Football Partnerships

By Alex Kotler

With just over six weeks before KICKOFF: MANCHESTER the pitch is manicured and trimmed, the players are loose and ready, the vendors have hot meat pies and match-day magazines for sale and fans are waiting at the turnstiles to fill the stadium to capacity.

Metaphors aside, Adrian Stores, Football Partnerships Networking Captain for Manchester, has done a massive amount of preparation that we must simply wait for 27 August to arrive – that is, for those who have already confirmed their attendance. (Please RSVP to astores@footballpartnerships.com if you have not already. The guest list is filling up rapidly.)

As a direct result of Mr. Stores’ efforts, Football Partnerships has already secured the following partners for the event:

ACROBAT Consulting & Marketing LTD
Acrobat Consulting & Marketing LTD provides marketing, research, fundraising and sponsorship services. Backed by a full service design capability, through both in-house personnel or selected strategic alliances with credible partners, Acrobat provides clients with personal knowledge and senior management expertise.

Football Partnerships thanks ACROBAT Consulting & Marketing LTD for its support, and invites members to learn more about the company here:

Cheshire Conference Centre
Home to both Stockport County since 1902 and Sale Sharks since 2003, Cheshire Conference Centre offers a world-class venue both on and off the pitch. The premier choice for conference and banqueting in the North West, the facility is set within the unique surroundings of a fantastic sports club and offers five suites for all types of functions.

Football Partnerships thanks the Cheshire Conference Centre for its support, and invites members to learn more about the venue here:

Freestyle Football Federation
The F3 team brings a passion for football beyond the traditional game – creating friendships, traveling the world, learning about foreign cultures and striving to realize ambitions. Pushing physical and creative boundaries, the Freestyle Football Federation will join Football Partnerships at KICKOFF: MANCHESTER and provide a taste of the impossible.

Football Partnerships thanks Dan Wood and the Freestyle Football Federation for its support, and invites members to learn more about the organization here:

Grassroot Soccer
The Official Responsibility Partner of the FPN, Grassroot Soccer (GRS), an innovative non-profit organization that uses the power of football to eradicate HIV/AIDS in Africa, will support Football Partnerships in Manchester. As part of a bridge-building exercise, GRS will connect with our local responsibility partner, the Stockport County Football Club Community Foundation.

Football Partnerships thanks Grassroot Soccer for its support, and invites members to learn more about the organization here:

Mitchell Charlesworth Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors
Mitchell Charlesworth is one of the largest locally based practices of chartered accountants and business Advisors in the North West, with 16 partners and over 160 staff. The firm covers a wide range of activities and provides financial, taxation and business advice to both individuals and companies.

Football Partnerships thanks Mitchell Charlesworth for its support, and invites members to learn more about the company here:

Stockport County Football Club Community Foundation

The Stockport County Football Club Community Foundation (SCFCCF) performs local work through grassroots initiatives that incorporate football.

Football Partnerships welcomes SCFCCF, thanks it for its support and invites members to learn more about the organization here:

The Studio
For over 30 years, The Studio LTD has provided Greater Manchester with the leading creative services and production centers. Established to service mail order companies and advertising agencies, The Studio has blossomed into a brand known for stringent quality standards and attention to detail.

Football Partnerships thanks The Studio Ltd for its support, and invites members to learn more about the company here.

As the list of attendees grows, Football Partnerships continues to seek additional partners. Please contact Adrian Stores or Alex Kotler for more information.

By ALEX KOTLER

It’s 6:24 am.

I’ve been working since 5:00 am.

A classical concert from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston is playing, audible just over the whirring fan by my footboard. My laptop is perched upon my thighs, resting upon a southwestern blanket that I picked up at a gas station on a weekend trip to New Mexico with my father in high school.

To my right lies a pile of bags and badges, boxes and bring-alongs, all for KICKOFF 2009: The Football Partnerships Launch Event. In cardboard tubes await coiled signage for hanging. In bags Who Are Ya Designs shirts, tags on, ready for giveaway and sale. In boxes custom badges for all who RSVP-ed. The guest list is now at 180 – 60 more than the venue permits.

And somewhere within that knee-high mountain lies the dreams of an entrepreneur.

Thursday is a big day for Football Partnerships.

—

It’s Monday.

Many people cringe at the start of a new work week.

Not me. At Football Partnerships, every day is Friday. And, every day is a work day.

There are no ‘off’ days.

—

It’s the necesary sacrifice to see out a vision. Its costs are innumerable: Monetary. Social. Temporal.

Fifteen to 20 hours per day. It’s exhausting, possible only by achieving a learning curve, improving efficiencies and keeping healthy.

It’s my story, but it’s no different from that of any other entrepreneur.

—

The Daily To-Dos for Football Partnerships

For the website:
Selection of five to ten current articles
Apply HTML code and upload to blog
Selection of images for (at least half of) articles
Process images and upload to server
Update new member directory profiles

For the newsletter:
Prepare for upcoming podcast interview
Update news content
Write Offsides article
Ready Announcements
Seek new job postings for Opportunities section
Attempt to be witty with the introduction

For the business:
Handle preparations for events
Return correspondence for consulting projects
Identify new opportunities
Refine partnership offerings
Seek new avenues for growth

For the LinkedIn group:
Screen and accept/decline new members
Moderate discussions

For the Facebook group:
Upload new media content
Monitor postings

(Please note: Lists have been halved for time’s sake.)

—

On the notion of time, saving it is essential. And, between time and money, I save the former far better. I do so by multi-tasking.

For example, I exercise, plan, and commute at once.

In about 15 minutes I will shower and shave. I’ll stuff a backpack and throw on my running gear. Out the door I’ll sprint from my apartment on the Upper East side to my office in the west 30s.

En route, I’ll mentally work out my day while I work out my muscles. Cutting through Central Park and out to the pathway along the West Side Highway, I’ll cover the four miles in about half an hour – give or take depending the weight of the pack and occasional stop at traffic lights.

The best part of that run happens when I pass a tourist or a stereotypical New Yorker who peers at me crossly, wearing shorts in mid-winter. It’s cold, so I barely sweat, and I clean off thoroughly once I arrive.

Yesterday I darted past a fellow in a hard hat and body suit working for the utility company. “My man,” he exclaimed, “I love it. I bet you never get sick.” “Never,” I returned with a smile.

I can’t.

Then I handle the day’s work for my employer, the NY Daily News: The one paying my bills, or most of them.

—

In five minutes I’ll make my bed and tidy the room. (Cleanliness rubbed off on me from mom.) On the way to the bathroom, I’ll pass three dormant bodies in the living room. Two are world-class athletes, and one a world-class consultant. My poor roommate – yes, the admission of a roommate is tough on the ego but New York is costly – has graciously allowed me to house Abbas Farid and John Farnworth (both football freestylers) and Dan Wood (a consultant for Streets United) on all available surfaces (couch, chair and floor, respectively). Their sleeping quarters are creeping into the kitchen.

Dan and John leave today for London, Dan for a meeting and John for a paid gig in the UK. Abbas will remain for KICKOFF 2009 and depart on Friday.

Not that the chaos ends when he leaves.

—

I take a sip of green tea from my favorite mug, the one featuring the logo of the New York Giants (American) football team. I bought it in Cooperstown, New York, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, on a camp trip when I was eight as a gift for my mom. There were no New York baseball team mugs, so I chose this one because it was ‘New York’ and mom drank coffee. She gave it back to me and told me that I should have it.

The tea has gone cold and I’m five minutes late.

—

It’s all a scramble.

The effort. The lifestyle. The payoff.

I have no idea whether it’s going to work out. I hope it does, though, because I love it.

This is 15 minutes of my day. It’s not unlike the 15 minutes had by other entrepreneurs.

It’s 7:40 am. Time to run.

Football Partnerships podcast

Football Partnerships welcomes Dan Wood, Director of Streets United, to the latest installment of the Football Partnerships podcast.

Listen here on Football Partnerships, or subscribe to the show via iTunes by searching the podcast directory for ‘Football Partnerships’.

 

 Episode 2 [41:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (25)

By Alan Dawson

Many names have been thrown in the contention ring to become Arsenal’s latest Managing Director.

Karen Brady from Birmingham City and the Premier League’s Richard Scudamore have been touted in the press over the past months, but it appears Arsenal’s pursuit of a new MD will soon be over, if comments from chairman Peter Hill Wood are anything to go by.

Speaking at Arsenal Holdings’ seventh annual general meeting, Hill Wood said: “There has been a lot of speculation about the appointment of a new Managing Director… Our efforts have not been, as described in some newspapers ‘inept’, we have been working hard and we are still working.

Read the rest of the article