Touching Down in Westwood
A new editor arrives to a new town hoping to maintain the quality that his predecessor brought to the site.
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Whenever you start a new job, there is a period of adjustment as you need to learn everything you are responsible for, not to mention all the small things you should pick up along the way that will help you do your job better.
In journalism, we also need to learn about the communities we cover. We need to learn about you, our readers, and what you're passionate about. You see, no two towns are exactly alike, so there's a big learning curve when it comes to catching up on all the local issues facing the community.
As someone who grew up on the North Shore, I haven't been experiencing the town of Westwood for a long time. So as I sat with my predecessor, Matt Perkins, outside Starbucks on Friday and listened to him talk about the town of Westwood, I realized something: yes, it will take a little bit of time for me to learn about this town, but it's a town that is full of people who love their community, and as the new Local Editor of Westwood Patch, what more could I want?
Whether there are more developments at University Station or Morrison Park, or any other stories that develop in town over the coming weeks and months, we'll be there to provide coverage of them. We'll also do our best to provide school-related news, both academically and on the fields of your beloved Wolverines.
In addition, you can be a part of Patch too. Planning an event or have an announcement to make? All you have to do is sign up. It's easy and FREE.
Lastly, I want to thank you ahead of time for bearing with me as I get adjusted to both, this job and Westwood. If it takes me a little bit longer to respond to an email you've sent me, I assure you it's nothing personal and I'll make sure to get back to you as soon as I can. In the mean time, if there's anything you want to tell me, please don't hesitate to email me at robert.rosen@patch.com.
Thanks so much,
Rob
Linda M. Valentine
10:04 pm on Monday, August 6, 2012
Hi Robert:
Welcome to Westwood and congratulations on your position as editor of the Westwood Patch. Matt Perkins with certainly be missed by us all, he was dedicated, kind and a wonderful person. We look forward to working with you and helping you get to know our beautiful town of Westwood.
Linda Valentine :)
WW Resident
8:48 am on Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Hi Rob,
I look forward to your coverage on our town. Just a few thoughts - it would be helpful to have comments visable on the home page in the mobile version of Patch (like it is regularly on a desktop web browser). Also, I think something many readers are interested in is a platform for town officials to communicate developments, objectives, strategies, opinions, disagreements, etc... and for residents to provide feedback. I understand town officials might be hesitant to "put themselves out there" for rude comments/attacks (and I kind of don't blame them), but hopefully this can be something you figure out. I think there's an interest from many residents to provide a "voice" in the way of input, comments, opinions... without the commitment required to attend town meetings or make individual appointments/letters with our town officials. The speed comment thread is an excellent example. Questions/concerns/praise on the town's oversight of Westwood/University Station will continue be another popular topic. Good luck!
Robert Rosen
11:43 am on Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Thanks for your comments. I'll definitely make sure to pass your idea regarding the mobile version of Patch to the appropriate person. I also really liked your thoughts about using Patch as a platform to communicate with town officials. You're right: you can't always make it to a meeting. You might be interested in something I'm trying this week called "Hey Selectmen," in which I'm looking for comments/questions Westwood residents want to say to their Selectmen. Please feel free to link over (http://westwood.patch.com/articles/hey-selectmen-b488b1ec) and give us your thoughts.
WW Resident
8:23 am on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Rob, is there a way for Westwood Patch to filter out the non-Westwood comments? The breastfeeding in public and the VP pick... both important topics that people are clearly passionate about, but I'd like to click on Westwood Patch to get updated Westwood news/events/etc and to read comments related to Westwood news/events/etc. Seems like these comments might be from other Patch sites and are being lumped together?
WW Resident
10:16 am on Friday, August 24, 2012
Again with the whole EBT/whoopie pie debate... anyway to filter out the hundreds of comments on this national topic, so that WW Patch comments can be town-centric news, comments, etc.?