Also, after much feedback from readers, we've finally created a dedicated button for our live files. Meaning those where we're describing games, practices, press conferences, etc. It's called LIVE, and it's part of the blue bar that runs horizontally across the middle of the home page. Right next to FEED, where our staff's Twitter feeds now go.
WE GO EVERYWHERE
• Even though Major League Baseball's owners and players are nowhere near solving their issues, the Pirates are conducting a minor-league camp -- only players who aren't on the 40-man roster -- that runs through March 2 down in Bradenton, Fla. Alex Stumpf's there to cover it, of course.
• Taylor Haase will fly down to Florida, too, for the Penguins' game Thursday night in Tampa.
• I'll take the game the next night in Raleigh, N.C., then stay an extra day to visit Dara at her campus in Winston-Salem!
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page views for the past week were 403,849. Our most-read original piece was Taylor's update on the NHL upholding Brad Marchand's suspension, at 48,956. Broken down by team, articles on the Penguins brought 36.7% of our traffic, the Steelers 17.3%, the Pirates 6.6%, Pitt 2.1%, and Penn State 0.8%.
• Our podcast downloads for the past week were 216,033.
• Our YouTube video views for the past week were 67,782.
• We're at 43,629 followers on Twitter, 37,623 on Facebook, 14,562 on Instagram, 11,326 on YouTube. These figures are just for our official company accounts on each of those platforms, not including any of our individual accounts.
• We make mistakes. If you see one, email: Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com
• Anything you need, including lost/forgotten passwords, email: Help@DKPittsburghSports.com