Sean Henri

The Chittenden Group's new website

October 24, 2010 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

ChittendenGroup.com, a new website built on wordpress for the Chittenden Group and a recently completed project of mine.

Posted in:  Advertising, Blogging, Marketing, Web Design, Web/Tech, Wordpress | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook | Comments (0)

Own your name (Pt. 2)

January 14, 2009 // 2 Comments  // Add yours »

One year ago I wrote about the possibility of having one's online reputation ruined through the poor choices of another person with the same name.  I suggested that in order for people to prevent this, they should register a domain, set up a blog, and get proactive in controlling their online identity.

A few people, including my friend Mike, took that advice and registered a domain.  I'm sure he's now glad he did because just the other night a person who had his same name, age, and lived in the same state was arrested on drug charges.

With his name broadcasted all over the news Mike quickly wrote a post on his blog titled "I DID NOT GET ARRESTED LAST NIGHT".  If Mike didn't take steps to control his online identity his reputation could have been permanently damaged.  But because he did, he was able to quickly clear things up via his blog and now if anyone were to Google his name they'd quickly find out the truth. 

Moral of the story: start blogging or people may erroneously believe you're a drug dealer.

Posted in:  Blogging, Thoughts & Ideas, Web/Tech, Work Life | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook | Comments (2)

My new Photo Blog

April 26, 2008 // 4 Comments  // Add yours »

I'm finally ready to call attention to my photo blog - Riceminers.com.  It's been up for a few weeks now but I wasn't quite comfortable giving out the link while it was still incomplete.  Even now it still isn't 100 percent done, but you can head on over and check it out anyway.  It's a hobby that I'm hoping to improve on.  Many of the photos have already been posted here in the past.  Leave some comments, and if you want a print, just click details and you can order one through Google Checkout.  Keep an eye out more features and photos in the future.

Posted in:  Blogging, Photos | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook | Comments (4)

Follow me on Twitter

April 26, 2008 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

After resisting the micro-blogging hype for all this time without any good reason, I finally gave in and created an account with Twitter.  If you're signed up, you should follow me: @seanhenri.  If not, you should head on over to Twitter.com and sign up.  It's both addictive and fun.

One thing that I really like about Twitter is that I can post updates via Google Talk or through text messages.  This is great for all of these bottled-up ridiculous thoughts I'm always having.  And I've gotten it synced up so it automatically changes my Facebook status. 

Another thing I'm looking into doing is setting up a feed for all of my social network activity on the sidebar, much like what you see in your mini-news feed on Facebook.  So, keep an eye for that in the near future.  It'll be just one more way you can e-stalk me.  I apologize for being such a nerd.

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So many ideas

March 25, 2008 // 2 Comments  // Add yours »

On top of the previously mentioned idea that I have about a Connecticut related blog, two other projects you may see coming shortly are a photo blog (something I've played around with in the past), and a blog focusing on music /The Beatles.  More details to come.

Speaking of photos.. I've been experimenting with some over-saturation on the colors in some shots.  I'm trying to give them somewhat of a vintage feel.  A friend recently commented that it makes the photo almost look like a painting.  Below are two that I took over the weekend.  Any thoughts? 

Posted in:  Blogging, Derby, CT, New Haven, Photos, Thoughts & Ideas | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook | Comments (2)

Essential Tools for the Web

March 23, 2008 // 4 Comments  // Add yours »

Lately I've been advocating that my friends sign up for the many free services and tools that Google offers.  In case you haven't heard this from me yet, here's a list of things that should try out NOW:

1. Gmail - With over 6 gigs of storage you'll never delete an email again.  It's fast, clean, and easy to use.  AIM is built right into it.  It allows you to send & receive mail from your old email accounts preventing you from having to tell everyone about your new address.  I have no doubt that it's the best email service out there.   
2. Google Talk - Google's instant messaging client.  Automatically displays all your contacts and notifies you when you have a new email.  The nice thing about it is all of your conversations are logged into your gmail account, so if you're trying to remember an address or a bit of information that somebody mentioned to you once, you can just review the convo in your email.  It also allows you to easily call your contact and send voicemails.  It's quicker and easier to use than AIM.  I honestly wish everyone would just switch over.
3. Google Reader - An incredible way to take every website you'll ever want to visit and put it all in one place.  As soon as a website that you like (such as seanhenri.com) posts something new, you're instantly notified in google reader.  No more need to skip from website to website to see what's new.  It's like an Inbox for the web.  If you have no idea what I'm taking about, I'd recommend checking out my post about RSS feeds.  Should explain things a bit.  The really cool thing about google reader is that you can share interesting content with your friends almost instantly.  Sharing is caring.  To see what I've shared, click here.  It's addictive.  You'll see.
4. Google Calendar - Self explanatory.  Another great way to share and collaborate.
5. Google Docs - Come on!
6. Google Maps - Don't use MapQuest.
7. Google Profiles - It's like a business card for everything you do within google.  Use it to identify yourself when leaving business reviews in Google Maps, or for all the content you'll be sharing with your contacts in Google Reader.

There's more, but try these out first.  In my opinion these are the essentials for anyone daring to call themselves a web-savvy individual.  Test them out and you'll be hooked.  Let me know what you think, and don't hesitate to let me know if you have more to add to the list.

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With a little help from my friends

March 07, 2008 // 4 Comments  // Add yours »

Thanks to everyone who voted for my story in the Color Me Martinique contest!  I'm really impressed with all of the help I received.  Everyone really pulled through on this one and helped me gather an incredible amount of votes.  Still no official word on who the winners are yet but at this point it's looking pretty good.  The big announcement comes Monday.  Good luck to all of you.  Remember... you might have a vacation coming your way!

Posted in:  Blogging, Contests, Martinique | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook | Comments (4)

Win a trip to the French island of Martinique!

February 02, 2008 // 5 Comments  // Add yours »

UPDATE:  I wont the trip mentioned below.  It was an incredible week and you can read about my experiences and check out photos here.

I have a very simple request for everyone who reads this. I'd like for you go and enter a contest to win a trip to the French island of Martinique.  All you need to do is vote for my story "Getting Lost on the Appalachian Trail", and you could find yourself spending 7 days relaxing on Caribbean island.  Pretty easy right? 

I ask this of you because if I'm the blogger who receives the most votes, I'll be winning a trip of my own to the island.  I was asked to participate in this contest along with 24 other bloggers by the French Government Tourist Office.  I had never thought about going to Martinique before, but after doing some research it actually looks like an interesting place to visit.  There's a volcano on the island as well as some mountains that offer spectacular views for hikers.  It seems like it would be a great place to do some kayaking as well. 

So please go ahead and vote, and ask your friends to do the same.  But make sure they vote for my story!  I'll greatly appreciate it.  You can win, I can win, and we'll all be happy.

One way you could really help me out is by posting a bulletin on MySpace or Facebook that asks your friends to go vote as well!  To post on Facebook,

Terms and Conditions | Color Me Martinique Contest

Posted in:  Blogging, Contests, Martinique, Travel | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook | Comments (5)

Just a bit too soon

January 29, 2008 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

It turns out that the Color Me Martinique contest that I recently mentioned hasn't been officially launched yet.   So unfortunately the 127 votes that I've already received will not count.  If your one of those who have already voted - thank you.  I'll announce when the contest is officially up and running so everyone can go back and try it again.  That's really an impressive number of votes!  Thanks again!

Posted in:  Blogging, Contests, Martinique | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook | Comments (0)

The new look

January 23, 2008 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

Unless you're one of my RSS subscribers, you've probably noticed that I've completely redesigned this website by now.  I wanted to come up with a look that was spacious, visually appealing, quick loading, easy to read, and easy to navigate.  From my own perspective I think that I've accomplished those goals but what everyone else thinks is far more important.   So please let me know what you think!

Not all of the sections are up just yet but I'm hoping to have that changed by this weekend.  For now you can browse through the archives, watch the videos, or check out my photos.  If you're on Facebook, Myspace, or Bebo, you can click on one of the icons up above to directly view my profile and add me as a contact.  On the right hand side sidebar you'll find a list of most commonly visited posts, recent comments, and the most recent photo and video that I've posted.

So please share your thoughts.  And if you haven't yet voted for a chance to win a trip to Martinique, hurry up and do it!

Posted in:  A Day In The Life, Art & Design, Blogging, Web/Tech | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook | Comments (0)

Vote to send me to Martinique!

January 21, 2008 // 8 Comments  // Add yours »

I need your help!  The French Government Tourist Office has included a story of mine in a contest they're running, and I'd like to have your vote.  There's only 19 people being included in this contest and the person who has the most votes by March 1st will win a trip to Martinique!  My story is called "Getting Lost on the Appalachian Trail" and you can find it here.  Simply vote with a valid email address and you're done! 

If my gratitude isn't enough here's one more incentive for you to help.  By simply voting you will be automatically entered to win a 7 night stay for two at the luxury Sofitel Bakoua in Martinique!  So go do it!  Just click HERE.

Posted in:  Blogging, Contests, Martinique, Travel | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook | Comments (8)

Looking back on 2007

December 29, 2007 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

At the end of each year many bloggers like to look back and brag about their best blog posts.  Well I'm not going to do that.  But I will point out some of the more interesting things I'll remember from 2007. 

Overall, it was a great year.  I started a new and much more rewarding job, continued my education, developed some incredible friendships, and by years end had accomplished many of the goals I had set for myself twelve months earlier. 

Of course there were hardships, but I feel like the good far outweighed the bad.  The things I'll probably remember most include my trips to Ireland and Oregon, seeing several of my long-time friends get married, the Paul McCartney concert in NYC, being an extra in Indiana Jones 4, my summer hikes,  and starting my new job.  There was plenty more of course, but not everything is meant for the world to know.

As for this blog, it's had a fairly successful year.  My traffic went up, my photos were featured in  popular print and web publications, and I was given valuable feedback from all sorts of people including my friends, complete strangers, and the well-known.  Receiving feedback is by far the most rewarding thing a blogger can ask for because it helps them realize that their content is actually reaching the people it's intended to.  Ive learned quite a few lessons from the people who took the time to share their thoughts with me after reading my posts.

To the people that come here for a minute or two each day - thanks for reading, thanks for the feedback, and I hope to have you coming back throughout 2008.

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Who reads this stuff anyway?

December 08, 2007 // 5 Comments  // Add yours »

When managing a website, it's good to know who your readers are and where they come from. I dug into some recent stats and found that the vast majority of my traffic came from America, with about 60% coming from Connecticut.   New York and Massachusetts trailed closely behind.  That's about what I expected it to be. 

This is a personal website and it's targeted mainly to the people who know me or may live nearby. For that reason I don't expect to get large numbers of people coming here from out of the region.  Although as you can see up above, I do still get a little bit of international traffic. 

If you have your own website and want to get an idea of who's going there, give Google Analytics a try.

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RSS for Dummies

December 06, 2007 // 2 Comments  // Add yours »

I'm finding that many people out there don't understand what an RSS feed is, and that's not good.  Now this is important, so listen up.

Think about all the websites you check on a daily basis.  If you're a frequent user of the internet, chances are you check anywhere from 5-20 websites a day to see if there's anything new.  This can be time consuming, and many times you'll go to a website and find out it's the same old content.  Then there's the website you that you found to be very informative & interesting but you rarely think to actually go there.  It's in your favorites, but how often to you actually check those?  There's a ton of information out there that you're probably missing out on. 

RSS simplifies things.  Instead of you going to each individual website that you want to check, the website sends the update directly to you, via an RSS feed.

There's two parts that make this work.  First, you need to subscribe to a reader.  This is the tool you use to read the content of an unlimited number of websites all in one place.  I prefer to use Google Reader, but there are many options available that you can chose from.

Second, you need to go to a website that you enjoy reading, like SeanHenri.com, and subscribe to their feed.  You'll usually be able to find it by locating the bright orange symbol that looks like this: .  If you don't see it anywhere on the website, look at the URL toolbar in your browser, and you'll likely see it on the right-hand side.

Click on that icon, and you'll be brought to a new page asking you which reader you would like to use to subscribe to the feed.  Chose the reader that you prefer, such as Google Reader, and you're done. 

Now instead of visiting  each of your favorite websites on a daily basis, you can simply open up your reader and instantly see anything new that's been posted.  You spend much less time browsing and end up far more informed.  You'll find it becomes extremely addictive.  If you're still confused, watch this video from Common Craft. It'll make everything I just attempted to explain nice and simple.

Posted in:  Blogging, Tutorials | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook | Comments (2)