Pittsburgh is home to a plethora of tech leaders, from Google to Uber, to Duolingo. But, did you know that this City home to a company that maps construction sites with drones? Yeah, drones for construction!
Nowadays, most people are familiar with drones as novelty toys and as something used by the U.S. military. But, few may know that drones are being used in other industries. For construction, Pittsburgh based Identified Technologies offers managed commercial drone solutions. To find out about how drones are being used in construction and to learn more about Identified Technologies, we interviewed their Founder and CEO, Dick Zhang.
There is a new on-demand services app in town, TaskRabbit has quietly launched in Pittsburgh. The big news last week was that UberEATS launched in Pittsburgh. In addition to taking people from point A to point B, Uber now delivers food from a long list of restaurants to your house or other location. The Incline put together a list of 100+ restaurants that offer delivery from UberEATS in Pittsburgh. The Trib put together a nice article that compares all of the food delivery services that currently operate in Pittsburgh, UberEATS, Postmates, GrubHub, Wheel Deliver, & Happy Bellies.
Task Rabbit is an app that helps customers hire taskers to help with all kinds of chores. I first learned about TaskRabbit during a visit to Los Angeles in 2011, but the company was founded back in 2008. TaskRabbit has made a few pivots to their business model over the years, but many have been asking when TaskRabbit would be available in Pittsburgh.
I was just talking with a friend about how Pittsburgh is lacking in on-demand movers. There have been many treasures that I have left behind at Construction Junction because I didn’t have anyone to help me move them. There is an app, Lugg, that offers on-demand moving, but it is not yet available in Pittsburgh.
Earlier this week a thread appeared on the Pittsburgh sub-reddit asking if anyone uses Task Rabbit around Pittsburgh. I decided to do some research to see if Task Rabbit was really live in Pittsburgh. A quick Google search and there has been no formal announcement about a Pittsburgh launch. The Twitter handle @KathrynKellyPR replied to some older tweets that TaskRabbit launched in Pittsburgh on April 28, 2017.
So I thought I would signup and see if TaskRabbit is really now live in Pittsburgh. I posted a task and there are a few taskers in Pittsburgh who are available for hire.
Photo credit: TaskRabbit Facebook Page.
When you post a task, TaskRabbit gives you four default options for types of task:
Minor repairs
Assembly
Mounting
Help Moving
But if you start typing many more task types are available (it is not really clear that you can type something in the box and that you don’t have to suggest one of the default tasks). You can see a list of types of tasks on the TaskRabbit support page, taskers can help everything from arts & crafts to waiting in line. Some tasks are limited by location so I am not sure what is and is not available in Pittsburgh yet.
From the few tasks I posted rates are $26-$38 per hour, per tasker. All taskers have been vetted by Task Rabbit and have passed a background check.
Task Disasters?
With most of these on-demand platforms, there are always some sort of disasters. Much has been written about AirB&B issues. This Medium post from 2015, Living and Dying on Airbnb, definitely raised some issues about renting a place to stay that I had not thought of before. When I tried to use Postmates to order lunch from Piper’s Pub on Saint Patrick’s Day. When I couldn’t find Piper’s listed on the Postmates app, I had to take an old fashioned approach and use the phone to place the order. The folks at Piper’s Pub explained that they had some bad experience with Postmates and that I would have to come pick up the food myself.
I wanted to see if there were any horror stories online about hiring a tasker. The first three pages of Google results were all tasker horror stories and most of them are pretty funny. I did find a blog, The Traveling Rabbit, about a women who quit her job and traveled around working as tasker. There is a post on the TaskRabbit blog about partnering with the White House on disaster response from 2014. I am not sure if that program is still active, but I am impressed to see a partnership like that as early as 2014. I also found this hilarious article from the Chicago Tribune, 10 random things Cubs fans hired someone to do on TaskRabbit. I am now looking forward to seeing how Steelers fans will utilize this service.
There are plenty of posts from the taskers about difficult tasks or how it can be difficult to make money, similar concerns that have been echoed from those who work as Uber divers and deliver for Postmates. While there are a lot of good things, less drinking and driving, that these gig economy has brought to Pittsburgh it is not without some downsides.
Here are a few articles that offer some information about TaskRabbit and other on-demand businesses. Interesting timing that the most recent issue of The New Yorker digs into the subject of the gig economy.
If you want to try Task Rabbit, you can sign up with this link to get a $20 credit on your first task.
Looking to make some extra money? Apply to become a TaskRabbit tasker in Pittsburgh
When Lyft first launched in Pittsburgh back in 2014, I wanted to learn more about how it worked. I was looking for a job, but I was curious how the process worked, so I signed up as a driver. So to fully research the Task Rabbit experience I have applied to be a taskers.
To apply to be a tasker:
Fill out a quick form with contact information.
Select what types of tasks you would be willing to help with. Sadly blogging is not one of those tasks. I’ve signed up to help move and to assemble Ikea furniture and rate myself “some experience.”
Pay a $20 nonrefundable registration processing fee, which does not guarantee I will be hired.
Enter gender, social security number, bank deposit info
Submit and wait for a reply from Task Rabbit.
I will let you know if I make the cut to become a tasker.
Share your TaskRabbit Stories
Have you used TaskRabbit before in other cities? What was your experience? Have you worked as a tasker before? If you give TaskRabbit a try here in Pittsburgh, let us know how it goes.
Last week I shared the Next Pittsburgh article about the house in Stanton Heights that was designed by a Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice and our Facebook post about the affordability of this house was quite popular. I thought that those interested in reasonably sized and price houses might be interested in this event that showcases some of the homes for sale in Swissvale
Why Swissvale is Worth A Second Look
Swissvale is one of those places that you might not know much about, but you have probably drive through before, or if you are a parkway commuter, everyday.
Swissvale is a borough in Allegheny County that is located right next to the city of Pittsburgh on the east side of the city. Swissvale is the first exit on the Parkway East before you head through the Squirrel Hill tunnel.
Most of the 1.3 square mile borough is south of the Parkway/376 E, but there is a sliver of the borough that is between Frick Park & Braddock Ave.
Like Stanton Heights, Swissvale is another place you can find a not too big, not too expensive house and still be close to downtown Pittsburgh.
Swissvale is home to …
The church on stilts, if you have ever been to Kennywood you know what I am talking about, the Catholic church Madonna de Castello sits above the parking lot on Braddock Avenue.
I am a fan of vintage postcards and the title of this event caught my eye…
Make Swissvale Home
Sunday, September 11, 2016
2-6pm
Free – Space is limited, please register here. Facebook Event
Goodfella’s Restaurant & Tavern, Good Fellas, 1915 McCague St, Pittsburgh, PA 15218
I need your help making sure every resident of Pittsburgh is registered to vote in the most fun way possible. Since May, I have been working for NextGen Climate, an organization that is working to elect climate change champions across the country.
Before I tell you about some of the fun stuff, I want to share two reasons why I think this is an important issue for Pittsburgh and Western PA.
The environment matters – we cannot just keep, keeping on with the way things are going. We can’t keep throwing plastic into landfills and look the other way. I’ve been an occasional bring your own bag person to the the grocery store. A few years ago I helped with a riverfront clean up where we picked up trash from the banks of the Allegheny river. After spending hours picking up shredded plastic bags and styrofoam cups from the bank of the river just below Station Square, I’ve been making an effort to be the shopper who almost-always-brings-her-own-bag. This election is about a lot more than just plastic bag reduction. We have made great strides in cleaning things up and we need to make sure we are doing more, not less to protect the environment.
The economic opportunity – there is an incredible economic opportunity in clean energy. Western Pa was and in some respects still is an industrial center of the country. Pittsburgh is also a leader in innovation. There is an huge opportunity for job creation and better community creation in the clean energy economy. And we need to make sure we are talking about how to make sure Pittsburgh is front and center in that sector.
I am setting the personal goal of making sure we register 1000 new voters between now and the voter registration deadline on October 11, 2016. I need your help! What community events are happening where we can set up a voter registration table? What events would you like to see happen between now and October 11?
NextGen Climate Pittsburgh Kick-Off on Wednesday, September 7
To get things started, NextGen Climate has rented out the East End Brewing Tap room for a kick-off event on Wednesday, September 7, 2016. If you would like to learn more about NextGen Climate and how you can get involved – please join me for a beer, some food and to sweeten the deal, some Leona’s ice cream sandwiches.
I can assure that no fundraising will be required. Just FUN. RSVP here: http://bit.ly/2bFdWJF.
NextGen Climate Pittsburgh Kick-off
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
5:30-8pm
East End Brewing’s new location in the Strip District, 102 19th St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
FREE! Free beer, food and Leona’s ice cream sandwiches
The Second Steel City Pizzafest of the season. ZA Wars! Now we will have Craft Beers!
Free to the public (you pay for food and drinks). All ages. Dog friendly. Family friendly. Local Celebrity pizza judges. We have the whole block of 56th next to the brewery. Parking in Shop n’Save lot. Cheers!
May the Sauce be with you!
Pizza Eating Contest at 2pm (Spak Bros. Pizza)
Judging at 5pm
Rain or Shine
Lots of craft vendors!
The Pizza Shops participating in Steel City Pizzafest #2
Swissvale is one of those places that you might not know much about, but you have probably drive through before, or if you are a parkway commuter, everyday.
