This website is for people who grew up or live in the Catskills full-time.
The idea for this website is two-fold.
- There could be a better place to have conversations online about the Catkills.
- It’s cool if it’s owned by the community of people who live here.
Here are some founding principles:
- The administration of this website will be provided for free
- This website will always be free
- No advertising. With the exception that local businesses can promote themselves on a specific area of the website (to be created) for free.
- Adminstration will be kept anonymous and adminstration will rotate. This principle is to prevent the admins from leveraging this site for their own personal benefit.
Being an admin is like being the person who cleans up a local park while wearing a dinosaur costume. We want to ensure that admins are working purely for the good feels they get from helping others.
How can someone become an admin?
By participating in the community discussions, suggesting valuable changes to the website, and becomming recognized for the good ideas and contributions that they create.
Does everyone have to be anonymous?
No! If you are a member of this community and want to speak with your real voice, go for it! If you use your real name and also want to become an admin, that’s fine. We will just require that you create a separate anonymous account for administrative activites.
Why is this website hosted on Github?
It’s a free and powerful tool for creating websites in a way that encourages contribution. As an open source project on Github, literally anyone can suggest changes to the website. Moderation is easy and the transparency keeps admins honest.
Github is owned by Microsoft, so that’s questionable – but we could explore moving to alternatives if there is a strong desire.
Do I have to create a Github account?
If you want to participate in the discussion board, contribute code, or edit the content of the website – having a Github account is the easiest way to do that. Alternatively, you can email us your ideas or contributions. Email us at admin@katskills.org.
Is this a non-profit?
We don’t know yet. Probably. We don’t want donations, the strings that come attached, or people promoting themselves as a “valued partner of Katskills.org”, or pictures of people on a board page. This is a free website for the people of this community to share ideas.
What will you moderate?
We don’t want politics or bullying. Positive vibes please. We will give private warnings or lock conversations that stray into cringe territory.