Here is a press release from Patch.com on the recent launch of their Hoboken site......
Hoboken Joins Patch Family as First Site in Hudson County- More to Come
January 14, 2010 – Patch, a growing network of community-specific online news and information sites, today announced the launch of its latest website, serving the community of Hoboken, New Jersey. With the launch, the Hoboken site (http://hoboken.patch.com/) joins the Patch network as its 16th site in New Jersey and its 32nd overall in the tri-state area.
“Patch is excited to launch in the “Mile Square City,” our first site in Hudson County,” said Warren Webster, president of Patch. “Whether it’s the results of a Redwings game or news of an announcement from Mayor Zimmer, Patch has Hoboken covered. We are confident residents will come to view Hoboken Patch as a comprehensive town resource and rely on it, as do our users throughout New Jersey.”
Each Patch site leverages its proprietary technology platform and serves as a hub of local news and information for and about the community it serves. Users will have plenty of opportunities to comment on stories; share their opinions; post photos, videos and announcements; and even add events to the community calendar.
Each Patch has its own editor—a full-time professional journalist dedicated to the community. Hoboken Patch will be overseen by Claire Moses, who graduated cum laude from Brandeis University and has a Master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Prior to joining Patch she worked at The Jersey Journal, covering politics, education and general news in Jersey City, Bayonne and Hoboken. Claire will be aided by and manage a team of contributors that will provide everything from reports on high school sports and city government to coverage of events and interviews with members of the community.
Like all Patches, the Hoboken site is free to use and offers a comprehensive events calendar, restaurant reviews and a rich directory of all of their respective community’s important places. The Patch sites serve as a town resource for a resident’s needs—from finding a dentist or an activity for the kids to the name of the official to call for a building permit.
Patch is a valuable resource for local businesses, providing free business listings, maps, product information and even photos of businesses and organizations around town. Patch offers a two-tiered advertising system that allows business owners to create a do-it-yourself online ad; and it has a sales team that will work with individual businesses to best satisfy their needs.
Underscoring its commitment to community, Patch has two initiatives that facilitate giving back and getting involved. First, each Patch has a dedicated area that helps local charities and willing volunteers to find each other. Second, Patch dedicates five percent of its ad inventory as free advertising space for local charitable organizations while its staff donates five full paid days of its own time each year to volunteer in the communities Patch serves.
About Patch
Acquired by AOL (NYSE: AOL) in June 2009, Patch Media Corporation (www.patch.com) is a community-specific news and information company dedicated to improving the lives of their residents through high-quality local information. Each Patch site leverages Patch’s proprietary technology platform and combines original professional journalism and user contributions to deliver the information most important to its community—from government, sports and school news to events, announcements and volunteer opportunities. It is advised by an editorial board consisting of the leading minds in online and community journalism including Phil Meyer and Jeff Jarvis. Patch currently operates 32 community-focused sites serving 16 towns in New Jersey, five in Connecticut and 11 in New York, and will continue to aggressively expand its family of sites in 2010.
My Comment: I wonder how a supposed certain free-market Glenn Beck ideologue loving blogger is taking all this competition. Then again, that blog's increasing irrelevance and comical sense of self importance makes that less and less of a consideration than it once used to be. Hee hee. I for one welcome the extended coverage that this website promises for Hoboken. ◦
