Here’s another update on the ongoing PSP transition. I’m going to try to provide these weekly until I feel like we’re settled in.
Orientation of new volunteers
New volunteers have begun contributing to the site.
- You’ve seen quality news roundups from newcomer Adam Schorr and past PSP contributor Josh Trott.
- Philadelphia-based freelance writer Steve Whisler has slid in behind the scenes as a copy editor — he edited Thursday’s pieces — and will be writing for us as well.
- Fellow freelancer Jim O’Leary, originally from the Lehigh Valley, published his first piece on Monday and will hopefully slot in as a regular writer on the Union.
- Matt Custer brought back that highly-underrated reference piece, Footy on the Telly. We thought it was gone for good, so we’re thrilled.
More newcomers are on tap to produce their first pieces in the coming days. We expect to see new volunteers slotting in as editors, photographers and videographers in the near future. We’ll introduce them after they start actively contributing to the site.
Some of the new folks will stick around. Some won’t. And you never know which ones it will be. That’s just the way it goes with volunteers. Hopefully, we’ll do our best at PSP to make it worth their while to stay with us.
We ask that you as readers do your part to encourage and engage with them. Weigh in with comments on their posts. And if you don’t mind, give them a brief grace period to find their footing before ripping them to shreds. (If you think I’m talking about you, then yes, I probably am! 😉 )
I’m still receiving inquiries from interested people, and if you are interested in joining the PSP team, it’s never too late to do so. See the help wanted ad linked below. We always need fresh voices and fresh blood.
New ways of doing things
What we’re finding as part of this process is that we’re going to be doing some things differently. So far, it looks like we’ll have a rotation of multiple editors running things. And we could find ourselves doing a lot more video, as we received several pitches from prospective volunteers interested in producing footage for PSP. And so forth.
You’ll see more changes going forward, and we’ll probably figure out some of them as we go along. Some will pan out. Some will flop. So it goes.
Got questions? Ask away in the comments section below. We appreciate your patience as we figure it out, and we really appreciate that so many people stepped up to help out.
Previous transition updates
- Why there’s a transition (at least in part) – Feb. 3
- Help wanted at PSP – Feb. 6
- Transition update No. 1 – Feb. 13
A page with Union schedule/ results would be nice.
Would love to see more tactical video like Adam Cann did (hopefully will still do) on his recap pieces and like Kevin Kinkead did on the big board.
+1 on this for sure. Love that tactical stuff. I learn something every time.
Thanks for the feedback, guys. We can use these kinds of suggestions.
Congratulations to PhillySoccerPage. A deep breath on your behalf and ours as well.
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Gratitude and Abundance.
There’s one thing that I don’t think we get much on this page, and that’s interviews with players or staff directly. We get a lot of transcripts from press conferences, but it might be nice to get some personal pieces about some of the players or people behind the scenes, in their own words.
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This is our unfiltered (non-MLS-sponsored) source of Union info. It would be cool to see if you guys could give it a personal touch from the players’ perspective. Maybe have one or two of them write a guest article here or there throughout the season.
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A little out of the box. but it would be interesting. To me, at least…
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Oh…and many thanks for everything you all do!
Once the season starts, PSP has had post game locker room interviews with the players (at least in the past).
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Plus the Philly Soccer Show frequently has Greg and Mike interviewing a Union player by phone.
Ah. I am not in mid-season form yet! 😉 Sorry for the oversight, guys!
No, it’s OK. You’re actually right in a way. This is something that dropped off in recent years. I used to write some big pieces like that — think Hackworth, Califf, Soumare, Sakiewicz — but I had to cut that from my repertoire when I moved overseas. Adam Cann was doing some great interviews too, as was Ed Farnsworth, but we lost some people and guys just had too much work to do.
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The hope is that the additional manpower will free up Adam to go roving for whatever he wants to write. He’s a very good interviewer.
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Additionally, a few of the new volunteers are professional freelancer writers with solid experience, so my hope is that we see one or two of them to show an interest in work like this. We’ll see!
Great work, so far. With such a huge transition, it seems like the frequency and, certainly, the quality of output by PSP has hardly missed a beat! I can’t wait to see all the new content!
I just want to give a public thanks to Dan, who is putting in a ton of work behind the scenes and helping those who want to help (like me!) and making sure that everything is running as smoothly as it has been.
+100!
Leader and change agent. Fatiguing.
Just wanted to say THANK YOU to all those stepping up and taking on a new role with PSP. I am a loyal reader and commenter, and I truly appreciate everything EVERYONE at this site does!!
Absolutely, PSP, depending on the week, is talking us off the ledge (i mean cliff), tempering our enthusian with reality, or proclaiming the good news!
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Its as much of the Union Expereince as attending the matches…
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So.. I know a few people have mentioned this, I know I have in the past, how bout for the folks who can’t write or contribute content, you let us help you financially? Set up a Patreon account, a Paypal account, something. Let us who are so inclined throw a few bucks your way to offset the cost of running the site and getting/retaining some talent, features, etc?
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Just saying…
We will, definitely, and we’re greatly appreciative of people repeatedly suggesting it. It’s being worked on. 🙂
I can do copy editing if that is still needed.
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Also a season ticket holder who can do some fan perspective pieces for you during the season.
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I had an article posted on psp in the past.
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https://phillysoccerpage.net/tag/travel-soccer/
That was a fantastic article. Some guys had a lot to say as I recall.
thank you for the kind words
Steve–
Please shoot me an email. We have three people lined up as copy editors, two of whom have already started, but it would be good to have a backup. And we can always use a nice change of pace Fans’ View from a new voice. Your prior article was quite good. 🙂 Thanks!
–Dan
This is just one more reason this site is so damn good! What a great vision you had Dan! Many many thanks to all who do this work!