What began as a small idea between friends has grown to become our go-to source for all things Penn State and Philadelphia related. In just over a year, The School Philly has gained major popularity, recently hitting 5,000 followers on Twitter and over 2,000 likes on Facebook. From witty posts about topics like the best bathrooms on campus to the infamous Dime a Dozen section, and of course a surplus of sports info, The School Philly seems to have discovered the recipe for success. Her Campus had the chance to chat with founder Andrew Porter, a senior marketing major at PSU and Philly native.
HC: Who started The School Philly?
Andrew: Ryan Murray (senior, management) and I co-founded the website on Aug. 26 2010.
HC: What was the inspiration for starting the website? When did it get started?
Andrew: In the summer of 2010, Ryan called me to tell me barstoolsports.com was looking for someone to run a Philly edition of their website. They were already huge in Boston, and Ryan knew I would be perfect for Philly because of my passion for Philly sports. At first I was reluctant, but eventually we decided to audition by starting our own blog, which is what we were told to do.
After a couple of weeks went by, Barstool basically said no, and asked us to change the name of our website, which was originally called “The Stool Philly”. We couldn’t think of a new name for about two days, and then it hit us. We changed it to “The School Philly” and decided to make it a PSU/Philly website.
HC: How has the site grown since its start?
Andrew: We just hit 5,000 twitter followers. We started out just doing it for fun, and then as we picked up followers and readers, we thought, “Hey, we might have something here.”
Facebook and Twitter have been huge for us, and the majority of our followers are PSU students or alumni. A lot of the big events and things that went on at PSU got us really popular on campus, like sponsoring day longs at frats, creating original videos for State Patty’s Day and Halloween Weekend, our original top 10 lists, covering the Osama riots, and unfortunately the Sandusky scandal as well.
In March of 2011 we completely renovated our site, upgrading to better hosting and design.
Our segment called “PSU’s Dime a Dozen,” where we feature a PSU girl who answers 12 questions is our most popular page.
And now, we have partnered up with some local businesses at Penn State, like Indigo, The Lion’s Den and Quiznos.
HC: How many people are currently involved with the website?
Andrew: There are currently four people officially associated with the company The School Philly.com LLC.
I do the majority of the writing, with help from Ryan. We are the two main writers and use aliases “AirPort” and “The Boston Kid.” We do have a variety of other writers that do occasional guest posts. I also live in a house with 16 people, who contribute by sending links or giving opinions when they feel like it.
Andrew Tepel (junior, marketing) does all the behind-the-scenes tech and gadget stuff. Scott Kret (junior, accounting) does all the accounting and banking and is the CFO. I am technically the President, Co-Founder and Ryan Murray is labeled as the Vice President, Co-Founder.
HC: What is the best part of being involved with The School Philly?
Andrew: Meeting people and having PSU students recognize, appreciate and thank me for the website. I have had the chance to interview numerous athletes, including Flyers forwards Claude Giroux and James Van Riemsdyk, who both stay in contact with me via text message; extremely nice guys. I have met so many people, from PSU musicians, to athletes, to business owners, to other bloggers, the experience is amazing. It’s hard to explain.
It is very humbling when people call us asking to sponsor their party at Penn State, or when I’m in a computer lab or class and I see someone browsing my website. It means a lot to know how much influence we have had, and hope to continue to have on the PSU population.
HC: What is the formula for running such a successful website/Twitter/Facebook page?
Andrew: That’s tough. I want to say staying up-to-date and always on top of things, but that’s not always true. That’s part of it, but I think, for us, and for our image, we just give it to the students like it is. We aren’t afraid to go against the grain and curse for example, or talk about drinking/partying, we just say it like it is. The goal of our website is to express the thoughts of a normal Penn State and/or Philly college kid. Funny videos, parties, sex, etc. We just want to have fun with it. We don’t necessarily consider ourselves a news source, although some may.
HC: Will TSP continue after you graduate? What are the plans for the future?
Andrew: We hope so. This is the toughest decision we have been dealing with for the past couple of months. While our revenue continues to improve, generating revenue is the toughest part. However, with the social media era in full fledge we feel like there is a ton of room for growth and improvement with website.
We have some expansion plans in the works, and we hope to hire a PSU underclassman in the near future to take a bulk load of the work and coverage at Penn State.
HC: What is your favorite thing about Penn State?
Andrew: Wow. That’s like asking someone what their favorite movie is. I can’t even begin to express how much I love this school, how many people I have met here, and how this place has shaped me as a person. I guess it is a cliché, but I love everything here at Penn State. Football, the pride, the tradition, State Patty’s Day, THON, Blue/White, etc.
I will say that THON is definitely the event that sets Penn State apart, and the most humbling and emotional experience I have ever been a part of.
HC: What is your favorite thing about Philly?
Andrew: The passion of the city for sports, definitely. I grew up living and breathing Philadelphia sports, and I love it. It is definitely a huge passion of mine.
HC: Have to ask- Pat’s, Geno’s, Jim’s, Tony Luke’s? Any other hidden food treasures we might not know about?
Andrew: Steve’s Steaks and Chink’s, both in Northeast Philly, near where I grew up are hands down the top two cheesesteaks in Philly. Those four you mentioned above do not even come close to Steve’s and Chinks. Also, heard John’s Roast Pork is really good, but have yet to try it.