I'm Art Aisner, and I'm the local editor of Bloomfield Township-Bloomfield Hills Patch, this new hub of online news and information for your community.

So, how did I get here?

Aside from "What's Patch?" and "Why do you want to know that?" That's what I've heard most from people I've come across throughout Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills over the past few weeks.

Before I was your local editor, I worked for nearly a decade covering public safety, government and politics in the greater Ann Arbor area. I also worked for newspapers in Grand Rapids and Holland before that. I helped expose drastic overspending by public universities, covered numerous criminal and civil trials, and captured the triumphs and tragedies that every town experiences day-to-day.

When the Ann Arbor News shuttered in 2009, I continued doing what I loved and knew how to do for several different publications. Still entrenched in the communities as an observer, I saw many reactions to the loss of the trusted news source the paper had become.

What I never expected to learn was how disengaged the community felt from the whole closure decision and the newsgathering process as a whole.

Patch is totally different.

As readers, you will be driving the content on this site by posting your own comments,  announcements and events – all for free, by the way. And you'll also be able to guide me and a team of other digital journalists toward the topics you want to read about by how you use the site.

In addition, we are looking for lots of voices, and want to reflect them in Patch blogs. If you'd like to blog on Patch, please let me know.

My goal is to learn as much as I can from all different sources and keep the site chockfull of important government news, local school coverage, developments in business and engaging features that spotlight how unique and vibrant the Bloomfield area is. What I'm excited about is being able to do it through innovative storytelling techniques that have never been tried here consistently on a local level.

Patch is also about making news coverage an ongoing conversation about the community, so I encourage you to find me as I'm out and about in local businesses, at community meetings, or typing away at my Patch computer at Steve's Deli, Einstein Bros.  or Starbucks.

Reach me online at Art.Aisner@patch.com, on Twitter @BloomfldMIPatch on Twitter, or on Facebook; or give me a call anytime at 248-631-7111.

I've always believed that journalism, on any level, is about bold ideas and sharing them. Patch has one and is bringing it to where you live, work and play.

Now I invite you to share yours.