Kiger's Notebook

IBM to give raises to India employees, but while holding back in U.S.

Here's a kind of interesting follow-up to the IBM news that Big Blue will not give raises to most its Global Technology Services (and possibly other units) employees.

A memo did go out about the lack of raises, though an IBM media person answered a question about it by saying raises would still be given to people with "High Demand Skills."

The Times of India (a very good newspaper that I often read) says that IBM will give its workers in India raises. That adds up to this equation - India = high demand skills.

Here's some from an article by Shilpa Phadnis & Sujit John:

IBM is likely to give a salary increment to its employees in India next month.

Early on Thursday, international media reported about a mail that IBM had sent to employees, saying those in the Global Technology Services (GTS) division would not receive a salary increment this year. However, the mail also said people "who have high-demand skills" would receive an increment .

Sources within IBM India indicated that "high-demand skills" refers, among others, to employees in India . The sources said that the performance assessment exercise had been completed and increments were expected across the organization in India next month. IBM follows a July-June cycle. "For the best performers, the increment may be in double digits ," one source said.

IBM does not break up its headcount by geography, but it is estimated that the company employs over 1.3 lakh people (130,000) in India. The company has been an aggressive hirer in India for several years. With several Indian IT companies …  announcing salary increments  earlier this year, it may be difficult for IBM not to follow suit.

Kiger's back and the blog is breathing again

I apologize to you all for abandoning this blog for so long.

I took a vacation and was pretty tied up even before I left. The result was that Kiger's Notebook was left barren for the longest stretch, since I launched it in March, 2005.

I couldn't stay away completely, so I did pop back in to do the CostCo piece and a few columns here and there.

Most of my time away was spent on the banks of The Wabash in Indiana. A place Verizon as well as the rest technological world evidently do not know exisits. While I did zip out a few Tweets and email responses when the moon was in the right place, I was mostly out of the loop.

I apologize to everyone who sent me emails, voice messages, Facebook notes and direct messages on Twitter. I'll try to catch up. More than a 1,000 unread emails have piled up.

Anyway, I'm back now and revved up for the new year.

Please keep letting me know what you are interested in and passing along any business tips you might hear.

Look for lots of action on here in as 2012 kicks into gear and thank you for reading.

Rochester tech exec featured in new biz success book

Al Berning, known in Rochester as a former IBMer, a co-founder of Pemstar and current CEO of Hardcore Computers, is one of 45 entrepenuers featured in a new business book called "How They Did It."

The book, written by Robert Jordan, asked the 45 founders, "How do you start a company from scratch and turn it into a hundred-million-dollar success story"

  To promote the book, Jordan is hosting Entrepreneurial Bashes with panel discussions featuring some of the people from the book.

Look for Berning to appear in one at the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 3.

Here's some from a press release that surfaced in my email this morning:

Each leg of the Entrepreneurial Bash features a different group of founders who have agreed to go on record about what it takes to win in any economy. "It's their way of giving back to the business community," says Jordan. If their advice on raising seed capital, hiring the right team, bouncing back from setbacks, and becoming leaner, smarter, and meaner than competitors sparks new startups that generate jobs, that would be an ideal outcome, he adds.

The founders featured in the New York Entrepreneurial Bash include Bonnie Baskin, AppTec Laboratory Services; Glenn Tullman, Allscripts and ECIN; Jim Dolan, The Dolan Company; Mark Tebbe, Answers.com and Lante Corporation; and Al Berning, Hardcore Computer and Pemstar. The event runs from 4:30 to 7 p.m., at the NYSE building, 11 Wall Street, New York City.

Two growing area businesses make Inc. 5,000 list

Dramatic revenue growth has landed two area businesses — WaterFilters.Net and AffordableButtons.Com — on Inc. magazine's just-released annual list of financial rising stars.

A striking revenue climb of 566 percent from 2007 to 2010 scored WaterFilters.Net of Zumbrota its third appearance on Inc.'s fastest-growing list in the 576th spot.

AffordableButtons.Com of Rochester hit the list for the first time at the 3,620th spot. It tallied its own impressive three-year growth of 45 percent to hit $3.3 million in revenue for 2010.

Still growing in Zumbrota
For WaterFilters.Net which opened its 20,000-square-foot distribution center in Zumbrota in 2008, making the list again is "… a strong validation of our core values as a company," says Karl Rist, the online retailer's marketing specialist.

In 2008, the company, which sells water filters and filtration products online, had a staff of three. They have about 30 employees today, he says.

The company that was originally started by Jamin Arvig in his Twin Cities apartment collected $10.3 million in revenue for 2010.

Her dream made real
Seeing her business on Inc.'s list is simply a dream come true for AffordableButtons.Com's founder Linda Christopherson.

"I've always wanted to make the Inc. list. I think it makes a huge difference," says Christopherson, who runs the family-owned company with her husband, Tom.

Like WaterFilters.Net, AffordableButtons' name is pretty self-explanatory.

It makes custom buttons with messages and designs for about 40,000 customers, including presidential candidates, high school sports teams, Fortune 500 companies, kids' birthday parties, Hollywood movie studios and many others.

"In our category of advertising and marketing, we're ranked at 327. That's a huge industry that includes a lot more than just button makers," Christopherson says.

Its 35 employees make and ship out tens of thousands of buttons a day from its facility on Rochester's 19th Street Northwest.

As candidates are starting to jockey for position in the 2012 presidential race, AffordableButtons is starting to see a surge in its political business.

About 50,000 Ron Paul buttons have already be made as well as about 6,000 ones for Rick Perry.

IBM's Watson and Jeopardy - the rerun

It seems unlikely that anyone in the Rochester area (who wanted to watch it) missed the TV showdown between Watson IBM's big brain computer and the top Jeopardy! quiz show contestants back in February.

Watson runs on Power 750 servers, which are manufactured as well as partially designed here.

However, if you did miss it or you just want to re-live the moment, "an encore presentation" (better known as a rerun) will air in mid-September.

Here are the details from a press release that rolled in today

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IBM and America's Favorite Quiz show Jeopardy! today announced that Jeopardy! will broadcast an encore presentation of the first-ever man vs. machine Jeopardy! competition between IBM's "Watson" computing system and the show's two greatest contestants -- Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.

Millions of North American viewers will be able to again witness TV history as Watson successfully competes against two human champions in two matches played over three consecutive days. The episodes will air on September 12, 13 and 14, 2011.

"With the Jeopardy! challenge, we accomplished what was thought to be impossible - building a computer system that operates in the near limitless, ambiguous and highly contextual realm of human language and knowledge," said Dr. David Ferrucci, IBM Fellow and scientist leading the IBM Research team that created Watson. "Watching the match again reminds us of the great power and potential behind Watson to be able to make sense of the massive amounts of data around us and to solve problems in new ways."

Six months after the original competition, Watson's Deep Question Answering (QA) technology has already driven progress in new fields such as the healthcare industry. IBM is working with Nuance Communications, Inc. to explore and develop applications to help critical decision makers, such as physicians and nurses, process large volumes of health information in order to deliver quicker and more accurate patient diagnoses. Working with universities and clients, IBM is identifying many potential uses for Watson's underlying QA technology.

National Night Out and Kiger as a target

I have always attempted to make a splash in the Rochester business community and it looks like I'll literally get my chance
during Tuesday's National Night Out events.

 The Minnesota School of Business is hosting a community event from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at its campus at 2521 Pennington Dr. N.W. in honor of National Night.

This is being done in partnership with the Cimmaron Neighborhood Association.

Expect free food including hot hogs, nachos, sno-cones and more. A live DJ will be playing music. There will also be games, an inflatable bounce house and much more.

And to add to the fun, there will be a dunk tank featuring foolish folks, like newspaper columnists, as targets.

Do you hate the way I use the phrase "Med City"? I know that drives the Post-Bulletin copy editors crazy? Have I butchered the spelling of your name or overlooked your business?

This is your chance to take your best shot at me (I'm looking at you, Mr. Answer Man. Heh) and support a positive neighborhood event.

I won't be the only target. Dunken and Sam of the KROC-FM Morning Show will also take turns in the tank.

Jones to take over 102.5 Fox morning

Here's a quick follow-up to yesterday's announcement about Tracy Dixon leaving Rochester's 102.5 The Fox radio morning show.

Two of the Med City's most well-known radio voices - Julie Jones and Dave Berg - are switching things up. I'll have this in my column tomorrow.

This is a note from Craig Erpestad, Clear Channel's operations manager in Rochester:

102.5 The Fox, KMFX radio would like to announce that longtime morning air personality Tracy Dixon is accepting the morning drive position at WMAD in Madison Wisconsin!

  Julie Jones who currently is on 102.5 The Fox in the afternoon drive slot will be taking over the morning show beginning Aug. 8.

Julie is one of the most well known radio personalities in the Rochester Radio market and we are very excited to promote her to be the morning show host.

Dave Berg, who currently hosts the midday show will be moving to the afternoon drive. Dave is not only a very well known air talent, he is also extremely involved in the community as our public service director.

Popular Roch. personality moving on

Here's some from my column today following up last week's tease about a change in the local radio scene:

A popular Rochester radio personality is moving on to a new gig in Wisconsin.

Tracy Dixon, who is Clear Channel's voice in the morning on 102.5 The Fox, announced this morning that she is going to Madison, Wisconsin to lead a morning show on Clear Channel's 96.3 Star Country.

"It is very bittersweet," she says of leaving Rochester. "It is really one of the most giving communities I can imagine."

She'll wrap up her 12 years at Fox with her last show on Aug. 5.

Her new show in Madison will launch on the air on Aug. 22.

"This next month will be a whirlwind,"Dixon says of moving her family to Madison and taking on a job. "I seriously couldn't be any more excited."

Most of her time on the air at Fox, she worked with partner Jake Duffy.

Then about three years ago, the station cut back on staffing and she became a one-person morning show.

"That was tough. I had to re-invent the way I do a morning show," Dixon says.

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Many local people, including Rochester police officer Lt. Craig Anderson, many firefighters and local comedian Danielle Teal, made regular on-air appearances with Dixon.

I even made semi-regular appearances on the show for a short time, on the rare days that I could manage to get up that early.

Who knew that morning radio shows start before noon? Heh.

Mayo Clinic signs with new publisher

This is kind of interesting in an academic kind of way.

So Mayo Clinic is going with a new publisher for its monthly medical research magazine, Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

At the start of 2012, the current publisher Quadrant Healthcom Inc. of New Jersey is out and Amsterdam-based Elsevier is in.

Since the thick and glossy Proceedings has a circulation of about 130,000, that's got to be a pretty big publishing contract.

As a side note, Quadrant's website describes its history this way:

"The company was founded in June 1996 through the acquisition of properties and other assets then part of the Excerpta Medica Division of Reed Elsevier."

So Quadrant was beat out by its former parent company, I guess. Wonder what the behind-the-scenes politics of this deal are?

Of course, we are talking about an academic-focused medical journal not Rupert Murdoch and the News of the World. So maybe the behind closed doors piece of this deal might not be super scintillating. Heh.

Here's some from Mayo's announcement of this deal:

Mayo Clinic announced June 13 that it has entered into an agreement with Elsevier to publish Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

A peer-reviewed journal, Mayo Clinic Proceedings publishes studies in clinical and laboratory medicine, clinical research, basic science research, clinical epidemiology, health policy and general and internal medicine. The journal also offers unique features such as Concise Review for Clinicians, Residents' Clinic, and Symposia on new developments in the practice of medicine.

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Mayo Clinic looks to further develop Mayo Clinic Proceedings' e-presence, supporting its evolution into an integrated online journal, improve submission-to-publication times, and continue the growth of its already strong impact.

NYT Mag profiles next "Billion dollar author" in Austin, MN

New York Times Magazine published a cool profile of Amanda Hocking, a young author in Austin, Minn. who is is currently the 'It Girl" of the publishing world with what looks to be a very promising career ahead of her.

The piece, written by Strawberry Saroyan, shows Hocking as a down-to-earth woman living a quiet life in Spamtown, USA.

Through online self-publishing, Hocking is selling about 9,000 books a day.

That's a big jump from where she was in February when the Post-Bulletin's very own Matt Stolle profiled Hocking.

Here's some from Saroyan's profile of her:

Amanda Hocking, the star of self-publishing, was sitting in the front seat of her Ford Escape earlier this spring when she spotted a messenger delivering flowers to her home in Austin, Minn. She watched her best friend and roommate, Eric Goldman, get the door.

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Inside, Goldman had set the assortment of gerbera daisies and roses on the coffee table.

“Who are they from?” Hocking asked.

“St. Martin’s Press,” Goldman said. “That’s your new publisher.”

That morning, Hocking’s deal with St. Martin’s was announced: $2 million for her next four books, a series she’s calling “Watersong.”

She casually opened the card. “ ‘Thrilled to be your publisher,’ ” she read. “ ‘Thrilled to be working with you. Sincerely, people.’ ”

People?

“Well, ‘Sincerely, Matthew Shear and Rose Hilliard,’ ” she said before trailing off, referring to a head of St. Martin’s and the woman who would be her editor there.

If Hocking seems a bit blasé about signing her first deal with a traditional publisher, and a multimillion-dollar one at that, it’s hard to blame her. Since uploading her first book on her own last spring, she has become — along with the likes of Nora Roberts, James Patterson and Stieg Larsson — one of the best-selling e-authors on Amazon. In that time, she has grossed approximately $2 million. Her 10 novels include the paranormal-romance “Trylle,” a four-book vampire series that begins with “My Blood Approves” and “Hollowland,” which kicks off a zombie series whose second book will come out in the fall. Her character-driven books, which feature trolls, hobgoblins and fairy-tale elements and keep the pages turning, have generated an excitement not felt in the industry since Stephenie Meyer or perhaps even J.K. Rowling.

“She’s just a really good storyteller,” Hilliard says. “Whatever that thing is that makes you want to stay up late at night to read one more chapter — she has it.”

Hollywood feels the same way: the “Trylle”series was optioned by Media Rights Capital, which was involved with “The Adjustment Bureau,” among other films; the screenplays are being written by the woman who co-wrote “District 9.’’

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And Hocking wants to reach as many people as possible among the 85 percent or so of the population who don’t have e-readers yet. “For me to be a billion-dollar author,” she would tell me later, “I need to have people buying my books at Wal-Mart.”

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Later in my visit, Hocking agreed to show me the house she was moving into a few weeks later; it was one of her few indulgences, she said. (Another is a model of a life-size Han Solo figure encased in carbonite that cost “about $7,000,” she admitted shyly.) We drove a few miles, then pulled into a spacious and tidy area in front of a ranch-style home. Compared with her current place, it was the Taj Mahal: well-kept grounds, total quiet, McMansions on either side