I originally titled this post “Writers Wanted” but we are really looking for anyone who wants to share Pittsburgh stories.  This fall, IheartPGH will turn 10.  I have been thinking about where this blog has been (you can read a not-so-brief history of IheartPGH here) and where it should go next.

One of the things that I would like to do is build the community of people who write and create content for this site.  It was never my intention for IheartPGH to be just my take on Pittsburgh.  There are a lot of great stories about this city that need to be told, and I am hoping a few of you will help me with that task.

Earlier this year, I had the chance to meet one of the founders of the Tacoma blog, Post Defiance, and we had a great discussion about running local blogs.  One of the things that Post Defiance does, that I would like to try out for IheartPGH is a regular meeting of bloggers.

Over the past few months, I have been checking out the website Assembly, a tool for finding other people who want to help you build a web app, or working on someone else’s web app.  Yesterday, the Assembly email blast linked to this article – Just Keep Making Stuff by Mike Buzzard @mbuzzrd who is a designer at Google. The title caught my eye, because I want to highlight more people in Pittsburgh who are just doing stuff and making things happen. But the article also has a whole section on collaboration.

This is when I realized the power of collaborating with likeminded makers, when I began to understand how augmenting your own skills with the complimentary talents of others can produce results far greater than you might ever imagine on your own.

I want to find more people to write stuff for this blog and I want to find more people to collaborate with.  A few years ago I set out to build a startup around local blogging, the project is not dead, but I decided to step back, I like to think of it as a step sideways. After some thinking, some part-time jobs and a cross-country train trip that was funded by the readers of this blog, I realized that what I really needed was to learn how to build a team and that I probably needed to start by learning how to be a part of someone else’s team. When I think about what I really like doing –  the things that keep me glued to my computer and cause me to loose track of time – it is writing content for this blog. So that is why I am on the hunt for a team, a cohort a gaggle or some other word that means group of folks to collaborate on the future on this website.

Here is what we are looking for…

If you are interested in writing (or creating some other form of content about Pittsburgh – video, podcast, photo essay, etc) we are looking for writers/content creators who

• love Pittsburgh (or want to learn more about Pittsburgh)
• will commit to publish 1 post per month
• will attend our monthly blogger meeting
• want to meet other bloggers/content creators
• share ideas, best practices, tools and apps with the other writers

Developers, designers business folks and advertising gurus are also welcome to apply.  We are open, skeptical, but open to any thoughts on how to improve this website and generate some revenue.

Is this an internship?

Not so much.  In the past, IheartPGH has had awesome, amazing interns. The interns have produced some amazing content, have introduced me to their friends across the country and have taught me about new social media tools. In thinking about where IheartPGH should go next, we are looking for more than interns.  Students are welcome to join the team. But we are looking to build a team of Pittsburgh loving content creators.

(If you really REALLY want to, I will consider internships for credit, but I will not sign an internship form if you haven’t done any work.  If you are thinking about an internship, go back and read the article I linked to above about making stuff, if you want an IheartPGH internship for credit, you are going to have to create something.)

What’s in it for you?

I have met some really great people through IheartPGH.  In addition to meeting great folks and learning more about Pittsburgh, we get lots of invites and free tickets to events.

So you wanna join the team?

Sound like something you would be interested in?  I don’t have a date for the first meetup yet – but I would like to get started before the end of the month.  If you are interested in joining the blogging team request to join the IheartPGH bloggers group on Facebook here.

In the interest of getting the ball rolling and some current scheduling issues, our first meeting will be Monday, May 4, 2015 at 6:30pm, location TBD. RSVP on Facebook here.