In January 2004, Debbie Galant, a former freelance columnist for the Jersey section of the New York Times, started a personal blog, "Debra Galant Explains the Universe." Within a few months, she met new media savant Jeff Jarvis at a blogger meetup at the Dancing Goat Cafe in South Orange, NJ. When Jarvis mentioned "hyperlocal blogging," the idea immediately struck a chord in Galant. Baristanet, a hyperlocal site covering three towns in North Jersey, was born in May 2004. Considered a premier example of local website journalism, Baristanet was named #1 placeblog in America by Placeblogger.com in 2007. It now boasts about 9,000 daily visits and a robust advertising base. Liz George became co-owner of Baristanet in 2005. In addition to Galant and George, eight people contribute to the site on a freelance basis.

Tish Grier has spent the past two years building a one-woman problogging and social media consultancy in Western Massachusetts. Some of her efforts include the community blog for iFOCOS; Assignment Zero crowdsourced journalism project for Wired magazine, and community development at NewsTrust.net. Currently, she is building community at hyperlocal citizen journalism aggregator Placeblogger.com

Mark Potts is a leader in the development of innovative content and business strategies and products in online and print media. An entrepreneur and consultant, he co-founded Backfence Inc., a pioneer in the field of user-generated, hyperlocal citizens media. He created one of the first electronic newspaper prototypes in the early 1990s at The Washington Post, and then co-founded the newspaper company’s digital division, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive. Potts served on the founding team of the @Home Network, where he led the creation of the first consumer broadband programming service. He also was Chief Product Officer for Cahners Business Information (now Reed Business Information), the nation’s largest trade publisher, where he managed Cahners Digital and oversaw the development of 120 trade magazine Web sites, include Variety.com and PublishersWeekly.com. As a consultant, Potts has developed strategies and products for The Washington Post Co., Cox Communications, New Century Network, Classified Ventures, Disney’s Infoseek/Go Network, Tribe Networks, HealthCentral and many others. He most recently oversaw the redesign of Philly.com, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News Web site. Formerly a reporter and editor at The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Examiner and the Associated Press, he is the co-author of two business books, The Leading Edge and Dirty Money. He blogs about the intersection of media and the online world at www.recoveringjournalist.com.