Like many alumni, Rochester, N.Y. native Brian Galliford ’08 made his return to Geneseo after completing his bachelor’s degree in communication.
Galliford’s story began in western New York where he was born and raised, except for a period of five years when he and his family lived in Pennsylvania. Although he doesn’t remember that time period well, he recalled that it was then when he made the mistake to start attending Buffalo Bills games.
Galliford works at Computing and Information Technology as a technology support professional. As one of six TSPs, Galliford provides computer support for 13 administrative and academic areas including the English and chemistry departments, the school of education and the offices on the first floor of Erwin except admissions.
Outside of the Geneseo community, Galliford is better known as the face of Buffalo Rumblings – a blog that examines the Buffalo Bills that Galliford founded in his junior year at Geneseo.
The idea bloomed in 2006 when Galliford decided to start a blog on his favorite football team in lieu of writing for The Lamron.
“I chose the Bills because I knew the Bills better and I just wanted to play on the Internet basically,” Galliford said. “I just liked the online medium. I just felt that it gave you a lot more flexibility in the way you write.”
In early 2007, SB Nation – a sports network owned and operated by Vox Media – approached Galliford with an offer after seeing his blog. Two months later, Buffalo Rumblings launched on April 7, 2007.
Although Buffalo Rumblings is part of SB Nation, Galliford holds the editor-in-chief position and fulfills duties such as overseeing all content and working with his growing staff. Buffalo Rumblings consists of three members besides Galliford: senior editor Matt Warren, contributing author Jason Pieri and newly acquired social media specialist Stephen Konar. According to Galliford, he plans on hiring a YouTube director in the near future.
Because he spends his days in the basement of Newton Hall, Galliford often completes his long-form writing in the evening after work. He also submits articles during lunch breaks or spontaneous times for special cases, such as breaking news.
“I get to be involved in how [the blogging platform] is constructed,” Galliford said. “I get to add my experiences as a writer to how this company is shaping itself and how it’s shaping itself to what Internet readers want.”
“I’ve always been more interested in the [technology] aspect of it than anything,” he said. “But this allows me to get both things, and I really enjoy both of those jobs.”