Now nearly five months into our bricks-and-mortar life on Fifth Avenue, Downtown, by far the most fun facet of the HQ/shop operation's been the opportunity to meet so many of you.
And from, literally, all over the world.
I used to occasionally share our international readership numbers here on Site Stuff, and I'll do that again below. But there's a big difference between tracking Google Analytics and having Tarmo Uba from Estonia pop into the place and point to the wall with his Building Brick on it, or having Tomas Fliegl from Czechia pop in a day later to do precisely the same thing.
Sure, all subscribers are equally valued, whether they're in Vietnam -- two weeks after Tomas! -- or from one of the Market Square apartments adjacent to our building. Maybe it's because of my childhood rooted in a ton of global travel to visit my birth father in Africa, Asia and all across Europe that I've got a special place in my professional heart for hearing from those who are so, so far away. I've told tales of how the former U.S. ambassador to Madagascar was a Lunatic, and how we had an especially dedicated reader/commenter in the Central African Republic.
But to have them just walk through the double-doors and say hello?
And to have met subscribers face-to-face now in Brazil, England, Ireland, Mexico and now Serbia ... and of course, Canada on a regular basis ... yeah, that's extra.
On Thursday and Friday of this week alone, we had several visitors who traveled from Mexico to see their beloved Steelers, as well as one from London and the two pictured above from Scotland.
As promised, the Google Analytics readership breakdown of our top 25 countries for 2022 to date, with a total of 213 nations having at least one:
1. United States 🇺🇸
2. Canada 🇨🇦
3. United Kingdom 🇬🇧
4. Japan 🇯🇵
5. Mexico 🇲🇽
6. Germany 🇩🇪
7. China 🇨🇳
8. Australia 🇦🇺
9. Sweden 🇸🇪
10. Finland 🇫🇮
11. Indonesia 🇮🇩
12. Ireland 🇮🇪
13. France 🇫🇷
14. Brazil 🇧🇷
15. India 🇮🇳
16. Netherlands 🇳🇱
17. Italy 🇮🇹
18. South Korea 🇰🇷
19. Switzerland 🇨🇭
20. Puerto Rico (U.S.) 🇵🇷
21. Phillippines 🇵🇭
22. Spain 🇪🇸
23. Russia 🇺🇦 😇
24. Czechia 🇨🇿
25. New Zealand 🇳🇿
If you're reading this a million miles away, let's hear from you in comments today!
MILITARY COUNT: 345
Our annual Military Drive, which has a 2022 goal of funding 2,022 free subscriptions for our veterans, has opened through three weeks with 328 purchases, including 17 in the past week.
To contribute one or more at $20 each, email me directly -- DK@DKPittsburghSports.com -- or stop in and see us Downtown to do that.
JARROD INTO REAL LIFE
Jarrod Prugar, who's been a full-time teacher in Altoona for years and who's about to get married, will have his final day here Sept. 30. He's been with us since 2018 in ... wow, countless roles, but all the extra hours piled up, the real world came calling, and he's finally listening.
I have nothing but the most glowing things to say about his work, about the person, and my hopes for his future. As I told him, he'll always be part of this family, and he's always welcome to come home if/when the time's right.
I'll leave him to share anything he'd like in the comments.
HIRING, HIRING, HIRING!
We believe we'll have Jarrod's duties shifted into very good hands. I'll share that soon enough, but it's staying in-house, as is always our preference.
In the interim, we're hiring on the multimedia front. We've met with quality applicants in the past week, and we're eager to meet with even more. To be clear: This is for production, mostly on the video/audio end.
INSIDE THE WORKS
• Chris Halicke, Eddie Provident and I will all be bound for Cleveland for the Steelers' Thursday night game there. That's the expected traveling troupe throughout the NFL season.
• Taylor Haase and Danny Shirey are double-teaming the duration of the Penguins' rookie camp, training and preseason games where possible. That includes double-teaming the prospect exhibition taking place today in Buffalo, N.Y. ... We love hockey.
• Stop right now and go customize your bar at the bottom of the app with your favorite teams. Here's how. Also, just this week, at one reader's suggestion, we rearranged the available order to something more logical.
• This talk show's not yet ready for unveiling. When we do it, we'll do it right. I'm hoping for very soon.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page views for the past week were 483,230, with our weekly goal being 500,000. Our most-read original piece was Chris' coverage from Cincinnati of the Steelers' various injuries, at 11,245. Broken down by team traffic, articles on the Steelers brought 29.6% of our readership, the Pirates 12.9%, the Penguins 6.9%, Pitt 3.1%, and Penn State 2.7%.
• On the multimedia front, our podcast downloads for the past week were 202,812, with our weekly goal being 200,000, and our YouTube video views for the past week were 142,273, with our weekly goal being 150,000.
• Our company social media accounts are at 47,064 followers on Twitter, 37,764 on Facebook, 14,606 on Instagram, 16,460 on YouTube.
• We make mistakes. If you see one, email: Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com
• Anything you need, including lost/forgotten passwords, email: Help@DKPittsburghSports.com