ConnectHV connects Hudson Valley creatives, professionals, and businesses through a homegrown online directory, Slack community, and in-person events.
About ConnectHV
What is ConnectHV?
ConnectHV is a homegrown online directory, Slack community, and in-person events for the Hudson Valley creative community.
↓ Read moreWho’s behind ConnectHV?
This is a homegrown solo project, not some white-labeled solution airdropped in from elsewhere.
↓ Read moreGuiding Principles
Cultivate “Digital Terroir”
Let's build a network with a sense of place — software and community imbued with the flavor and character of the Hudson Valley.
↓ Read moreSpark serendipitous connections
Make it easier to find creative kinship and encounter new ideas, despite (and because of) our region's size.
↓ Read moreBroaden the definition of creativity
Painter or programmer, artist or accountant — if you’re creating value, you’re a creative, and you belong here.
↓ Read moreBe a network of networks
ConnectHV seeks to strengthen and connect the existing local and affinity-based networks in the region, rather than supplant them.
↓ Read moreBuild bridges between pixels and atoms
ConnectHV lives in the cloud, but its feet are firmly planted in Hudson Valley soil. Let’s use software to augment and amplify our physical communities, not replace them.
↓ Read moreWhat is ConnectHV?
ConnectHV started out as an online directory of Hudson Valley creatives, professionals, and businesses. The idea was to make it easier for people to find each other, to discover new ideas and new collaborators, to stumble across the unexpected connections that make creativity thrive.
In April 2024, we branched out by launching a Slack community, which quickly grew to almost 1,000 members. That was followed by a series of monthly in-person events that bring local creatives and professionals together at different venues across the Hudson Valley.
Who’s behind ConnectHV?
Hi! I'm Jordan Koschei, and I build and maintain ConnectHV. I'm a product designer and software engineer who's worked at various agencies, startups, and big tech companies between here and San Francisco; this is my passion project, taking the skills I use professionally and applying them for the benefit of the community I love most.
My Hudson Valley cred: I was born and raised in Wallkill and have lived in New Paltz, Beacon, and now Poughkeepsie. My summers as a teen were spent lifeguarding at the Ulster County Pool; I was also a lifeguard instructor with the Ulster County Red Cross. I'm the long-time stadium announcer for our first local soccer team, Stockade FC. I was, briefly, the most frequent attendee of the Hudson Valley Tech Meetup.
You can reach me on Instagram, email me at jordan@connecthv.com, or find me on ConnectHV.
Photo taken by Daniel Agee at the first-ever CatskillsConf, held in 2015 at the Ashokan Center.
Advisors
While ConnectHV is mostly a solo project, I'm grateful for the support and guidance of numerous friends and mentors who've helped me along the way. I'm also grateful for the help of the ConnectHV advisory board, all of whom live in the Hudson Valley and bring exceptional expertise and wisdom to the project:
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Dennis Crowley
Founder, Foursquare and Kingston Stockade FC
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Eliza Edge
Director, Hudson Valley Venture Hub
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Erin Koschei
Experienced marketing consultant and community leader
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Helen Coupe
Experienced community leader for startups and fractional head-of-community
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Joanne Louis-Paul
CCO, Hudson Valley Sustainable Fashion Week
Cultivate “Digital Terroir”
In the culinary world, terroir is the idea that the things we eat and drink carry the flavor of the place they’re made. A wine from the Loire Valley tastes different from a wine from Napa, and a cheese from the Pyrenees tastes different from a cheese from Vermont. The soil, the climate, the traditions of a place all leave their mark on the final product.
Can software have terroir, too? I don’t know about that, but I do know that the world is more interesting if not every website feels like it was made by the same handful of people in the same handful of places. ConnectHV is an experiment in building a digital community imbued with a sense of place — by and for the Hudson Valley, with all the quirks and character that entails. Not just another social platform; a network that tastes like home.
(Read the original talk I gave about Digital Terroir at CatskillsConf 2018)
Spark serendipitous connections
The Hudson Valley is big — ten counties, 150 miles from end to end, and a population of over two million people. How does a filmmaker in Beacon find a composer in Rhinebeck? Or a startup in Peekskill find an attorney in Kingston?
ConnectHV is a platform for serendipity. We want to make it easier for people to find each other, to discover new ideas and new collaborators, to stumble across the unexpected connections that make creativity thrive. We’re building a network that’s not just about who you know, but who you could know — a place where your next great collaboration might be just a click away.
Broaden the definition of creativity
Creativity isn’t confined to artists and designers. It’s in the way a local business owner solves a problem, or how an educator plans their lessons. It’s in the code of a software engineer and the calculations of an accountant.
ConnectHV is a home for all kinds of creators, at any scale — from big names to local icons to the artisan next door. Whether you’re a creative, a business owner, a community leader, or just someone who loves the Hudson Valley, you belong here. The Hudson Valley’s creative future will be built by all of us, working together.
Be a network of networks
The Hudson Valley is a patchwork of communities — towns and counties, scenes and subcultures, each with its own flavor and character. Many of these communities are already networks in their own right, with their own events, organizations, and ways of connecting.
ConnectHV should be a network of networks, strengthening and connecting the existing creative communities. We want to be a hub for the Hudson Valley’s creative ecosystem, making it easier for people to find each other and discover new opportunities across communities and disciplines.
Build bridges between pixels and atoms
The Hudson Valley is big — ten counties, 150 miles from end to end, and a population of over two million people. How does a filmmaker in Beacon find a composer in Rhinebeck? Or a startup in Peekskill find an attorney in Kingston?
ConnectHV is a platform for serendipity. We want to make it easier for people to find each other, to discover new ideas and new collaborators, to stumble across the unexpected connections that make creativity thrive. We’re building a network that’s not just about who you know, but who you could know — a place where your next great collaboration might be just a click away.
Be in the Hudson Valley know.
Sign up to the bi-weekly(ish) ConnectHV newsletter to find out about upcoming events, product updates, and new Hudson Valley resources.