If You Have a Voice, Patch Has a Place For You

There's a lot going on in College Park these days, and it's difficult to not have an opinion about some of it. Whether it’s about one of the several developments proposed for the area—like Cafritz, the Maryland Book Exchange student housing or East Campus—speed cameras, U.S. Route 1 traffic or university/city relations, there's a place for your thoughts on Patch.

We're recruiting more bloggers to appear under the "Local Voices" section, to write about a variety of College Park topics. Join the ranks of current College Park Patch bloggers who discuss recycling, business, civic associations and local restaurants. Add your voice to the mix!

Want to bounce off some ideas for a new household project or recipe? Want to share a crazy story that happened over the weekend, or why you think the Terps won/lost the big game? All are acceptable ideas for a blog post.

Here are some of the benefits of becoming a Patch blogger:

• You can write as often or as infrequent as you want. Of course, the more you write, the better chance you have of building a base of followers.
• I can guide you along, providing best blogging practices to assure your post has its best chance of garnering views.
• Although I might give you tips, I do very little actual editing for blog posts. Aside from looking for grammar and spelling mistakes, possible libel, and assuring it’s written in the Patch style, your blog posts are kept, by and large, in your own voice.
• You'll get a chance to interact and share ideas with your neighbors, as they'll be able to comment on your posts.
• You can use any media format you think is your strong point. Have an interest in video? Consider yourself an up-and-coming photojournalist? There's a place for both of those, as well as traditional text stories in the Patch Local Voices.
• You can change your topic from blog post to blog post, or stick with the same beat.

If you're interested in becoming a College Park Patch local voice, email me at Shannon.Hoffman@Patch.com.