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Companies should strive to make meetings meaningful: Organizational leadership experts say many companies could be more productive with fewer, better gatherings

Executive Steve Kellam once went to such great lengths to cheer up colleagues during a difficult period that he arrived at a company meeting wearing a Clifford the Big Red Dog costume. He’s dressed as a clown as well. It’s doubtful every corporate gathering requires those types of creative tactics to grab the attention of associates, but there are ways to ensure the boardroom doesn’t descend into a state of boredom. “I was just trying to get some laughs,” Kellam…

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Professor hits right note in guitar engineering class: Purdue course lets students build, test instruments

Playing guitar seems much more alluring than building one-unless you’re a member of the Instrument Manufacturing and Testing class at Purdue University. The course is the creation of Mark French, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering technology, who introduced it just last year. It is already striking a major chord with students. Eighteen are enrolled now, which is as many as the professor can handle, and the waiting list for next spring’s session is full. French is teaching the class…

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MICKEY MAURER Commentary: The power of a single ‘thank you’

One of the most enjoyable aspects of my job as president of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and secretary of commerce was the opportunity to represent our governor and the state of Indiana on goodnews occasions. On April 26, 2005, I bestowed official state certification on Intech Park, a business incubator that had qualified under the Indiana Certified Technology Park Program. Certified tech parks enjoy the advantage of being allowed to capture and invest in the development of their park…

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Virtual bank making ‘solid’ move into lending: First Internet Bancorp. expands into mortgages with Landmark acquisition

Online banks usually avoid brick-and-mortar overhead. Eliminating expense is the core of their business advantage. So why did First Internet Bancorp spend $12 million to acquire traditional mortgage lender and savings bank Landmark Financial Corp. and its two Indianapolis branches? Because the acquisition of Landmark provides First Internet an opportunity to finally broach the mortgage market. Landmark, which traces its roots back to 1925, is best known as a new-construction underwriter in the local home and commercial builder market. Its…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Forget the notion of technology as investment

I was scanning a 2004 report on corporate security the other day when the phrase “Less than half of all businesses ever evaluate their return on investment (ROI) on security spending” came scrolling down the page. The sentence includes a presumption that is just dead wrong. No security software ever made its purchaser a dime. It can make the seller wealthy, but there is no way security software is an investment. It’s a cost, and always will be. In point…

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Oxford BioSignals poised to add up to 120 jobs: Indiana’s life sciences market, $2.7 million in incentives attract medical startup

How does aviation technology conceived at Oxford University and developed with the help of Rolls-Royce end up being tested at Methodist Hospital and commercialized in Carmel? Oxford BioSignals Medical CEO Frank Cheng knows the answer. Even better, he can explain why his startup is poised to add 120 jobs over the next few years. “At this point, I don’t see anything we can’t do right here in Indiana,” he said. Formed in 2000, Oxford BioSignals began its life when research…

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Banks quick to embrace remote checking: Customers get on board as more institutions allow checks to be scanned, transmitted, deposited electronically

ATMs are still convenient, but not much of a novelty anymore. That distinction now belongs to remote-deposit capture-a high-tech advancement that guarantees a big payoff for banks and their customers alike. “From a technological standpoint, it’s the biggest thing happening in banking in 2007,” said Lee Wetherington, senior vice president at Brentwood, Tenn.-based software maker Goldleaf Financial Inc. Remote-deposit capture eliminates the need for businesses to physically deposit checks at their bank branch. Using the new technology, checks are scanned…

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XM-Sirius merger is threat to local HD radio: Local broadcasters hustle to launch digital channels

The news of a potential merger between New York-based Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and Washington, D.C.-based XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. comes at a critical time for local radio station operators. If the merger draws more listeners, that clearly would be bad news for terrestrial radio stations already dealing with the Internet and Ipod, and could imperil their fledgling high-definition initiative. Already, the proposed $11.4 billion merger is getting lots of media attention, and that’s bound to raise satellite radio’s…

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Tax break would reward patent producers: Indiana legislators view bill as way to attract young, innovative high-tech companies and solo entrepreneurs

A bill weaving its way through the Indiana General Assembly could give the state an edge in attracting and growing the type of high-tech ventures several states covet. Indiana House Bill 1461, introduced by Rep. Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, advanced to the Senate after sailing through the House of Representatives on Feb. 26 by a vote of 95-3. The legislation that was referred to the Senate’s Economic Development and Technology Committee would provide a tax incentive that would shield income from…

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EVERYBODY’S DOING IT: BICYCLING: When spring is sprung, it’s time to let it ride

| Marc D.

EVERYBODY’S DOING IT BICYCLING When spring is sprung, it’s time to let it ride After months stuck indoors, at least 100 bicyclists-and maybe more-will hit the road March 18 for the Central Indiana B i cy c l i n g Association’s St. Patrick’s Day Ride, the organization’s spring season kickoff. “It gets the cobwebs off; it’s usually the first nice day of the season and everybody’s excited to get on their bikes again,” new CIBA President Nancy Tibbett said…

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Courts grapple with issues arising from Internet, blogs: Educators explore policies for off-campus activity

The World Wide Web and blogging explosion have created new hurdles for attorneys, especially those consulting on issues that arise from school districts trying to balance off-campus activities and school safety. As officials recognize that off-campus activity can spill into school hallways and classrooms, many are looking to policies that can prevent those actions outside school from impacting student safety or the overall educational process. “Internet blogging is one of the more publicized activities that pose both harm and benefit,…

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Software firm finally making name for itself: Fusion quietly becomes giant in local tech industry

Doug Brown might not know how to name a company, but he sure knows how to grow one. CEO Brown, 46, co-founded Fusion Alliance Inc. in 1994 along with Tim Shaw, who is no longer active in the firm. The company has since blossomed into the Indianapolis-area’s’s largest software developer, with 196 staff and contract software engineers and programmers. Much of the growth coincides with the decision in 2000 to rechristen the northwest-side company from its original and less glamorous…

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Could big year mean IPO for Aprimo?: Analyst expects software firm to go public in near future, but company execs aren’t ready to discuss possibility

Last year was a good one for fast-growing local marketing software-maker Aprimo Inc. And this year could be even better. “It’s not the beginning of the end; it’s the end of the beginning,” said Aprimo investor Mark Koulogeorge, managing general partner of the Chicago-based venture capital firm MK Capital. “This is the second or third inning of a very long ballgame.” In 2006, Aprimo quietly grew from about 220 to 300 employees and moved into a new headquarters just east…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Battle brewing between big business and the Web

The Web has always been viewed with suspicion by many people, but now it’s become nothing less than the cause of copyright lawsuits against Ellen DeGeneres for letting a guest dance the Electric Slide, against the Girl Scouts for doing the Macarena a satire Web site about Barney the purple dinosaur for making fun of the big guy, and against the online deal-finder site Black Friday for publishing prices from retailer Best Buy. Back in the old days, copyright holders…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Electronic evidence a new reality in business litigation

D o u b l e – c l i c k , open, read and delete. Does this sequence for reading e-mail look familiar? Whether you work for a small- to medium-size business with few employees and a basic network of computers or part of a large corporation with its own technology department, if your company is electronic forms of communications, so has electronic evidence become a regular part of most business litigation. Not long ago, if your business…

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DST changes may create time trials: An extended schedule threatens calendars on electronic devices

It must seem like déjá vu to Hoosier companies who again must prepare their computer networks for the confusion caused by daylight-saving time. Indiana’s first-ever switch to DST last year triggered a mass adjustment of electronic clocks essential for computers and other devices to spring ahead with the rest of the world. Now the ritual must be repeated, due to a 2005 federal law decreeing that DST start three weeks earlier and end one week later, beginning this year. The…

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Doctor grows magazine with unusual strategy: Circulation hits 100,000 nationally and still climbing

A Carmel-based doctor turned publisher is celebrating his magazine’s first anniversary by rolling out plans to take his publishing and health care businesses nationwide. Radius magazine is poised for rapid growth due to its “no fluff” content, according to its founder, Dev Brar, who founded Carmel-based Nightingale Home Healthcare in 1996. Both businesses are operating out of a new headquarters at 1036 S. Rangeline Road, and Brar is hoping the two will grow hand-in-hand. Brar is using Radius to market…

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INVESTING: Market’s in decent shape, so don’t be too cautious

I love summer. Especially June, when you know you have months of great weather left. Of course, there always are people who complain. There is always the possibility of a few bad storms now and again, but with a slight perspective on the calendar, you know how much time you have left before the cold. Too bad the stock market is not like the seasons. But in a way, it can be looked at from a weatherman’s perspective. His record…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Why are we obsessed with complex gadgets?

Why can’t products be easier to use, simpler and with fewer gadgets? Why do we have so many features we never get around to using? Buttons and dials on car radios are proliferating, and even metastasizing to the steering wheel. There are so many switches in new cars that some of them go forever unused, simply because we can’t remember what they do. Cell phones are sprouting menus within menus. Even refrigerators are getting computerized controls with a television in…

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Local software maker teams with Microsoft

Autobase Inc. has inked a partnership with tech heavyweight Microsoft Corp. that might fuel growth for the Indianapolis-based
marketing-software maker. The deal will allow Autobase to piggyback its software on Microsoft’s as the Seattle company launches
products aimed at auto dealers.

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