Matt Harvey Live Q&A

Harvey

Harvey

Administrator
Hello old friends! I'm honored that Doug asked me to come back to Newschoolers and do a live Q&A.

So go ahead and ask me anything, and I'll do my best to answer.

For those who don't know me:

I founded Newschoolers.com.

I worked at Freeskier magazine for nine years.

I now work in digital product at USA Today Sports.

Hit me!

Matt.
 
what was your vision for the future of the website when you founded it? did you plan on having such a huge community here?
 
What are the biggest challenges you see facing the media portion of the ski industry in the next 5 years?
 
How are you ever going to repay me all the awesomely wasted hours I have spent on this site?
 
What brought you to working in digital product at USA Today?

and what were the big differences you saw in working on Newschoolers and Freeskier? (In terms of like the process, the vibe, etc.)

I guess that'd be a bit different though with freeskier being huge and all

**This post was edited on Dec 17th 2014 at 1:20:42pm
 
What was the main drive to beginning Newschoolers? Did you have a talk with other industry guys or did you just do it on a whim. Was it in the works for a few seasons or did one day you said to yourself, "Im going to create the most badass ski website ever"

Also this would be much better if it where in like a Op-ed documentary style

much like
 
Are you proud of what you created?

How do you feel about the direction NS has gone in over the past several years?

How much do you still follow the ski industry?
 
What truly happened to the final footage of the original freeskier road trip challenge? Did team Volkl or team Salomon take home the win or was the whole thing unfortunately axed early because of Hathaway's injury at the Fischer open?

Top 3 favorite skiers ever?
 
Which early generation newschooler annoyed you the most?

Who of the "long time since logged in" crowd do you miss the most?
 
What made you decide (for lack of a better term) to 'abandon' the ski industry and pursue a career with USA today?
 
omg hi um wow!

* Do you feel old yet?

* When you are watching a skiing edit, what tricks make you get out of your seat and yell things? I get stoked for butters and linking weird transitions together

* Did you remember to floss last night?

* What are internet fights like for other sports? I find people argue about trick names and judging on NS. On biking sites, people argue about equipment and nobody cares about the difference between a whip and a table. What are golf or football flamewars like?

* I assume USA Today serves an older demographic than skiing sites do. Does that impact how valuable video content is to the site compared to written content? Or do old sporty people like videos as much as freeskiers do?
 
13268049:QuazBotch said:
omg hi um wow!

* Do you feel old yet?

* When you are watching a skiing edit, what tricks make you get out of your seat and yell things? I get stoked for butters and linking weird transitions together

* Did you remember to floss last night?

* What are internet fights like for other sports? I find people argue about trick names and judging on NS. On biking sites, people argue about equipment and nobody cares about the difference between a whip and a table. What are golf or football flamewars like?

* I assume USA Today serves an older demographic than skiing sites do. Does that impact how valuable video content is to the site compared to written content? Or do old sporty people like videos as much as freeskiers do?
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Haha holy shit I remember this old NS Radio interview that Harvey was on, and I know he mentioned you but I forgot what he said.

I guess that could be another question. Any memory of this, Matt Harvey?
 
Okay, now that you have a few degrees of separation from the industry I have to ask:

Who was the bigger douche; Doug Bishop, Chris Jerard or Greg Wright?
 
What was your biggest influence to make NS? ( and in what direction did you see NS taking at the very start?)

What education path did you follow so you could stay/have a job in the Outdoor/ski industry?

What age did you start skiing?

Cheers!
 
13267118:broto said:
what was your vision for the future of the website when you founded it? did you plan on having such a huge community here?
Click to expand...

Skiing was in a very different place when I started Newschoolers. It was so surprising to see someone with twin tips that if you did, you would immediately say hi and ski together. After that happened to me a couple times, I figured we should probably have a place to talk about this twin tip freestyle stuff on the internet, so I started Newschoolers.

I had NO idea it would grow to be so big. When it hit 500 members, I was blown away and thought maybe it would grow by another couple hundred. Maybe. Then this happened…
 
13267136:Just.Go.With.It said:
How are you ever going to repay me all the awesomely wasted hours I have spent on this site?
Click to expand...

Want me to ask Doug to give you his autograph? That should cover it.

Speaking of which, I just remembered this time at a Snowjam event in Toronto when Doug signed some kid’s jersey he had caught from Rex Thomas. Doug signed it, “I’m not actually a pro.” That changed my life.
 
13267137:nutz. said:
What brought you to working in digital product at USA Today?

and what were the big differences you saw in working on Newschoolers and Freeskier? (In terms of like the process, the vibe, etc.)

I guess that'd be a bit different though with freeskier being huge and all

**This post was edited on Dec 17th 2014 at 1:20:42pm
Click to expand...

Funny enough, David Levin, who I met on NS, convinced me to make the move. He promised unicorns and rainbows at every turn, and thus far he hasn’t been too far off.

For the younger ones, Levin is the guy who made Scandalous and Blunt, filmed and edited for PBP, and was the first art director at Armada. We now work side by side at USA Today, along with other members of the ski industry we've managed to recruit.

There were huge differences in working for Newschoolers and Freeskier. At NS, I was the last say in everything, and it was really just me and cko doing it all. At Freeskier, I had a big say, but nowhere near the final one, and there was a team of 10 people working on things. Both were really fun in their own way, and I learned a lot at both.

(For what it’s worth, Freeskier is actually quite small. USA Today, on the other hand, is HUGE!)
 
13267149:steezyjibber said:
Do you still follow freestyle skiing?

Why did you sell Newschoolers?
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I don't really follow freestyle skiing anymore. I check contest reports on Freeskier from time to time, and get filled in on gossip from friends (thanks, Shay!), but I don’t really know much about what’s going on. Anything I should know? Is Tom Wallisch still the man or what?

Why did I sell NS? That’s a really good question, but is not mine alone to answer. When I left Newschoolers in 2004 to work at Freeskier, I ceased all involvement with the site, and Doug Bishop, Chris O’Connell (cko) and Paul (nopoles) took it over. When Doug called me to say that someone wanted to buy it, the four of us had a call to discuss how we felt about it. I won’t speak for the others, but I was all for it. The buyer had good intentions for the site, those three would continue to operate it with semi-autonomy, and I would close a chapter in my life that I was very proud of. At the end of the day, it seemed like the right thing to do, and I still feel that way.
 
13267169:JPOB said:
When founding NS, did you build a team of co-founders, or do everything yourself?
Click to expand...

When I started NS, I didn’t even know what a founder was. I really just wanted to create a place for skiers to talk to each other and post stuff online. Ironically, I started NS pretty much in the middle of the dot com crash, and even that I knew hardly anything of. So for the first two years, I did everything myself. Then I met Chris and Doug, and they helped me see that this thing had bigger potential. Ultimately, several of us ended up with equity in it, but it wasn’t structured the way a startup as I now know it would be.
 
13267150:steezyjibber said:
In your opinion, who is the most memorable NS'er of all time?
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PowderPrincess! She was one of the first members, all the guys were in love with her, and she was a total badass.

Runners up: Capurnicus, who was a freaking genius (maybe he still is?) and lilhorsey, ‘cause it was a collection of many industry people (maybe still is?) who talked relentless shit on everyone, including me.

There were many more who come to mind, but those three are the ones that stand out most at this moment.
 
13267179:A_Burger said:
What was early ns like?
Click to expand...

At the VERY beginning, there would literally be three or four of us online at the same time, and we all came to know each other. Someone new would pop on, and we'd message, "Hi, where are you from? Who are you? Which of the three twin tips do you use?" So weird.

It was so cool to watch it grow in little pockets. First it was Ottawa, then Toronto, then Montreal and Vancouver, then Washington and Vermont… Back then, we used the site to arrange meeting up with each other and sharing rides, even. I traveled to Montreal, Toronto and Whistler in the early days to meet people I met on the site.
 
Why media/journalism as a career? Did it grow out of your experience with Newschoolers, or was Newschoolers in part driven by an interest in media/journalism?
 
13267251:1337 said:
Are you proud of what you created?

How do you feel about the direction NS has gone in over the past several years?

How much do you still follow the ski industry?
Click to expand...

Hell yeah I'm proud of it! However, I know that all I did was create the platform. The community did all the real work.

How do I feel about the direction? I don't use the site a lot, so I'm probably not the best to answer, but I have noticed some things over the years...

When the new homepage came out, and NS stopped covering events, I was pretty against that move. I thought NS’s coverage of events was really good, and an important service to the ski community. But now that I think about it, it was probably the smart move. I still don’t “get” the homepage, though. I stopped trying to figure out how to use it. Also, I think the design needs help+. Last, I love the NSTV thing. I think NS has done online video better than anyone else in skiing.

How much do you still follow the ski industry? Answered above, but to save you from scrolling: not much.
 
13267311:Holte said:
Who is on your fantasy football team?
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All the best players like Eli Manning, Johnny Manziel and Doug Martin. Let me know if you want help with yours next year.
 
13267150:steezyjibber said:
In your opinion, who is the most memorable NS'er of all time?
Click to expand...

Great question. Working in the ski industry has given me the chance to ski with people roughly 6,000 times better than I am, and each one of those times is memorable. I'll never forget the opportunities I've had to ski with the people I idolized growing up.

But the most memorable moment in my skiing life was the first time I was dropped off on an Alaskan peak via helicopter. When that bird took off and all that was left were five of us in total silence at the top of the world... no words can explain it.
 
13267353:Black-Bandanna said:
What is one of your most memorable moments skiing?

Favorite ski movie and segment?
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Oh and favorite movie and seg?

1. Degenerates, JP

2. 1242, Pep

3. X = Ten, Tony

4. Happy Dayz, Tanner

I’m old.
 
13267592:MAHONEbone said:
What truly happened to the final footage of the original freeskier road trip challenge? Did team Volkl or team Salomon take home the win or was the whole thing unfortunately axed early because of Hathaway's injury at the Fischer open?

Top 3 favorite skiers ever?
Click to expand...

We ended up finishing the whole thing, but unfortunately without Hathaway on the bus. Man that was brutal. His family’s support was really the reason we kept going, and Willis Brown filled in for him in the second week. Volkl won by a fairly slim margin. I think it was Team Volkl’s willingness to eat nothing but McDonald’s for two weeks that clinched it. (Not the tattoos Hibbert and I got.)

The reason it got canned is it was just taking too damn long to produce. The powers that be at Freeskier got sick of it taking away from everything else we needed to do and pulled the plug. Stoked they brought it back this year, though I would’ve liked to see more skiing.

Top 3 favorite skiers ever? It’s nearly impossible to only list three but I’ll try.

1. JP Auclair

2. Tanner Hall

3. Tom Wallisch
 
13268036:ERICA.MN said:
What made you decide (for lack of a better term) to 'abandon' the ski industry and pursue a career with USA today?
Click to expand...

That’s a great question.

The ski industry gave me everything: incredible experiences around the world, connections with insanely passionate people, endless amounts of fun.... It was, and in some ways always will be, what defined me.

But eventually, my passion for the details of skiing faltered. I stopped caring about which ski was marginally better than the next, or which pipe run was better than the other. When that passion faltered, it was time to move on.

I hope I continue to enjoy skiing for the rest of my life just for the fun of it, but these days, my obsession is with the digital products that are shaping the world, and USA Today gave me the opportunity to execute on that passion.
 
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