Introducing "Post It on Patch"

[Note: This article originally was published Sept. 7, 2011.]

Today, Fairfield County, CT Patch sites are launching a new standing feature——that’s designed to help you share useful information with your community and neighboring towns. 

In each of our towns—if our dog goes missing, if we’re planning a tag sale, if we have a room to rent or are looking for work—we post fliers and messages on community bulletin boards, staple them onto telephone poles, or create large posters that we may tie to fences and or stake into pocket parks as lawn signs.

Starting this week, Patch local editors are canvassing our downtown areas and neighborhoods to bring these notices online, and we invite you to .

In addition to covering our towns as a news outlet, we want Patch to be useful to you. Much of what we’re most proud of on Patches here in Fairfield County started because readers used the sites in ways that made sense to them. For example:

• In Ridgefield this past winter, a high school student posted an announcement arguing , prompting a community discussion on Patch that ;
• In Shelton this spring, a pair of lost dog announcements posted by readers led to ;
• In New Canaan during the height of summer, a great blog post from a town worker led, through a comments thread, to .

There are many other examples, and we absolutely want our community members to continue using Patch as they have been. Scroll to the bottom-right of this page and you’ll see three ways that you and your neighbors regularly contribute and interact through Patch—by posting events and announcements, and sharing tips.

—missing pets, dog-walking services and adoptable animals, for example—“Post It on Patch” will serve as a visible place for you to read, share and :

• Sell a bicycle
• Find some live music
• Adopt a kitten
• Hire a house cleaner

And more. Today it’s animals. Check back throughout the week and you’ll see we’re also dedicating “Posted on Patch” installments to:

• Merchandise—buying and selling, tag sales; items sought
• Jobs—help wanted, situations desired, services offered
• Housing—rooms for rent, roommates seeking roommates, in-law apartments to let
• Entertainment—concerts, arts exhibitions, live music

And more. Whatever you need——Patch will feature for your neighbors to see.

“Post It on Patch” is different from Announcements because it’s mostly visual—use it to It's also comment-friendly—for example, if you see one of the dogs or cats that's missing, say so in the comment thread to help with the search.

Thanks for reading Patch, and for using Patch, and please feel free to email me (I’m regional editor for Patch here in Fairfield County) directly with any questions about “Post It on Patch” or anything else, at michaeld@patch.com.