Acknowledgments
Matt Ganis
To be able to work my whole career with the latest technology, in fields that blossom into multimillion dollar industries, is truly a dream come true for the geek inside me. However, to be able to work in that field with my good friend is truly a blessing. Thank you, Avinash. The last few years have been a very wild ride!
However, I could never have achieved the success I have (in both my professional and personal life) if it weren’t for the love of my life, my wife, Karen. She’s stood by me through thick and thin, and if there is one person in this whole world that I can always count on, it’s her. No matter what the circumstances, whether good or bad, I know I can turn to her for advice, a smile, or a shoulder to lean on. I love you, Karen. You make each day special for not only me, but our family. If there was ever a glue that bound a family together, it’s you.
I also want to thank my children, Matthew and Taylor. I know it embarrasses you when I cheer the loudest or ask the dumbest questions, but I hope you can forgive the proudest father in the world. Matthew, I may not have your brains, and Taylor, I may not have your athletic ability, but I can promise you I will always have an endless amount of love for you both.
It’s said that every journey begins with a single step. My journey started many years ago—more than I’d like to remember. But for all the sacrifices they made, from putting me through college to slugging through the snow to look through my telescope at “little white dots,” thank you, Mom and Dad. You’ve always been there for me. You never wavered in your encouragement and always showed a pride in everything I did. Thanks for starting me down this path.
Avinash Kohirkar
I remember the day in 2011 when I was discussing a new career opportunity with Steve Wright. He wanted me to co-lead an offering of Social Analytics within IBM with Matt Ganis. As I look back, that was a very key day in my IBM life. What ensued was a wonderful ride in the world of social media analytics. I have had the great privilege of working with Matt, a technologist at heart, with a unique drive and passion to extract business benefit out of technology. The idea of this book would not have been possible without Matt. Thank you, Matt, for asking me to collaborate on this project!
In 1988, I was working with System Software for Unisys in Camarillo, California. I remember telling my wife, “I enjoy what I am doing so much that I can’t believe they pay me to do this stuff!” I have been extremely fortunate that in my entire career I have felt like that pretty much all the time. I thank my wife, Smita Kohirkar, for enabling me to have a career like this by providing me unwavering support in every facet of my life. There have been numerous times in my career when my work consumed me and my attention, and she took care of me and my family during these times with a smile on her face. I was always a techie and a geek, but I learned a lot about the rest of life from her. The last few months have been especially busy for me while working on this book, and I could not have done it without her understanding and her support. Thank you very much!
I also want to thank my children, Neeraj and Sneha. Despite being the best kids a dad can have, they have been an inspiration for me. Neeraj, who has an amazing ability to learn anything in a very short amount of time, inspires me with his unlimited enthusiasm and passion for life. Sneha, who was always wise beyond her years, never ceases to amaze me with her unique ideas and unique perspectives. I love you all so much!
Joint Acknowledgments
IBM, like many large companies, is full of all kinds of personalities and interesting individuals. To call it a unique place to work is doing it a huge injustice. We’ve had the distinct pleasure of working with (and for) a number of really special people.
Our career change into analytics and, in particular, social media analytics is due to one person: Stephen Wright. Steve was the visionary leader who saw the potential in analytics and was our chief supporter, cheerleader, and, when we needed it, critic. IBM needs more Stephen Wrights. IBM is lucky to have him, and we were fortunate enough to be able to work for him during this exciting venture into this world of big data, analytics, and cloud computing. Steve, if ever someone were owed a huge debit of thanks, it’s you. It was a truly a career highlight being part of the Enterprise Web Strategy and Experience team under your leadership.
Of course, Steve wasn’t alone in his desire to see analytics used within the enterprise. We owe a huge debt of thanks to our management chain, specifically John Rosato and Ajay Raina. These are two great leaders who were always willing to support and trust us as we developed our analytics offerings into a world-class operation. As our services grew in sophistication, we joined forces with Liam Cleaver and James Newswanger as they formed IBM’s Social Insights Group. To both of you, thank you for your support and willingness to allow us to grow our customer base.
As authors, we are indebted to both Ajay Raina and Debbie Delosa for reviewing the entire manuscript and providing us with invaluable feedback and critiques.
Thanks as well to Santosh Borse, Mila Gessner, and Chris Gruber for their technical and analytics leadership in executing a variety of social analytics projects over the years. We have used examples in this book that were based on individual contributions of these highly skilled analysts and technical wizards. (Santosh, how you pull off some of your magic still amazes us to this day!)