Patch Blog

Patch cleans up at San Diego Press Club awards

Every day here at Patch HQ we hear stories from our 800+ communities about ways Patch has made a difference in people's lives. We've helped families in need get critical support, we've exposed major issues and corruption, and we've found countless lost pets. On a day-to-day basis we are happy to simply provide the basic information that residents need to live more informed, perhaps more efficient, lives in their hometowns. Behind all of this is a team of incredibly committed and talented professional journalists who are imbedded in their neighborhoods, tirelessly covering and curating the issues that matter. And while they're not asking for pats on the back, it is very rewarding when the efforts of these journalists are recognized by peers in the industry, especially for such a brand new company in a world of 100-year-old+ news outlets.

Last week, our San Diego-area team won 24 awards at the 39th Annual San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. Patch picked up 9 first place plaques and 15 other honors at a sold-out dinner attended by 400 members of the California media community. You can read the whole story here. We're very proud of our team, led by senior regional editor, Chris Jennewein! Congratulations, and Go Patch!

Continue reading Patch cleans up at San Diego Press Club awards

All Things Politics on Patch, Now in One Place

To say that it's a busy time in the political world is an understatement, which is why I'm thrilled to announce the launch of our national Patch Politics website. Here's what you'll find:

  • Our only-on-Patch coverage which we're calling "Every Race in Every Town." The in-depth information on all the races that have an impact on Patch towns: Every race, every candidate, every ballot initiative, and all the information on where, when and how to vote.
  • Our Patch Polls, which go to the politically influential folks in your town, can be an early indicator of the local leanings. And curious neighbors can dive into our political donation databases to find the big donor next door.
  • Our up-to-the-minute local reporting as the presidential candidates crisscross the country, caught by locals who really know the territory and can capture the best newsmaking moments.
  • The articles that show off how we've become the preeminent platform for local discussion -- on Thursday alone, Patch hosted debates with the governors of Massachusetts and South Carolina, and posted the video from a mayoral candidates forum in California.
You can find Patch Politics on Facebook and Twitter. Follow us and send us your feedback!

Continue reading All Things Politics on Patch, Now in One Place

A Sneak Peek: The New Patch

Three and a half years ago, Patch set out to give you a new way to connect to your neighbors, get informed, and find what you're looking for. We've changed lives with our stories and improved communities through comprehensive coverage of what matters most to you and the people that live nearby. But being a part of over 900 unique communities made us realize that Patch was capable of doing even more, so we set out to improve the Patch experience and align it better with how neighborhood life really works.

This week, we're unveiling the new Patch on five of our nearly 900 sites. Along with our vibrant, friendly new design, you'll see that the site works a little differently; the local news that you've come to know and trust can now be custom-fit to the way you live. It's a new Patch experience for staying in the know from phone, tablet, or desktop. Wherever you go, Patch works the way you do.

The new Patch will fit the everyday life of your community, and all the people, places, and groups that make it thrive. It's a more neighborly hub of common interests and activities - where learning, sharing, and doing things together is easy. Plus, it's just plain fun to use.

We hope you'll try out the new Patch and let us know what you think. We'd love to hear from you!

See them here:
Bellmore, NY
Garden City, NY
Levittown, NY
Long Beach, NY
Merrick, NY

Continue reading A Sneak Peek: The New Patch

Patchers hit the streets in New Hampshire

Patch is all about community involvement and every day I hear stories of Patchers out and about, making big splashes in the towns that they cover. Here's a fun one from last week: The New Hampshire Patch team pulled a group of staffers together to join 5,000 runners in a Manchester road race. Local Editors Carolyn Dube (Merrimack), Ryan O'Connor (Bedford), Mike Ryan (Windham), and Tony Schinella (Concord) joined Regional Editor Marc Fortier and Associate Regional Editor Dan Tuohy to hit the streets and proudly show their Patch green. Go New Hampshire Patch!

Continue reading Patchers hit the streets in New Hampshire

Patch partners with author James Patterson's READKIDDOREAD

Patch launched a very cool initiative today across all our sites, a Summer Reading List for kids in partnership with number 1 bestselling author James Patterson's READKIDDOREAD. READKIDDOREAD is a program that encourages kids to read more, not only in the summer months but throughout the year. Patterson is incredibly passionate about the importance of parents getting their kids reading, and the impact that will have on their lives. I can think of no person or organization that is a better fit for Patch's audience than James Patterson and READKIDDOREAD, and the Summer Reading List is only the beginning. We'll have programs running throughout the year that will engage parents and kids in the joys of reading -- and we want them to tell us how it's going on their local Patch. Check out Patterson's intro video here...and let's get kids reading!



Continue reading Patch partners with author James Patterson's READKIDDOREAD

This isn't goodbye...

As you heard on today's All-Company call, after four years as Editor-in-Chief of Patch, I'm moving on. My last day is May 4. I'm leaving for an assortment of reasons, but I'm glad to be able to say that none of them is negative. I love Patch, and I plan on staying very connected as an active alum, most specifically as a member of the advisory board we're continuing to build. I feel incredibly lucky and grateful that I can maintain this connection, and I'll be there anytime Patch calls on me.

Taking leave of Patch ain't easy, but let me try to boil down why I'm doing so: it turns out I really love creating things from scratch, and while Patch is in a continual process of truly fascinating evolution and only a toddler of a company, it has definitely left "scratch" in the dust. So I'm heading off to explore some other startup opportunities. But not before I take a good, long nap.

Patch has never just been a job for me. It's been a very personal experience. Jon Brod, who co-founded Patch and brought me on (as employee #4!), has been a close friend since college, twenty years ago. I turned 40 while at Patch. My two children were born while I was here. (In fact, I had to hastily leave a meeting to attend my son David's birth.) I didn't make this decision lightly, and I wouldn't be able to pull the trigger if I didn't feel Patch were in good shape and in great hands. One of several bittersweet feelings I'm having right now is the fact that Patch is enjoying such palpable momentum as a business. We've always joked that Patch is a bus we're building while it runs at top speed -- well, it feels like we've stopped wobbling and fishtailing from the fast start and now we're cruising.

There's still a lot of work left to do, of course, but I have to say I love how that work is getting organized and knocked out - especially on the revenue side. Mark Josephson and his team are killing it right now. And on the content side, same thing. I've only worked with Rachel Feddersen for about six weeks now but I have loved the ideas and focus she has brought to Patch. I've already learned a ton from her, and I'm sad to have to give up that partnership. She and I are touring around Patchland as I write this, and we're having a blast.

Allow me this indulgence of a paragraph: I've never worked for a company that has been as scrutinized, criticized, and coal-raked as this one. As Jon likes to say, you'd think we were creating toxic waste, instead of, you know, free useful information. We have critics on Wall Street, critics in the media, local critics, national critics, the business press, the journalism reviews, bloggers, etc. There are so many that I've come to think of them as a single large, screechy, off-key band called BI and the Haters. It's music to kill yourself by.

The good news about that? I think it's safe to say that we wouldn't be constantly deboned by all these critics if we weren't doing something really interesting and potentially threatening. People associated with, dependent on, or invested in existing systems don't like bold new attempts to re-imagine those systems. That's just the reality of a business like ours.

But if you ever find these noisome types getting you down and you want to escape it, just turn toward the community you work in. Because our users don't sing this tune. They just get us. They may sometimes chide us for certain ways we've executed things (or not executed them), but has any user ever complained to you that they don't understand why we exist? There's a reason we get thousands of emails from users about how we've improved their lives. We're trying to make communities better, stronger. If you're on the receiving end of that mission, what the hell is there to complain about?!

We have a lot to be proud of. We have accomplished some amazing things together. Historical things. Seriously -- no matter what happens from here on, any future history book about journalism or online media has to discuss Patch. How many more companies are you going to work for in your career where that will be true?

Here's what I'm most proud of: the people we've hired. We're staffed with some truly inspiring talent, on all sides of the business. Especially among you editors, whose work I obviously know best. I'm not bullshitting when I say I've learned from you every day. The job we gave you is hard. You have to be a certain kind of fearless to take it on. You don't just have to accept that the job will never be easy; you actually have to like that about it. And you have to be passionate. And man, you are.

And the editors I've gotten to know who fit this bill are just kickass people, on top of being pros. If I may offer some advice to you as an editorial team on my way out the door: if you're still inclined to think of yourself as a journalist, stop -- you're selling yourself short. This job gives you the opportunity to practice journalism while being something much greater. And if you're too concerned with living up to some rarefied notion of what a capital-J Journalist should be, you won't explore what else you can do with your position in your community.

I know it may seem like you're constantly being asked from on high to do this and that requirement or hit this or that goal, but in reality very little is actually prescribed about your role. Having created the job out of whole cloth, we have always looked to you to show us what can be made of it. So don't just write. Don't just report. Get into your communities. Figure out what being in the driver's seat of this remarkable local platform can really let you do.

There are a ton of people I need to thank. Tim Armstrong is #1 on that list. Patch is his vision, and I've never worked for a leader with more energy and bravery to push the ideas he's passionate about. I have to thank Jon Brod for trusting me to help create this company from nothing four years ago. I have to thank Warren Webster, who bleeds green and has been a calm, essential leader for Patch since the beginning.

If I name anyone else, I run the risk of leaving out someone just as deserving -- Patch has an extraordinary team of leaders and I love that I consider so many of them friends beyond our working relationship. I will miss being in the foxhole with you guys.

I do want to single out the Editorial Directors here -- Marcia, Sherry, Tim and ADC. You four were my rocks. You each bring something unique to the table and lead your teams in your own way, but it's the fierce caring you all exhibit that I've valued most. Couldn't have done anything we've done without you. Not even close.

Most of all I'm grateful to each and every editor at Patch. Being able to say I led a team of hundreds of wickedly smart, dedicated editors is an honor that will be tough to top in my career going forward. Thank you, and keep up the amazing work. I'll be watching.

A final note: This thing we've been trying to build here can't be fueled by timidity or complacency. Those of us who were here in the beginning followed Tim's lead and tried to be fast and bold. That's still very much needed. So, to be blunt, don't be afraid to fuck up. We weren't.

In the next couple of weeks I'm going to get out into the field as much as possible to say face-to-face goodbyes. For those I don't get to see, thank you, good luck and let's stay in touch. It has truly been an honor.

Onward!

B

Continue reading This isn't goodbye...

Batter Up! Patch signs Mark Teixeira

We are thrilled to announce today that Patch has signed two-time All-Star and four-time Golden Glove winner Mark Teixeira as "Commissioner of Patch Baseball"! Patch is all about hometown and neighborhood, and what's more hometown than baseball? Mark will answer questions from residents of Patch towns, share baseball tips, post exclusive videos, and offer young athletes some advice about healthful eating and staying in shape. Mark is a resident of a Patch town, grew up in another, and is an avid Patch user and supporter. We're very excited to have him on the team!

Continue reading Batter Up! Patch signs Mark Teixeira

Come on Down...Down On One Knee, That Is!

Congratulations to Patcher Peter Heyneman!

Last week, Peter, who works on our Business Engagement team, proposed to his girlfriend Erin on the set of the game show "The Price is Right." Host Drew Carey stopped and congratulated the couple from the stage while taping the show. Upon hearing that Peter worked for Patch, Drew touted the importance of covering local community news and information. It turns out that Drew is a proud native of the Cleveland area where Patch covers seventeen communities.

Great news Drew, we've still got you covered! We have over thirty Patches in the Los Angeles area, including one in your new hometown: Hollywood Patch!

Continue reading Come on Down...Down On One Knee, That Is!

Patch honored by the Society of Professional Journalists for a Herculean accomplishment

The Society of Professional Journalists' Northern California Chapter has named Hercules Patch a First Amendment Honoree, and will present the award at the 27th annual James Madison Awards Banquet on Thursday, March 15, 2012, at the City Club of San Francisco.

About the honor, SPJ writes on their blog:

The Hercules Patch, the local news site operated by America Online, receives the News Media award for its dogged tracking of the questionable financial management practices in the East Bay city of Hercules. Patch produced more than 13 investigative stories and 100 daily stories, and created 20 databases to follow the money.

We at Patch couldn't be any prouder of the team, especially Hercules Patch local editor Laila Kearney along with senior regional editor Ari Soglin and their team in the East Bay. Hercules Patch is relatively new to the media scene in California and is already making a major difference in the lives of residents in Hercules. To be recognized by one of the oldest and most prestigious organizations in the country representing journalists, especially for such an important series, is truly a major accomplishment by Laila and her colleagues. Go Hercules Patch!

Continue reading Patch honored by the Society of Professional Journalists for a Herculean accomplishment

The future of our industry: Still in school

At Patch we believe that many of the ideas that will shape the future of digital media and journalism will come (not surprisingly) from the next generation who are now in business and j-schools. Those passionate students will challenge established models and help us constantly reinvent the world of media. For that reason, we love to work with these schools as much as possible. We offer real-world experience and coaching to students at over 100 institutions through our PatchU program. And as often as possible we get to meet with classes and talk about what we're doing. Last night I spoke at the Iona College Mass Communications Department and had a great conversation with students, a couple Patch editors, and Professor Thomas Callahan. My message was basically this: Here's what we're doing at Patch and why; Here's my take on what we can expect in the near future; You will be a big part of how this industry develops; And finally, contrary to popular opinion, the future of local media is incredibly bright and exciting! Thanks to Iona for having me, and I'm off to Stanford's Graduate School of Business next week to talk about the future of media.

Continue reading The future of our industry: Still in school

I'm a Patcher!

What a thrill to be officially introducing myself to you as the newest Patcher! I am so excited to be joining this amazing group.

A little about me: I live in the fabulous Patch town of Montclair, New Jersey, and have been an avid Patch reader for quite a while. Plus, I have a long history of working in hyperlocal, and I think that Patch is the best realization of that endeavor that I've seen, ever. Put it all together and I feel like I've landed my dream job.

In fact, I feel like I've come full circle. I began my online career in 1995 in the local editorial space, at an office a block away from the current Patch HQ. I worked as the City Editor of New York's first online guide, a precursor to Time Out New York that was called Metrobeat.com. I moved on to run the local parenting paper network for Disney's Family.com, and since then have worked for a slew of online lifestyles sites from iVillage to Parenting.com. It turns out that working for such a broad variety of sites, combined with my stint as a reporter in D.C. covering Capitol Hill and the FDA, has given me some great lessons in how to serve a readership and a digital business.

When it comes to Patch, there's an enormous amount to learn. I want to absorb as much as I can as quickly as possible. I'm really looking forward to coming aboard. 2012 is going to be a huge year; Patch's trajectory is tremendous; and there are great things ahead.

I'm just sorry I'll have to wait another 7 months for Chris Shea Day.

Continue reading I'm a Patcher!

Patch and NETS Basketball Team Up

As you may know, New Jersey was the first state where Patch launched, so we're always excited to be able to honor that however we can. As such, we're happy to announce Patch has teamed up with NETS Basketball to celebrate New Jersey and our readers in a big way: For their final season in New Jersey, NETS Basketball has partnered with Patch to honor local heroes to "Celebrate New Jersey County Nights." In addition, for home games between February 1 and March 14, NETS Basketball and Patch will offer premium tickets for discounted prices, on-court promotions, and contests. We'll be in the Patch booth in The Prudential Center offering a chance to win an autographed basketball and tickets to a NETS game. For tickets, just search "NETS Basketball" on any New Jersey Patch site.

Continue reading Patch and NETS Basketball Team Up

Davis Schools Win Big with Patch

A few weeks ago, we announced that a family in Davis, CA, had won our first Deck the House holiday decorating contest, and from the moment we made it public, we couldn't wait to give away the actual prize: $100,000 to the local school district in Davis! Kristy and Jim Powell's spectacular decorating of their home, known as "Candy Cane Court," is what brought home the gold - and the green! - for their community, and Friday night's presentation of the prize was just as exciting for us as it was for the Powells and the Davis students!

Claudia Huapaya from our marketing team (a veteran Patcher) was on hand in CA to lead the way and make sure the event went off without a hitch. It was really exciting, both for Claudia and for all of us here at Patch, to hear that so many people at the game knew about the contest and the upcoming check presentation. Superintendent Roberson and Trustee Sheila Allen took the court during halftime to accept the $100,000 from Davis Patch Local Editor Justin Cox and the Powell Family. Superintendent Roberson put it best when he held the giant check overhead and said, "Hey kids, this is for you!" The crowd went wild.

I know we're the ones who gave away the money, but honestly, we feel like we're the ones who took home the big prize. It means the world to us to be to able to give back in a big way; it goes right to our mission of serving our communities whenever and however we can. And hey, all the better when there's a giant check involved - who doesn't love those?! Congratulations to Davis Schools from everyone here at Patch!

Continue reading Davis Schools Win Big with Patch

Patch shoots up the charts to #4 local site

We are thrilled to announce that Patch has become the #4 local and regional property, according to comScore's December rankings, up from #10 at the beginning of 2011. This UV growth continued in December despite a seasonal decrease among many other local and regional sites. Patch launched less than 3 years ago, and the average age of Patch sites is less than 14 months old - so you can imagine how proud we are of this accomplishment. It is truly a testament to the hard work of our teams in communities across America. Most importantly it shows that Patch continues to engage and connect with residents of towns, which, after all, is where we are focused day and night. Go Patch!

Continue reading Patch shoots up the charts to #4 local site

CNN taps Patch for local expertise at New Hampshire primary

All politics is local, as they say, and there's nothing more local than Patch. One of the things we're most excited about in 2012 is the unprecedented neighborhood-level coverage that over 900 Patch journalists across the country will serve up during election season. This morning, our own Dan Tuohy in New Hampshire was interviewed on CNN as a local authority on what's happening in NH in the days leading up to the primary. Be sure to watch it here, and stay tuned for much more election coverage spanning local, regional and national races!

Continue reading CNN taps Patch for local expertise at New Hampshire primary

Next Page >

Recent Posts