Editor's Notebook: Patch Celebrates its 100th Site Launch

Since Melrose Patch — or "MelPatch," as our columnist Kathy Shiels Tully hiply calls it — launched on May 28, two ongoing occurrences continually bring a smile to my face.

The first is the surprised look I get when I tell someone that Patch is an AOL-owned company. "Oh. I thought you started that site on your own," has been the usual response. Heh. Apparently some Melrosians think I never sleep. I do. On occasion. Honestly.

No, Melrose Patch is not the creation of one lonely editor, but a collaborative effort by a tremendous team of regional editors who support local editors (such as myself); techies who are constantly tweaking and improving our site; a sales team that keeps our comprehensive Directory up to date; and many others working out of Patch HQ in New York City, where the company was founded in February 2008.

Since its founding, Patch has had much to celebrate: the launching of its first sites in Maplewood, South Orange and Millburn-Short Hills, New Jersey; AOL acquiring the company in June 2009 and investing $50 million in Patch; and our expansion to nine states. Patch sites have produced over 55,000 articles and nearly 1 million photos since the first sites launched.

Today, Patch is celebrating another milestone — the launching of our 100th site,  Morristown Patch in Morristown, NJ. To that end, the folks at Patch HQ asked me on this occasion to reminisce about the first three months of Melrose Patch, which brings me to the second ongoing occurrence that brings a smile to my face.

That would be the way Melrosians have embraced and use Melrose Patch for what it is — a community resource. We're not just a news site, although we do that too, breaking news such as house fire started by a lightning strike, or the Melrose Y ending its after-school program — just two examples of news you heard first on Melrose Patch, which is updated every day.

With regard to the idea of the site as a community resource, in my welcome column on the first day Melrose Patch launched, I said that Melrose Patch really shines because anyone who signs up to be a member, which is free, can post their own announcements and events. Melrose people and organizations have taken advantage of that unique feature, posting events such as Melrose Symphony Orchestra concerts; announcements seeking volunteers for Melrose Human Rights Commission programs; or sharing awards and accomplishments.

Other people have used Melrose Patch in other ways, whether claiming ownership of a business or organization in our Directory and uploading their own photos, videos and more; commenting on our articles on Melrose Patch itself or on our Facebook page; or following us on Twitter (my latest tweet always appears at the top of Melrose Patch) where we share videos live from the scene of a fire, traffic or MBTA alerts, or other timely information. Someone at the Mayor's Night Out at Pine Banks Park last week told me he checked Melrose Patch earlier that day to make sure, with the threat of rain in the forecast, that the Night Out was still on.

These are all examples of how I hope Melrose Patch is as useful as it is informative. I don't want Melrose Patch to only report on the community — I want it to be part of the community. In that vein, Patch also has a program called "Give 5," giving 5 percent of its advertising space — free of charge — to local charities from the communities Patch serves, and all Patch employees spend five working days each year volunteering in the community. A couple of my fellow editors will be joining me this week at the Milano Senior Center to help out the city's weekly community dinner and Patch employees in the Boston area will also participate in the MSPCA's Walk for Animals next month. If you would like to find out more about the walk, check out the event's website. To donate to the Patch.com team, go to our team page.

I want to thank you for welcoming Melrose Patch into the community and embracing it as you have. I look forward to continuing to give you the news you need and seeing your events, announcements, comments and more. It's your Patch — help it grow.