13 Ways to Contribute to Patch

For more than a year Herndon Patch has been a part of the community sharing local news, events and more across Herndon.

This site is meant to provide readers with news as well as a platform to share information with the community. There are many ways interact, such as commenting on articles, sharing photos and posting event information to Herndon Patch. Once again, we'd like to share some ways our readers contribute to the site.

1. Comment on an Article
We subscribe to the idea that "news is a conversation." Much of our reporting will emanate from what readers tell us in e-mails, comments on our sites, and in conversations around town. Share your thoughts and reactions to our articles by posting a comment directly below each article. 

2. Send a News Tip
At the bottom of the homepage, there's a link that says, "Send Us News Tips." Tell us about articles you think we should cover. Your tip will be sent straight to Leslie Perales, Herndon Patch's editor. You can also send her an e-mail at leslie@patch.com, or call her at 571-268-0837. 

3. Contribute to the Neighborhood Gallery
We have a special photo gallery just to show off photos of Herndon. Anyone can add their own photos to the Your Neighborhood Gallery. Just sign up for a Patch account, or sign in, and upload your photos here. 

 4. Post an Event
Having a garage sale? Is your organization putting on an event somewhere in Herndon? Is your church putting organizing a food drive? If it's not on our Patch calendar, it should be. Feel free to add events to our site at http://herndon.patch.com/events/new.

 5. Post an Announcement
Post births, engagements and wedding announcements. Tell us who made the honor roll or share school awards, social notes and thank you shout outs. If you're looking for volunteers or searching for your lost dog, we welcome you to call on your community for help. Just remember, our Terms of Service say announcements should be for personal use and not for advertising.  

6. Sign Up for Newsletters
The daily Herndon Patch newsletter brings you all articles and announcements that have been posted in the last 24 hours. It is delivered to your e-mail every day at about 9 a.m. You can also sign up for the weekly newsletter, which shows a subset of the content created and featured on our site over the last few days. It is delivered every Thursday at 10 a.m. Look for the Follow Us and Newsletter links in the right column of this and most every page. 

7. Talk to the Community on the Herndon Patch Homepage
Readers can communicate to those who visit Herndon Patch on the site without having to add a comment to an existing article. You can tell us what you have to say right now by using the comment box at the top of the Activity Stream on the homepage. Just write your message in the box labeled "What do you have to say?" and whatever you post will go directly into the stream, right on the homepage.

8. Add Your Photos and Video to Articles
Upload videos of high school football touchdowns or your Herndon youth athlete scoring the winning goal in a soccer game. Post photos from local festivals, or send in a snapshot of your best holiday recipes. We invite you to share with the rest of the community the memories you've caught on camera. You can add photos and videos to most any article, event or announcement!

9. Review Restaurants and Other Businesses
Do you want to be the first to tell your friends whether the new restaurant in town gets a thumbs-up? You can post a review of your favorite restaurants at http://herndon.patch.com/restaurants. Or, search to find what you're craving—you can filter results by cuisine, price or seating accommodations. Additionally, you can review any business in our directory to let the community know where you got a great haircut or top notch service.

10. Social Media Engagement
You can "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Immerse yourself in our content and actively contribute and engage via social media. This allows a way for the community to see quick news bites, hear what we might be working on or what events we might be covering and post additional photos and videos.

11. Volunteer
We have a fantastic array of information on volunteering in Herndon. Just visit our Volunteer page at Herndon Patch. Here you'll find information about Patch's volunteer efforts, our employee Give 5 volunteer days, posting information to find volunteers for your organization, finding information to become a volunteer, and links to articles about volunteers in the Herndon community. We also donate ad space to local charities in the community—just contact us from the link on the volunteer page.

12. Claim Your Directory Listing
Our business and organization listings aren't skimpy. Our team of researchers actually hit the streets and visited businesses, schools, parks, libraries and more so we can provide photos as well as detailed information such as products sold and hours of operation. To contact us about the listing for your business or organization, email us at directorysupport@patch.com. If you own or manage a business or organization in our directory, you can claim it to post photos and update information (best of all, it's free!).

13. Advertise With Us, or Post Your Own Classified
For all advertising queries, please send an e-mail to our local Patch Ad Manager Barbara Ward. at barbara.ward@patch.com. And if you've got an old couch or desk sitting in your basement you want to get rid of just post a classified ad. 

We hope this gives you a good idea on how to get and stay involved at Herndon Patch. We want to provide the community with information that matters, but we can't do it without your help. As always, if you have a question, concern or news tip, just write to leslie@patch.com.