Paolo Personeni – Sportradar – My ICE 2016

In this feature SBC profiles Paolo Personeni of Sportradar to discuss his views on ICE Totally Gaming, and sowing the seeds for future business.

Paolo is the Managing Director of Managed Trading Services at Sportradar, the company will be present at stand S1-150.

How I prepare for ICE

Paolo: ICE comes at a bit of a tricky time in the calendar, as everyone is barely getting up to speed after the Christmas break and the New Year’s Eve celebrations.

I quite like that though and nothing mobilises me and my team more than the unique opportunity that the biggest industry gathering in the world offers. It means there is no time to acclimatise to the rhythms of working like in January – we are straight it, getting ready to showcase Sportradar’s Managed Trading Services to the full range of potential clients who will be making the journey to London’s Excel Centre.

What I am doing at ICE 2016

Paolo: ICE is the premium platform for my team and I to get some quality time with a massive range of potential clients. Our Managed Trading Service offering is genuinely unique and I cannot wait to sit down with each of the individuals and teams that I have already been scheduling in to my diary, to give them a walk through our USPs and the fully bespoke service that we can craft together. So that will take up most of my time, but of course I make time for those unexpected visitors or last minute confirmations.

I think I am safe in assuming that the vast majority of my time will be spent listening to operators, getting a feel of what combination of risk management needs they have, and finding the MTS package that perfectly fits those needs.

That is what is so exciting about this year. I am walking into the Excel knowing that the proposition Sportradar is offering caters for every betting operator, large or small, no matter where their trading expertise already lies.

What I’m looking forward to at ICE 2016

Paolo: This is my first ICE as a member of the Sportradar team, so one of the things I am really looking forward to is meeting my colleagues, some of them for the first time.

ICE may be the premium event to bring the betting industry together, but it also does a good job of bringing Sportradar individuals and teams from the furthest of our 30 different offices together as well! So it will be great to update them on our MTS service, for them to give me an insight into what other products and services we are offering to the industry and just generally catching up.

I know that esports will figure quite prominently in our offering at ICE this year so I am looking forward to seeing what this exciting sport offers our business and more importantly, what we offer it.

Where you will usually find me at ICE

Paolo: The Sportradar stand, always towering over the other stands, at S1-150 will definitely be the talk of the conference and the few mock ups I have seen of the layout are looking exciting and impressive.

That will be my home and office for three days and I am sure I will be sitting in meeting rooms, sitting at the coffee tables upstairs or meeting new clients on the floor. I won’t be far from that plot of land – that’s for sure!

First ICE attended

Paolo: The first year I attended was back in 2006. But a lot has changed since then. The ICE of today is so imposing, colourful and professional. The betting industry really is an incredibly creative and ambitious sector and I enjoy seeing the Excel try and keep a roof on that colour and sound.

The Sportradar stand was always a stand you had to walk past, no matter who you worked for, so I really look forward to bringing my old friends and colleagues by and being their host. This ICE is a new beginning for me.

Typical post-ICE activity

Paolo: Well obviously there are the various drinks receptions and parties – an integral part of the complete ICE experience. After all the work and preparation that my team and my Sportradar colleagues have put into the last few months, we will definitely be looking to unwind in the evenings (probably more the latter evenings as we need to stay fresh for the morning meetings).

These socials will also be the perfect place to catch up with my new colleagues on a more informal basis and I am looking forward to that as well. However, the real post-ICE activity will start after that, when me and my colleagues will be following up on all our meetings, crafting proposals, booking in office visits, showcasing our attention to their detail and their requirements.

ICE is the place you spend a lot of time planting seeds. It is the months after that are all about the care, attention and cultivation.