My Vancouver Winter Olympics - trading in badges is the new sport

Brian Usher is picture editor of The-Latest. A highly experienced editorial and commercial photographer whose work has been published throughout the world, appearing in many well known magazines and newspapers. He has featured in several books and been a writer for the Royal Photographic Society magazine.

Chris Gaynor is a writer with a passion for politics, good food, and the arts. He has written for a number of media outlets including newspaper websites and e-zines. Chris is a regular blogger on The-Latest. He also coaches people on how to get started in mobile marketing through http://www.chris-gaynor.com.

Deborah Hobson is a freelance writer and Deputy Editor of The-Latest.com. She specialises in human interest, celebrity and lifestyle features. She is also a Curator at Ohmy News International and a blogger on The Huffington Post. Deborah has written scoops for The-Latest, using the Freedom of Information Act to uncover official secrets the public have a right to know about. She looks after contributors and if you would like to become one contact her: contribsed@the-latest.com

Heidi Kingstone has spent time in Afghanistan reporting for a number of publications. Her work has appeared in the Financial Times, The Spectator, The Sunday Times and other international journals.  She has also reported from places like Iraq, Rwanda, Lebanon, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya. Heidi is The-Latest's Editor at large.

Lara Platman is a journalist and photographer with a passion for all things eccentric, fast and theatrical. This includes dance, motor cars, country life and polo. Her work has featured in a variety of top publications. She is a regular columnist for The-Latest and has her own site photofeature.co.uk that showcases her creative output.

Matt Gardner is a journalist from Hartlepool, now based in Leeds. He currently writes for a news agency and likes to cover a range of topics as a writer including politics, social affairs and sport. He runs a blog and articles archive at www.gardners-world.co.uk, showcasing his work on a number of websites.

Natalie Tetteh is a BA (Hons) graduate in Media, Culture and Sociology who has a keen interest in video and film editing. She gained experience in this field with Netplaytv and British broadcaster Sky, editing and directing documentaries, music videos, trailers and show reels. Natalie sources video content for The-Latest.

Ron Ross lives in the US and is a journalist, author, publisher and pastor. He has written numerous articles for a variety of periodicals and been a columnist for his county newspaper in Denver, Colorado. He wrote the book, Your Family Heritage, a Guide to Preserving Family History.  In 2008, Ron created the American based National Association of Citizen Journalists.

Sumantra Maitra is a freelance journalist from Mumbai, India. He is a correspondent for All Sports magazine, and a foreign affairs blogger for the Washington Examiner. He has written articles for news website Merinews.com and other regional publications. Sumantra runs a blog at DailyWorldWatch.wordpress.com. He provided exclusive eyewitness reports for The-Latest on the Mumbai bombings of 2008.

Thomas L. Blair is a sociologist and political blogger on the Chronicleworld 'for creative renewal in Black Britain and Afro-Europe'. His work is honoured in the British Library's archive of "social, historic and culturally significant web-based material from the UK domain". He won top prize in the blogging competition on The-Latest.

Ylenia Lemos is an English, Italian, Portuguese, and French speaking reporter and foreign correspondent. She has written and reported for newspapers, web portals and Tv in the UK, Italy and Brazil. Ylenia reports on a local and global basis on a range of subjects. She has a passion for health and lifestyle issues. She also has experience as an actress and director.