AnnArbor.com

Local, state and national media cover the closing of The Ann Arbor News

2009-07-23T15:22:39Z

The closing of the Ann Arbor News is garnering media coverage across the region and the country.

Here's what we've found so far. Feel free to add additional links in the comments section below.

Detroit Free Press: Ann Arbor News prints last edition

The Associated Press: The Ann Arbor News hits the streets for last time

Michigan Business Review: As Ann Arbor News operations come to a close, former employees face employment challenges

Former Ann Arbor News reporter Jeff Mortimer writes in the Ann Arbor Chronicle about the closing.

The Ann Arbor News has extensive coverage. View it all and be sure to check out the video memories, as well as a story on what various Ann Arbor News employees are doing next.

Lucy Ann Lance of 1290 AM, Ann Arbor's Business Talk Radio, also has had extensive coverage of the closing this week, including a blog, and audio clips of interviews with current and previous News employees.

Michigan Radio: Ann Arbor News closes after 174 years

Ann Arbor News employees bid farewell after 174 years

2009-07-23T14:40:29Z

Laughter turned to sadness - mixed with spells of goofiness and relief - as Ann Arbor News employees put out their final edition this morning.

After 174 years of publication, the News' final edition is due on the streets this afternoon. The city's new media company, AnnArbor.com, launches by morning.

For the many employees ending their News careers today, the morning saw both the usual routine and some memorable moments.

]]> "It's sad, but in a way it's kind of a relief," reporter Dave Gershman said between trips to his car. "We've known for four months this was coming. It's kind of a relief that it's here."

In the early morning hours, FedEx and UPS trucks dropped off packages. Page designers got pages ready for print. Reporters did their normal rounds of visiting local police agencies for news. Editors edited stories and posted them to the paper's Web site. Circulation managers worked to making sure the last paper would be safely delivered to doorsteps across the area.

Right at 8 a.m., the final page was sent electronically to the printing plant. And just like that, the daily work of producing a paper - from selling advertising, designing ads, taking photographs, reporting stories, putting it all together and printing a paper - was done.

Boxes covered desks all over the building. Cars drove up to entrances, and employees - many wearing black and several wearing black T-shirts saying, "No News is bad news" - hauled their personal belongings to their cars.

And they hugged, employees said as they left the building.

The morning saw a range of emotions, said reporter Tracy Davis.

"It's a weird mixture. People are laughing. People are crying. People are having a good time. Like I said yesterday (during a radio interview), it's a lot like the end of high school," Davis said. "People are saying goodbye."

In the newsroom, staffers released stress by playing a Wii, brought in by copy editor Colleen Ericson.

"I thought it would be a chance to laugh together," she said. "It's nice to laugh on a day like this."

Around 10 a.m., most employees left the building for a day of parties and remembrances.

"Some people are excited (about the future), some people are dreading it," Ericson said. "Really, it's a pretty mixed day, with all the emotions present."

Photo 1: Ann Arbor News photographer Lon Horwedel, center, and the last of the newspaper staff react after taking the last photo of the newsroom Thursday. Photo by Leisa Thompson, The Ann Arbor News.

Photo 2: Graphic artist Sonia Gottfried says goodbye to her good friend, Tammy Graves, before Gottfried leaves The Ann Arbor News for the last time Thursday. Gottfried came in to produce local pages before going in for a caesarean section to give birth to her third child. Photo by Leisa Thompson, The Ann Arbor News.

David Jesse is a former Ann Arbor News reporter who now works as a digital journalist for AnnArbor.com.

First Ann Arbor City Council meeting filled with interesting moments - and a song

2009-07-21T21:57:34Z

Coming off the heels of my first Ann Arbor City Council meeting, I'll say this: Getting my first taste of A2 politics Monday night was an interesting experience.

During the course of five hours, I heard an earful about what makes Ann Arbor residents tick. I was encouraged to see dozens of people in attendance, and even more impressed when such a large percentage took the podium to speak.

Of the many who spoke on the controversial City Place development, the award for most creativity goes to Libby Hunter, a retired music teacher, who serenaded the Council with an original song called "Developer's March," sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of The Republic."

]]> I captured it on video in case you missed it.

A lot of intelligent ideas were floated during the public comment period, more so than I've seen over the years in other towns where I've covered local politics. Though I've been in Ann Arbor less than a week, it's clear citizens here care very much about their community and want to be involved in discussions regarding its future.

During an extended break in the meeting, I enjoyed getting the chance to interact with several residents like Lou Glorie, a local real estate agent.

"I think that we have to have a real sincere effort on the part of the politicians and the city in allowing citizens access to the design and the visioning of our future," Glorie told me. "It's not something that should be left to experts or a group of people who consider themselves to be the visionaries. It's something best done in collaboration with a lot of different people."

That's the kind of dialogue we want at AnnArbor.com from our readers.

So what do you say, Ann Arbor? What's on your mind? What matters to you?

I'll be covering government and politics for AnnArbor.com and look forward to hearing from you. Drop me a line at ryanstanton@annarbor.com and let me hear it.

Did you live in Stockwell Hall? Send us your photos

2009-07-21T20:24:58Z

I joined AnnArbor.com last week as the new University of Michigan reporter - and now I need your help.

I'm working on a story about the renovation and history of Stockwell Hall. The dorm was constructed in 1940 and named after Madelon Louisa Stockwell, the first woman admitted to U-M in 1870.

After all these years, the dorm is going co-ed this fall, at the same time it unveils renovations and infrastructure upgrades. I'd like to put together a photo slideshow of Stockwell dorm life through the decades, and I need help from Stockwell's former residents.

If you lived at Stockwell and would like to share photos, please e-mail them in jpeg form to me at julianakeeping@annarbor.com. And please include a little info on the photo and when it was taken.

Didn't get enough of the Art Fairs last week? Check out this time-lapse video

2009-07-20T17:52:51Z

What can community content add that goes beyond the reporting of our trained journalists? Check out this time-lapse video from the Ann Arbor Art Fairs.

How to get home delivery of the print editions of AnnArbor.com

2009-07-20T14:55:45Z

Some of our readers have asked how they can subscribe to the Thursday and Sunday print editions of AnnArbor.com. That's a good question. And the answer is fairly simple.

If you are an existing subscriber to The Ann Arbor News, you will automatically be subscribed to the AnnArbor.com newspaper editions. Home delivery will begin on July 26, and will continue every Thursday & Sunday (or only on Sunday, if requested), unless you tell us otherwise.

If your account is paid beyond July 26, your money will be pro-rated and your deliveries of AnnArbor.com will be extended so that the value of your pre-payment is retained.

New subscribers can contact us at (734) 926-4555 or (888) 922-2472, or by emailing us at subscriberservices@annarbor.com. Existing customers will be able to manage their accounts online at annarbor.com/subscriptions beginning July 26.

The subscription cost for AnnArbor.com is $9.00 per month for your choice of Thursday & Sunday or Sunday only delivery. The direct debit, EZpay automatic payment subscription rate is only $8.25 per month (the equivalent of one month free each year when compared to the regular home delivery prices).

Take a sneak peek at AnnArbor.com - coming Friday

2009-07-20T10:00:22Z

Thanks for visiting our site today. AnnArbor.com is getting ready to go live this week, and we now expect to launch our Web site on Friday.

Under our most ambitious scenario, we had hoped to launch today. But we're still addressing a number of bugs, and we need to finish testing to ensure the site can handle the volume of traffic we're anticipating.

We're ready to go on all other fronts - with plenty of content, advertisements sold, and community bloggers on board.

So we're launching Friday morning, and the screen shot above gives you a peek at what our home page will look like when we go live. Teams have been de-bugging the system all weekend, and testing continues all week to make sure readers will have a great experience when they visit Friday.

Of course, we know not all the glitches can be caught in advance - so be patient and report anything you find.

In the meantime, we'd like to talk about what you'll find when you visit the site and the kinds of content we're busy producing.

]]> Our editorial side is almost fully-staffed, and we've already been out reporting stories for the past few weeks. Our digital journalists have been at meetings, in classrooms, at events and digging through public records.

Some of the stories the news team is working on for launch:

Ann Arbor's police chief says residents shouldn't worry about their safety, despite the loss of nearly 25 senior officers to recent retirements.
Ann Arbor area hotel occupancy dropped in the first half of the year, yet a hike last March in the county room tax means that local tourism officials have nearly $318,000 more to spend this year to market the region as a travel destination.
Poor students in Washtenaw County continue to graduate less often any other group of students, new graduation stats from the state show.
Current Motor Co. hopes to soon begin manufacturing electric motor scooters in Scio Township.

In sports:

A national recruiting expert says Rich Rodriguez is on the right path.
Nick Sheridan works for another shot at starting at quarterback for Michigan.
Local canoeists prepare for the Au Sable River Canoe Marathon.
Freshman tackle Will Campbell 'has a lot of work' to do, Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Robinson says.

In community:

Peggy Lampman writes about recipes like cracked wheat pilaf with seasonal vegetables in her daily "dinnerFeed" blog.
Beer and restaurant writer David Bardallis introduces his beer blog, "All the brews fit to pint."
Pam Stout shares her insights into "Parenting and beyond."
Nicola Rooney offers her "All-time favorite summer reading suggestions."

And in entertainment:

Popular local radio personality - and AnnArbor.com columnist - Martin Bandyke recalls his first experience as an enthralled audience member at a major arts event in Ann Arbor.
Jennifer Eberbach takes a look at the Vault of Midnight - the wide variety of events it hosts makes it a lot more than a comic-book store.
Kevin Ransom previews the upcoming David Lindley concert at The Ark.
Jordan Miller writes about drinking fancy, drinking cheap in The Deuce.

So come back Friday morning to check out the new AnnArbor.com and let us know what you think.

Gawker creates a new class of preferred commenters

2009-07-19T13:20:41Z

Are you engaging, intelligent, humorous, fair-minded and thoughtful?

You could be a top-tier commenter on Gawker.

The gossip-oriented Gawker is one of the country's most successful online media companies. Last week, it announced a new policy that divides people who comment into two tiers. The Tier 1 commenters will be chosen by Gawker, and their comments will appear directly under a blog post. Other comments will be relegated to a second tier that is only seen if you click on "Show all comments.''

]]> The editor of the Gawker site Jezebel explained to users that the number of comments posted on the site has exploded, but the quality of comments has suffered.

In order to gain some more control of the comments, and to present the best (funniest, thoughtful, intelligent, well-argued) to readers who have neither the time nor energy to wade through the more mediocre contributions, the comment threads will be broken up into two sections, or "tiers.''

The Tier 1 commenters also have more power to moderate conversation. For instance, if they see a comment they like in the second tier, they can promote it to the first tier.

Not surprisingly, the demotion of many commenters to a second-class realm reserved for the mean-spirited and banal got a strong push-back on the site. But in a discussion board at PoynterOnline, it's been well-received.

Steve Outing, a media critic, said there's no censorship here because Gawker is still publishing all comments, it's just putting the best ones out front.

Overall, I like Gawker's approach. I wish my local newspaper would implement something like this; its comment threads are mostly bad jokes and vitriol by the active few. A way to filter out the bozos and just see the intelligent comments would be a blessing; and if I want to be "entertained," then I can turn on the view of all the stuff. I like the viewers' choice aspect.

Some commenters have observed that it's not very Web 2.0 for Gawker editors to hand-pick who gets Tier 1 status, rather than letting users choose the best contributors. And the new approach does work against someone who posts infrequently, but has something thoughtful to say when he or she weighs in.

But it's an interesting experiment, and other media companies that are struggling to find the right approach to moderation will be watching.

At AnnArbor.com, we posted our moderation guidelines last week, in preparation for going live on Friday. We don't have any immediate plans for a policy like Gawker's, although we've said we will moderate conversation actively and consistently. Down the road, we're open to the idea of elevating the best comments, as chosen by users, but that's for future consideration.

AnnArbor.com moves launch date to Friday, July 24

2009-07-17T17:41:26Z

The spirit is willing but the Web site is not quite ready.

So we've decided to move our launch from Monday to a week from today.

AnnArbor.com will now debut on Friday, July 24.

Matt Kraner, our CEO, announced the change this afternoon, saying we need four additional days to finish testing of the site to make sure it can handle the volume of traffic we expect when we launch.

So far, the testing has identified bugs that need to be fixed, and we've run out of time to make those fixes and complete additional testing in time to launch Monday.

"As we were moving towards launch day and were going through all the various site testing protocols, we uncovered a problem that could cause some readers to have an experience that in my mind is unacceptable. I decided that in order to provide the people of Ann Arbor with the best user experience on launch, the site would need a few extra days of refinement," Kraner said in a statement released today. "I realize that this change will inconvenience readers and marketing partners who were looking forward to the site's launch on Monday, and for that I apologize. While we don't expect perfection on day one, there is a minimum standard that our readers and marketing partners deserve."

He added that we remain excited and optimistic about our launch next week.

Our staffing is in place, we have a substantial number of advertisers on board, and our reporters are already out working on stories in anticipation of the site's debut. We also have more than 75 people in the community who will be contributing content on topics ranging from food and books to neighborhood concerns and parenting.

AnnArbor.com also will publish a newspaper twice a week, on Thursdays and Sunday. The first print edition will be on Sunday, July 26.

AnnArbor.com's conversation guidelines meant to cultivate community forum

2009-07-15T03:06:59Z

At AnnArbor.com, we're committed to cultivating an online community where real conversations take place on local issues. We built our news and information site to be interactive and intuitive. You'll find lots of places within AnnArbor.com to talk to us and each other.

As such, we're fully aware moderation of the comments and public posts on our site has to be strong. And if there's one thing we've heard loud and clear from the Ann Arbor area community, it's that people want us to moderate conversations on AnnArbor.com.

]]> We've said before that we'd like conversations on our site to be relevant and free of personal attacks and insults. Today, we're unveiling the guidelines we plan to use to help encourage useful and constructive comments and posts on our site.

We've spent countless hours wrestling with how to moderate the comments on AnnArbor.com. We looked at how other news organizations do it, ranging from The Christian Science Monitor to The New York Times to SportsJournalists.com. We looked at how other online communities do it from Arbor Update to Boing Boing and MetaFilter.

Our guidelines will evolve. We'll let you know as we make changes and why we made those changes on our About Us page. We chose to keep the guidelines simple and straightforward, rather than detail every possible circumstance where moderation could be needed.

Here is the policy we'll use:

AnnArbor.com Conversation Guidelines
AnnArbor.com aims to provide a lively community forum where readers can talk to us and talk to each other - in a neighborly way, of course. The best comments and posts are those that add more information to the story, express a different viewpoint or help create intelligent debate. We welcome constructive debate on our site but we won't tolerate jerks. Don't be that guy - avoid comments or posts that are off-topic, offensive, contain personal attacks or those that don't further the conversation. We encourage everyone who registers on our site to use their real name, or at least a consistent screen name. We reserve the right to pre-moderate comments and delete or edit comments.

Members of our staff will monitor comments and posts on AnnArbor.com throughout the day. We're also contracting with an outside company that will help monitor our site, especially during the night and early morning hours. We're also looking at easy ways for the community to see the stream of comments and posts as they come out, via RSS or Twitter, so that when breaking news happens in the comments, there's a way to find it fast.

We'll have a moderation team at AnnArbor.com that will have a strategy and make operational decisions about comments and posts on the site. The team will meet regularly to review and revise our guidelines and update our internal policies.

We plan to be nimble and transparent - and, as mentioned earlier, we'll discuss changes on our About Us page. We think it's important for our community to know about the issues we're struggling with and how we come to make our decisions.

Stop by and say hi during the Ann Arbor Art Fairs

2009-07-14T21:17:55Z

The Ann Arbor Art Fairs start tomorrow morning - and our new office is right in the eye of the storm.

We've been watching vendors set up their tents and wares all day outside our offices at 301 E. Liberty St. And we've been busy preparing; the most visible evidence is right on our windows in the form of large decals that tell you who we are and a little bit more about our new company.

With just days left until our launch, we're excited to introduce ourselves during such a busy time in town. So we'll be setting up some tables outside the office during the art fairs to chat, answer questions and sign people up for our newsletters.

]]>

Our table will be set up on the patio of our offices from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Wednesday through Friday. We hope you'll stop by and say hi.

Training for AnnArbor.com contributors started this week

2009-07-14T19:14:12Z

This week we began training people we've signed up to be contributors for AnnArbor.com - and it's been really exciting.

Contributors will play a key role in making AnnArbor.com different from other news companies. Contributors are people who agree to post content on our site about a specific topic in which they have expertise or knowledge.

The Community Team at AnnArbor.com has identified roughly 75 contributors so far who will be writing about topics ranging from wine to recipes to teen issues, books, shopping, parenting and local food sourcing. On Monday and today, many of these folks attended training at the AnnArbor.com headquarters at 301 E. Liberty St. in downtown Ann Arbor. We talked about their role as contributors and showed them how to use our blogging software and navigate the site.

Throughout the rest of the week, our contributors - as well as AnnArbor.com staffers - will be adding content to AnnArbor.com. When the site goes live on Monday, there will be plenty to read.

Our chief content officer, Tony Dearing, shot this video after one of the training sessions with a couple contributors:

Administrative assistant, community customer service representative, promotions and event manager jobs are available

2009-07-10T19:53:34Z

AnnArbor.com is looking for an administrative assistant, community customer service representative and events manager. Read on for a full description and qualifications.

]]> Job Title: Administrative Assistant

Company Description:

AnnArbor.com is a new online media company serving the people of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, Mich. We are located in Ann Arbor, a college town that's proud to be known for our athletics, lively entertainment scene and high quality of life. Sperling's Best Places rated Ann Arbor as the "Fifth Best City To Live In the U.S.'' in 2007.

We're also an unusually tech-savvy place where 92 percent of residents have the tools and resources to engage online. AnnArbor.com is looking for creative, energetic professionals to help us build a whole new kind of company that combines the proud tradition of local journalism with a commitment to building a true online community that allows citizens to gain, share and create content on whatever topics are important to them.

Job Description:

Administrative assistants will report to the president, executive vice president, chief content leader, or marketing content manager and will carry out all of the clerical, administrative and communication activities required to support these positions. The administrative assistants will also provide departmental support as needed.

Duties & Responsibilities

Coordinate arrangements for meetings, including telephone and written confirmations, to participants.
Answer telephone inquiries and provide information as needed.
Type correspondence, reports, contracts, agendas, minutes, and other written materials
Schedule conference rooms.
Interact with readers, customers and community officials.
Complete weekly payroll and accounts payable requests.
Maintain supplies.
Prepare and calculate quarterly and yearly bonuses, including, the monthly bonus calculations and commission figures for account executives.
Update various spreadsheets for departments.
Arrange travel for departments.
Track monthly mileage.
Additional duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications & Skills:

Exceptional maturity of judgment and the ability to work independently without direction.
Strong organizational skills.
Knowledge and experience with Microsoft Word and Excel.
Ability to prepare and maintain accurate and complete records and reports.
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Ability to relate and communicate effectively and pleasantly with the public.
Extensive administrative assistant experience or its equivalent.
Ability to work under stress.
Ability to type 60 - 80 wpm.
Accurate spelling, grammar, punctuation and math skills.
Ability to work flexible hours.
Must maintain confidentiality.

Job Title: Community Customer Service Representative

Company Description:

AnnArbor.com is a new online media company serving the people of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, Mich. We are located in Ann Arbor, a college town that's proud to be known for our athletics, lively entertainment scene and high quality of life. Sperling's Best Places rated Ann Arbor as the "Fifth Best City To Live In the U.S.'' in 2007.

We offer competitive compensation and benefits, as well as the opportunity to work in an entrepreneurial culture that encourages creativity, innovation and excellence. AnnArbor.com will evolve and grow to meet the needs of the community and its advertisers, and our employees must be willing to change with us.

Job Description:

The community customer service representative provides general office, operational and administrative support and works to maintain an open office environment in a highly visible setting that has significant interaction with the public. Reports to the marketing director.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Greet and direct visitors.
Help maintain a safe and secure environment.
Train others to efficiently and effectively cover breaks, absences, and vacations.
Distribute and receive various forms in a confidential manner.
Perform cash and credit card transactions.
Additional duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications & Skills:

Ability to relate and communicate effectively and pleasantly with the public.
Strong customer service skills.
Previous receptionist/office manager experience preferred.
Ability to accurately transmit messages and complete forms.
Basic cashier and math skills.
Computer literacy; experience with WordPerfect preferred.
Ability to operate basic office equipment.

How to Apply:

E-mail a cover letter, resume and work samples to jobs@annarbor.com. Please include the title of the job you are applying for in the subject field of the e-mail.

The Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, height, weight, marital status, or any other category protected under federal, state or local law.

Job Title: Promotions and Event Manager

AnnArbor.com is a new online media company serving the people of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, Mich. We are located in Ann Arbor, a college town that's proud to be known for our athletics, lively entertainment scene and high quality of life. Sperling's Best Places rated Ann Arbor as the "Fifth Best City To Live In the U.S.'' in 2007.

We offer competitive compensation and benefits, as well as the opportunity to work in an entrepreneurial culture that encourages creativity, innovation and excellence. AnnArbor.com will evolve and grow to meet the needs of the community and its advertisers, and our employees must be willing to change with us.

Job Description:

The promotions and event manager is responsible for overseeing the planning, budgeting, coordination and execution of events and/or trade shows sponsored by AnnArbor.com as well as those sponsored with community partners. This position is also responsible for creating community partnership and sponsorship opportunities. Reports to the marketing director.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Oversee the development and implementation of AnnArbor.com events.
Work closely with community partners and coordinate AnnArbor.com participation in community events and/or trade shows.
Solicit input and maintain involvement from the departments.
Create budgets for events and closely monitor their progress.
Additional duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications & Skills:

Excellent written and verbal presentation skills.
Strong supervisory and organizational skills.
Three to five years' experience in events, promotion, advertising, or public relations activities preferred.
Experience with design and graphic arts computer programs preferred.
A positive personality and the ability to effectively deal with the public and other employees in person and on the telephone.
The position will require some work on nights and weekends.

Cindy Heflin to join Community Team; Juliana Keeping will be a digital journalist

2009-07-10T15:50:04Z

We have more announcements to share today on our news and community teams.

Cindy Heflin is joining us soon to take on the role of producer-copy editor for the community team, and Juliana Keeping has been hired as a digital journalist to cover the University of Michigan.

Although Cindy will work primarily with community content, she'll also be involved in our news team - an ideal fit considering her varied background in news, features and niche products at The Ann Arbor News.

]]>

Since 2001, Cindy has been an assistant metro editor at The News, supervising coverage of K-12 education and Washtenaw County communities, including Saline, Dexter and Chelsea. She also was the editor of The News' health and wellness magazine, Be Healthy.

Before that, Cindy was Connection editor at The News. She has also worked as a copy editor, page designer and reporter at newspapers in Michigan and Indiana.

Cindy, 51, and her husband, Rodger, have two children attending Ann Arbor Schools. They live in Scio Township.

On the community team, Cindy will primarily focus on editing and producing content for areas as varied as food, neighborhoods, books and parenting. She will play a key role in working with our contributors and bloggers.

Juliana, 29, is returning to her hometown after working as a journalist in Chicago and teaching in China.

Juliana grew up in Saline and graduated from Michigan State University. She began her career at The Star (now the Southtown Star) in Chicago's South Suburbs. There, she won a Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism for in-depth reporting and an Illinois Press Association nod for news reporting in 2005 after detailing the way 10 school superintendents used and abused their district-issued credit cards over a one-year period.

More recently, she taught composition and English as a second language at Northeastern University in Qinhuangdao, China. While she was in China, Juliana blogged about her time there, and she now maintains a blog on personal finance and budgeting.

Juliana will bring her experience and strong knowledge of our community to cover U-M, an important topic area on our site.

AnnArbor.com names entertainment team

2009-07-09T17:54:20Z

For many of us, the rich entertainment/arts scene is a big part of why we like living in this area. We hope AnnArbor.com will become a vital contributor, serving as a place to find out about upcoming events; to discuss and even argue (politely) over things we've seen and heard; and to encourage everyone in the community to share their passions and recommendations.

Readers of the site will see many familiar names (from The Ann Arbor News) involved with our coverage as free-lance writers: Susan Isaacs Nisbett on classical music and dance; Roger LeLievre, Kevin Ransom and Will Stewart covering popular music; Leah DuMouchel writing about books; John Carlos Cantu doing art reviews; and so on. We'll probably add some fresh names to the mix as we go along, too.

But we'll also have a four-person staff pulling everything together. In addition to myself, the team will consist of Chrysta Cherrie, our entertainment producer/copy editor; Jenn McKee, our staff entertainment writer; and Renee Tellez, our entertainment clerk.

]]>

Chrysta Cherrie, 28, has a decade of professional experience producing web and entertainment content in Washtenaw County. Majoring in electronic media & film and minoring in graphic communication, she graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 2004. Chrysta comes to AnnArbor.com from the All Music Guide, one of the largest digital archives of music, based in Ann Arbor. She is also a longtime member of the WEMU-FM 89.1 staff, where she produces the Sunday afternoon programming.

Chrysta served as entertainment producer at MLive.com from 2004 to 2007, collaborating with Booth Newspapers staff to develop special sections and exclusive content for the web - work similar to what she'll be doing for AnnArbor.com. Other projects she produced at MLive included a weekly movies audio review feature, the online edition of weekly live music/interview series Acoustic Cafe, and the online edition of monthly publication Saginaw Valley Family Magazine. Chrysta also created audio, photos and slideshows for major events such as the Ann Arbor Art Fairs, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Detroit Electronic Music Festival and North American International Auto Show.

Jenn McKee, 38, comes to AnnArbor.com from the entertainment staff of The Ann Arbor News, where she has worked for five years -- primarily covering local theater and film events, but also contributing occasional features, author profiles, comedy previews, and concert previews/reviews. Recently, she launched a theater blog at http://www.aatheatervixen.wordpress.com. She'll cover theater and general entertainment stories for AnnArbor.com.

Previous to her work at the News, Jenn was a free-lancer for The Detroit Free Press, The Oakland Press, The Ann Arbor News and The Centre Daily Times in Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of Brighton High School and the University of Michigan's Residential College, and an alumnae of The Michigan Daily, where she did her first theater reviews. Outside of her journalism work, she's published her short fiction and poetry in literary journals, and one of her stories appeared in the anthology "Best New American Voices 2003," edited by Joyce Carol Oates.

Renee Tellez, 35, has been in ad and page production at The Ann Arbor News since 1992. The News was just going to be a summer job, but quickly turned into 17 years. She started in Dispatch, moved to Pre-Press within the first few months and helped form the Pagination Department when The News opened its printing facility on State Road. During that time she won the company's Publisher's Award for Outstanding Achievement in 2001 and was a six-year Employee Recognition Award winner.

Renee is a member of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society and high-honors graduate at Washtenaw Community College, focusing on web and graphic design, as well as photography. In her new role, her main responsibility will be overseeing our online and print entertainment calendars.