More Programming Notes From The Bridgeport Home Office

By Chuck Sudo in Miscellaneous on Oct 4, 2010 9:30PM

Needless to say, it's been a pretty eventful couple of weeks around here. I returned from Denver on September 18 and had a day to rest and get back to work when Marcus dropped the bombshell that he was moving on. The question he and Mama Gothamist Jen Chung had was, "Is there someone from within the staff who could replace Marcus?"

Fact is, Mr. Gilmer is going to be a hard act to follow. He steered Chicagoist through arguably the strongest period of growth in the site's six years with a winning combination of hard work, intuitiveness for news and what you as readers respond to regarding posts, humor and strong writing skills. That both he, Jen, Tankboy and the staff believe that I can move the site forward and continue its growth is both comforting and humbling. When I joined the staff five years ago, all I really wanted to do was write, and I flipped a coin to determine whether to apply for a music writer slot or food and drink. Best coin flip of my life, in retrospect.

Marcus looked to Tankboy and me as steadying influences to gather his bearings when he took over as Editor-in-Chief. Similarly, as I take over I know I have talented associate editors who I can rely on for good counsel and dedication. Jim's still has a kung fu grip on the A&E beat. He'll probably outlast us all here, which is why he now has the title of Senior Editor. Meanwhile, Prescott Carlson has done a phenomenal job in transforming the weekend staff into a reason to read the site on Saturdays and Sundays.

I'm excited to announce that Anthony Todd will step up as the Food and Drink Editor. Anthony's writing for the site has grown considerably over nearly three years here, and I've been prodding him in recent months to seek out other opportunities to forge his own direction whenever a open editor position came up elsewhere. I'm very happy and fortunate that he'll now be able to do this while staying at Chicagoist. The staff masthead page is a work in progress, as we work to upload bios for staff members who are missing them and bring aboard new staffers. (Yes, there will be room to grow here.) Most important, with Franklin the Intern moving on to continue his education as a Phoenix University student, Emmylou Harris Sudo takes over as the staff mascot and gatekeeper. She's thirteen with arthritic hips, hearing loss and a growing problem with incontinence. You should be able to get past her to get to me.

For you readers old and new, my inbox is always open and the tips inbox is always available for news stories. In the upcoming weeks, we'll be bringing back old post series and launching new ones as we all get acclimated to the new status quo. In the meantime, feel free to say hello, let us know how we're doing and give us your best mother jokes. Your continued readership is essential to Chicagoist's continued growth and relevance.

One thing that was asked of me is that I not be gruff, as I can tend to be that way sometimes. Which made this morning's staff check-in special, as I didn't wind up saying something like this: