Congratulations Andrea! Great job!

Hey Andrea, just saw this. Congratulations!
karen Brown

Congratulations to both you and Zandy.
You were on top of the story when it broke, and you did a fine job of reporting it as it unfolded. Outstanding work!!!

Earl Bugaile

Is the "regional editor" a new position that is permanently part of Patch? Zandy has been showing up often recently as "patrol officer." Is this a new policy, or one that has been in place that has not been exercised? Or, are these changes as a result of Huffington no longer being at the top of the ladder?

Roger, Tim McAteer is regional editor for Western PA Patch Region 2, and I work as associate regional editor. While we have local editors out in the field, Tim and I work mostly behind the scenes to coordinate the efforts of our region, which includes eight Patch sites. We also have a Region 1, with its own regional editor, that has five more sites around Pittsburgh. We work closely with our local editors on a daily basis and, when they are unable to respond (they do all have personal obligations from time to time) or there is a questionable comment that violates our terms of service, we'll occasionally jump in to help. The terms of service have been in place since our sites launched. While Patch and Huffington Post are both owned by AOL, we operate separately.

Thanks Earl! We do consider you part of our Patch family, as Andrea pointed out. It was great to see you at the ceremony!

Actually Roger, Arianna never "waved a baton" at the top of Patch. Patch has always had its own editor-in-chief and, with his recent departure, now a chief content officer. While Arianna encouraged Patch to open its doors to local voices through blogging and we've shared some projects, such as our 9/11 anniversary project and a few other things, her presence was felt very little overall on the local Patch scene. She's focusing more on expanding Huffington Post in foreign markets these days.

Zandy, from this article, it sounds like Arianna did some "baton waving" with regard to Patch. It sounds like her desires to integrate Patch with other offerings were met with resistance, and was one of the causes of the change.

The raising of $50K per site, but cost of $100K-$150K is an ominous piece of information. This is startling, and is cause for alarm. It provides a reason why some want to see major changes.

I hope it gets worked out so that Patch is some form remains. But, it sounds like the business model needs lots of work to be successful.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303610504577420193866895860.html

Congratulations, Andrea. You deserve the praise. Great job - as always