"What are YOU up to?" We hear that so often offline, in Pagan settings, even in cases where there's no clear-cut reason to think that anybody is up to anything. But in this case, I'm going to freely admit that I am up to something. But that's OK, because so are you, and being up to something isn't always bad.

What you're up to, is that you'd like added visibility for your site, in a place where people who are likely to be interested in it are likely to be. And that's a good thing. What I'm up to, is that I have a mailing list I'd like to get going. "Skyclad in Chicago". Why? Because I love my gods, and some of them wish to be paid their honors in skyclad rituals. Creating a place, where people who are open to taking part in such rituals can do so without being hassled, is part of my way of doing what I can to make my gods happy.

"Fine", you say, "that's what's in it for you, but what's in it for me?" Well, if you end up on this ring, and that list (which is also on this ring) gets going in a real way, it's going to be bringing in a stream of people who are likely to be interested in your sites. That means more traffic for you. This is kind of like business, in a way, even if it's not about money - we find that our different objectives can simultaneously be more easily met if we work together, and so we do. Our success is measured, not in dollars, but in traffic. For that reason, I'm putting in a rule which some of you may find surprising.

Before you will be admitted to the ring, you must sign up for "Skyclad in Chicago" and make at least seven on-topic posts, with some real substance to them. Something to give the reader something to think about, which not everybody will agree with. In order to stay on the ring, you have to then stay subscribed to the list with the same address you're using for your Webring membership, and that e-mail account has to stay active.

That's seven posts, total, not seven per year. I know you have a life, and am not about to ask you to make an open-ended committment of time.

1. Try doing an introductory post. Tell us your name (either real, or craft name / commonly used pseudoym is fine). Tell us about your tradition, and the role being skyclad plays in it. Tell us about your other interests, Pagan or otherwise, your friends, your home, the lawn gnome sitting in your kitchen and why you call him "Flopsy", ... anything that helps us get to know you as a person. Think first date conversation material, and add on from there, leaving out the flirting, please. I'm not that kind of boy. That should be good for a post or two.



2. Talk about the tradition some more. The one that involves skyclad activity. Nothing sexual, please, this isn't an adult list. (There's a place called Adult Illinois Pagans where that would be more appropriate, and they welcome thought-provoking postings from non-Illinoisans, I'm told). Anything and everything about your tradition, which would be appropriate reading for a non-adult list. Stories/myths that you tell in circle. Your practices and their meanings. Your relationship with the gods and the forces of nature, and how you imagine them. Influences on the art work or music your group has performed. Recipes for incense your group came up with. Things you did which worked out really well, or which you wished you had never done, and why...

   ... all of these, and more, are tradition-related topics you could write about, which would be on-topic on this list




3. Practical problems which you've had in the course of skyclad observances, and how you dealt with them.



4. What we would rather not see on this list
   
   
   

   1. Discussions of personality conflicts. That's what "Angry Nekkid People", the gripe list for "Skyclad in Chicago", is there for. We'd like to keep Skyclad as flame-free as possible, thank you.
   
   
   
   2. Listings of specific events taking place outside of the Chicago area (Cook, DuPage, Kane, McHenry, Lake and Will counties in Illinois; Lake county in Indiana). This is a local list which welcomes outside contributions, not a national list.

Why be bothered with this? Think about who this process is screening out. The people who can't write, and yet still want to have a webpage up, or who freak out when asked to read a few paragraphs, and can be counted on to write something really trite. Do you want your readers to have to slog through those sites to get to the ones worth reading? A happy reader who stays happy, is a reader likelier to recommend your site to his friends.

Aside from that, I think you can see that while our interests don't exactly coincide, they can be made to work together. Why? Because when you bring people in, and get them talking to each other, more people are going to want to come in and want to be part of that. That's good for the list, it's good for the ring (and all of the sites on it), and it's a good positive thing to be part of, in general. Getting that going is one of the things we're up to around here, and I hope that the scheming never stops.