Rich Mathis's Non-Concession Speech!

Now that Luke Ravenstahl has been re-elected to finish out the remainder of the late Bob O'Connor's mayoral term, write-in candidate Rich Mathis has released his official statement -- and it's not the concession you might expect!

Pittsburgh's Net Casts Wide

In today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Bill Toland writes of a "Pittsburgh Manifesto" co-authored by bloggers Mike Madison, Jim Russell and Jim Morris.

Their goal? To capitalize upon the emotional attachment most ex-burghers feel for the Steel City and convert that emotion into progressive change -- in effect, self-improvement from the (geographic) outside-in.

Toland seems skeptical, if not completely dismissive, of the idea. It's easy to see why: how many times in the past 20 years have we heard how Pittsburgh is "on the cusp" of becoming a major player on the national stage, only to watch it backslide into mediocrity?

But the manifesto, high-minded as it may be, addresses the issue from an untapped (to the best of my knowledge) angle -- the collective resources and knowledge of those who have ventured beyond the Golden Triangle, and who now feel the need to infuse those gifts back into their point of origin.

In a nutshell, the manifesto can be summed up in its third paragraph:

The principles are general. They are animated by a single, overarching idea. The future of Pittsburgh depends on the region’s recognition of its dependence on other cities – and regions – and countries. And it depends on their corresponding recognition of their connections with Pittsburgh. In the 21st century, connectivity is key and king, and in that connected world, Pittsburgh has a unique asset, which we call the Pittsburgh diaspora: the thousands of people who live around the world yet who still identify closely with the Steel City. They grew up in Pittsburgh, worked in Pittsburgh, or have family in Pittsburgh. By identifying with Pittsburgh they energize it emotionally. We believe that it is possible to translate that emotional energy into economic energy. Pittsburgh can, should, and must recapture and benefit from the intellectual, economic, and cultural capital associated with the Pittsburgh diaspora. That capital is distributed geographically, but it can be invested locally.

Here at STBD, we're well aware that a large number of our viewers are either current Pittsburghers or ex-Pittsburghers who need to reconnect with images of their former hometown. Something about this city creates lifelong "citizens," regardless of where they move. Perhaps it's the city's almost New York-like dissection of "neighborhoods," its history of blue collar labor, or its geographic proximity to pretty much everywhere else that helps foster that kinship.

Or, perhaps it's the notion that Pittsburgh is forever almost a first-tier city, nearly able to run with the big boys (like Philadelphia, our more successful cousin across the state). Pittsburgh has an underdog quality about it, and that sense of having to prove its worth to the country at large is a hard image to shake. It doesn't erode simply by moving away -- and that's what the manifesto is hoping to capitalize on:

No matter where you live, if you're from Pittsburgh, you still call Pittsburgh home.

So... how, exactly, do we DO that? I think I sense a PodCamp Pittsburgh session in the making...

Photo by i_r_e_n_e via Flickr.

The Fear of Going Down

When we're "in season," we usually receive daily feedback on STBD. When we're not, there's an obvious lull in feedback. We also don't have a reason to check our stats on a regular basis, since we're not expecting any traffic bumps.

So, essentially, we could let the site coast on autopilot for weeks at a time.

Thus, my daily obsession with checking to ensure that the site is still up. Because God forbid we actually get distracted by production (or relaxation), only to find out that we've been offline for days at a time...

Something tells me we need a daily component to the site / blog, so I can be productive in my paranoia...

I'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again...

On second thought, maybe they DO get it...

After blogging yesterday that the Pittsburgh Film Office seemed quite clueless about STBD when they called to inquire about our status, I received a voicemail this morning:

"Hi, Justin, this is Jessica with the Pittsburgh Film Office. I just came across a blog posting about..."

So at least the PFO has the whole vanity blogging thing down.

Lessons learned:

#1: Never talk about anyone, anywhere... unless you want them to find you.

#2: The Pittsburgh Film Office does, indeed, know how to use the internet. At least part of the time.

#3: Clearly, I'll never work in this town again. Which is fine, since I wasn't working much in this town in the first place. I'd better fan the flames on those STBD spinoffs in other cities while the iron is hot.

(Moderately mixed metaphors are the new black.)

Packing for VON

I'm packing my luggage and checking my must-bring list for Video on the Net, which starts today in San Jose. I'm flying in tonight and will be speaking on Wednesday morning, at a panel entitled "Meet the Producers," along with Steve Garfield and Brian Conley of Alive in Baghdad. It should be an interesting, well-rounded selection of points of view.

Since STBD resumes new episodes starting next Monday, and I'll be in San Jose for four days this week, I'm currently trying to figure out how to squeeze 12 G of video onto my 3 G-free laptop so I can edit on the go. It seems some backing off is in order...

How time flies: at the last VON in September, I was editing the 2nd episode of this STBD season. This week, I'm editing the 21st...

More updates from VON both here and at my personal blog throughout the week -- or add me (or STBD) on Twitter.

Ask Tim: Hookers and Blow!

Good Lord. There's a new Ask Tim blog entry. And it's ri-goddamn-diculous.

I take limited responsibility for this action -- mainly because I didn't write it.

A New Direction

Some of you know that I also keep a personal blog, in addition to the STBD blog.

Lately, I've noticed my thoughts straying further and further from STBD as I write more often about the new media evolution and other off-topic concepts. Meanwhile, my personal blog was primarily devoted to Pittsburgh's cafe scene, on which I hadn't been writing much lately because my lifestyle has somewhat changed.

So, I'm making a big distinction: My personal blog is evolving.

From now on, I'll keep most of my new media and motivational observations there, and I'll keep most of my STBD-specific news and updates here. There will always be overlap, but the lines are more clearly drawn.

(This also means you may want to bookmark my personal blog, which kicks off today with a new direction and an important question: What drives you?)

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REMINDER: Last week's PodCamp Pittsburgh Mini-Meet-Up was postponed due to snow. It's actually taking place tonight at 6:30 at Affogato in Bellevue. If you're a podcaster, blogger, photographer, designer or other new media creator -- or fan -- and would like to join the conversation, you're welcome to join us. We'd love to chat with you.