►
From YouTube: CityTalk with John McIntire: John Chapman & Ryan Peters
Description
On this episode of CityTalk, John interviews John Chapman from the Office of Special Events and Ryan Peters from the Department of Innovation & Performance.
A
Welcome
to
citytalk,
where
we
try
to
explain
to
you
what
exactly
it
means
to
have
your
taxpayer
taxpayer
dollars
at
work,
and
these
days
it's
your
taxpayer
dollars
at
work
from
home.
A
We
meet
a
wide
variety
of
city,
employees
and
say
hello
to
john
chapman,
from
the
department
of
special
events,
which
is
contained
within
the
department
of
public
safety.
John
welcome
to
city
talk.
Thank
you.
A
A
A
You'd
be
a
to
do
this
interview,
so
the
department
of
special
events
explain
what
that
means
and
what
you
do.
B
Well,
john,
basically,
what
I
do
when
event
organizers
want
to
want
to
hold
special
events
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh
on
city
property,
which
is
any
city
building
street
park,
then
they
apply
for
a
special
event
permit
through
our
office
and
from
that
point
on
I'll
process.
The
application,
through
the
special
events
committee
review
process,
which
is
comprised
of
several
city
departments
that
would
provide
services
or
details
for
events.
So
we
coordinate
the
services
at
those
meetings
and
that's
where
the
events
are
usually
approved.
C
A
B
They
rescheduled,
hopefully
for
2021
okay
later
later
this
summer.
Ideally,
the
city's
involvement
is
a
little
different
for
concerts
because
the
concerts
are
held
on
as
public
property,
but
not
city-owned
property.
So
our
permanent
process
involves
closing
the
streets
around
the
stadiums
enabling
them
to
load
in
loadout
for
the
week.
Things
like
that,
then,
additionally,
huntsfield
warhol
will
hire
city,
ems
and
police
details
for
the
for
the
crowd.
B
The
challenge
this
year
with
an
event
like
that
is
or
any
large
event
really
or
gathering
restrictions.
You
know
right
now,
they're
kind
of
low
until
until
that's
opened
up
right.
You
know
it's
hard
to
say
if
any
large
event
will
happen.
A
But
you,
oddly
enough,
have
been
just
as
busy,
if
not
busier,
canceling
events
that
were
scheduled
and
trying
to
reschedule
them
far
enough
on
to
the
future
that
hopefully,
that
they'll
be
able
to
take
place.
B
Right
since
march,
I've
been
actually
busier
than
I
would
normally
have
been,
because
essentially
all
2020
events
cancelled
and
I've
been
pretty
involved
with
those
cancellations,
reschedules
application,
fee
refunds
and,
starting
this
past
summer
in
june,
accepting
new
applications
with
the
hopes
that
they
can
happen
in
2021
or
later
last
year.
Some
events
did
happen,
but
so
we're
accepting
applications,
but
everything
is
really
contingent
now,
at
this
point
on
a
covert
restrictions.
B
A
And
you
have
a
background
in
special
events
that
goes
beyond
your
days.
At
the
city,
correct
you
used
to
work
for
the
county,
actually.
B
I
worked
for
allegheny
county
for
several
years,
including
the
manager
of
special
events
for
the
county,
which
was
a
little
different
because
in
that
role,
our
small
office,
we
had
four
people
in
the
office.
We
coordinated
events
rather
than
permanent
permanent
permitting
outside
events.
B
So
we
did
our
own
events,
most
notably
the
summer
concerts
at
heartwood
and
south
park,
and
the
county
courtyard.
A
Yeah,
those
are
huge
events
huge.
B
Events,
you
know
it
was
a
four-person
staff
and
that
we
did
it
all
from
from
sponsorship.
Proposals
to
seeking
foundation
monies
to
pay
for
the
bookings
to
pay
the
talent
we
negotiated.
The
contracts
you
know
had
the
county.
Commissioners
approve
everything,
of
course,
and
then
coordinated
all
the
hospitality
that
goes
along
with
the
with
the
concerts.
A
Yeah,
that's
an
enormous
amount
of
responsibility
and
a
huge
deal
for.
B
Perkins
staff,
it
was
huge,
but
a
very
fun
job
and
I'll.
Tell
you
what
john
I
worked
with
some
of
the
best
at
that
time.
The
best
event
folks
and
creative
minds
in
the
business
they're
still
involved.
A
No
doubt
so
tell
us
where
you're
from
originally.
A
B
A
And
you
went
to
grade
school
in
high
school
and
then
went
to
college.
B
Yeah
in
pittsburgh,
all
my
life
and.
A
Then
school
for
college.
A
B
No,
I
couldn't.
I
got
an
interest
in
special
events
after
working
for
the
special
events
office,
allegheny
county.
That's
when
I
got
the
special
events
bug
you
know,
honestly.
You
know.
I've
always
believed
that
a
an
eventful
city
is
a
better
city,
and
so
in
that
role
I
we.
We
really
provided
a
a
good
quality
of
life
program
for
the
citizens
of
the
county,
and
I
I
often
wanted
wanted
to
get
involved
in
the
city,
because
I
live
here
to
to
play
a
small
part
in
that
process
here.
B
So
when
the
opportunity
arose-
and
I
believe
I
started
in
2014,
I
I
started
with
city.
A
B
The
city
tries
very
hard
not
to
deny
events,
but
we
can't
we
can't
approve
the
events
that
conflict
with
other
events
or
other
things
happening
in
the
city.
So
an
event
organizer
may
have
to
maybe
ask
we
change
their
plans,
location
and
date
time
things
like
that.
A
And
has
the
engagement
been
updated
quite
a
bit
because
there's
a
lot
more
online
traffic
than
there
was?
I
don't
know
10
15
years
ago.
B
B
I
I
only
moved
outside
of
pittsburgh.
For
about
two
years
I
lived
in
chattanooga
tennessee.
My
wife
is
from
near
chattanooga.
A
B
A
B
B
A
B
Yeah
yeah
chad
was
first,
so
I
believe
the
city
at
one
point
in
the
early
2000s
sent
a
a
group
of
city
council
people
to
chattanooga
to
see
what
they
did
right
and
invited
them
up
here.
Yeah.
A
Yeah,
so
how
have
you
been
coping
with
cobin.
B
I've
been
coping
fine,
you
know
I
can
you
know
the
adjustment
was
a
little
different,
but
I
adjusted
you
know
fast
and
it's
fine,
my
wife,
my
wife
works
from
home.
I
have
three
kids,
one,
one
of
which
does
online
schooling.
You
know
that
part's
tough.
A
So
would
you
recommend
a
career
in
the
government
service
have
having
spent
so
much
of
your
life
in
government.
B
I
would
john,
you
know,
I
would
it's
it's
not
for
everybody
but
public,
it's
it's
rewarding
and
I
I
think
it's
something
that
I
would
recommend
to
to
other
folks.
All.
A
John
chapman
of
the
department
of
special
events
we'll
be
back
with
another
guest
from
something
called
the
devices
team.
What
on
earth
could
that
be
on
city
talk
when
we
come.
C
A
Welcome
back
to
city
talk,
I'm
contained
within
the
department
of
innovation
and
performance,
which
is
the
department
I
work
in
here
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
is
something
called
the
devices
team.
I
don't
know
why
I'm
giving
it
air
quotes.
That's
just
a
fun
thing
to
do.
What
on
earth
is
the
devices
team
and
what
kind
of
devices
are
they
providing?
Here's
ryan
peters
who
recently
joined
that
team
to
explain
it
all
to
us
ryan,
welcome
to
city
talk
thanks.
D
For
having
me
I'd
also
just
like
to
point
out
that
john
and
I
are
literally
down
the
hall
from
one
another
in
separate
rooms,
conversations.
D
A
It
does
all
right.
Well,
I
see
you
have
the
drab
walls
of
a
cafeteria
setting
in
the
department
behind
you.
A
D
Yeah,
I
figured
you
didn't
want
the
drab,
secure
storage
room
with
all
the
devices
piled
high,
which
is
where
I
usually
am.
D
Is
very
secure,
very,
very
secure.
I
mean
no
one's
really
at
the
city
I
mean
there's
only
a
few
of
us
that
are
working
on
the
sixth
floor
at
the
city.
So
it's
pretty.
It's
been
pretty
quiet.
You
know,
there's
only
probably
five
or
six
of
us
two
other
members
of
our
team.
I'm
sorry,
three
other
members
of
our
team
that
are
on
the
devices
team
that
are
actually
coming
in
so.
D
That's
really,
you
know
that's
the
gist
of
it,
but
yeah.
So
there's
basically
we're
a
team
of
four
people,
roughly
I'm
an
intern
on
this
team
and
then
there's
a
mobile
guy
and
there's
a
there's,
a
computer
guy.
But
basically
right
now
we're
in
the
thoreau's
attack
refresh
project,
which
basically
means
city
is
getting
up
an
upgrade
so
they're
getting
all
kinds
of
new
devices
through
a
relationship
that
we
have
with
dell.
So.
A
Talking
mostly
computers,
iphones
stationary
computers
within
police,
cars,
etc,.
D
Yeah,
like
I
like
to
think
of
us,
as
like
its
own
little
ancillary
department
within
innovation
and
performance.
So
like
we
a
lot
of
the
times
we'll
have
someone
from
public
works,
say
that
that
they
say
well,
we
need
we
need
a
device
that
has
these
five
or
six
specific
programs
and
we're
the
ones
that
are
trying
to
match
them
with
the
device
that's
compatible
with
not
only
those
programs
but
also
making
sure
that
it
can
efficiently
run
too.
So
I.
A
Mean
somebody
who's
operating
a
snow
plow
or
who,
who
might
need
several
specialized
programs?
Did
you
have
an
example.
D
Yeah
so
one
of
the
I
think
you
had
someone
on
city
talk
a
little
while
ago,
talking
about
gis
and
how
the
city
making
maps.
A
C
D
Maps
right
so
that's
a
very
I've,
I'm
a
grad
student
as
well,
and
so
I've
taken
a
couple
of
gis
classes
and
they're
very
hard
on
your
on
your
computer.
So
you
want
to
make
sure
that
you
have
a
device
that
is
going
to
be
compatible
and
isn't
going
to
shut
down
on
you
when
you're
trying
to
make
and
add
all
this
very
meaningful
data
to
that's
really
helpful
when
you're
trying
to
run
a
city
so.
D
Of
course
yeah,
and
we
we
have
these
things
called
like
rugged
devices
too.
So
for
the
people
that
are,
you
know
going
in
and
out
of
cars.
You
know
pittsburgh
is
cold
right,
so
you
want
to
make
sure.
A
D
A
device
that's
going
to
be,
you
know
suitable
for
those
types
of
environments,
and
so
we
have
these
huge
devices
that
are
like
you
can
throw
against
the
wall
and
they
won't
break.
So
that's
super
super.
A
Important,
how
did
you
develop
the
background
to
be
qualified
to
be
a
devices
guy.
D
That's
a
good
question.
You
know,
I
think
it
was
predominantly
most
of
my
experiences
in
sort
of
like
the
communication
realms,
but
I
have
had
a
lot
of
experience,
sort
of
working
on
or
doing
things
that
involve
a
lot
of
like
logistical
management
and
that's
really
what
it
comes
down
to.
You
know
like
with
the
tech
free,
fresh
project
itself
right.
You
there's
like
a
lot
of
emailing
back
and
forth
with
department
heads
and
you
know,
coordinating
especially
in
the
time
of
covid.
D
It's
really
making
trying
to
sort
of
bridge
the
gap
to
get
people
their
devices
safely
is
really
as
safely
as
possible,
and
so
that
sort
of
adds
in
that
extra
layer
to
you
know
the
complicated
process
of
getting
people
their
devices,
and
so
you
know
I
I
just
have
worked
with
a
number
of
on
a
number
of
different
projects
where
logistically
you
know,
they've
had
to
have
someone
that
kind
of
knows
can
can
do
intake
and
can
email
people
and-
and
so
that's
a
lot
of
what
I
that's
a
lot
of
what
I
do
so.
D
Either
of
my
two
other
colleagues
that
are
very
techy
techy
people,
that
is
not
me.
A
Yeah,
oddly
enough,
I'm
also
in
the
computer
department
and
I'm
not
mr
computer
yeah.
Where
are
you
from
originally.
D
Yeah
so
I
went
to
school
45
minutes
from
from
syracuse
a
small
suny
school
state
university
of
new
york
at
oswego.
So
that's
radon
lake
ontario.
So
I'm
used
to
cold
winters
and.
D
I
have
I'm
also
a
graduate
student
at
the
university
of
pittsburgh,
the
graduate
school
of
public
and
international
affairs
and
I
actually
took
a
class
with
someone
that
works
here
at
inp
and
really
he
just
told
me,
you
know
if
you're
interested
in
public
service,
if
you're
interested
in
working
in
local
government,
he
said
you
know,
you
should
really
consider
you
know
any
internship
with
the
city.
But
you
know
if
you're
I'm
kind
of
a
detail-oriented
person.
So
he
said
that
you
know
there's
a
number
of
different
teams
that
would
be
able
to.
A
You
can
somebody
who,
who
moonlights
as
a
professor
over
there,
who
is
that
that's
chris
velasquez,
I
thought
so
we
he's
a
recent
city
talk
guest.
We
just
we
revealed
his
prom
date.
We
had
a
picture
of
his
prom
date
and
more
recent
episodes
of
city
talk,
and
I
remember
that
he
was
also
teaching
yeah.
D
It's
interesting
too,
because
I
don't
interact
with
chris
that
often,
but
in
my
first
correspondence
I
was
like,
do
I
call
you
dr
belasco?
Do
I
call
you
professor?
Do
I
call
you
chris
and
so
he's
like
you
can
just
call
me
chris,
so
we're
on
a
first
nine
basis.
So
that's
nice
about
that.
A
Very
exciting,
so
how
do
you
like
it
here
so
far?
Let
me
ask
you
the
question:
I
ask
everybody:
how
are
you
coping
with
kovin.
D
Good,
I
mean
it's
a
what
we're
in
we're
in
it
a
year.
Now
I
funny
funny
enough.
I
actually
was
supposed
to
I'm
a
little
hurt
because
I'm
actually
this
time
last
year
I
was
supposed
to
be
in
barcelona.
D
D
But
yeah,
so
I
was
supposed
to
be
on
a
plane.
I
was
like
on
the
way
to
the
airport,
and
then
you
know
I
talked
to
mom
and
dad
and
they
were
like.
I
don't
think
you
should
go
and
they
made.
It
was
a
good
call.
D
Might
never
have
gotten
back
in,
I
probably
wouldn't
have
been
able
to
come
back
in,
but
yeah
I
mean
it's
challenging
for
anyone
right.
It's
I
I
have
to
say
sort
of
having
the
ability
to
come
into
the
office
is
great
because
I
feel
like
I'm
sitting
at
a
desk
for
12
hours
a
day,
and
so
I,
like,
I,
only
work
20
hours
here
at
the
city.
A
D
Yeah-
and
I
just
I'm-
really
grateful
to
the
city
just
because
my
internship
experience,
it's
very
meaningful
work,
so
you
know
it's
not
it's
not
getting
coffee.
I
mean
not
that
there's
anyone
here
to
get
coffee.
I
understand
yeah,
but
yeah
they're
actually
having
me
do
some
real,
meaningful
tasks
and
I
really
enjoy
being
able
to
come
into
the
office
or
an
office
space
20
hours
a
week,
because
it
breaks
up
the
mundanity
of
my
everyday
sort
of
existence
or
all
of
ours
right
so.
A
D
Yeah
I
mean
I,
I
have
a
strong
love
for
you
know
I
I
think
in
the
last
two
years
and
I'm
gonna
graduate
in
april,
I've
grown
very
fondly
of
civil
service,
our
public
service,
and
you
know
the
people
that
I
work
with
every
day
are
just
you
know
the
work
that
they're
doing
is
super
helpful
to
the
city,
and
so
it's
really
given
me
some
good
exposure
to
you
know
potential.
You
know
career
like
a
true
potential
career
trajectory,
so.
A
Then
don't
say
anything:
okay,
it's
the
deal
and
are
you
surprised
to
find
out
or
let
me
ask
you
this
was
your
impression
that
there
might
be
a
bunch
of
people
sitting
around
smoking,
cigarettes,
drinking
coffee,
but
it
turns
out
there
are
actually
good
people
trying
to
do
good
work.
D
No,
I
mean
I
I
and
maybe
it's
just
my
experience
like
going
to
graduate
school
and
a
lot
of
my
professors
are
like
have
worked
in
city
government
or
whatever.
I
think
that's
the
perception,
but
I'm
happily
I'm
happy
to
report
to
the
good
people
of
pittsburgh
that
that
is
not
the
case.
D
We
have
to
watch
you
john,
but
that's
that's
the
extent
of
you
know.
People
are
people
are
they're
good
people
that
I
work
with
and
the
work
that
they're
doing
is
super
important
for
the
city
and
there's
so
many
it's
weird
working
in
in
government
too,
because
I
think
you
don't
realize
how
much
the
city
actually
does
you
know
so
yeah.
It's
it's
been
a
really
interesting,
interesting
and
you
know
important.
I
would.
A
D
Would
just
yeah
the
the
scope
I
mean,
I
think
you
know
going
back
to
the
class
that
I
took.
I
was
really
fortunate
dr
belasco
brought
in
a
lot
of
people
because
he
has
good
relationships
with
people
here
at
the
city,
and
so
you
know,
I
know
one
of
the
things
that
they
have
they've
developed
in
the
past
couple
of
years
is
like
the
snowplow
tracker
and
just
creating
efficient
ways
to
plow
the
roads.
That
is,
you
know,
you're
conserving
gas.
So
those
are
just
things
you
don't
even
think
about
right.
A
Somebody
else
developed
a
device
to
tell
when
the
garbage
can
is
full
a
public
garbage
can
yeah.
So
they
don't
have
to
go
there
too
early
to
get
it
and
waste
a
trip.
But
they
know
when
it's
time
to
go
because
it's
full.
D
Yeah,
I
mean-
and
I
think
that's
truthfully,
one
of
the
great
things
about
innovation
and
performance
is
it's
really
kind
of
a
like
a
revolutionary
department
in
in
terms
of
like
24
21st
century
governing
right,
because
they're
doing
things
and
they're
creating
new
opportunities
and
new
programs
that
are
trying
to
make
government
more
efficient.
D
And
so
those
are
just
a
couple
of
things
that
we
just
talked
about.
Those
are
a
couple
of
the
ways
that
the
city
is
is
trying
to
move
to
become
more
sustainable.
One
and
two
just
trying
to
you
know,
do
well
with
your
tax
paying
money
right
or
your
attack.
Your
tax
dollars.
D
I
live
in
highland
park,
so
I
lived
in
shadyside
for
a
year
and
then
I
moved
to
highland
and
it's
great
it's
great.
I
live
full
disclosure.
I
lived
in
buffalo
so,
and
so
I
just
sort
of
I
have
this
love
for
rust
belt
cities.
It's
super
great.
You
get
the
feel
of
of
like
city
life,
of
like
an
urban
environment,
but
then
you
also
like
living
in
highland
park.
D
I
live
like
literally
walking
distance
to
to
to
parks
and
green
space
and
it's
great
sort
of
like
urban
suburbia
yeah.
Exactly
exactly
it's
quiet,
it's
nice,
it's
really
nice!
So
I'm
I'm
super
happy.
I'm
super
happy
where
I
we're
in
living
in
highland
and
yeah.
D
D
A
Ryan
peter's
of
the
devices
team,
I
will
leave
you
to
your
own
devices
and
please
make
sure
that
the
storage
is
secure.
Thank
you
all
right,
that's
city,
talk
for
this
episode.
We
will
see
you
next
time
have
a
great.