Debra Ross, Publisher & Rochester editor
Kristie Hodgens, Albany area content manager
Kim McNeill, Editor, Fairfield County Connecticut
June Santini, Content manager, Buffalo / Business Manager

Welcome! From Debra Ross:

In addition to publishing KidsOutAndAbout.com, I am the mom of Madison and Ella. Our family home schools in Rochester, NY. That's us in the photo above.

In early 2001, when Madison was one-and-a-half and I was just about to have Ella, I realized how helpful it would be if there were some web site that gathered all of this information in one place. So on my maternity leave, I created KidsOutAndAbout.com, with the help of several great programmers, a graphic designer, and a terrific nanny who helped me gather information.

Over the course of time, as word about the site spread, others in the greater Rochester community began to donate articles, information, resources, and suggestions. In 2009, 300,000 visitors came to KidsOutAndAbout.com to find out what was going on for kids in our area. About 9,000 local parents receive our free email newsletter every Thursday morning.

Why is it free?

People have been amazed when we tell them that not only is the KidsOutAndAbout web service free for parents and caregivers, but also that organizations in our area get free listings for any event, class, or camp they want to post. There are several reasons for this. First, we wanted to remain objective in our listing, and did not want to feel pressured exclude our sponsors' competitors. Second, many of the activities listed here are sponsored by nonprofit organizations who could not otherwise afford to pay for the service. Our goal is to list all of the available activities we can find, which means we did not want to exclude any organization based on its ability to pay.

What about enhanced listings?

Organizations can pay a small monthly fee to enhance their organization listing. In that case, they get more information they can list on their "landing" pages within KOA, links to Facebook and Twitter, logos, photos, and an easier time listing events. Moreover, their listings will pop to the top of any search list on which they appear..

Which parts of the web site are most used?

Folks come to us most frequently through web searches or through word of mouth. Our most searched-for page is our apple picking listings and other fall activities. Usage spikes about 25% in October...maybe because everyone is anxious to get "out and about" with their kids before the snow flies.

Parents usually find us initially because they're looking for places to go in their local area with their kids or searching for places to pick apples. They then become active users when they sign up for our email list to receive our weekly newsletter right in their In-Box every Thursday morning. Then, they find out about our articles and reviews and lists of resources and they become regular users. Our web statistics show that parents usually access KidsOutAndAbout.com between 5 and 7 times per month.

Help us provide this community resource!

Who are the people behind KidsOutAndAbout.com?

I serve as general publisher for all KidsOutAndAbout.com sites, and content editor of the Rochester site. You can also hear me on WARM 101.3 and Fickle 93.3 on Friday mornings in Rochester, and in News Cafe videos on Albany's Channel 13 each week.

June Santini is our business manager for all regions. She's the person you speak with if you would like to upgrade your organization's visibility on the site, or put a coupon or ad on the site. If you're in Rochester, she's also a whiz at helping out if you're having trouble figuring out how to get an account and then list your organization's information. She has four kids, two of whom are still at home: That's her with Alex and Hannah to the right. Email her at june@kidsoutandabout.com.

Katie Beltramo is our content manager for our KidsOutAndabout.com site in Albany. She lives with her family in Niskayuna and also runs the blog Capital District Fun. If you are in the Capital District and have a question or would like to place your information on the site, email her at katie@kidsoutandabout.com.

KidsOutAndbout.com is a community resource that requires constant maintenance if we're to be absolutely current and comprehensive. You can help us by logging the events for the organizations you're part of, or by letting us know about them.

• Let us know about events and organizations that we haven't yet listed on the site! Click here to give us the information.
• Let us know if you know of any restaurants, playgrounds, places to go, activities, or home schooling resources, etc. that should be added to these pages.

What about the photos on the site?

Most of the photos of kids who appear on this site are of my own kids, so as to avoid copyright or permissions problems. Honey DeLapa of DeLapa photography is our official genius photographer, so she can take credit for the nicer photos. The ones that look like a regular person took them, well, those are mostly from me or my husband David.

Who writes for KidsOutAndAbout.com?

Mostly, we do. But we have a number of community contributors, and we are always happy to consider articles for publication that would be of interest to parents in greater local areas. We do not pay for articles. Please email me if you have questions or would like to suggest an article or review.

Spread the word!

Almost all of our growth has been due to word of mouth, so please tell your friends and colleagues about KidsOutAndAbout.com. Thank you very much, and we hope you enjoy using KidsOutAndAbout.com!