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Monday, 26 September 2011 08:02

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

I’m not even sure what hoped to accomplish when I started Empty Netters back in the winter of 2007. At the time, I just saw it as a chance to write about hockey, a sport I’m very passionate about. It was just something fun.

Four and a half years later, I look back at how it started and I’m blown away at how far it has come. The first post was basically me being blown away by the fact I could post a YouTube video of a Finnish Snickers commercial with Jarkko Ruutu’s brother. Today, I’m transcribing quotes from a one-on-one with Ray Shero, one of the most influential general managers in the NHL.

This silly little blog has led to numerous opportunities such as being able to cover two Stanley Cup finals and two Winter Classics. I’m still staggered at the fact that I was able to see all those events in person.

It has also led to another professional opportunity. This past summer, my editors offered me a chance to write an all-sports blog for the Post-Gazette’s premium subscription site, PG+.

Before I get into my new duties with PG+, let me just say Empty Netters isn’t going anywhere. It’s staying on the free site. A few things might change, but we’ll still be here every day making jokes about R.J. Umberger being from Plum and posting photos of Zarley Zalapski jerseys.

Regarding PG+, I realize the prospect of asking to pay money for information which used to be free on the Internet is hardly insignificant. When I ask you for $3 to read a Q&A with Ben Lovejoy, I might as well be asking for $3,000.

And I get it. I know how frustrating it is clicking on a link from the New York Times or the Dallas Morning News or ESPN only to get re-directed to a screen informing me that the content I want to view is “premium” or “exclusive.”

But I also know know lots of print and electronic journalists with far more talent than I possess who are out of work. I know what awful shape this industry is in all too well. The Post-Gazette and others newspapers are trying to reverse that trend with premium sites like PG+.

When I covered the 2008 Winter Classic in Buffalo for Empty Netters, my room at the Days Inn near Buffalo Niagara International Airport cost $91.83. Thankfully, the Post-Gazette picked up the tab.

But it weighed on me. What did I do to justify the Post-Gazette paying for that? Did I generate enough hits or enough ad revenue to even offset that? Did I even justify the burrito from the Chipotle in Southfield, Mich. which I expensed prior to Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final?

The Post-Gazette got a direct, first-person account of what happened during those events through Empty Netters. But it costs money to do that. It cost the Post-Gazette money to send reporters and photographers to Indianapolis to cover the Steelers yesterday. It will cost the Post-Gazette money to send a reporter to cover the Pirates’ final three games in Milwaukee this week. In order to cover those events with talented professionals, we need the financial ability to do so.

At the same time, I can’t try to guilt you into buying a subscription for PG+ by simply bemoaning the state of this industry. We need to give you a reason to pay for this service.

I first used the Internet as a high school senior in the spring of 1997. I sat down at a computer in the library of Norwin High School and was blown away. Virtually every piece of information on Earth was available on this computer. And it was free. And it’s pretty much been that way ever since

That’s why I don’t take the idea of asking you for money to read my scribblings lightly. It makes me nervous, anxious and even a little bit scared. At the same time I’m excited and confident. I know I’m capable of making this a success.

And I want you to be a part of it. I want you as a subscriber to have a large role in dictating what I write about. One of the reasons I think Empty Netters worked as well as it has is because I tried to listen to what readers wanted. If you wanted to know what channels the Penguins games were on, I added that. If you wanted to know the Predators’ line combinations in the pregame post, I added that. I hope to follow the same formula on PG+.

You’ll get a chance to impact this blog right away. I want you to name this blog. In the next few days, we’ll begin taking submissions for this blog’s name. My editors and I will pick the best of the bunch and we’ll have you vote which one you like best. We’ll announce all the formal details later this week.

If you’re already a subscriber, I’m grateful for your continued support. If you’re not yet a subscriber, I simply ask you give me a chance.

If you like Empty Netters, I know you’ll love PG+.

Click here for registration information.

-Seth Rorabaugh

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

@emptynetters

Comments (23)

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written by pittbeatwv, September 26, 2011 - 08:29 AM

I'm in, Seth.

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written by Luiz Mello, September 26, 2011 - 09:14 AM

First of all, Seth, I wish the best of luck to you and your new blog. You more than deserve it. Other sports' fans are lucky from now on to get the thorough, informative and entertaining coverage we hockey fans get here on EN.
Second, I share your feelings about paid premium online content. It's a tricky issue. I have no doubt that newspapers have good reasons to charge for content, and I think it's only fair that customers pay for the value they receive. Finding a model that works well for both sides is in order!

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written by Sooska, September 26, 2011 - 09:22 AM

I was a PG+ subscriber until they automatically re-upped my subscription and charged my credit card WITHOUT asking me or informing me first. That action is worthy of only a spammer. Overall content was generally not unique, different, informative or interesting enough IMO. It was very thin on substance. It was a collection of very short news-of-the-weird type paragraphs and poorly written incomprehensible User blogs. They allowed the idiot yinzer Stiller fans to totally monopolize the chat even when others tried to participate in other subjects - I didn't care personally as I wasn't a chatter but it was annoying as hell to see since it was in the right margin.) Breaking news was available for free within a short time. The contests were OK but that wasn't enough to keep me in. Without Pens coverage thru summer after the playoffs it wasn't worth the paper it was written on and I got ZERO response to my emailed questions. Sorry Seth, but PG+ just wasn't worth even $3 a month. When Dennis Roddy retired and quit writing and making his videos it ruined the only thing on the site (except for Dejan Kovacevic and he left to go to the Evil Empire.) Convince me to give the PG+ my credit card info again and I am in. Until then...

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written by Blitzburgh Brian, September 26, 2011 - 09:29 AM

Consider that subscription purchased.

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written by kpa42, September 26, 2011 - 09:37 AM

The state of the industry is such that I will likely never work in it, despite having spent five years and a way too much money getting a journalism degree. It's really not pretty at the moment. In the span of less than twenty years the internet has set everything Americans have ever known on its ear.

I get sort of twitchy any time anyone complains about paying for content on the internet because it's largely people my age (29) and younger who have grown up largely with full internet access and don't seem to get that newspapers already were chock full of ads when you had no choice but to pay for your paper every day. Same goes for music and movies. Sure, you could have a buddy make you a dub of a casette or VHS. But if you wanted unbridled access, you had to buy it. If you wanted to see a music video, you had to hope MTV decided to play it. And you rented movies because the cost of owning everything you wanted to see was prohibitively expensive.

I love what the internet's done for us, the accessibility it gives us. It has unlocked worlds of potential in arts, entertainment and communications.

But that comes at a price. And at some point someone has to generate the content. There's always overhead and the people generating the content need to be paid.

I don't subscribe to a daily paper anymore. Why would I? I have the newspapers of the world at my fingertips, largely at no cost.

I picked up PG+ pretty much when it came out. I probably don't take full advantage of everything it has to offer, but at this point there's enough quality content between the free + pay portions of the site that paying less than the cost per year of a normal paper newspaper subscription is well worth it to keep this content coming.

Long story short: Looking forward to more great content. Worth every penny.

Also, suggested title for the blog, though it may be durationally inappropriate:

"Two Minutes for Cooke'ing"

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written by kpa42, September 26, 2011 - 09:43 AM

"...it wasn't worth the paper it was written on..."

I'm sorry. I laughed. Couldn't help myself. Just an incredibly amusing phrase to see in an article discussing online content.

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written by kpa42, September 26, 2011 - 09:46 AM

Also, I'm fairly certain that the automatic re-upping was present when I picked it up. Which was back when it originally came out. And, oddly enough, I actually thought I agreed to it and then it didn't re-up for me. But these both seem more like billing/accounting issues than anything.

Maybe I'm bias having worked in the industry, however, briefly, but I refuse to punish the content generators for what the advertising/accounting side of things is doing.

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written by pens01, September 26, 2011 - 09:56 AM

As a PG+ subscriber, I would urge anyone who follows Pittsburgh sports closely to give it a shot. It has lots of extra pieces of interesting content, and it gives you information MUCH sooner than you'll see on the regular PG site. It's a little pricey, but if you want to see good content, it's worth it.

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written by BAmiano, September 26, 2011 - 10:12 AM

Wow Seth - Congratulations!! I'll probably give it a shot - It's something I've been considering for a while but honestly felt that there was not a robust hockey representation on it...that being said, hopefully, the addition of you to the site will change that!

My suggestion for your blog title, since it sounds like you'll be blogging on all sports, not just hockey: "Hockey N'at"

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written by Bones, September 26, 2011 - 10:23 AM

Congrats on the new gig Seth. I've worked in both print and television journalism so I get what you are saying. It's easy to take the stuff journalists do for granted.

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written by pittbeatwv, September 26, 2011 - 10:38 AM

*t amazes me that people think that $3.99/month is "pricey"... skip 1 trip to SBUX.

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written by cappster, September 26, 2011 - 10:50 AM

Signed up for the annual subscription two years ago. It's amazing that legitimate businesses who provide one of the most worthwhile services in the country have to plead with people to pay a nominal fee. I live in the DC area (your condolences sportswise are noted and appreciated), so the PG site is an invaluable source of info and pleasant distraction each day. Can't wait to read more of your stuff, Seth.

Now, let me get my heart rate back to normal. It was in the red zone when I thought we were going to learn that EN was no more. It's always a highlight of my day during hockey season. (Thanks for withholding comments on my lack of a life.)

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written by Braziliam Pen, September 26, 2011 - 11:43 AM

Do you guys take Brazilian currency?

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written by Brazilian Penguin, September 26, 2011 - 11:48 AM

Crappy Defective Keyboards...

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written by s_rorabaugh, September 26, 2011 - 12:02 PM

BP, I just fired off an e-mail regarding your question to the powers that be. I'll respond to you ASAP.

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written by BPpensfan, September 26, 2011 - 12:48 PM

Well Seth, only you could convince me to spend the money for PG+! However, with the economy we live in today and my budget constraints, I just might have to drop my yearly subscription to the actual "newspaper" that is delivered to me daily. This is a predicament for me in that I have a daughter in college for Journalism/PR - I know how difficult it is for newspapers to survive in the current technical world we live in! I look forward to your reading your new blog. When will it start?

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written by s_rorabaugh, September 26, 2011 - 04:08 PM

BP,

First, thank you.

Second, We're doing a "soft" start this week with a few posts here and there. I'm hoping in a weeks time to have things up and running fully by next Monday.

If you spot anything or have any suggestions, please send them to me.

Thanks!

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written by Matt Mc, September 26, 2011 - 05:06 PM

I'm truly torn. I've been with EN from the start, and I get the move, I do. But something feels not right about it.

Whether I subscribe to + or not, I wish you the best. It's nice to see someone rise over time the way you and your blog has.

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written by agiesbrecht, September 26, 2011 - 07:07 PM

PG+ doesn't take reais (Brazilian currency). But it's definitely possible to subscribe it from Brazil. I know. I did it for months (years?). You just have to supply an international credit card — or gold or platinum —, and the bill is going to come in dollars. Yes, with the recent hike in the currency rate it's going to cost some six reais, plus 6,38% of IOF taxes. That's less than 6,50 reais per month, IF you're getting the annual plan. Less than ten reais if your getting the monthly plan.

As I said in the last paragraph, I was a supporter for PG+. It lost most of its appeal when Dejan left, but I kept on. Actually, I'm not a subscriber anymore just because it didn't renew my subscription automatically. After that I realized that I had to open the page every time some headline caught my attention on Google Reader — for obvious reasons, the full RSS feed is not available. And in many of those times I had to log in again, even with cookies enabled. Plus (no pun intended), I realized the efforts to close access loopholes either wasn't there or wasn't enough, as I did find more than a couple, which I sent the tech department's way and even Seth's way. Some of them were closed, others weren't, and others I didn't bother checking. Ten reais don't make a huge difference in my monthly budget, but they make some difference, especially against my books/magazines/newspaper/websites budget, which, I guarantee, is way above the Brazilian average.

I still keep on GReader the PG+ feeds I used to subscribe; I just don't click them anymore. When I do, it's been so seldom they fit on my ten-page-view limit, even though all the times the system tells me I have just one page view left (this is a long-standing bug which was never addressed). Maybe Name-this-blog will eventually make me line up for subscribing again. I'll give it a chance.

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written by drichardson875, September 26, 2011 - 07:29 PM

Seth... This is one of the few sites on the Internet that I actually would pay for content.

Can I offer one suggestion if we are transitioning to a pay site. Please dump the Flash so I can view the content on an iPad. It is frustrating to have to wait until I'm on my laptop to read the full version empty netters.

Keep up the good work.

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written by Stephen, September 26, 2011 - 08:41 PM

I also want to thank & congratulate on your blog. Being a displaced Pittsburgh since before your days at Norwin I like the view from home, plus the fact you are not a "Hommer"makes your writing that much better. I have started my own "little blog" about the town in New Jersey where I now live.And it is a strange (and rewarding) feeling when someone you do not really know talks to you about the good job you are doing. I Am now on a first name basis with the mayor ,and some council members. (Bogota NJ Population < Consol Energy Center half filled)So I think I understand your feelings a bit.One thought is " someone other then friends & family is looking at this", and I guess I need to work harder at this to keep them coming back. So I'm glad your hard work has paid off for you. Keep doing your good work, and all the best.

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written by HockeyNut, September 27, 2011 - 07:22 AM

I said in a comment in the Dupuis article that it was another reason to not read the PG. Well, my wife has convinced me to give it a shot. If I can get some useful information and some laughs out of it, why not. Couldn't we all use a few more laughs?

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written by mombert41, September 27, 2011 - 12:57 PM

I am a faithful daily reader of EN 365 days a year and if a subscription to PG+ enables Seth to continue writing and posting entertaining and valuable information then I'm willing to give it a try. Nobody does it better and probably gets paid less for how much we get in return. Thanks!

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