About a week after I'd lost my mind on July 23, 2014, I received a kind -- and genuinely appreciated -- outreach from the editor at the Tribune-Review, letting me know I'd be welcome to return to the newspaper "if things don't go well."
Exactly eight years later, things are going well. Better than ever, actually.
We're celebrating our eighth anniversary all day today at the new HQ/shop at 224 Fifth Avenue, Downtown, where we'll be open -- and available and accessible -- from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. We'd love to see you there and, just to make it more fun, we're handing out these free aluminum water bottles to the first 50 to arrive:
EDDIE PROVIDENT / DKPS
The water bottles, if they were made into an excessively dramatic photo-shop.
I know eight's not the sexiest of anniversaries, and I'm sure we'll go for something much bigger when we get to the 10th. But this approach can work, too, as we experienced yesterday on the first day of the two-day celebration, in meeting and spending quality time with some very longtime subscribers I was finally able to thank in person. We exchanged stories, talked about the business, ideas we have, and much more, all in a personal way.
It was uplifting. It was outstanding. It was yet another reminder of why -- and for whom -- we do this. And why we pushed through when things weren't going anywhere near as well as they are now.
David Rosenblatt, one of our partners, flew in from New Jersey to attend and, if that weren't enough, he came through our double-doors bearing cake with a big 8 on it. (Talk about return on the investment.) We talked about the future, both financially and conceptually, and all I'll share on that front is that this, too, was uplifting and outstanding:
DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPS
Dali Kovacevic and David Rosenblatt listen to the pastor, Eddie Provident, pontificate.
To repeat, we're doing it again today, and we'd love to see you.
And to repeat on what's now officially the beginning of our ninth year, thank you.
EVEN MORE COLLEGES!
If making our first full-time hire on the Pitt beat wasn't enough, if committing to full travel on football and mens' basketball wasn't enough, how about adding the school's script to our app's home page?
Our developer, Adam Bertram, visited the HQ/shop a couple days ago, and we went back and forth with a bunch of ideas and committed very solidly to at least one: The app, both on Apple and Android, will soon allow you to choose what you'd like to have among the five vital buttons at the bottom. The home button at the left won't be optional, of course, but the other four will, and you'll be able to choose from Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, Pitt, Penn State, Duquesne, Robert Morris and a general package of scores/stats. And those scores/stats are about to rise to another level, as well.
We're expecting the new buttons by kickoff of the Backyard Brawl between Pitt and West Virginia, and we're expecting the upgraded scores/stats in time for the NFL's regular season.
Related: Did you check out Corey Crisan's coverage of ACC Kickoff from Charlotte this week?
WHAT'S A VACATION?
For the first time in this site's history, I'm taking an honest-to-gosh vacation of my own. It'll be in early August, it'll be overseas -- Serbia and England -- with my son, Marko, and I'm already under orders to do zero work in the week we're over there.
Can't begin to tell you how excited we both are about this.
INSIDE THE WORKS
• Taylor Haase will be taking her vacation soon, as well.
• The Steelers report to Saint Vincent College for training camp Tuesday, and we'll have one, two, three, four, five people there: Dale Lolley will lead the coverage, joined by Chris Halicke, Eddie Provident, Matt Williamson, and me. We'll all be back the next day for the first practice, too. I'll have columns both days. What we'll be doing there, as a team, will be unprecedented in quantity and, ideally, quality.
• I'll also have columns from PNC Park each of the next two Sundays. Alex Stumpf's flying tomorrow to Chicago for the Pirates' two-game set at Wrigley.
• In discussion stage: A one-touch option on the app to listen to a live stream of our podcasts.
• Also in discussion stage: A clear sense when you're on a team page here ... that you're on a team page.
• Open up our menu on the site or app, tap on 'Our staff,' and you'll now find all our smiling faces. New head shots, too.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page views for the past week were 443,505. Our most-read original piece was Danny Shirey's coverage of the Penguins' two trades last Saturday, at 14,049. Broken down by team traffic, articles on the Penguins brought 25.1% of our readership, the Pirates 22.3%, the Steelers 11.4%, Pitt 1.4%, Penn State 1.1%,
• Our podcast downloads for the past week were 226,546.
• Our YouTube video views for the past week were 74,572.
• Our company social media accounts are at 45,913 followers on Twitter, 37,728 on Facebook, 14,551 on Instagram, 14,993 on YouTube.
• We make mistakes. If you see one, email: Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com
• Anything you need, including lost/forgotten passwords, email: Help@DKPittsburghSports.com
• Come to the celebration, dammit!