I look forward to seeing you around town and hope you'll stop to say hi. 

Nicki was born and raised in St. Ignace, Michigan and now resides in Dearborn. She graduated from Grand Valley State University with a B.A. in Public Relations and Advertising. Nicki has a background in both print and digital media and has worked for companies such as Heritage Newspapers, the Detroit Free Press and Ann Arbor.com.  She enjoys trips to Greenfield Village, future house hunting on Grosse Ile and spending time by Wyandotte’s waterfront. Nicki enjoys chatting with local business owners and finding new and innovative ways to help them keep business thriving. Contact Nicki at nicki.sharer@patch.com or 734-355-2734 about advertising opportunities on Patch.com.

Heidi Bitsoli is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The Macomb Daily, The Daily Tribune, The Oakland Press, Ambassador Magazine and other area publications. Prior to freelancing, she was Editorial and Production Coordinator for an area masonry magazine and a copy editor and award-winning page designer at The Macomb Daily in Mount Clemens. She has a bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature from Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie. She lives in St. Clair Shores with her husband, Stephen.

Frank Wladyslawski is a lifelong Downriver resident. He graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a bachelor's degree in journalism. Frank works as an online freelance writer and also is employed as a systems monitor, providing on-site technical support for a major retail chain. Some of Frank’s interests are traveling, reading and baseball. Since 1999, he has been a Detroit Tigers season ticket holder. One of his goals is to someday see a game at every Major League Baseball stadium. Living Downriver has given Frank a strong connection to Wyandotte and its people. He is a frequent visitor to the city’s many unique shops and restaurants. Frank also enjoys celebrating his cultural heritage with Wyandotte’s large Polish-American community.

Dana has been a professional photographer in the Grosse Pointe area for over ten years.  She own a studio that does portrait, commercial and art work.  She has done freelance work for The Detroit News, The Grosse Pointe News, The Grosse Pointe Times as well as national websites.  She has won photography awards for her published news work and art.  Her passion is sports so she shoots as many sporting events as possible.  Everyone in the community has a story and a picture can tell it is what she hope to convey in her images.

Sean Work is a freelance photojournalist working in the Detroit metro area.

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Michelle Balconi is a Michigan transplant originally from Gainesville, FL.  She moved to Grosse Pointe nearly four years ago after living in San Diego and Boston and hopes this is the final stop on her family's transcontinental search for the perfect hometown.  

Mike is originally from the Chicago area, but after graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in journalism he moved to the Detroit area in 2005. He currently lives in Royal Oak and works as a freelance writer covering local sports, business and entertainment for various publications and websites. 

For 12 years I had the pleasure of covering the Detroit Red Wings and the NHL for The Detroit News. After covering the back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1997 and 1998, I left to pursue a writing job that kept me out of airports and at home, which led me to become a corporate communication and marketing writer for Compuware Corporation.

In addition to business writing and reporting, I also write children's books and am a playwright.

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.