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Hudson Valley Online Chat

Chat with 1,863 fellow Hudson Valley creators, professionals, and small business owners

See how people are using our Slack community to ask questions, share opportunities, find work, and make friends. Below is the full archive of content from three of our most active channels:

April 9, 2024
devonwood5131
devonwood5131 10:07 PM
Hey ya’ll, I’m looking to do some day-in-the-life style short form videos with other creatives. If anyone is interested into letting me get some insight and behind the scenes of your creative spaces, processes, works, etc, let me know!

Feel free to shoot me a DM or email me [email protected]
April 10, 2024
Justine Porter
Justine Porter 5:53 AM
Hi all. Just got added to the group. Nice to be connected with you all. I'm a member of a worker coop that upcycles furniture. I live in Poughkeepsie but my business is in Ulster County. Check out our work here - https://www.foundandfixedhv.com/

The next time you're thinking of ordering furniture online, reach out to us instead We'll make you a fully wood version for about the same price as wayfair.
nichole
nichole 6:40 AM
Hi all! I’m a bit late here but glad to be connected on here! I moved to Kingston 5 months ago from NYC and loving it. I am a Makeup Artist - I do mainly print, ecomm, videos and bridal etc… (not so much TV/films as I am not in the union)
I also have a 1-on-1 service for makeup bag overhauls- working with clients to find the right product and streamline makeup routine. You can find my work here:

Www.zurwhat.com

Reach out anytime!
Jordan Koschei (ConnectHV)
Jordan Koschei (ConnectHV) 9:23 AM
Anyone in Beacon this morning? I’m working from Big Mouth for the next hour or so!
Adam Housman
Adam Housman 10:10 AM
Scratch that, using this account instead of my work one
rossshain
rossshain 10:17 AM
Hey all. I’m Ross Shain from Rhinecliff.
I’ve worked as a VFX artist, motion designer, and software designer. I helped design and market Mocha (tracking and roto software — licensed to Adobe). I mostly work in software but enjoy occasional creative gigs. You can find me at RossShain.com or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rshain

FWIW - I’ve recently launched a slack group that is similar to this group, but totally focused on film/video post-production professionals that live in Hudson Valley. Please feel free to join: https://join.slack.com/t/hudsonvalleyp-uyn9721/shared_invite/zt-2gh3kf0j9-mS8~O22E8NpKrYzcdIowBg

I hope you do not mind me posting here! Perhaps we could collaborate on an event in the future?
Cheers!
Jordan Koschei (ConnectHV)
Jordan Koschei (ConnectHV) 10:27 AM
I don’t mind at all, the more the better! I’m pumped that so many people are interested in something like this, it feels like we’re entering (another) creative renaissance for the Hudson Valley
Craig Snyder
Craig Snyder 10:57 AM
Hey there. I'm Craig from the Kingston/Woodstock area.

I run sales for an event technology company called Intellitix, which provides access control and cashless point-of-sale systems for music festivals, comic cons, sports, and more. I've worked in and around the music technology space for the past 15 years and love solving juicy problems in the industry related to ticketing, driving better data, preserving independent venues, etc.

Additionally, I serve on the board of the O+ Festival, an organization that provides healthcare to the artist and music community in exchange for their art. We've got a fundraiser featuring Grammy-winning artist Allison Russell taking place at the historic Old Dutch Church in Kingston on May 24 (tickets available here).

I'm excited to meet more folks in the HV. I'm always geeking out on sales tech stacks, AI tools, new music, and hockey.
Jesse Ragan
Jesse Ragan 11:41 AM
Hi folks, I’m Jesse Ragan (not to be confused with Carrey-Chan)! I’m a typeface designer living in Beacon, and I run XYZ Type with a business partner. I’m excited to say that after seven years in business, we’ve just brought on a full-time designer for the first time! All three of us work remotely, so I’m always glad to connect with more of the local community.
Casey Plasker
Casey Plasker 12:24 PM
Hi all! Great to be connected with everyone! I run a small impact consultancy focused on helping organizations implement localized, regenerative, and radically kind and equitable practices! Circularly.co - Glad to be here!
Michael MacIsaac
Michael MacIsaac 6:07 PM
Hey everyone - Mike Mac from Saugerties - been doing corporate IT forever, but really an entrepreneur at heart - put a Raspberry Pi in a finely crafted boombox with amazing sound - stood up an open source personal voice assistant (think Alexa) - put a stake in the ground at smartboomboxes.com (OK, needs some work, Taylor?) - did a video on the latest function - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-GOJN0nqN8 - only 5 min (first minute is geeky - skip to 1:10 for music playing) - note pulling music from MP3 files and the internet - thoughts? (please, be honest)
April 11, 2024
Rose Rubin
Rose Rubin 11:26 AM
Hi everyone! I am Rose Rubin, Community Coordinator for Mid-Hudson SCORE. Good to connect! I mentor lots of small businesses of all types. I have one now that is a Farmer who wants to get a loan, but she just created her S-corp after her father's death and cannot get the loan because the S-Corp is new. She does not own the farm. Her mother does. Any ideas?
thanks!
Meredith LeJeune
Meredith LeJeune 1:51 PM
Hi all,

Meredith LeJeune here. Owner/lead consultant of Thought Bubble Communications, an award-winning, boutique PR consultancy based in the Hudson Valley area. We cater to women and BIPOC-owned businesses and nonprofits with a focus on tech, women's wellness, cannabis and multicultural outreach. Our services: media relations, PR writing, content creation, PR strategy. Glad to be a part of this network!

http://www.thoughtbubblecommunications.com
Jennifer Santiago, Co-Host, Valley Girls Podcast
Jennifer Santiago, Co-Host, Valley Girls Podcast 4:43 PM
Hi, all! Our latest episode of Valley Girls podcast features a homegrown poet and takes a deep dive into the history of Bannerman's Castle: https://www.valleygirlspodcast.com/episodes/poetry-bannerman-episode6
Also of interest to the other small businesses and start-ups here, a recent bonus episode where we interview our advisor from the Mid-Hudson SBDC about the (free!) services they offer. https://www.valleygirlspodcast.com/episodes/jean-morris-a-hidden-gem-for-hudson-valley-small-businesses-bonus-episode
April 12, 2024
Daniel Boone Secor
Daniel Boone Secor 11:24 AM
This Jennifer ^
This is the best part of this Slack channel thus far; finding things i would have never known of otherwise.
Ryan Doran
Ryan Doran 2:08 PM
Hi all! Ryan Doran of White Plains here - I'm a founding partner of turkois.io which is a product development professional services group focused on marketplace and SaaS design and development with an in-house venture lab (w/ some softwares we own ourselves) - I also run KOI coworking space in White Plains (koicreativespace.com). I'm a UI designer by trade myself - but love talking concept strategies and scalable product models. Great to be here, thanks to the organizers, and looking forward to connecting!
Jordan Koschei (ConnectHV)
Jordan Koschei (ConnectHV) 2:34 PM
Who else is going to Coffee With Creatives in Wappingers next Friday? I'm excited to meet folks.

Also, super excited by how many events are popping up here already!
alex
alex 4:07 PM
Hi, Everyone. HV Venture Hub recommended you guys to me. We're launching our independent movie studio in the Hudson Valley and looking for seed funds. Let me know if you'd like to know more and message me for the login password.
www.forcestudios.com
April 14, 2024
kristina.koller.jazz
kristina.koller.jazz 7:04 PM
Hey everyone! I run a live production company and want to add some events for the summer but I’d like to get insight about what people are looking for. Do you mind filling out this survey? It’ll take less than 2 min!

bit.ly/hightopevents
Rachael
Rachael 9:48 PM
Hi all, my name is Rachael and I’m happy to join the group. I live in Orange County but work remotely from Beacon several days a week.

I do communications and brand strategy in the food and ag sector and recently shook things up by deciding to enter the freelance world. I’m still getting my Flavor Forte digital presence established so no fun links yet (but soon!).

Looking forward to meeting y’all at some in-person events. Always looking for new food and drink spots so to try so would love to hear yours!
April 15, 2024
Jesse
Jesse 12:15 AM
Is anyone aware of any local organizations that are focused on supporting mental health for LGBTQ+ youth?
Carmelo Santana
Carmelo Santana 12:42 PM
Good afternoon everyone! Its been a pleasure reading everyone's intro so far. Hope they keep coming!

Quick intro - I'm a WordPress Engineer specializing in enterprise integrations. I work at scale and have experience bringing multiple SaaS products to market. I've become quite disciplined with my self care practicing breath work and cold water exposure almost daily.

My latest project, https://alpaca.bot, is a privately hosted AI chatbot for WordPress. Completely private, no more sending data to ChatGPT!


great work and TY for the invite!
Alexa Knight
Alexa Knight 1:26 PM
Hi Everyone! Happy to be joining this group of HV locals!
I’m an independent Strategic Research and Insights Consultant. I do full-service qual and quant projects of all flavors, with an emphasis on Tech/Finance/B2B/Sustainability research.
I don’t have a website but feel free to check out my LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexa-knight/ ; Business is currently slow ATM so feel free to reach out if you just want to pick my brain with any market research questions.
I live in Kingston (Ponckhockie) with my exuberant terrier Chula, and my side gig is native plant gardening and design consulting
Freddie at Barnfox
Freddie at Barnfox 2:36 PM
Hey everyone, excited to share that we just announced Barnfox will be hosting Open Houses + Complimentary Day Passes at our locations throughout the Hudson Valley and the Catskills.

We scheduled our Poughkeepsie Open House the same day as the ConnectHV Meetup, Wednesday, May 1st. Feel welcome to come earlier that day to work from Barnfox, sip on brews, and make some new connections before the meetup starts. You can register here (space is limited).

BARNFOX OPEN HOUSE + COMPLIMENTARY DAY PASS:

Poughkeepsie | Wednesday, May 1st
Hudson Thursday, May 2nd
Livingston Manor | Thursday, May 30th
Kingston | Wednesday, June 5th

Will look forward to meeting all there!
Serena Connelly
Serena Connelly 3:54 PM
Hello HV Connect Citizens, I'm a Freelance Creative Director https://serenaconnelly.com/ and (Stage Name)Zander Amelia Actor/Voice Over Talent. https://www.zanderamelia.com/ I love to collaborate on all kinds of creative projects.
April 16, 2024
Vanessa Pineda Fox
Vanessa Pineda Fox 9:25 AM
Hi everyone, I joined Connect HV today and love the community. I'm a graphic designer who took a career hiatus when I decided to stay home to raise my kids. But the "work" didn't stop. Of course, it was merely unpaid and 24/7! Before jumping back into the graphics world, I delved into opening an Etsy store where I design gemstone jewelry, clay home goods like ring dishes and air plant holders, and crystal suncatchers. As more leisure time became available, I began painting again and showing in the tri-state area. Most often up in Katonah at the Chroma Fine Art Gallery. But now I'm going full circle back to graphic design. Do you know of any connections you can point me to in either of these directions? Am open to contract, freelance, or part-time design work. Selling my products in a retail store or in markets. Showing artwork in local galleries or spaces. Yup, that might be it Also happy to meet any creative types just for fun! My website is VanessaPinedaFox.com
eimy fig
eimy fig 10:19 AM
Hi y'all! Excited to connect. I’m a Social Media Manager and Visual Communicator in Hudson. In my past lives I’ve been a Visual Merchandiser and Digital Media Designer in corporate settings leading me to intense burnout so I created www.gentler.day based on the belief that Social Media is a powerful tool for storytelling—where Marketing can be used as a platform for self-expression--minus the overwhelm.

I’m looking to work with artists, creatives, and small businesses in the Better for You category focusing on Organic Social, Email & Creative Support.

Hoping to help everyone feel less stress and more confident around showing up online!

Would love to connect further! Wanna follow each other on insta? I’m eimyfig over there.
PS: Thanks for this space!
Jennifer Santiago, Co-Host, Valley Girls Podcast
Jennifer Santiago, Co-Host, Valley Girls Podcast 1:58 PM
Hello, hivemind! Looking for a good restaurant walking distance from Vassar College. I haven't been to that area in so long, I don't know what's good.
Alex Shiffer
Alex Shiffer 2:53 PM
Hello all, I am Alex Shiffer, publisher of the Kingston Wire (kingstonwire.com) and Shawangunk Journal (gunkjournal.com, also weekly in print). We cover the news of Ulster County, and parts of Orange and Sullivan too. Great to have this space of local creatives! We're pretty tech-savvy for a small newsroom, having built our own CMS, subscription/micropayment platform and native mobile apps in-house. Happy to connect with others in the news/tech world.

We're always looking for columnists and reporters, and are currently seeking a managing editor. Please reach out if you'd like to hear more. [email protected]
Jennifer Santiago, Co-Host, Valley Girls Podcast
Jennifer Santiago, Co-Host, Valley Girls Podcast 3:27 PM
Hey, Alex - let's chat! Maybe we can partner - you come on the podcast, we do a column? https://www.valleygirlspodcast.com/

[email protected] if you want to set up a time to talk with my podcast partner and me.
Cody Musser
Cody Musser 9:49 PM
Heya heya. I'm Cody. New Paltz area. Caught this on an Insta post.

I'm a product lead, former tech agency executive, sometimes investor/advisor/tech critic. I've been helping launch startups and tech businesses, mobile apps, ecommerce brands and web products for about 15 or so years. Links in bio.

Nice to meet ya HV.
April 17, 2024
Chris Motola
Chris Motola 11:48 AM
Hi, I'm Chris, a writer/data analyst/sometimes programmer living in Middletown. Just heard about this group and eager to learn more.
April 18, 2024
Joe Torreggiani
Joe Torreggiani 9:04 AM
Hello ConnectHV people! Thanks for creating this channel. So many amazing people in this channel. Lovely to meet you all!

I'm Joe Torreggiani and I'm a Hudson Valley native. I grew up in Wallkill and went to high school with Jordan. My wife Veronica and I have lived in San Francisco and Plymouth England for the last 5 years, and recently moved to Schulyerville, NY to be closer to family. We live 5 minutes from the Hudson River where we regularly take walks with our dog Molly. We love the mid Hudson Valley and plan on coming down regularly this summer for hiking, eating, and music. We are excited to be back in NY and look forward to connecting with people in the area!

On the professional side by day I'm a senior software engineer at Square, Inc where I work on our payroll services for small businesses. I moonlight as a co-founder and director at Sustainable Progress and Equality Collective (SPEC). SPEC is a small non-profit focused to empowering people to learn skills, build careers, and become leaders of sustainable social impact. We're always looking for people and initiatives passionate about sustainability and social impact. Please reach out if you ever want to chat!
Danielle Centofanti-Davidson
Danielle Centofanti-Davidson 9:55 AM
Hi all! I'm Danielle Centofanti-Davidson, and I'm an HV/Westchester native. Grew up in Tarrytown, moved to the city after attending Marist College, and moved back to Sleepy Hollow a few years ago. Since moving back, I've started my own business, Main St. Business Strategies, a marketing practice for small and medium-sized businesses in and around the Hudson Valley. I'm also the President of the Rivertowns Chamber of Commerce. I absolutely love hiking and walking along the Hudson - I spend as much time outside as possible. My husband and I are always bopping around various HV towns on weekends, trying new cafes, restaurants, bars, and activities. So thrilled to join this group! As a solopreneur, having a group to chat about work and play in our area is KEY. I'd go insane otherwise. Thanks for building ConnectHV !
Jennifer Santiago, Co-Host, Valley Girls Podcast
Jennifer Santiago, Co-Host, Valley Girls Podcast 12:41 PM
On today's episode of Valley Girls, we talk all about the best gluten-free eats in the Hudson Valley, with a shoutout to on the blog and the podcast! https://www.valleygirlspodcast.com/blog/gluten-free-hv
Lorraine
Lorraine 8:18 PM
Hi everyone! Thank you to for introducing me to this channel. I’m Lorraine Cink, new-ish to Westchester. I work as a Director of Creative Content for Marvel digital media largely focused on video for our family brand Marvel HQ. My hubs Brian is a TV writer and Producer (I will enlist him to join to this slack too). We also have a very cute 11 month old son named Harrison who is currently unemployed. My (now rare) spare time is spent writing books about super heroes and the occasional horror comedy script, listening to romantasy audiobooks, and falling asleep watching TikTok more than I should. Hi!
Jordan Koschei (ConnectHV)
Jordan Koschei (ConnectHV) 10:03 PM
Here's something I'm musing on that I'd love your thoughts about: how do you define "a creative?" Who qualifies?
April 19, 2024
Kevin Kobasic
Kevin Kobasic 10:50 AM
A friend had a surprise birthday party at the Rosendale rec center the other day, and everyone was donating food and entertainment, so I set up a free caricature booth and got some practice in. We were all instructed to wear funny hats, but I'll take pretty much any excuse to do that.
kyle
kyle 1:29 PM
Hello Creative folks! Hope you’re enjoying this warm Friday!

I am looking to open a photo/ video studio in the Kingston area. Are there any Photographers Videographers or Stylist etc that are looking to share a space? I don’t need one full time. Please get in touch!

Outside of that, I am generally happy to connect with anyone in the area where there may be some overlap.

Thank for putting this together! Really enjoying this community.

Thanks
danny
danny 1:52 PM
Thanks to for inviting me and most especially for his years of building the community. I’m actively working on building a new academy/school educating and developing youth on entrepreneurship and athletics (primarily Futbol/Soccer). I spend a lot of time with La Finca Training Institute, Pathfinder FC, National Elite FC, and other clubs. I’m completing my one-year appointment as the Visiting Lecturer of Entrepreneurship at SUNY New Paltz School of Business and Advisor to SUNY through my work with at the Hudson Valley Venture Hub. I previously served as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) at Iona University and have advised students at other institutions in the HV and beyond. More broadly, I am an entrepreneur, consultant, and investor working with first-stage business owners, and have experience launching new businesses in my past work with incubators and accelerators. A former D1 and semi-pro athlete, I’m a proud father of four children, and am thankful to my wife, Kimberly, for bringing me to the HV 20+ years ago where she was born and raised.

Cheers, everyone. Do not hesitate to let me know how I and my initiatives can help you make progress in your life.
Jordan Koschei (ConnectHV)
Jordan Koschei (ConnectHV) 4:54 PM
I had such a good time meeting folks at the Coffee With Creatives in Wappingers this morning — thanks for setting up a great event, !
April 22, 2024
Hélène Lesterlin
Hélène Lesterlin 3:34 PM
Hey all! I co-host an interview-based radio show on Radio Kingston that shines a light on people’s Good Work. If the show theme aligns with you, and you would like to be my guest, please DM me! Here is an archive of all our shows, along with a description: https://goodworkinstitute.org/radio/
Chris
Chris 6:44 PM
Hello friends still figuring out Slack.
Chris Clarino here, Wallkill native currently living in San Diego.
April 23, 2024
Gabrielle Purchon
Gabrielle Purchon 2:58 PM
Hi everyone! Excited to join this community I live in Craryville (20 mins outside Hudson) and work at a cooperative-run coworking space in Philmont (purpose.work). I manage a team of content designers at a tech company and cut my teeth in the agency world busting out content marketing and creative assets. I'm also a photographer who had a stint at making it my career but prefer to wander around with my film cameras for fun. Shout out to my fellow UX-ers and content people!
Erin Costanzo Cummins
Erin Costanzo Cummins 6:05 PM
Hi all! anyone here in video games? I have a self-funded buddy working on an atmospheric rpg in need of a publisher and/or investors https://twitter.com/TheMilkLake
April 24, 2024
Jeremy Toeman
Jeremy Toeman 2:32 PM
hi there! i am the founder of aug x labs, a startup making a video creation and marketing studio for NON-video professionals. need to make quick promo videos, social videos/ads, home page videos, explainers, etc? have zero video skills? that’s us - www.meetaugie.com - DM me for a Premium upgrade (gets you access to >110MM clips from Getty Images, all with commercial licensing rights included)

and by evening i live in Irvington (via SF, Pittsburgh, Albuquerque, and Montreal) with my family & dog, enjoy craft beers, am a movie, gaming, and trivia nerd, and am a pretty big hockey fan (Go Habs). thx for introducing me to this community!!
Eri Panasci Taylorson
Eri Panasci Taylorson 3:44 PM
hey gang - Eri Panasci Taylorson here, Exec Producer at animation production co Jelly in NY. Living & mainly working out of Cold Spring, NY, and friend of the incomparable who just added me in here

Join the conversation

Ready to join the conversation? Enter the Slack community below.

What is Slack?

Slack is a chat platform, similar to Discord or Microsoft Teams or old-school IRC. It's meant to be used by businesses for team communication, but we're using it as a community platform. We picked Slack by popular request and it's worked out pretty well so far.

What's the difference between the Slack and the directory?

The directory allows you to showcase your work and find local creatives and professionals. The Slack is a chat platform for the community with active conversation happening all the time. They complement each other, and both are useful!

Why should I join?

Over 1,800 local creatives and professionals are in the group, connecting with each other and sharing opportunities. People are finding work, hiring locally, sharing resources, launching new projects, and generally being a community that's authentic and human rather than the opposite.

What's the vibe?

Conversation in the Slack is casual and human. There are lots of people introducing themselves, asking for recommendations, hiring people and sharing that they're ready to be hired, and announcing new events or projects. (And it's totally fine to just lurk, too!)