Mediaboss Marketing

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

At the annual meeting of shareholders of First Internet Bancorp, parent company of First Internet Bank, Chairman and CEO David Becker announced yesterday the Bank had increased its employee count 42% by adding 22 employees between December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2011.

The unemployment rate in Indiana is at its lowest rate since 2008, and First Internet Bank is proud to contribute to the growth in private sector jobs, Becker said. He went on to explain these positions helped to support the Banks recently launched commercial lending initiative as well as its established and growing mortgage lending operation. First Internet Bank offers commercial and industrial lending locally, commercial real estate lending regionally, mortgage loans in 49 states, and personal loans and deposit accounts in 50 states.

First Internet Bank did not receive any economic development funds to finance the employment expansion. First Internet Bank had assets of over $610 million as of March 31, 2012, its highest point since its launch in 1999. In addition to employment, First Internet Bank reported 10% growth in loans and 15% growth in deposits in 2011. The Bank closed 38% more mortgages in 2011 than it did in 2010.

A seasoned entrepreneur, Mr. Becker has a history of job creation in Central Indiana since launching his first Indiana-based company 31 years ago.

About First Internet Bank First Internet Bank of Indiana (First IB) is the first state-chartered, FDIC-insured institution to operate solely via the Internet and has customers in all 50 states. Deposit services include checking accounts, regular and money market savings accounts with industry-leading interest rates, CDs and IRAs. First IB also offers consumer loans, conforming mortgages, jumbo mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, and commercial loans. First Internet Bank opened for business in 1999.

About First Internet Bancorp First Internet Bancorp (FIBP.OB), the parent company of First Internet Bank of Indiana, is privately capitalized with over 240 private and corporate investors. The Bancorp became effective March 21, 2006.

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Employment up over 40% at First Internet Bank

SACRAMENTO A controversial bill that would ban state agencies from regulating telephones that use Internet connections passed a state Senate committee after the measure's author accepted amendments that would strengthen some consumer protections.

The proposal by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) is backed by AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., and cable and high-tech companies. They contend they need "certainty" that the California Public Utilities Commission will not try to oversee the Internet and phone companies that transmit voice signals over fiber optic lines.

The suggested amendments, presented by Padilla at a hearing Thursday of the Senate Appropriations Committee, are designed to assuage the fears of PUC members that they'll be stripped of the few powers they still have to protect voice-over-Internet telephone customers.

The new wording, which has not been legally drafted, ensures that Padilla's bill "will not be misinterpreted as going back on any existing consumer protection," he said. No changes will occur to laws that require telephone companies to guarantee service anywhere in California, provide subsidized basic services to low-income customers and maintain a 911 emergency network. The latest proposal also would empower PUC staff to take informal actions to resolve consumer complaints about voice-over-Internet billing or quality problems, Padilla said.

At the same time, the legislation, SB 1161, is aimed at quelling concerns at high-tech companies that the PUC at some point might end its light-handed attitude toward voice-over-Internet phones as well as the Internet.

"We want to continue to foster innovation and enhancement of service," the senator said.

PUC members, meeting in San Francisco at the same time that Padilla's bill was being debated in Sacramento, said they wanted to work with the Legislature to craft a compromise.

The proposed amendments, said Commissioner Catherine Sandoval, "are a great step in the right direction, but we need to go further."

Another commissioner, Mark Ferron, said he respected Padilla's good faith in writing the bill but questioned whether "SB 1161 is a solution in search of a problem."

marc.lifsher@latimes.com

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Internet phone service bill advances in California Senate

Outer Critics Circle Awards Presented By Josh Gad, James Earl Jones, Montego Glover and More May 24

By Andrew Gans 24 May 2012

The 62nd Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best of Broadway and Off-Broadway, will be presented May 24 at 4 PM at Sardi's Restaurant in Manhattan.

Presenters include Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Josh Gad, Montego Glover, Jon Robin Baitz, James Corden, Tracie Bennett, Audra McDonald, James Earl Jones, Michael McGrath and Judy Kaye.

Winners were announced May 14. Once, the new musical based on the film of the same name, and the London import One Man, Two Guvnors each won three awards apiece, the most of any production of the season.

Jeff Talbott's acclaimed Off-Broadway, race-themed play, The Submission, was awarded the John Gassner Award, which is presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright.

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Winners follow (winners are in bold, preceded by an asterisk):

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY PLAY The Lyons *One Man, Two Guvnors Seminar Stick Fly

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY MUSICAL Bonnie & Clyde Newsies *Once Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

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Outer Critics Circle Awards Presented By Josh Gad, James Earl Jones, Montego Glover and More May 24

It has been a while since I last touched up on the topic of Change, Convergence & Collaboration in our industry. A lot has happened since then! During that time I made a few predictions that I would like update you on all on what change has happened and how it has fostered investment and innovation of SEO technologies as this discipline integrates with other channels.

Whats more, I also had the great pleasure of interviewing two leaders in the SEO technology space Rand Fishkin from SEOmoz on investment (soon to be Moz maybe?) and Dixon Jones of Majestic SEO, in particular, on recent innovation.

The diagram above gives you a broad overview of change since February. It highlights the strategic, technological, and tactical changes that have been made and how were now finally beginning to see more investment in the development of technologies that fuel innovation and integration.

As this post leans more toward the strategic rather than the tactical I am only going to mention black and white animals briefly.

Panda is aimed to reduce rankings for low quality sites and improve rankings for sites with great, innovation, and insightful content. Penguin is aimed to remove web spam and combat what they view as black hat.

Googles strategy is clear; it wants the big brands and big bucks. The reality as to whether it has its tactics right is highly debatable. This is not, however, the subject of this post.

Some great tactical articles on the fallout of Panda and Penguin are here:

Before we ask the experts who are driving this change in the data provision world, let's highlight some significant events over recent months that highlight the move from change to convergence and collaboration.

It isn't just the data providers and enterprise platforms that have been investing and innovating. Many third party tools and technology have been launching huge releases that focus on the changing of tactics needed at adapt to converging and changing landscape:

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Future of SEO: Investment, Innovation & Integration

If you remember, we dedicated three columns to discuss about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) its importance to business and the how tos so you can do it yourself. As I have always emphasized, SEO should not be mistaken as the turf of IT guys. Anyone can learn SEO without any IT background. Its just really a matter of reading and making your own research. There are free tools and references that you can find in the internet to get you started. But then again, many of us do not have the time to do it.The reason why we need to understand what it is, or at least get to know how it is done, is because sooner or later businesses will need the services of SEO professionals. And if you happen to be among those who plan to optimize your website soon, learning basic SEO can help you avoid getting duped by people who overcharge customers as if it to impress that SEO is reserved for the geniuses.

Believe it or not, one client of mine was quoted for like P2 million by an advertising agency in Manila for a six-month SEO campaign. That, to me, is extortion in the first degree. While campaigns have their individual nuances and considerations, but the tools, standards, methods and techniques are largely universal. Businesses should be wary when investing in an SEO campaign. There are works that are done in the backend and are often invisible to website owners which are difficult to understand without some html background. Thus, when selecting an SEO professional, trust is a crucial issue. So when you think of hiring someone to do the SEO for you, ask for their portfolio and if possible, talk to those companies he listed.

Avoid SEO professionals or companies that promise or guarantee results. No one can guarantee results. Not even Google! No kidding. If you want to make sure that your SEO guy is really doing his job, you can hire someone to do the audit for you.

Moreover, I often encounter questions whether SEO is a difficult thing to get into or if it can be accomplished in a short period of time. SEO is not rocket science to be afraid of. What makes SEO hard is the competition. Like you, your competitors are out there to outsmart you in the internet domain. They will know your websites strengths as well as its weaknesses. So you need to be just like them -- watching every move your competitor makes.

What distinguishes a good SEO guy from another is currency of knowledge. Your guy may be a good SEO now, but sucks a year later. Search algorithms change every now and then and often, companies that build them do not announce many of these changes to the public. These changes can be radical at times that your search position can change literally overnight. It is important therefore to consider that the man you entrust to do the SEO for you should be able to notice these changes.

It is also not enough to look at your competitors performance, or being updated with the changes in search engine behavior, it is much more important to look at your sites performance from the inside. From my experience, one of the important keys to achieving good search position is the ability of the SEO professional to regularly employ heuristics to determine what works and what doesnt in your site. Choose a guy who has the attitude and the patience to employ several methods and techniques that havent been tried before. Sooner or later, you will find out that there are strengths that your website has which you can leverage in your campaign.

Finally, SEO is not a perfunctory task as what a lot of people think in the SEO world.SEO is not just about compliance to web standards, or about writing articles (mostly for the sake of it) in order to meet the required keyword density. It is not even about posting back-links or putting up those social media tools in your site.SEO is an invitation to excel in content. Your SEO guy should be able churn what your customers look for in terms of information. Good information easily spreads out. And your customers are willing to do it for you.

Remember SEO is about useful information or content. Your SEO guy should be able to deliver that for you.

Send emails to trade.forumph@gmail.com.

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Looking for an SEO guy?