Tuesday, January 15, 2008

IntoPittsburgh News

I've cleared out my inbox and blogged about the backlog of articles I've been bookmarking over the last few weeks. On a personal note, my second child will be born sometime in the next few weeks. I've also started teaching college level geography once again and my tenure as Commissioner Russell for Longmont Planning and Zoning starts this Wednesday night. As if all of that wasn't enough, the Rust Belt Bloggers Summit is officially now a go.

But none of the above is the big news, at least as far as IntoPittsburgh is concerned. I hope I'm not jumping the gun, but IntoPittsburgh now has a virtual home at Pittsburgh Quarterly. Right now, there isn't any fanfare save a new look for the magazine website and some additional features. I'm slated to be one of the PQ Bloggers and I'm tackling the Kivaburgh project (consider that name a placeholder). Ideally, at least from where I'm sitting, all the IntoPittsburgh initiatives will have a presence at our Pittsburgh Quarterly virtual home.

While I'll keep up the Burgh Diaspora blog right here, my energy will be shifting to the IntoPittsburgh website and managing our efforts there. I view the Pittsburgh Quarterly as a high-end alumni magazine for the region's expatriates. Doug Heuck's venture blows away the competition for re-branding Pittsburgh and I believe the IntoPittsburgh community that we are building will serve as the catalyst for our city's latest renaissance.

Pittsburgh Quarterly is the perfect venue for the Burgh Diaspora project I've been mulling over the last 2 or 3 years. Doug does have a magazine to run, so I greatly appreciate his support of IntoPittsburgh and taking the lead on our web presence. I've struggled to reach the Diaspora, most of my readers (and members of IntoPittsburgh, for that matter) living in and around Pittsburgh. My bet is that Doug can successfully attract that scattered demographic (if he already hasn't) with top-notch journalism and wonderful storytelling. If you are passionate about Pittsburgh, then I'm certain you'll get hooked on Pittsburgh Quarterly.

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