What happened to Detroit Chic?  And if it’s dead, who killed it?

This site operated for the better part of a year back in late 2007, early 2008, then went silent.  So what happened?
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Indeed, there was never a going away party for the site.  The posts just stopped. And pretty much everyone has forgotten about it….

What happened to Detroit Chic?  And if it’s dead, who killed it?

This site operated for the better part of a year back in late 2007, early 2008, then went silent.  So what happened?

The site has never been a runaway hit — at it’s best it was doing several comments an article.  Still people enjoyed this site and its content, and every now and then I’d get the same question from my friends and acquaintenances… “What happened to Detroit Chic?”

Indeed, there was never a going away party for the site.  The posts just stopped. And pretty much everyone has forgotten about it.

Basically, I take the blame (entirely) for that.  As the founder and senior editor at Detroit Chic, I had visions of grandeur, imagining a site that would one day rival print publications like Real Detroit and MetroTimes.  At its height I had 8+ writers all toiling away.  However, many problems existed.

First, the site was making no money, so all the writers were working for free, which doesn’t necessarily make for merry writers (my fault).  Second, a couple of the writers were enthusiastic, but a bit “green” when it came to online journalism, so my other two editors, Kristi and Liz, and I had to edit their pieces quite a bit and micromanage them, which turned into a headache for all involved.  Most of that micromanagement fell on my shoulders.  I was spending 3-4 hours calling, cajoling, trying to get people to finish pieces that would have taken me an hour or two to research and write.

This certainly wasn’t true for all the writers.  Rob Frank, Lynette Lenn, Anna Kotov, Jillian Black, Rachel Black, and Elizabeth DeRoo all were easy to work with and wrote great content.  As did Stephanie Bohde, my original editor, before she became to busy.  This isn’t say the other writers were to blame for the site going silent… it was simply that I could not keep up with the needs they invoked (my fault).

Pics: DETROIT Chic All-Stars, past and present…

At the same time I became much busier with my professional writing for DailyTech, a leading online news site, my work at a local software firm, volunteering in the city at Habitat for Humanity and Heartland Hospice, and attending grad school at Wayne State University.  All these jobs, as well as turmoil in my personal life led me to one day, unconciously pull the plug on Detroit Chic.

But over a year later, here I am, back again, saying that the site is preparing to come back.  I still live in Michigan, go to school in Detroit and I love the region.  I can only turn my back on it so long before it turns me around.  I’m as busy as ever, but for better or worse I’m jumping back in.

Detroit Chic is back.

Ads will be coming to the site, so don’t be alarmed when you see them.  The look will also be revamped sometime soon.

In the meantime I will mostly be posting stories, as my time permits.  I’ll strive to post at least two per week.

As for writers, I’ve contact Liz DeRoo and hope that she agrees to do a bit of editing as time permits.  I’d love to have some (or any) of my old writers back, if they’re interested.  And I’d love to have some fresh blood, so I’ll likely be putting up some flyers at Oakland Univ. and OCC to try to recruit some journalism majors.

A year has gone by and I feel a bit older and wiser in the ways of writing and online journalism.   I think I finally have what it takes to manage this site and conservatively grow it to be great.

Detroit Chic is back, viva Detroit!