Alexis Fitts is the Local Editor for Sonoma Patch. Her stories have been featured in Mother Jones, Salon, Wired.com and community newspapers in Connecticut, Colorado, and around the Bay Area. She holds degrees from the Royal Academy of Music and Yale University, where she reported for The New Haven Advocate and discovered the joys of writing on deadline. 

Christian Kallen has lived in Healdsburg since 1990, more or less, with time off for the Internet boom and bust. He delivers multiple media solutions for web partners, and shares historical perspectives on his adopted home town in Now and Then on Patch.

I made two great decisions at the end of 2011: Moving to Napa and joining the Patch.com's Wine Country Team!

My little slice of Heaven is in the Oak Knoll district, where I plan to be farming organic fruit and veg, while enjoying my neighbor's fermented home-grown grapes!

My bigger slice of Patch-Heaven is managing the fabulous Patch Advertising Managers (from Healdsburg, to Sacramento, to Palo Alto and in between) who help businesses partner with patch.com to increase their community awareness and grow their clientele.

I love meeting new people, making new friends, doing yoga and teaching people how to enjoy "raw food for real life" uncooking. In my soare time, as a raw food chef, my joy comes from inspiring people to eat REAL, whole foods in their freshest, nutrient- dense form.

As a Patchy, community-loving staffer, I love evangelizing patch websites that help us all stay connected to the REAL information that matters to us, our families and our neighbors. Making people's lives ridiculously easy and fun is Patch's mission, and I'm thrilled to be part of the Patch team in Northern California.

As an Advertising Manager for Patch, Chondra is enthusiastic to help local businesses & their communities enhance and become more dynamic. You can catch Chondra busy doing "Patch Work" on any given day in your local town and helping market the site's brand & featured content.

Outside of representing as a Patch Ambassador, she enjoys teaching dance, traveling with her dance company, acting, and blogging (purely a "Lover of The Arts"). Originally from Vallejo, Ca., Chondra moved away for college and went on to attain her Bachelor's Degree in Broadcast Journalism (another reason why she's so passionate to work for an online journalism site like Patch). After spending 4 years out of state working with different companies in the sales, marketing & PR spectrum, (and even doing some freelance writing), she decided to move back home and reignite with the place she refers to as "Home Sweet Home." That's where her journey with Patch begins!

If you have questions about promoting your business on Patch, please feel free to contact Chondra at 707-315-5614 or via email chondra.kirkland@patch.com :)

Julie Weinstock worked as managing editor for several magazines, including Epicurean Rendezvous, a series of restaurant guides in six cities across the country.

She left the publishing world to work as an assistant to the president and executive winemaker of Napa Valley’s Cosentino Winery in 1996, and eventually was named president of the company.

Since leaving the winery in 2007, Weinstock has worked as a marketing and project consultant to wineries and other small businesses. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing and is always looking for opportunities to write.

In addition to being the founder and host of Wine Oh TV, Monique is a seasoned journalist with over ten years experience working in broadcasting. Monique has worked in newsrooms across the country including: KPIX-TV/CBS 5, KNTV-TV/NBC 11, KSEE-TV/NBC 24, KCBS-TV/CBS 2, KGTV-TV/ABC 10, and KPVI-TV/NBC 6. Monique is also a trained SAG/AFTRA actor and studied at The Groundlings, Warner Loughlin Studios and The Atlantic Theater Company and she can be seen on various films, television shows and commercials.

Monique has a certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers and has interviewed over one hundred winemakers and counting.

You can find out more about me by visitng my website www.moniquesoltani.com

David Korman is a photographer, writer and promoter. He currently living in Penngrove, CA. David photographs live music and events and is passionate about supporting local, live, and independent musicians. David is a recent graduate of Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY.

Phil Meyer is Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame in Journalism in the spring of 2008.  He joined the Journalism School in 1981 and served as Knight Chair in Journalism Professor from 1993-2008.  Prior to joining the school, he held a number of reporter and research positions at various media outlets. 

He has won numerous awards including the 2005 Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for Research About Journalism (with Scott Maier). He was named a Fellow of Society of Professional Journalists in 2005. In 2004, the Newspaper Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication gave him its Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award. And in 2000 he received the American Association for Public Opinion Research Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement.

Meyer is the author of several books including The Vanishing Newspaper:  Saving Journalism in the Information Age and Precision Journalism:  A Reporter’s Introduction to Social Science Methods.  Journalism Quarterly in 2000 listed this book as one of the 35 significant books of the 20th century in journalism and mass communication; and the American Association for Public Opinion Research, observing its 50th anniversary in 1996, listed it as one of 50 significant books on public opinion research.

He received his B.S. in technical journalism from Kansas State University and his M.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina.

Jeff Jarvis is the associate professor and director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York’s new Graduate School of Journalism.  He also blogs about media and news at Buzzmachine.com; is consulting editor of Daylife; writes a media column for the Guardian, and consults for media companies.

Prior to his current responsibilities, Jarvis held positions including president and creative director of Advance.net; creator and founding editor of Entertainment Weekly; Sunday editor and associated publisher of the New York Daily News; TV critic for TV Guide and People; a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner; assistant city editor and reporter for the Chicago Tribune and reporter for Chicago Today.

Jarvis is the author of What Would Google Do?

Steven Berlin Johnson is a pioneer in the web world, as a co-founder of FEED, Plastic.com, and Outside.in, which was acquired by Patch in March of 2011. He also co-created Findings.com, which launched in late 2011. Steven was the 2009 Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at The Journalism School at Columbia University, and served for several years as a Distinguished Writer in Residence at NYU’s Journalism School. He is a bestselling author of seven books, and won acclaim and a Newhouse School Mirror Award for his 2010 Time Magazine cover story, "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live." 

Speaking of Steven's editorial prowess, check out this video based on Steven's book, Where Good Ideas Come From, which was named one of the best books of 2010 by The Economist.