Football Partnerships

Images of KICKOFF: ATLANTA

Missed KICKOFF: ATLANTA? Check out who attended and what went down. (Please pardon the excessive presence of Alex Kotler in the photos.)

Football Partnerships podcast

This week’s episode features a special report and interview of Adrian Stores, Networking Captain for Greater Manchester.

Learn more details here about the upcoming FPN event in Manchster, England on 27 August, or subscribe to the show via iTunes by searching the podcast directory for ‘Football Partnerships’. Please note that the recording is best heard via iTunes, as some browsers disrupt audio transmission.

 

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By Alex Kotler

Football Partnerships is pleased to announce an upcoming networking function to take place in Manchester, England at the Cheshire Conference Centre on Thursday, August 27.

The event will serve as the inaugural function of the Football Partnerships Network (FPN), and will provide an opportunity for existing and prospective members of Football Partnerships to gather, socialize and exchange best practices.

The Cheshire Conference Centre, located at Edgeley Park Stadium - home to Stockport County FC - will provide a majestic backdrop for the first of many such functions in the Greater Manchester area.

Our local responsibility partner, in cooperation with Grassroot Soccer, the Official Responsibility Partner of the FPN, will be the Stockport County Community Sports and Education Foundation, which carries out grassroots initiatives throughout Greater Manchester.

“It is a privilege and an honor to bring Football Partnerships to Manchester, a city known for its economy, its industry, and - of course - its football,” said Alex Kotler, Founder of Football Partnerships. “I am confident that we will deliver a top-level event, and demonstrate that a Football Partnerships function is not to be missed.”

Leading the efforts in Manchester is Networking Captain Adrian Stores, Director of Acrobat Consulting and Marketing Ltd, a well-connected leader and an active member of the Greater Manchester community.

Asked for his thoughts on the upcoming event, Mr. Stores commented, “I am delighted that the first UK forum for Football Partnerships will be launched in Stockport. We look forward to welcoming people from all sectors of ‘the beautiful game’ to Edgeley Park Stadium.”

For information on partnership opportunities, please contact Adrian Stores at astores@footballpartnerships.com.

Please look for additional updates about the event, including the itinerary and more, in the coming weeks.

By FOOTBALL PARTNERSHIPS

Football Partnerships is pleased to announce KICKOFF 2009, a private networking function to be held Thursday, January 29 at 7:00pm in New York City at Brother Jimmy’s BBQ.

This exclusive affair, featuring raffles, refreshments, and world-class entertainment, is open to Football Partnerships members (with RSVP) and specials guests.

As partners for the occasion, Football Partnerships has selected the Soccer Resort, the NJ Ironmen of the Xtreme Soccer League, Who Are Ya Designs, Eurosport, and Soccer Sport Supply, each of which will be providing support to make the function happen. Grassroot Soccer, an organization which uses the power of soccer in the fight against HIV/AIDS, will serve as our responsibility partner.

Accommodations
Football Partnerships is pleased to offer discount accommodations for out-of-town guests at the Hotel Roger Williams, located nearby the event venue.

About the event
The first of its kind, KICKOFF 2009 will feature the key decision-makers in football from the New York area and around the world, including representatives from Major League Soccer, Women’s Professional Soccer, United Soccer Leagues, the Xtreme Soccer League, ESPN, Setanta Sport, and all sectors of the football industry.

As entertainment, Football Partnerships has invited Abbas Farid, champion football freestyler, to dazzle with a display of skill.

By Alex Kotler

Travel essentials
Toothbrush. Check.
Tickets. Check.
Passport. Check.
Luggage tags. Check.
Reading material. Check.
Electrical adaptors for every outlet worldwide. Check.
Lightweight, tailored suit with three matching shirt/tie combos. Check.
Business cards enough to drown a hippopotamus. Check.
Digital camera to capture image of me and George Weah. Check.
Everything we need to take Soccerex 2008 by storm. Check. Again.

Inevitably, I’ll arrive to find that I forgot something. Like pens. I’ll buy some. Rules. I’ll bend some. Deodorant. I’ll borrow some. (Kidding about the deodorant. And the rules. Maybe.)

Most things, though, are replaceable or avoidable or incidental. So, provided I land safely with a pressed suit and business cards, I’ll be prepared for Soccerex.

The Conference Professional
I’m no stranger to conferences. In 2001 I attended TRENZ in Christchurch, the national convention for tourism professionals in New Zealand, on behalf of Absolute Travel, a deluxe tour operator in New York City. In 2005, while working with Sony-BMG, I went to HOW in Chicago, the industry get-together for creative professionals. Each congress featured the field’s pioneers and innovators, under- and over-rated panels and panelists, vendors promoting goods and services that ranged from highly intriguing to highly undesirable, more opportunities to drink coffee than at Starbucks in Seattle, and delegates from near and far linked by their similar penchant for wearing nametags. Awesome. Both of them. Really.

And I expect Soccerex to be no different.

Managing Expectations
As a small business owner, balancing limited resources and striving for growth, one of my priorities is managing expectations. This applies to the promises I make to others as well as those to myself. Whether it’s to do with content or punctuality, quantity or functionality, meeting or exceeding what’s been promised is the foundation of Football Partnerships’ reputation.

The same applies to others and the impressions they make on me – which is why I am going to Soccerex in the first place.

The Soccerexers
The staffers of Soccerex were some of the first members of the Football Partnerships (FP) LinkedIn group. Through their involvement in FP, we came to forge a professional relationship – which has blossomed into a strategic partnership and friendship. Although we share an audience – football’s business community – we view our overlapping market space as non-competitive and have pledged to work jointly to broaden awareness about Soccerex 2008. In exchange for providing a platform, FP is invited to the event in South Africa.

Credit to Soccerex, too, for offering the personalized attention so easily overlooked. This applies in particular to Misha (Sher), who has always made himself available to answer my questions at, what would seem, irregular hours to say the least. Returning to my point about managing expectations, the team at Soccerex has done exactly that.

However, it’s not just the people who merit recognition.

Soccerex is techno-savvy
The genius of online social networking is that once the infrastructure is developed the people are released to build it out. In partnership with Kupferwerk, which bills itself as an expert in human interface engineering, Soccerex has released an online tool for all conference delegates, called Soccer Exchange, through which we can establish contact, set meetings, view schedules, and fret over our personal profiles. (Should I mention my favorite team? Should I reveal what I’m interested in?)

My favorite part about Soccer Exchange is scrolling through and surveying the attendees. I can see whom from where is coming, and strategize how to approach him/her. Like on Facebook, we can send each other messages and request to become Contacts (ie, ‘Friends’). Via a personalized scheduler, we can even set meetings with each other. (Would it be too bold to request a meeting with George Weah?)

At its announced release, circa three weeks ago, I dove in and sent a bespoke introductory letter to over 100 Soccer Exchange Members – tweaking each time for name and brand. Not generally an early adopter, I became one to establish the Football Partnerships name on Soccer Exchange before everyone else. Now that my Inbox is clogged with everyone else’s clutter, I have taken a more reserved and calculated approach. SPAM (ie, the mass solicitation) is the unfortunate byproduct of applications like Soccer Exchange, especially in a commercial arena. (“Sure, Bill, I’ll try to stop by your booth to check out your company’s world class, life-saving, one-of-a-kind football gadget that turns ordinary players into superheroes and average coaches into master tacticians.”)

Lining up the shot
Having the proper approach to an event like Soccerex is essential. Mine lies somewhere between Lane Meyer from Better off Dead and Louden Swain from Vision Quest: each an underdog character, passionate about his trade, devoted to his training, and typecast to overcome adversity and win the girl – despite dramatic setbacks during pivotal scenes.

These vain impressions are, admittedly, romanticized, but what shouldn’t get lost is the ethic of preparedness. Thus, I have set goals of myself, requiring that I be able to communicate the following:

1. My elevator pitch. FP is a business-to-business network and resource for soccer industry professionals and marketers seeking exposure within the football environment. FP partners with Soccerex to increase awareness about football opportunities worldwide, to connect individuals and companies from the highest echelons down to the grassroots level, and to consult on football-related projects.

2. The FP revenue model. Football Partnerships earns money via (a) online and podcast advertising revenue, (b) consulting, and (c) various projects currently under development. As the company matures and the network expands, we anticipate the model to shift its weight to predominate from (c) to (b) to (a).

3. What is FPs’ objective at Soccerex 2008? As the founder of FP, I am attending to increase the awareness of the FP brand, to meet current members of FP personally, and to recruit new members and potential partners to FP.

4. What to say if I meet George Weah. Uh. Dude. You’re awesome.

Staying nimble
Did you see Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s heel flick goal? Impressive. It’s often mentioned that he has a black belt in Tae Kwan Do, revealed as if it were a caveat. Regardless, for a big man, he’s clearly flexible, an attribute that - aside from his gum-juggling skills - is one reason I admire him as a footballer. I’d love to say that I model my style of play after his: brutish, physical, deadly from anywhere within 25 yards, but softened by a shockingly pillowy touch - outside of the Champions League and internationally, of course.

But I can’t.

However, I can be flexible, and in this vein I have left the entirety of my schedule open whilst at Soccerex. (Here’s where I tie everything together.)

My experience from other conferences tells me that - particularly in unfamiliar environs - it’s best to keep things open. I have my preconceptions about South Africa and Soccerex, but they will undoubtedly be different than their brochures suggest.

Armed with a local mobile phone, a wrinkle-free suit, a list of Soccer Exchange contacts, a solid elevator pitch, and an open schedule, I’m out to make a strong impression. I expect that much of myself.

So, off I scuttle to the airport, hoping I’ve brought everything from writing utensils to hygienic products, and ready to take on the footballing world in Johannesburg, also known as the City of Gold.

With 17 hours at 35,000 feet, I’ll have plenty of time to work on my approach to George Weah.