Casey Blog

Casey Blog

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Dec 15, 2008

Ending the Blog Lull

If you are one of the very very few people who ever actually looks at this blog, then it can't have escaped your notice that things have been pretty quiet around here lately. There are three primary reasons for this; technological, lack of time, and competing alternatives.

For years, I have maintained my blog using MovableType, a first-rate blogging application that I was glad to purchase and keep installed on my own server. But over time, something went hinky, and attempts to post content became increasingly likely to fail with an 'Internal Server Error' rather than to successfully post. Web servers are a bit like cars to me. I can fix minor and routine problems (change a tire, etc...), but more serious breakdowns are beyond me. Upgrading my MT software didn't fix the issue, and I was stuck with a very unreliable blog.

As for time, it's been a very busy year. I'd like to find time to blog, but often real life intrudes with a higher priority. Two events have consumed much of my time over the last few months, the Presidential campaign, and training for and running a marathon. These events have concluded happily, and now I may be able to reclaim some of the time devoted to them in order to again write more for my blog.

And lastly, new web technologies such as Facebook and Twitter have provided new means to quickly and easily share info about myself and what's going on in my life. Given the technical problems with my own blog, and the wider reach provided by these alternatives, it became very easy to just use them while my blog lay fallow.

So there's the explanation. But changes have been made. I have moved to new web hosting, and migrated my blog to use TypePad, the hosted blog software by the maker's of MovableType, so reliability should not be an issue. With major events passed, I will be making a commitment to make the time to write more. And I'll work to integrate my blog with my use of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites as best that I can.

And who knows... maybe, just maybe, someone besides myself will actually read the result. We'll see.

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Feb 27, 2005

The Casey Guestbook

Quite a few people find their way to this web site because their name is Casey. Sometimes it's their first name, other times their last. To all of you I would like to extend a warm welcome, and an invitation to leave a note here in the casey.com guestbook by adding a comment to this posting. Please include your name and location, so that all can see where our collected Caseys are coming from.

NOTE: Unfortunately I get an overwhelming amount of comment spam, and as a result all comments are held for approval until I can separate and approve the genuine from the unwanted. As a result, your comment won't appear immediately, but will take days or weeks before I get around to reviewing it. But don't let that discourage you, it's great fun to hear from all of you Caseys out there.

Filed under  //  Diversions   Genealogy   casey.com  

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Feb 26, 2005

The New Casey.com

Change begets change, and so it is here at casey.com. Since starting my new job, this site is no longer the online home for my work (if you're looking for Internet strategy and development services, visit my new work home at NGP Software). And so I'm reverting it back to what it once was, my personal online playground. My blog has become my primary online outlet, but this entry page will also attempt to capture and share something about me. There will be dead links and blank spaces as the site develops and matures. But please feel free to poke around the large empty spaces inside my head. Your feedback is welcome.
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Feb 23, 2005

Employer Exhortations

It's been about three months now since I brought four years of self-employment to an end and accepted an offer to join NGP Software as their Director of Online Campaigns. Job decisions are always tough to make, but this one has really proven to be a good one.

My new boss, recently wrote about some exhortations that he had laid out to guide him as he developed his new company.

OK, look it up...

exhortation

n 1: a communication intended to urge or persuade the recipients to take some action 2: the act of exhorting; an earnest attempt at persuasion [syn: incitement]

That Nathaniel started out by self-exhortating himself like this, and eight years later is still reflective and mindful that each is an ideal goal to be continually strived for, says a lot about him and the company he's built. I'm glad to be a part of it.

Filed under  //  Politics   Technology   casey.com  

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Nov 8, 2004

Joining NGP Software


I'm very excited to share the news that I am joining NGP Software starting this week. NGP is well known for the database and IT support that they provide to Democratic candidates. And I will be working to extend the online strategy and development services that NGP provides to Democratic campaigns and organizations.

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Oct 27, 2004

Kicking Ass Online!

DNC DonkeyAccording to a report from Nielsen//NetRatings, Democrats.org is the fastest growing web site in the country.

I'd like to say it was because of the high-demand for the pumpkin patterns we've posted, but the truth is more obvious. With Election Day looming, people are gearing up for their long awaited opportunity to un-seat our current court-appointed President and they're looking online for information about where and how to vote, and to find ways that they can help send Bush back to Texas.

Democrats.org Fastest Growing Site
iMedia Connection, 10/25/04

Democrats.org Fastest Growing Website In America
Democrats.org, 10/27/04

Filed under  //  News   Politics   Web Surfin   casey.com  

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Sep 21, 2004

Yard Signs & Free Speech

Like one is six other Americans, I live in a community that is governed by a property owner's association. My association's rules explicitly prohibit the display of political yard signs on private property within the community, and that's just wrong. So with the help and support of some like minded neighbors, we have taken the debate online in an effort to inform our community about this unjust rule, and hopefully help bring about its demise. Check us out online at http://freemontclair.us
Filed under  //  Politics   casey.com  

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Aug 14, 2004

The Democratic News Service

Now that the dust has settled on the Democratic Convention in Boston, I can take a minute to describe a bit about just what I did there. Casey.com was hired to manage Internet services in the Democratic News Service, a media center within the Convention that helped members of Congress and candidates to reach television, radio and Internet outlets.

The task of our Internet team was not the development or maintenance of the Convention's Web site, it was well taken care of by a great group of developers. The DNS Internet team worked to connect Dems with opportunities to reach out to voters online.

Among the many online outlets at the convention, the bloggers were the focus of much attention. This was the first political convention to which bloggers were given press credentials. It was a great experience and I'm very happy to have had the opportunity to attend another Democratic Convention (this was my third), and proud of the work of our team of volunteers. Check out some of the coverage from the Convention Bloggers. And my favorite moment? Contributing to Matthew Gross' blog from two rows behind him while waiting for John Kerry's acceptance speech way up in the Fleet Center's nosebleeds. What a wonderful wireless world :-)

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Jul 28, 2004

Greetings from Boston!

Chris & Neil @ Convention

I'm sitting in the last row of Section 320 in the Fleet Center in Boston, the section of this area that has been designated as 'Blogger Alley' for the event we are all here to attend, The Democratic National Convention. So much as happened since getting here last Friday, it's difficult to find the time to recount it all! (As I'm typing right now, my old boss, Senator Edward Kennedy, has just begun his speech, really).

I am here at my third Democratic Convention working in the Democratic News Service. Our mission, to help the candidates and elected officials that are here to reach their local news... television, radio, and Internet. My team's focus is on the Internet. The Convention's web team is doing a great job with the officlal Convention web site, that's not what we're doing from the DNS. We are working to help do some matchmaking between the politicians who use the DNS, and the online media and bloggers who are here to cover this event. And so far it's going very well.

But I should back up a bit. The adventure began last Friday, when I arrived on got checked into my very nice dorm room at Northeastern University. Not quite the Four Seasons, but then again I am one of 30,000 or so visitors who have descended on Boston for the Convention, and having any place to rest your head is something to be thankful for, even a college dorm room with roomates (not somewhere I imagined to find myself again at 39). My good friend Neal Stillman accepted my invite to join the Internet team in the DNS, and we began the week eager to take in another event here in Boston... yes, the evil New York Yankees were coming to play the Red Sox at Fenway. We took in the Friday night game at a popular sports bar near Fenway, the Cask and Flagon. And though the Red Sox lost, I still took a bet from my Yankee friend Bobby that the Sox would win the series. Two days and many beers later, I won that bet. Go Sox!

The ball games were a welcome distraction, but we were plenty busy getting oriented with the Fleet Center, setting up our workspace, training our teams, and enjoying the buzz and parties of the big start on day one. Conventions are hectic by definition, and this one is no different, except for the fact that this is a 'National Security Event', and so the Fleet Center has been turned into a fortress, and the troops/police/security are everywhere in Boston. At least they're not wearing Red Coats.

Stay tuned, more to come...

Filed under  //  Politics   Travel   casey.com  

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Jul 13, 2004

Sen. Kennedy Profiled in Washington Post

The Washington Post has a great profile of Sen. Kennedy that is well worth a read. The article is titled The Kennedy Factor and looks at Kennedy's efforts on behalf of the Kerry campaign, and reflects on his long career in the United States Senate.

For a man of so many accomplishments, it can be difficult to identify which will become defining parts of his legacy, and which will at best be footnotes to the story. In 1994, and with essential aid from the AI Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I helped to make Senator Kennedy the first member of Congress with a web site. Later that same year, this time with help from the DSCC, I helped to bring his campaign for re-election to the Senate online, among the first campaigns on the web. Those two web sites were important milestones in the development of the field of online politics.

Today every member of Congress is online, and many have developed very sophisticated web sites that serve as 'always-open' online offices to their constituents. And candidates at all levels, running for offices local and national, are using the Internet in amazing ways to engage and communicate with voters, and to generate very tangible resources in the form of email lists, volunteers, and online contributions.

Certainly it was inevitable that as the use of the Internet became routine in the lives of all Americans, that politics would be among the many types of information and activities that they would engage in online. But ten years ago this was not as apparent as hindsight reveals it to be today. In 1994 it took forward thinking candidates and elected officials such as Sen. Kennedy to recognize the opportunity that the Internet presented, and to turn loose their young geeks to help get them there. I am very proud to have been involved with this footnote in his career, and of my ongoing work with his office to continue to develop and advance this new medium for political communications.

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