And no wonder.
With Vettel storming to pole position and both Hamilton and Alonso exceeding the capabilities of their machinery to offer the only genuine threat to the World Champion's return to the front of the grid, it was like old times at Montreal on Saturday afternoon. In a season of such varying fortunes, the sight of Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso sitting alongside each other in the post-session press conference will perhaps serve in retrospect as the first sign that the 2012 season is ready to settle down.
There can certainly be no denying that Vettel's pole lap of 1:13.784 carried an unmistakable ominous feel, with Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber blitzed by over half a second. So much for the suggestion that the Aussie's win in Monaco signalled a shift in the balance of power at Red Bull; so much, too, for the suspicion that the FIA's outlawing of the hole in the floor of the RB8 would blunt the team's competiveness.
"I don't think a hole in the floor makes all the difference," declared Vettel. "I think we have a great car and the car works well as whole - and not just with a hole. We never feared a big impact on the car.
"I was happy throughout qualifying and was able to get a little bit quicker and it looked very tight at the beginning but in the end it seemed like we could make a bit more of [a] difference."
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Ultimately, Vettel's advantage was measured at three-tenths of a second - or, as he himself saw it, "eight metres over Lewis" - but there was an unmistakable edge of confidence in Vettel's assessment of his chances of claiming Red Bull's first victory at a circuit which Technical Director Adrian Newey describes as the Milton Keynes team's "bogey ground".
"I think we have a great car and this time we got it right in qualifying," he added.
"Looking forward to the race tomorrow, it's going to be interesting.
"Making the tyres last around here is quite tricky. We've seen it, not so much last year because it was wet, but especially the year before. So it should be a good race and I'm looking forward to it."
And although he continued to insist he didn't have 'unfinished business' with the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in wake of last year's race when a last-lap slip let in Jenson Button, he admitted he wants to add a race win here to his collection.
"Obviously at that moment [last year] it hurt a little bit because the victory was so close but in the end it was a tough race and easy to do mistakes which we didn't expect for me in the last half a lap which cost us the victory," he said.
"It's 2012 now and I think we had a quite decent 2011 so it's not too bad. But of course it would be nice [to win]."
Hamilton had almost as much reason for satisfaction given that McLaren team-mate Jenson Button only squeaked through to the Qualifying Three shoot-out courtesy of Pastor Maldonado, on course for a top-ten grid slot, crashed out on his final run in Q2. Yet while Button's struggles are now amounting to a slump, Hamilton seems revitalised and back to his best - even if, on this occasion, his best was not enough to trump Vettel.
"It was definitely a bit harder for us today and we had to push extremely hard to turn the tyres on. I'm very happy with the performance and very surprised to see ourselves on the front row. We'll take it."
Nor was Alonso to be outdone in the happy stakes as he reflected on Ferrari's continued revival, with the F2012, complete with brand-new exhaust format, now a very different beast to the dog of two months ago.
"We feel much happier with the car, both Felipe and me feels better with the grip and the balance. We'll never stop but at the moment we are happy extremely happy and extremely grateful to the guys in the factory," said the Spaniard.
Somehow, you suspect, for all 2012's vast unpredictability, it's a racing certainty that Sunday's grand prix will be a three-driver race.
Europe stocks mostly lower; Madrid soars - Brisbane Times
European stocks have closed mostly lower, with the notable exception of Madrid, amid growing speculation the Spanish government will ask for EU help for its stricken banks.
Dealers said concerns over Spain - hit by a drastic three-notch Fitch ratings downgrade on Thursday - and disappointment that the US Federal Reserve plans no immediate new stimulus measures more than offset the impact of China’s first interest rate cut in three years.
The losses, however, were modest, coming after a strong technical bounce earlier in the week and with investors adjusting positions before the weekend, when reports say EU officials may discuss a Spanish aid request.
A modest turnaround on Wall Street also helped as US President Barack Obama said European leaders were well aware of the need to act to solve a eurozone debt crisis which is threatening global growth prospects.
In London, the benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies closed down 0.23 per cent at 5,435.08 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 slipped 0.22 per cent to 6,130.82 points and in Paris the CAC 40 lost 0.63 per cent to 3,051.69 points.
Madrid bucked the trend, gaining 1.77 per cent amid increasing speculation the government will call on the EU, perhaps as early as this weekend, for help to stabilise its struggling banks.
The market view is that outside help for the banks would take the pressure off Madrid and give the government greater leeway to get the economy growing again and stabilise the public finances.
The European single currency meanwhile gave up most of Thursday’s gains, sliding to $US1.2482 from $US1.2561 late in New York on Thursday. It struck a 23-month low late last week at $US1.2288.
In Asian trade earlier on Friday, markets fell, with investors more focused on Bernanke than Beijing’s surprise rate cut.Tokyo tumbled 2.09 per cent, Hong Kong was down 0.69 per cent, Shanghai lost 0.51 per cent and Sydney fell 1.09 per cent.
AFP
Emerging Stocks Pare First Weekly Advance Since March - Bloomberg
Emerging-market stocks fell, paring the first weekly gain since March, on concerns China’s interest- rate cut will erode bank profits and as economic data from Germany and Italy disappointed.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 0.9 percent to 905.17 at the close in New York, decreasing its weekly advance to 1.3 percent. HTC Corp. (2498), Asia’s second biggest smartphone maker, tumbled 6.9 percent, extending its weekly retreat to 15 percent in Taipei. China Construction Bank Corp. (939) slid 4 percent, the most since Nov. 10. Brazil’s Bovespa added 1.9 percent, snapping its longest weekly losing streak since 2004.
China’s cut in funding costs comes a day before the nation is due to report inflation, investment and output figures. Spain’s credit ranking was cut three levels by Fitch Ratings to BBB, within two steps of non-investment grade. German exports dropped in April for the first time this year and industrial output in Italy fell more than economists estimated, reports showed today.
“Speculation that bank competition in China may accelerate and that the nation’s economic data may be worse than expected are hurting sentiment today,” said Chu Moon Sung, a Seoul-based fund manager at Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management Co., which oversees $28 billion.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) trades at 9.8 times estimated earnings, cheaper than the 11.8 multiple for shares on the MSCI World Index, which rallied 3.1 percent in the past five days. That’s the biggest weekly advance in 2012.
Trade Deficit
The trade deficit in the U.S. shrank 4.9 percent to $50.1 billion from $52.6 billion in March as a drop in imports overshadowed the first decline in exports in five months, Commerce Department figures showed today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 73 economists called for the deficit to shrink to $49.5 billion.
The Bovespa added 0.5 percent in Brazil, extending its five-day advance to 1.9 percent. Gafisa SA, a Brazilian homebuilder, surged 16 percent today after saying earlier this week it will buy the remaining stake in Alphaville Urbanismo SA that it doesn’t already own.
Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA, Brazil’s second- largest steelmaker, dropped 8 percent in Sao Paulo this week to lead declines on the index.
Russia’s Micex Index (INDEXCF) fell 0.3 percent in Moscow, paring its weekly advance to 2.7 percent. OAO Raspadskaya, the coal producer based in Russia’s Kemerovo region, slid 4.4 percent, lessening its five-day advance to 4.4 percent.
The financial and economic links between central and eastern European countries and the EU mean “they are all vulnerable to the euro-area stress,” Societe Generale SA wrote in a report to clients dated yesterday.
Chinese Banks
China’s biggest lenders raised deposit rates hours after the country’s central bank lowered its benchmark and gave them more freedom over pricing, underscoring the competition for funds. Bank profits may drop by more than 10 percent after the interest-rate reduction, according to Hao Hong, chief China strategist at BoCom.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China declined 4.9 percent in Hong Kong, while China Construction Bank Corp. retreated 4 percent. The losses were the most since Nov. 10.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 1.3 percent to an almost eight-month low and Taiwan’s Taiex Index (TWSE) fell 1.1 percent. HTC Corp. sank after Bank of America cut the smartphone maker’s rating.
South Korea’s Kospi index dropped 0.7 percent, while South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All-Share Index slumped 0.7 percent as BHP Billiton Plc, the world’s biggest resources company, decreased 2.7 percent in Johannesburg. Turkey’s ISE National 100 Index slid 1.1 percent.
The extra yield investors demand to own emerging-market debt over U.S. Treasuries fell 1 basis points, or 0.01 percentage point, to 396, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s EMBI Global Index.
To contact the reporters on this story: Christine Harvey in New York at charvey32@bloomberg.net; Saeromi Shin in Seoul at sshin15@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net
Conexus Financial Elevates Event Management Efficiency and Volume with Floktu - new Cloud Based Event Management Software - YAHOO!
A case study on how Conexus Financial, a fast growing professional services firm specializing in publishing and events for high-end financial services, adopted a new on-line cloud based events management platform and in doing so doubled its productivity and enabled expansion into global markets incl. the US and China.
Sydney, Australia (PRWEB) June 09, 2012
Conexus Financial is a specialized, independently owned, Australian publishing and events company based in Sydney. Their high profile, discerning clientele includes recognized leaders in the financial services and institutional banking arenas. With value-added products spanning both the institutional and retail financial services sectors, Conexus Financial is able to support businesses domestically in Australia and around the globe.Conexus has grown rapidly during the past several years as a result of its client-centric philosophy, now touting its status as one of the world’s best practice events management organizations. The company’s extensive editorial contacts and industry expertise coupled with its comprehensive events management capability make it unique among its competition. As such, Conexus remains in high-demand, with events staged and publications read globally. Its publications include the Investment Magazine, I&T News, the Professional Planner, and the preeminent Top 1000 Funds web portal.
The Business Position:
In 2010, senior management at Conexus Financial, directed primarily by Ms. Rayma Creswell, determined that the company would need to pinpoint strategies for dramatically improving events management efficiencies so that it could expand its Australian and global business. Specifically, the company needed to boost the quantity of events it could comfortably manage while still accommodating a growing client list. All of this had to be accomplished without losing its hard earned reputation for delivering superior quality and attention-to-detail, as this helped to ensure high ratings from delegates and differentiated its work from its competitors.
“While looking to boost efficiencies, we’re not interested in high-volume, low-quality events,” explained Ms. Creswell. “The quality of the overall experience for our delegates remains paramount – from marketing to registration, scheduling, feedback, social events, and post-event-management reporting.”
Ms. Creswell and her team knew that raising productivity would require a shift from the old world of managing events manually offline, which employed excel spreadsheets and basic documents offering minimal real-time interaction, to one based on a sophisticated, automated, and advanced cloud-based platform.
The Internet was clearly the future. But the key challenge was in finding a way to integrate Internet or online technologies into the Conexus Financial events management culture – a far from straightforward prospect.
The Technical Position:
As an events management and media company, Conexus Financial lacked a large in-house technical team. The company knew technology would play an increasingly important role in its ability to deliver on its brand promise to clients.
Conexus Financial decided to evolve its technology structure from one founded in-house using license-based software to one that no longer required servers on its premises nor the associated maintenance and labour costs.
During the company’s assessment of its event management technology platform, senior managers identified a clear potential for significant productivity improvements by evolving from its old-world system to an online, real-time event management platform based in the cloud.
To accomplish this, Conexus Financial made the strategic decision to migrate its event management technology platform onto a primarily cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) model. The company initially contracted with a developer that had built its reputation as a market leader. However, it quickly became apparent that the nature of the offering from that vendor would not suit the needs of Conexus Financial. Specifically, the company did not provide the level of attention to detail Conexus expected, lacked customization support beyond registration, and was not based in Australia, limiting its ability to provide the support required for high-quality events.
The Solution:
Despite their disappointment in their first vendor choice, Conexus still believed that a cloud-based SaaS model – executed properly – would help the company reach its goals. So the company researched a number of alternative solutions providers, soon coming across Floktu, an Australian based high-end provider of state-of-the-art events management solutions.
Impressed, Conexus Financial approached Floktu in 2010.
Floktu’s out-of-the-box event management solution provides a robust content management system and administration function to help organizers intuitively build functional, custom-branded and professionally designed websites complete with real-time online updates, web-based ticketing and registration forms, automated RSVP emails, real-time schedules, speaker profiles, event locations and maps, and a range of relevant news, photos, and videos.
The Floktu system also includes mobile applications. Mobile applications assist organisers in promoting their event website and communicating with delegates across all digital channels. Each website feature is easily and intuitively administered under one secure login, driving productivity enhancements and cost reductions.
Floktu worked closely with key stakeholders at Conexus to identify a nexus between its out-of-the-box event management software suite and Conexus Financial’s unique business needs. The Floktu development team then designed a customized software edition to align with Conexus’ workflow complete with a wizard-driven events management and marketing platform to streamline the creation of multiple events.
The Results:
According to Conexus Financial, this platform continues to exceed their expectations, with functionality that includes:
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Self-service, online event ticketing and registration.
- Multiple event marketing and promotion via web, email, and social digital channels.
- Intuitive content management for real-time updates.
- Comprehensive on-the-fly reporting and analytics.
- Custom event styling and branding.
Conexus Financial noticed immediate results after implementing the Floktu event management platform. Ms. Creswell now considers Floktu not only a software vendor but instead an essential strategic business partner. Because the platform is so easy to use, Conexus administrators avoid time-consuming training and the associated downtime. Floktu is fun to use and highly efficient, freeing employees to focus on more important customer and logistical responsibilities.
The Floktu platform has enabled Conexus Financial to:
- Double its productivity and acquire more events across a larger spectrum of geographies including organizations in China and the United States.
- Dramatically reduce the labour and software cost of events management.
- Propel its competitive stance by generating highly accurate, real-time analytics on delegate event satisfaction.
- Notably enrich the delegate experience and client loyalty by better managing off-site social engagements.
The Floktu platform enables Conexus Financial to provide its delegates with an unprecedented level of information before, during, and after attended events. This is particularly crucial for fostering client loyalty, explained Ms. Creswell, with Conexus Financial now able to offer delegates up-to-date changes regarding speaking times, speaker streams, exhibits, recommended restaurants, sightseeing, and other on- and off-site activities.
Going forward, Conexus Financial aims to evaluate incorporation of an even greater range of benefits for its clientele, with the newfound confidence that it can do so with the support of one of the most innovative events management software providers on the market.
About Floktu:
Floktu is an advanced, cloud-based event management solution that is provided as a full-featured, out-of-the-box platform. The Floktu development team is also available to consult with companies and design a custom adaptation to suit their precise needs. While other basic products exist that address different web-based event management functions, Floktu is the first event management software platform to bring web, mobile and marketing an event under one unified platform without requiring any technical or programming experience. Floktu makes the end-to-end process more transparent, more efficient, and far more enjoyable than ever possible before.
Nick Deverell - Sales Director
Floktu
+ 61 2 9919 6968
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