Catholic Harbor's Future and Mission

[Lydia_rose]

1 hour ago, Draper said:

Exactly, in addition to replacing 3 moderators over the next couple months, we will be adding an entirely new type of staff member. We are leaning toward around new Ambassador positions.

That sounds awesome!!!

[Clara_hu]

1 hour ago, Draper said:

C'mon, we gotta go with something that sounds cooler than Greeter. We are planning on Ambassadors.

I agree, we're not working at Wal-Mart

[SassyCapybara]

Thank you so much for making this plan! I can't wait to see how much better CH will become!

[Margaret Marie]

57 minutes ago, Shadow_Hunter37 said:

I can help with that, but over the summer I can only get on CH mostly by my phone, so I won't be able to PM too many people.

Well if you would like to and Mr. @Draper is okay it, then I'll send those who want to help out a list of the weeks new members every Saturday. 

[Arx]

I'm lovin the acronym 

[SmartKitty16]

3 minutes ago, Arx said:

I'm lovin the acronym 

I am very close to changing my pfp to a chocolate chip cookie 😂

[Clara_hu]

5 minutes ago, SmartKitty16 said:

I am very close to changing my pfp to a chocolate chip cookie 😂

I will now change my picture to my cat Chippie haha

[The Skating Hobbit!]

That sounds great Mr. Warren! I think it will make all the difference in the Harbor. If there is anything I can do to help let me know! 

[Margaret Marie]

1 hour ago, Sew perfect said:

Yeah, I can help too!! Tho I will be a little busy over the summer, I will help best I can

That would be great!! But still, I don't have "authorization" to lead in that. I was starting something like that up but Mr. @Draper is in charge and he decided to start something up and assign a person or people to leading that. Until then, I really can't lead anything. But I'll add you to my list in case anything else happens. 

[Nina]

Mmmmmm, hope it works well 

[BroadwayGirl]

Well I don't want to be the one who says this probably won't work, but here I am. :/ I love the motives, and I do hope CH is made a better place. This rough patch has been going on for too long, it's so sad to see the lack of maturity among so many Catholic young men and women...

[DangerMan1965]

I hope these changes are effective. I really don't want Catholics to be pitted against Catholics. I hope we can all rally together and make CH a great site for the future members.

[Squag03]

I'd been seriously considering leaving Catholic Harbor altogether recently. I'd lost a lot of hope in this site especially over the last few months. It has seemed to take a very secular turn and I've been very discouraged by that. We all seem to be acting like typical high-school teenagers and it's been sad to see. This site wasn't intended for that, it was intended to be a Harbor for young Christian/Catholic teens, where we could grow together in virtue, make friendships, laugh, have a good time, and most importantly escape a little from the craziness of the world. That's how it was in the beginning and quite frankly I miss it. I miss the innocence that this site used to have, where times were simple and carefree. Those were some great times, and I'd love see those times come back if possible. This new plan has given me some hope that this site will make a recovery, and I'm so thankful to Mr. Warren and Mr. Sparks for all their efforts.

[Halfling Sized Ranger]

15 hours ago, Draper said:

C'mon, we gotta go with something that sounds cooler than Greeter. We are planning on Ambassadors.

I'm interested in being one.  Is there way to "sign up" so to speak?

[Dais]

5 minutes ago, Halfling Sized Ranger said:

I'm interested in being one.  Is there way to "sign up" so to speak?

no. draper just chooses XD

[jimmyb]

17 hours ago, Draper said:

My friends, I want to talk with you briefly about the future of Catholic Harbor. In August and September, we are about to get a massive influx of fresh new members as many families start their school year with Seton. What will this site look like for them? What will they think of it when they get here? They get their cues on how to act in the first couple weeks and they will follow the lead of the students already here. They will model our behavior, so if we want them to be awesome members, we ourselves need to awesome members.

In recent months, we have had an increasingly large issue with frequent disregard for our community's rules—also with unhappiness both from members who are upset about members who seem to go unpunished and from members who have their content moderated. There have also been quite a few deactivations either from parents withdrawing permission, students no longer enjoying their time here, or less frequently from disciplinary actions were the deactivation is usually temporary but sometimes permanent.

I think it is fair to say the Catholic Harbor finds itself at a crossroads. I fear that if we continue on this path, the dissatisfaction will grow. I know my own pride in Catholic Harbor has suffered recently. I think many of us might even be unhappy with the current state of the site but not able to fully put our finger on what all of the issues actually are contributing to that sense.

Thus, it is time to talk about some of the root causes. One thing I have learned from hosting conferences for the past 20 years is that happiness with a product, service, or anything really comes down to expectations, purely and simply. If I host a conference expecting 500 people to show up and only 200 show up, I would be bitterly disappointed. Yet, if I hosted the exact same conference but only expected 100 people to show up, when the 200 arrived, I would be ecstatic.

I think a large part of our problem on Catholic Harbor has been a failure to clearly state the mission and purpose of the site and then have all of our policies firmly adhere to that mission. If all of the members had set their expectations on the same thing and knew exactly what to expect from Catholic Harbor, there would be less dissatisfaction.

In the end, a site cannot be successful if there is animosity between the admins and moderators and the members. An "us vs. them" mentality risks sending Catholic Harbor down a path that would ultimately lead to closure. However, if we were all moving toward a common goal and had a common mission, we could build the greatest community the web has ever seen.

THE MISSION OF CATHOLIC HARBOR

So what then IS the mission of Catholic Harbor? To answer that, we need to first recognize that Catholic Harbor is an official site of Seton Home Study School, and thus while Catholic Harbor might not be an academic site, it still is an offshoot of Seton’s mission, so that some of the things important to Seton are going to be important to us as well.

First and foremost is the Catholic Faith, so part of our mission is to help our members grow in their faith. It is also a social site designed to connect Seton students, so we would want to add that part of the mission is helping our members form good Christian friendships. Aside from Faith and friendships, we also want the site to be a good experience and useful in practical terms, so we want to add “enjoyable” and we want the site to be edifying, that is, to help our members grow both intellectually and morally—to learn interesting things and to gain skills in things like debating and resolving conflicts. We can now wrap this up into one statement:

Catholic Harbor exists to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for Seton students to form good Christian friendships and to grow in mind, in virtue, and in their Catholic Faith.

With our mission firmly in mind, I think it is time we reevaluate. This site is an official Seton site, not just a back alley hangout. We need to ask, is the site in its current form accomplishing its mission to help our members grow in virtue, form good Christian friendships, and is it edifying? Is it doing that for all of the members or just some? Are there aspects of the site which actively detract from that mission?

CATHOLIC HARBOR IMPROVEMENT PLAN

In the coming days, Joe and I will be introducing a Catholic Harbor Improvement Plan.

Part of the Catholic Harbor Improvement Plan (a.k.a. “the CHIP”) will include some rule changes, a new staff role designed to welcome new members and improve the experience for everyone, perhaps some forum structure changes, a streamlined moderation and warning procedure, and other changes.

As a site like ours grows, it establishes its own culture. A culture just means the customs, practices, institutions, shared values, and expectations of behavior. A culture can’t just be imposed from above, it is influenced by the community’s rules of course, but it is something organically created by you the members. Every interesting topic you create or kind word you offer to another member helps build the culture we want to see thrive on Catholic Harbor.

Joe and I strongly believe that the CHIP is going to help make Catholic Harbor a more fruitful and enjoyable experience for you all in the long run. We can improve the quality of our conversations and have a site we are more proud of than ever. Every year is a chance for renewal. Our best years lay ahead of us. I hope to have the CHIP unveiled within the week.

God bless!

if you're ever looking for someone to fill a position…I'm open for business

[Mr_ Flimflam]

well boys we did it, rule breakers are no more

[Alyssa Caitlyn]

Thank you both for making this plan.  Wonderful points!  If I can help in any way please let me know.  Just lately, I haven’t been as active as I would like to be, I think this is just what CH needs.  The ambassador plan sounds great, I know how it is being new and coming to such a welcoming community is just wonderful, just as it is welcoming new members and making them feel the same.  I pray you find the right people to fill all of the positions to make this plan a success! Thanks again(:

[Lydia_rose]

3 minutes ago, Mr_ Flimflam said:

well boys we did it, rule breakers are no more

Oh no😫😫😫😫😫 lol🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[ACC1]

19 hours ago, Draper said:

My friends, I want to talk with you briefly about the future of Catholic Harbor. In August and September, we are about to get a massive influx of fresh new members as many families start their school year with Seton. What will this site look like for them? What will they think of it when they get here? They get their cues on how to act in the first couple weeks and they will follow the lead of the students already here. They will model our behavior, so if we want them to be awesome members, we ourselves need to awesome members.

In recent months, we have had an increasingly large issue with frequent disregard for our community's rules—also with unhappiness both from members who are upset about members who seem to go unpunished and from members who have their content moderated. There have also been quite a few deactivations either from parents withdrawing permission, students no longer enjoying their time here, or less frequently from disciplinary actions were the deactivation is usually temporary but sometimes permanent.

I think it is fair to say the Catholic Harbor finds itself at a crossroads. I fear that if we continue on this path, the dissatisfaction will grow. I know my own pride in Catholic Harbor has suffered recently. I think many of us might even be unhappy with the current state of the site but not able to fully put our finger on what all of the issues actually are contributing to that sense.

Thus, it is time to talk about some of the root causes. One thing I have learned from hosting conferences for the past 20 years is that happiness with a product, service, or anything really comes down to expectations, purely and simply. If I host a conference expecting 500 people to show up and only 200 show up, I would be bitterly disappointed. Yet, if I hosted the exact same conference but only expected 100 people to show up, when the 200 arrived, I would be ecstatic.

I think a large part of our problem on Catholic Harbor has been a failure to clearly state the mission and purpose of the site and then have all of our policies firmly adhere to that mission. If all of the members had set their expectations on the same thing and knew exactly what to expect from Catholic Harbor, there would be less dissatisfaction.

In the end, a site cannot be successful if there is animosity between the admins and moderators and the members. An "us vs. them" mentality risks sending Catholic Harbor down a path that would ultimately lead to closure. However, if we were all moving toward a common goal and had a common mission, we could build the greatest community the web has ever seen.

THE MISSION OF CATHOLIC HARBOR

So what then IS the mission of Catholic Harbor? To answer that, we need to first recognize that Catholic Harbor is an official site of Seton Home Study School, and thus while Catholic Harbor might not be an academic site, it still is an offshoot of Seton’s mission, so that some of the things important to Seton are going to be important to us as well.

First and foremost is the Catholic Faith, so part of our mission is to help our members grow in their faith. It is also a social site designed to connect Seton students, so we would want to add that part of the mission is helping our members form good Christian friendships. Aside from Faith and friendships, we also want the site to be a good experience and useful in practical terms, so we want to add “enjoyable” and we want the site to be edifying, that is, to help our members grow both intellectually and morally—to learn interesting things and to gain skills in things like debating and resolving conflicts. We can now wrap this up into one statement:

Catholic Harbor exists to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for Seton students to form good Christian friendships and to grow in mind, in virtue, and in their Catholic Faith.

With our mission firmly in mind, I think it is time we reevaluate. This site is an official Seton site, not just a back alley hangout. We need to ask, is the site in its current form accomplishing its mission to help our members grow in virtue, form good Christian friendships, and is it edifying? Is it doing that for all of the members or just some? Are there aspects of the site which actively detract from that mission?

CATHOLIC HARBOR IMPROVEMENT PLAN

In the coming days, Joe and I will be introducing a Catholic Harbor Improvement Plan.

Part of the Catholic Harbor Improvement Plan (a.k.a. “the CHIP”) will include some rule changes, a new staff role designed to welcome new members and improve the experience for everyone, perhaps some forum structure changes, a streamlined moderation and warning procedure, and other changes.

As a site like ours grows, it establishes its own culture. A culture just means the customs, practices, institutions, shared values, and expectations of behavior. A culture can’t just be imposed from above, it is influenced by the community’s rules of course, but it is something organically created by you the members. Every interesting topic you create or kind word you offer to another member helps build the culture we want to see thrive on Catholic Harbor.

Joe and I strongly believe that the CHIP is going to help make Catholic Harbor a more fruitful and enjoyable experience for you all in the long run. We can improve the quality of our conversations and have a site we are more proud of than ever. Every year is a chance for renewal. Our best years lay ahead of us. I hope to have the CHIP unveiled within the week.

God bless!

looks pretty neato 👌

[LiterallyLiteraryTess]

I would love to help welcome new members!! I felt so welcome when @Margaret Marie and @SlyGuy12 offered their assistance with anything I needed to know. It was so cool the minute I got on here and still is!!

[Margaret Marie]

12 minutes ago, LiterallyLiteraryTess said:

I would love to help welcome new members!! I felt so welcome when @Margaret Marie and @SlyGuy12 offered their assistance with anything I needed to know. It was so cool the minute I got on here and still is!!

So I DID message you! I thought so but I couldn't find the message. I guess I started PMing the new members as soon as I got on. lol You signed up nine days after I did. 

[LiterallyLiteraryTess]

Just now, Margaret Marie said:

So I DID message you! I thought so but I couldn't find the message. I guess I started PMing the new members as soon as I got on. lol You signed up nine days after I did. 

I can pm you to bring it up to the top....But yes, you did, and I loved it.

[Margaret Marie]

Just now, LiterallyLiteraryTess said:

I can pm you to bring it up to the top....But yes, you did, and I loved it.

Na, its good. Only if you want to. I'm glad you liked it!! 

[Lady of Sacra Cor]

Sounds great!  I'm happy to help if you need it.