由中國銀行（香港）（「中銀香港」）冠名贊助、中國香港田徑總會主辦的第二屆「中國銀行（香港）港珠澳大橋香港段半馬拉松」（「中銀港珠澳半馬」），將於1月5日﹙星期日﹚舉行。中銀香港今天假遮打花園舉行「POWER UP全城起跑禮」活動發佈會，邀請多位來自不同界別的名人及體壇精英，分享備賽心得。中銀香港同時推出一系列「POWER UP全城賺賞」推廣，鼓勵客戶及早展開理財之旅。 中銀港珠澳半馬賽事的路程約21公里，賽事的起跑點位於港珠澳大橋香港口岸，參加者起跑後可沿港珠澳大橋香港連接路飽覽香港國際機場的美景。除此之外，大會今年更首度增設「兒童田徑運動會」，邀請6至9歲的小朋友參與競技運動，與新一代分享運動的樂趣。 「POWER UP全城起跑禮」打氣 為隆重其事，中銀香港特別邀請到「POWER UP全城起跑禮」活動大使衛詩雅、黃浩然、前港隊劍擊運動員、2024年十大傑出青年之一的張小倫，聯同中銀香港副總裁陳文、中國香港田徑總會主席關祺、中銀香港個人金融及財富管理部總經理盧慧敏主持啓動儀式。一眾嘉賓在台上擺出起跑姿勢，身後的特色裝置隨即亮燈，寓意中銀香港和跑手一同POWER UP！完成啟動儀式後，張小倫與曾代表香港參加多次世界性賽事的長跑運動員屈旨盈、莊司暘以及羅映潮在發佈會上分享備賽心得，包括練習日程、身體上的準備、心態上的調整、以至賽事的裝備等，令一眾參賽者獲益良多。 「POWER UP全城起跑禮」活動大使兼出爐亞太影后衛詩雅表示，她的演藝生涯就像一場半馬拉松：「由16年前入行到現在，當中的路途漫長，而途中的風景亦不時轉換，有時跑入低谷，有時會欣賞到優美景色，而最近有幸跑到最風光明媚的道路，當中的每一步亦是一個過程。而其實細心一想，理財投資亦一樣，需要作長遠的計劃，中途可能會有起有跌，但只要有耐心和堅持，再調整策略，總有一天可以達到目標！我知道『POWER UP全城賺賞』其中一個任務，只要開戶或提升賬戶，都有理財獎賞，輕輕鬆鬆都可以開始理財之旅。」她更表示啟動禮的特色裝置配合燈光表演令她感到POWER UP，更即場呼籲市民大眾趁著聖誕假期期間，到此「打卡」感受一下正能量。  同為活動大使的黃浩然今年將參與中銀港珠澳半馬，他表示：「我有數年跑半馬的經驗，平日亦不時會跑步，但我亦不會就此而掉以輕心，加上剛剛聽到幾位專業運動員的分享，使我可以準備得更加完善，我相信今次可以最佳狀態參賽。若時間許可，我希望在賽前抽空到港珠澳大橋作實地考察。」而黃浩然亦非常欣賞今年新增設「兒童田徑運動會」，將這項體育盛事推廣至新一代。 LinkedIn Email Facebook Twitter WhatsApp The post 中銀港珠澳半馬1月5日﹙星期日﹚起跑 appeared first on VeriMedia. source

Best free CRM with available upgrades: HubSpot Best for creating email marketing campaigns: Pipedrive Best for social media marketing: Zoho CRM Best for team collaboration: monday CRM Best enterprise marketing and CRM solution: Salesforce Best for managing internal documentation: ClickUp Marketing CRM software is a sales solution that specifically aids businesses in creating and managing lead generation and nurturing through digital or in-person campaigns. Campaigns and strategies you can implement include email marketing, social media marketing, digital content marketing, in-person events, referral programs, and so much more. Marketing CRM tools can manage all of this, plus track how prospects interact with your content, all while promoting a positive perception of your brand. 1 Pipedrive CRM Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features Calendar, Collaboration Tools, Contact Management, and more 2 monday CRM Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features Calendar, Collaboration Tools, Contact Management, and more 3 Creatio CRM Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Medium (250-999 Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees) Medium, Large, Enterprise Features Dashboard, Document Management / Sharing, Email / Marketing Automation, and more Top marketing CRM software comparison CRM solutions typically offer marketing products in tandem with sales tools or they offer marketing features embedded into the sales CRM itself. If your business is looking for a CRM provider with advanced marketing functionality, key features to consider are content generation, such as email templates, integrations, and general marketing automation. Below, I review top sales CRM providers for their marketing expertise and capabilities. My list of the best marketing CRM software providers includes HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, and others. I list out pricing details, pros and cons, and identify ideal use cases for each platform to help you pinpoint which provider best fits your marketing needs. Software Our star rating (out of 5) Marketing automations Content generation Integrations Free version Starting premium pricing* HubSpot 4 Yes Yes 1,500+ Yes $15 per user per month Pipedrive 4.3 Yes Yes 350+ No $14 per user per month Zoho CRM 4.3 Yes Yes 900+ Yes $14 per user per month Monday CRM 3.6 Yes Limited 150+ Limited $12 per user per month Salesforce 4.1 Yes Yes 7,000+ No $25 per user per month ClickUp 4.1 Yes Yes 1,000+ Yes $7 per user per month *Priced when billed annually HubSpot: Best free CRM with available upgrades Image: HubSpot HubSpot has a product called HubSpot Marketing Hub that offers both free and paid features. Users can access email marketing, web forms, live chat, ad management, and mobile optimization within the free CRM tool. Suppose your business wants more marketing tools and is in a position to purchase a paid subscription. In that case, advanced features such as multiple currencies, email health insights, social media integrations, and adaptive testing are up for grabs. Why I chose HubSpot HubSpot is the ultimate free CRM software for its rich marketing, sales, and support features. A popular provider thanks to its usability and user support, HubSpot can be a great choice for startups or businesses that are new to using a CRM, want an affordable option, or aim to level up their lead generation strategies. HubSpot’s free CRM is extremely useful, but those upgrades can be costly for small businesses. For a free CRM with more affordable premium upgrades, I would recommend checking out Zoho CRM. For more information, read the full HubSpot review. Pricing Free CRM: Free for up to five users with contact management, quotes, live chat and more. Sales Hub Starter: $15 per seat per month, billed annually, or $20 when billed monthly. The Starter plan includes all free tools, plus simple automation, e-signature, conversation routing and more. Sales Hub Professional: $90 per seat per month, billed annually, or $100 when billed monthly, plus a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee. This plan includes all Starter features and prospecting workspace, playbooks, forecasting and more. Sales Hub Enterprise: $150 per seat per month, with an annual commitment and a one-time $3,500 onboarding fee. Users receive all Professional tools, plus advanced permissions, predictive lead scoring, conversation intelligence and lead form routing. Marketing Hub Free: $0 per month for up to five users. Marketing Hub Starter: $15 per seat per month, billed annually, or $20 when billed monthly. Marketing Customer Platform: $15 per seat per month, billed annually, or $20 when billed monthly. Marketing Hub Professional: $800 per month, billed annually, or $890 when billed monthly. This includes three seats with additional seats starting at $45 per month. Marketing Hub Enterprise: $3,600 per month and includes five seats. Additional seats start at $75 per month. Features A/B testing: Implement adaptive testing of different marketing strategies by receiving real-time feedback and insight into campaign success. Web forms: Generate leads directly from your business website by building online forms. Marketing campaign management: Align marketing and sales teams by allowing collaboration in one central place. Task tracker within campaign management tool. Image: HubSpot HubSpot pros and cons Pros Cons Users report easy platform setup. No free trial for paid plans. 24/7 user support for paid plans. No live support for free users. Offers a variety of free tools and templates. Users report lacking reporting features. Pipedrive: Best for creating email marketing campaigns Image: Pipedrive Pipedrive offers robust email marketing software that helps users send email marketing campaigns to effectively engage with customers. Pipedrive’s campaigns can capture the attention of your ICP with customizable layouts and additional tracking, analytics and filtering features. Users can access the same intuitive drag-and-drop element from the sales CRM to create custom layouts or use a premade template. Reps can see contact information in lead profiles and all email communications on one dashboard. Why I chose Pipedrive Pipedrive is a top-scoring CRM solution that has made its way onto several of my guides, and for good reason. It

“It’s a good sign,” he adds. “It means people want to get involved and invest in their development, and that’s important.” Training in-house is a strategy that Marzoni clearly believes in since expecting people who are experts in a certain area to step in and make things work with the company’s processes right away isn’t realistic at the level they need. Also, AI in particular is a discipline that works in a very specific way.  “To build AI capabilities that can help employees in a certain processes can be as important as a data scientist or a machine learning engineer being the expert and building the solution,” he says. “AI is very much about data, and data is largely in people’s heads, so we must invest in developing the people — the experts — who become important actors when it comes to how we build solutions.” Order of data Having your data in order is the cornerstone to moving forward with AI. “The ecosystem is constantly producing more data, so it’s impossible for everything to be in perfect order all the time; it’s something you have to constantly work at. And it’s important to have your data in order even if you don’t know what you’re going to use it for. It’s very easy to do relevant things with AI if you have a handle on your data. So far, Ikea has come a long way with its data management concerning supply chain and warehousing, but when it comes to customer experience, however, there’s more to do, says Marzoni. “We can improve how we collect data about the customer process,” he says.  source

The U.K. government is investigating whether IBM’s acquisition of cloud infrastructure firm HashiCorp will result in a “substantial lessening of competition” within markets in the country. IBM announced its intention to buy HashiCorp for $6.4 billion in April 2024 to help it support its customers’ growing AI-related demands. HashiCorp provides hybrid and multi-cloud lifecycle management products, such as infrastructure as code tool Terraform, which facilitate building and running AI applications. HashiCorp will operate as a division of IBM Software rather than being brought into Red Hat, IBM’s open-source subsidiary. It said that the deal would help its products reach a larger audience. The Competition and Markets Authority notified the two companies of an upcoming Phase 1 probe on Aug. 1, 2024, and formally launched it on Dec. 30. It will have to make a preliminary decision on whether to carry out a full-scale investigation by Feb. 25 and relevant third-parties can submit comments up to Jan. 16. IBM declined to provide additional comment. TechRepublic has reached out to HashiCorp for a response. IBM-HashiCorp deal has inspired criticism IBM has faced challenges since announcing the acquisition, with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission reviewing it for potential antitrust concerns. SEE: Ansible vs Kubernetes | DevOps Tools Comparison IBM’s stock tanked by about 9% shortly after the announcement due to simultaneously posting a total first-quarter revenue of $90 million below London Stock Exchange estimates. Conversely, HashiCorp’s stock rose by 4% after suffering considerable declines in 2023 brought on by relicensing Terraform from open-source Apache 2.0 to the more restrictive Business Source License. This alienated parts of the open-source community, and they forked the original Terraform code into the open-source OpenTofu and placed it under the oversight of The Linux Foundation. Additionally, in June, a HashiCorp investor sued the company, claiming that the acquisition by IBM disproportionately benefited its board members over the shareholders. The executives allegedly stood to gain substantial personal benefits from the deal, such as certain “golden parachutes” and converting their large, illiquid stock holdings into cash. Such incentives created conflicts of interest, according to the plaintiff, leading the board to favor the IBM acquisition over potentially more lucrative opportunities for shareholders and potentially diminishing the value of their investments. However, the suit was mysteriously withdrawn two days later. U.K. cloud market does not present a level playing field In October 2023, telecoms regulator Ofcom identified various issues in the U.K. cloud market that present challenges for businesses and consumers, including Amazon and Microsoft’s dominance. Microsoft’s Azure and AWS have between 70% and 80% of the U.K.’s cloud service market share compared to Google Cloud’s 10%. One of the most pressing concerns is the cost of migrating data from cloud platforms. This cost barrier discourages customers from switching between cloud providers, stifling competition in the sector. SEE: Microsoft, OpenAI Partnership Draws UK Antitrust Regulators’ Eyes Shortly after these results were published, the CMA began investigating the issues raised. These results — and any potential remedies to anti-competitive practices — are expected to be announced later this month. Synopsys and Ansys merger likely to be approved On Dec. 20, the CMA completed its Phase 1 investigation into the $35 billion acquisition of simulation software company Ansys by chip design software provider Synopsys. It represents the biggest tech deal since Broadcom acquired VMware for $69 billion in 2023. The CMA found that the merger has the potential to substantially lessen competition in the chip design and light simulation market but may still approve it if the two companies submit acceptable mitigations. Synopsys and Ansys compete in three key sectors. The first is register transfer level power consumption analysis, which assesses a chip’s power demands and usage. The other two are optics and photonics software, both used to design and model light-related products like camera lenses, TV displays, car headlights, and lasers. Merging these companies could reduce the choice of products in the three areas, as they would become a market leader, and smaller companies would struggle to compete. “This could lead to a loss of innovation, lower quality software, and/or higher prices, which may then be passed onto UK businesses and consumers,” the CMA said in its press release. SEE: UK Regulator Probes Apple’s Mobile Browser Dominance The CMA also suspected the deal would allow Synopsys and Ansys to limit their products’ interoperability to maintain dominance. However, the investigation found that this element is so important to their customers that they would switch providers if it was compromised, so they don’t have the incentive to do so. Synopsys announced the deal in January 2024, claiming it wanted to expand its reach across silicon-to-systems designs, combining its expertise in electronic design automation with Ansys’ in simulation. Ansys accepted the deal to accelerate its growth and offer more integrated solutions to its customers. The two had already been working together for several years up to this point. If the companies did not propose suitable mitigations by Dec. 31, 2024, the competition authority would conduct a more in-depth Phase 2 investigation. However, Synopsys said it had “already taken steps to address all concerns raised by the CMA” in a published response. One such step is its promise to sell its optical solutions business to another company once the Ansys acquisition has closed. The merger is expected to be approved by the European Commission, according to Reuters. Sources added that Synopsys will offer the same remedies to the CMA that it did to address competition concerns in the E.U. “Together, Synopsys and Ansys can help drive innovation across industries by addressing the rapidly increasing customer need for system design solutions that provide a deeper integration of EDA and Simulation and Analysis (S&A) software,” a Synopsys spokesperson said. source

道瓊斯工業平均指數收跌151點，跌幅0.36%，報42392點。標普500指數收跌13點，跌幅0.23%，報5868點。納斯達克綜合指數收跌30點，或0.16%，報19280點。 美債息回軟，息差個別發展，金龍指數見1個月低，道指連跌4日，標指、納指見1個月低，連跌5日。 Tesla第四季度交付量創紀錄新高，但2024年銷量出現十多年來首次按年下降，低於分析師普遍預期，收市跌6%，聖誕節後的股價跌幅擴大到近20%，拖累指數表現，該股五日跌幅為逾兩年來最大。 蘋果創10月以來最大跌幅，因有報道稱該公司在中國降價銷售iPhone，彭博社分析師預計蘋果2025財年銷售可能不會有明顯增長。 《彭博》報道,知名腕表品牌勞力士今年將部分受歡迎的手表款式價格,調高最多8%,因材料及勞動力成本上漲,以及金價去年上升逾20%。 中國證監會：「1月15號之前釋放全部利空」、「保險公司大額贖回公募基金」均為謠言。 工業和信息化部最新公佈的數據顯示，2024年1至11月，中國電子信息製造業生產增長較快，規模以上電子信息製造業增加值同比增長12.2%。主要產品中，手機產量15.04億台，同比增長8.9%，其中智能手機產量11.17億台，同比增長9.3%。 國家商務部表示，為加強技術進出口管理，發布關於《中國禁止出口限制出口技術目錄》調整公開徵求意見的通知，擬新增一項技術條目、修改一項技術條目以及刪除三項技術條目，以加強國際技術交流合作創造積極條件。根據最新調整，當中建議將電池正極材料製備技術納入限制出口部分，同時還計劃加強對一些提取金屬鎵及鋰的技術與工藝的限制。 寧德時代(300750.SZ)宣佈，擬發行境外上市外資股股票，並申請在港交所主板掛牌上市。此次發行的港股股數不超過發行后公司總股本的5%，並擁有不超過發行港股股數15%的超額配售權。摩根士丹利參考近期完成H股雙重上市的公司，平均較A股股價折讓10%至20%，預計寧德時代香港IPO集資額將達68億至77億美元(摺合529億至598億港元)。 LinkedIn Email Facebook Twitter WhatsApp source

Rob Mills has been instrumental in driving Tractor Supply Co.’s rapid growth, profitability, and world-class customer experience. Mills joined Tractor Supply a decade ago as its CIO, and within four years, his role, influence, and impact had expanded significantly. Now, as executive vice president and chief technology, digital, and corporate strategy officer, Mills has cemented himself as a key business leader at the $14 billion rural lifestyle retailer, which has come a long way since its humble beginning in 1938 as a mail-order tractor parts business. The company now employs more than 50,000 team members and operates more than 2,200 stores in 49 states. Mills joined me on a recent episode of the Tech Whisperers podcast to discuss his leadership journey and impressive track record as a business-, tech-, and customer-savvy executive. Afterwards, we spent some time focusing on the various ways he and his teams have helped orchestrate business growth. What follows is that conversation, edited for length and clarity. source

By Craig Clough ( January 2, 2025, 8:31 PM EST) — A California federal judge has overruled a jury’s holding that Platform Science willfully infringed one of Qualcomm spinoff Omnitracs’ fleet management software patents and vacated the resulting $19 million verdict, finding that the plaintiffs’ expert gave faulty testimony. … Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source

By Christopher Cole ( January 2, 2025, 12:42 PM EST) — The Sixth Circuit upended the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules Thursday, holding that commercial broadband providers cannot be regulated as telecommunications common carriers…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source

By Kelcey Caulder ( December 23, 2024, 5:28 PM EST) — The YMCA of Metropolitan Atlanta Inc. has been sued by a former lifeguard who alleges she was fired after reporting that another YMCA employee doxed and shared doctored photos of her and other female YMCA lifeguards on a pornographic website…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source

By Andrew Karpan ( January 2, 2025, 7:19 PM EST) — The full Federal Circuit on Thursday denied a request to look at a decision overturning a Delaware federal jury’s infringement verdict in favor of a small California company that has been suing Comcast over patent claims for the past five years…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source