For more than a decade Northern Virginia communities have been part of Dusty Smith's beat. He has focused on Loudoun County as an Ashburn resident since 2004.

Dusty has a young daughter, which has caused his interest in what this community has to offer to grow considerably for her sake. His goal is to provide Ashburn neighbors with all of the important information they want and need.

Erica R. Hendry graduated from Ithaca College with degrees in journalism and music (she plays the tuba).She worked for the Ithaca Journal, a 22,000-circulation daily in Ithaca, NY, during and after college. She's also written and produced videos for the Boston Globe, USA Today and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Before coming to Patch, she was writing, blogging and producing videos for Smithsonian Magazine in Washington, D.C.

She launched Vienna Patch in October 2010 and became an Associate Regional Editor for Fairfax and Loudoun Counties in July 2012. 

I am the Seniore Regional Editor for Virginia/DC at Patch.com.

Sharon McLoone has been a journalist for about 20 years. Most recently, she's covered issues of interest to small business and entrepreneurs for The Washington Post, New York Times, CNN.com as well as smaller more specialized publications. McLoone also spent some time covering Capitol Hill. She spends a lot of time enjoying the neighborhoods of Old Town and Del Ray with her family.

Andi enjoys meeting people and introducing them to advertising opportunities on Patch.

Her mission as an Ad Manager is to strengthen the following communities: Manassas, Manassas Park, Centreville and Chantilly.

She can be contacted at Andi.Hyman@patch.com.

Jake comes to Patch after spending a little over one year with Questex Media as a Digital Sales Manager in the travel industry, and close to three years with The Washington Post as an Account Manager. He was raised in Grand Haven, MI and currently resides in Alexandria, VA with his wife of three years.

He is a graduate of Central Michigan University where he studied journalism, advertising, and marketing.

As an Advertising Manager, he is excited to meet and partner with local businesses. You can reach him at jake.vanwoerkom@patch.com or on his cell phone - 703-957-8704

Karen Graham has lived in the DC area since 1993.  Her previous experience includes working on Capitol Hill and at Burson-Marsteller, a PR firm in DC.  

She is married to Nicholas and is a mom to four boys.  They have lived in Loudoun County since 2005.  

Karen enjoys writing, gardening, and exploring new places with her boys.  She is a graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

Taghrid Barron received a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C. She has worked as a writer and editor for more than 20 years for various newspapers, publishing companies, and a defense contractor. She loves the Ashburn area and thinks it is one of the best places to live and raise a family in the Washington, D.C., area.

David Driver has covered all levels of sports in Maryland for more than 15 years, from rec sports to high school to college and the pros. He has worked for community newspapers in Laurel, Howard County and Northern Virginia, was the first sports editor of the daily Baltimore Examiner and was a copy editor for the Prince George's Journal. He can be reached at davidsdriver@aol.com or through his website.

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.

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.

Brian was Editor-in-Chief of Time Out New York magazine before coming to Patch. Before that he worked for a variety of publications both online and off, including Details magazine, New York Magazine, and the old, dearly departed Sidewalk.com. He has written for numerous publications, from the New York Times magazine to Harper's Bazaar. He graduated from Bowdoin College and got an MFA in creative writing at Columbia University so he could put his novel in a drawer with distinction. He lives in Manhattan with his beautiful wife, adorable son, angelic daughter and the world's most dog-like cat. He’s proud as hell of what the Patch team has built.

Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C.

Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.  He is now a columnist on USA Today’s board of contributors, writing about First Amendment issues and the news media.

Throughout his career, Paulson has drawn on his background as both a journalist and lawyer, serving as the editor or managing editor of newspapers in five different states.

He also is past-president of the American Society of News Editors, the nation’s largest organization of news media leaders.

Paulson also was the host of the Emmy-honored television program “Speaking Freely,” seen in more than 60 PBS markets nationwide over five seasons, and the author of "Freedom Sings," a multimedia stage show celebrating the First Amendment that continues to tour the nation's campuses.  

He was an early advocate of making newspaper content available online, launching online newspapers in both Florida and New York in 1993.

For 12 years, Paulson was a regular guest lecturer at the American Press Institute, speaking to more than 5,000 journalists about First Amendment issues. He was honored with the API Lifetime Service Award. In 2010 and 2011, he served as chair of the PBS Editorial Standards Review Committee.

In 2007, Paulson was named fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, “the highest honor SPJ bestows upon a journalist for extraordinary contributions to the profession.” In 2008, he  received the Robert S. Abbott Memorial Award for Meritorious Service in Mass Communications from the Southern Regional Press Institute. He has also been elected to the Illini Publishing Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois.

He is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from American University.