Hidden talent at the NFL draft

Photo credit: Pittsburgh Steelers.

Everyone focuses on the drama of the NFL’s first round but the real magic happens in the late rounds. The Steelers have been better than almost anyone at finding talented players in the late rounds. I penned this blog post for my publisher Blue River Press…

Championships are made in the late rounds.

Everyone knows about the first-round picks, the guys sitting in the green room waiting for their name to be called. The only suspense centers on what team exactly will choose them — not whether anyone will.

Many NFL insiders knew about “Mean” Joe Greene… Read the rest here.

A plaque honoring scout Bill Nunn Jr. hangs outside the Steelers’ draft room on Pittsburgh’s South Side. Photo credit: Andrew Conte.

New adventures

I’m pleased to announce that Point Park University has hired me to run its new Center for Media Innovation. This unique facility in the heart of Downtown will train the next generations of journalists, while helping today’s professionals keep up with a rapidly changing industry. I hope too that we will engage with the public in a way that reminds people about the important role of a robust, independent media.

Here I am talking about the Center for Media Innovation at our ground-breaking event in October 2015.

I first came to Point Park in 2005 to create its Point Park News Service, a program that helps students find professional outlets for their best work. Since then, the University and I have grown tremendously. This new Center will help us both to keep moving forward.

For 15 years, the Tribune-Review has been my home and work family. My friend Rob Rossi wrote this moving tribute about my time at the paper. Fortunately, I will continue to have a presence there as well. I will be writing a regular column on media innovation and my byline will continue to appear on stories related to cybersecurity and other enterprise topics.

The Center will officially open in September 2016. Point Park has posted a story on my new position, and the Globe offered its take. The Trib has a nice story too. The Pittsburgh Business Times covered it. And so did WESA-FM, which conducted an interview with me:

“There is a lot of disruption going on, but there’s also a need to remind people of the strong value of what journalists do: holding people accountable, speaking up for those without a voice,” Conte said.