Three weeks from now, on July 23, we'll celebrate our ninth anniversary.
But we'll kinda keep it to ourselves.
Not because we don't think it's a big deal. It's just, in all honesty, Dali and I've been doing a lot of looking ahead to the next anniversary, the big No. 10, and what that might mean for us in the much broader scope. And to that end, I'll share some of what we've been bouncing around:
• You'll be seeing, hearing and reading a LOT about how proud we are of this venture, of our pioneering place in independent sports journalism across North America and, of course, the community that's been built around it. We'll put that word out far and wide and, within that, we'll be asking for your voice to join ours in that effort.
• There's no rush, but we're looking to make a legit home run hire from the reporting standpoint. Part of that's because I feel we're short on in-depth, substantive reporting, including subscription-level feature work. I'm not necessarily talking about in-depth or long-form here, though that'd be part of it. (That role almost never works if it stays just in-depth or long-form, which is why I won't limit it.) With the recent mass layoffs at the Athletic and now ESPN, there's a sudden and most unfortunate swell in the available talent pool, and I've already made contact with several of those affected.
• Before long, and maybe before football season, you'll see the updated version of both our feeds and the commenting platform on our app and site. Our developers at BoomPress are operating with the NFL's kickoff as their own goal, and they're making remarkable progress considering some of the complexities involved. They showed me a prototype earlier this week, and it was ... wow. I'll shut up now. You'll see.
• Part of the app push will be to sell ourselves as a social-platform alternative to the increasingly toxic environments on both Twitter and Facebook. We've never done that before, but the circumstance has never been more optimal. If someone wants to deal with trolls or political/social whatever, they can do that on those platforms. If they want to talk about the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates or our local colleges, they can do that here worry-free.
Would love to discuss further in comments!
MILITARY DRIVE: 232
Our annual Military Drive, aimed at connecting 1,000 veterans of our Armed Forces to a one-year subscription, sustained its strong start through three weeks with 232 already purchased, including 58 in the past week. And that's encouraging toward the goal of getting it done by Veterans Day Nov. 11.
Here's how it works: We sell a military subscription for $20, covering a full year for any veteran. That's one-third of the regular price. However many you'd wish to donate, even if it's just one, email me directly at DK@DKPittsburghSports.com, and Dali will do the processing.
Thanks to everyone so far!
RAMON ON VACATION
Want to let everyone know in advance that Ramon Foster's taking a vacation next week, so the next show he and I do together will be Monday, July 10.
Hey, the big man deserves a break!
YOU SET THE PRICE! ALWAYS!
Can't repeat this often enough: If your subscription's expiring and you don't think you'll be able to afford it ... you can, and I'll make sure of it personally.
We'll work it out. No questions asked. Promise.
Just email me: DK@DKPittsburghSports.com
WEEKLY FUN APP HINT
Build the bottom of the app that's right for you: Open your profile by tapping the top left corner. Thumb down under Preferences to find Customize App, then tap Edit to the right of that. On the next page, you'll see 12 icons. The Home button's a must, but you can proceed to choose the other five buttons you want. (Not many people want more than one college, for example.)
This is about to become much more important in using our app, so do this now.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page-view numbers for the past week aren't fully available because of a midweek changeover to the new Google Analytics 4 platform, but I was able to determine that our most-read original piece was Taylor's coverage from Nashville of the Penguins trading for Reilly Smith, at 10,453. Everything else will be back next week.
• On the multimedia front, our podcast downloads for the past week were 114,774, and our YouTube video views for the past week were 75,097.
• Our company social media accounts are at 49,905 followers on Twitter, 39,349 on Facebook, 23,202 on YouTube, 14,877 on Instagram.
• We make mistakes. If you see one, email: Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com
• We're often asked about our merch being available online, and yes, it's right here.
• Anything you need, including lost/forgotten passwords, email: Help@DKPittsburghSports.com