2015 Soccerex Global Convention

Last week, I travelled to Manchester, UK to attend my 3rd consecutive Soccerex Global Convention.  As always, it was a packed 3 days full of shotgun conversations, panel discussions and booze. 

I must say that for the second straight year, the Indian delegation stood out as some of the most sought after people at the event given the popularity and excitement generated by the first season of the Indian Super League. 

Here are the highlights of the trip from my end:
  • A successful panel discussion entitled, “India: The Time Is Now” led by Libero Sports Managing Director Sukhvinder Singh. The room was packed full of people from all over the world interested in learning more about the Indian football industry
  • Spending quality time at an unforgettable Brazilian Barbeque dinner with some of my favorite people in the industry including Tim Vine (Premier League), German Arguelles (eSoccer), Jurgen Griesback (Street Football World), Rahul Patil (NorthEast United FC), Ashish Shah (Chennayin FC), Urs Zanitti (AFDP) and, of course, Sukkhi.
  • Working with the United Kingdom Trade & Investment to organize a successful networking event between UK based firms and our delegation
  • Taking some of the delegates and a few family friends on a guided tour of Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium
  • The few minutes that I took out for myself to reflect on how far I’ve come and how far Libero Sports has come in the world of global football
A big takeaway for me this year was that for the first time I started to filter my conversations rather than entertain every single person who approached our stall.  It’s just easier to be honest when you know that there is nothing which can be done together rather than lead someone on and waste everyone’s time in the process.

I know I’ll need some time to unwind from this trip but am confident that by the beginning of the year I’ll already be looking forward to organizing our next delegation to Manchester.   

"India: The Time is Now" panel discussion

Packed room to watch India session 

Some members of the Indian delegation at Etihad Stadium

Sukkhi and I "manning" the Destination India stall

With my amigos German and Jurgen at the National Football Museum

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