Introducing Arlington Patch
Name change positions Patch for continued growth in 2013 and beyond.
Say hello to Arlington Patch — a rebranding of our former Ballston-Virginia Square site that reflects our commitment to comprehensive coverage of the news that matters most to people who live, work and play in Arlington County.
The name changed Thursday afternoon.
Arlington is clearly a very connected place. While individual neighborhoods have their own identity, each part working in harmony is what makes this a complete community.
People in North Arlington may bike to Crystal City. Friends may work together in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor and have a night out in Shirlington. And everyone, it seems, has an opinion on the future of Columbia Pike, particularly the streetcar planned for that area.
An Arlington Patch is the perfect umbrella to cover all of those areas, and it gives Clarendon-Courthouse Patch more room to create its own identity in the heart of Arlington's original downtown.
Patch is growing. Thursday also saw the birth of Tysons Corner Patch. Next month, we'll launch a Patch for Alexandria's West End.
Creating a central Arlington site puts us in the position we need to be in as we look toward 2013 and beyond. It gives our readers a single place to find all of their Arlington news, events and community announcements. It gives our advertisers a vehicle to reach beyond the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. And the new name is more inclusive for people who may not be familiar with Patch. We certainly met a lot of them this month at the Arlington County Fair, and hundreds of them signed up for our free morning newsletter.
So, drop us a line and let us know what you think. If you'd like to blog for Patch, click the button on our home page or drop me a line at jason.spencer@patch.com. We're particularly interested in recruiting bloggers from Shirlington, Crystal City, Columbia Pike and several North Arlington neighborhoods.
Arlington County wouldn't be the great place it is today if not for the contributions of each individual neighborhood.
Now, we are better able to shine a spotlight on those neighborhoods and provide a daily record of the parts that make up the whole.
Jason Spencer
Editor, Arlington Patch
News Hound
7:48 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Makes sense. Much of the content of the old site was very similar to your BFFs at Clarendon Patch. Are you changing your Twitter moniker too?
Jason Spencer
12:12 am on Monday, August 27, 2012
Yes! The Twitter handle has been changed to @ArlCoVaPatch. We just changed the account name, so if you were already following @BallstonPatch, then you're still on the list for @ArlCoVaPatch. (We had one letter too many to spell out Arlington and also include the state abbreviation and the word "Patch.") Our social media team is still working out the kinks in the name change on our Facebook site. Once it's live, you can be sure I'll be promoting it :)
And I should take the blame for the two Arlington sites pretty much mirroring one another in the past. There's still a lot of overlap as we adjust, but to say being the sole Patch editor/reporter for Arlington County for the past several months has been overwhelming would be an understatement. Rachel Hatzipanagos jumped in the deep end and already has produced stories to enhance both sites. As we grow into our new roles, part of our goal is for each site to establish its own identity.
Feedback is always welcome and appreciated!
ArlVaPete
7:11 am on Wednesday, August 29, 2012
I was wondering why there wasn't a columbia pike patch. I was feeling neglected. This will be an improvement.