Topic: Sports Marketing

Gregoire Akcelrod

Gregoire Akcelrod, born in 1982, his one and only dream: to become a professional football player.

Unfortunately, his father banned him from playing this sport between the ages of 10 to 18 due to Gregoire not being a good enough player. He therefore had to think out of the box, and so he proceeded to build an ambitious marketing strategy to attract soccer clubs. Gregoire created a fictitious website; he snuck onto PSG’s pitch and took ‘official’ photos of himself in full football kit.

Due to Gregoire's perseverance and determination, this state of mind enabled him to join 23 professional football clubs on trial, on five continents and in over 20 countries.

Gregoire Akcelrod reveals in his programme his marketing tools to achieve the impossible.

Further to the international media maelstrom his story generated, Gregoire became an agent to help young players sign on to English football clubs. Gregoire's clients included Aurélien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Johan Abdoul (ex Aston Villa FC), Yaya Sanogo (ex Arsenal).

He is the founder & CEO of One Soccer. He also worked in motorsport with the Team RFR, as a commercial director for the Sebastien Loeb Racing Team.

Gregoire is the author of an autobiography titled "Pro At All Costs".

Maickel Melamed Trujillo

Maickel Melamed was born on April 27 of 1975 in Caracas, Venezuela. Melamed was diagnosed at birth with "motor delay" (a state of general hypotonia of the body) due to asphyxiation with umbilical cord and the doctors did not give him long life. What defines Maickel Melamed, from the beginning of his life, has been his self-motivated and courageous everyday bet against adversity, the fullness of his existence and his transcendence.

Maickel Melamed is passionate about HUMAN POWER; he is an economist, psychotherapist, Life Management coach, author, speaker, communicator and high performance athlete. All this defines his areas of action, from which he builds with tools and methodologies to facilitate his vocation: expansion, productivity, development and human growth. From his integral vision of the human being, he shows through the most diverse forms, that we all have the ability to build, through our talents and passions, a fantastic story worth living, enjoying and sharing.

Transforming the impossible into reality has been his signature, conveying his message of possibility, effectiveness and humanity. For more than a decade, he has been a speaker, facilitator and workshop director for organizations in Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica and the United States.

He is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations in Venezuela and a member of the Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum. His purpose in life is to help others be better, beyond what they think they can be, through the discovery of their true potential and its later usage. Maickel Melamed has practiced extreme sports such as paragliding, parachuting, diving, and mountain climbing. He is currently dedicated to athletics. He climbed the highest mountain in his country Venezuela, the 5007m high Bolívar Peak.

Despite his condition, Melamed has participated in several marathons and has been able to conclude successfully. In 2011 he participated in the New York marathon, subsequently in Berlin, Chicago and Boston in 2015.

Putting what he believes in into action, both personally and professionally, is his contribution to the planet he wishes for future generations, a world in which success is too small a goal and human transcendence comes to take its place.