Come to Downtown Alpharetta and Meet Patch

Alpharetta-Milton Patch is hitting the streets on Thursday, Feb. 16. Members of the Patch family will be visiting businesses along Main Street (GA 9), Windward Parkway and other parts of the communities.

Led by your intrepid editor, Bob Pepalis (that's me!) and Ad Manager Todd Baraff, we'll start our tour at and then head out to introduce our hyperlocal website to business owners who may not have heard of the community-oriented Patch yet. We'll demonstrate how the Places directory is helpful for small businesses in Alpharetta and Milton, too. Many of those uses have no cost to them.

We don't just want to talk business. We'll end the day back downtown a few doors down from where we started, spending an hour at at 29 South Main Street in Alpharetta. Anyone who wants to stop by to learn more about Patch and how they can use it for themselves and organizations or schools they support is invited to visit with us.

As you head home from work, or out to go shopping or to eat (don't forget, Smokejack serves food!) come and spend a few minutes with us. We welcome the community residents, parents of schoolchildren, business owners, budding writers, bloggers and yes, even politicians, to ask us any questions you have about Patch and how we can better serve you. Representatives of both news and sales will be present so we don't miss any answers.

So if you have ideas you think should be covered on your community news site, or a question about advertising, please come by between 5 and 6 p.m. to let me and the other Patch members know. If you've wanted to , this is a perfect opportunity for us to speak and get you set up. If you aren't sure , we'll help. It only takes five minutes–and it's free. Who knows, there might be some of those fried pickles they serve at Smokejack–unless I eat them all first!

If you can't make it Thursday, check out the links in this article. If you still have questions, or just want to chat, email me and we can set up a time to get together.