Certified Legendary Thread China History in the Making

[Portology]

It is China. The closeness is a given.

It's not something as casual as "a given", it is also a *legality*. They are required by fairly recent law to help military/national intel when and as requested. If that means making product back doors available - eg channels normally available only to authorized vendor service personnel - so be it.

Lenovo is an interesting case of a company often mentioned in this context... a lot of folks think they are a Chinese company, for these purposes they are not. A true "multi-national". Surprised me when I went asking after who-can-buy-what among certain folks in Canberra. Annoys their sales folks when they see their name thrown into the muck with the likes of Huawei et al in the media.

While China's government is now preventing its citizens from accessing ABC content, China's state media outlets are free to access Australian audiences online and through the CCTV and CGTN channels on pay television.

Not to mention the idiots at Poorfax distributing "China Watch" liftout in the SMH with a gutless "stuff in here may not meet our editorial standards" disclaimer.

 

[tribey]

Have been extremely impressed with how the club (and certainly include Koch as a leader in this) has handled every aspect of our China strategy professionally and respectfully. With one exception however - why he saw the need to get into the 'pig in s**t' argument of jumper colours is beyond me. Gave off the impression that our opinion of the Chinese was that they are shallow enough to be influenced by style (a colour close on the spectrum but still absolutely not their national colours) over substance (genuine community and business links and long term planning) and not to mention gave every peanut in the AFL world ammunition to laugh at the club - trivialising what is a highly successful partnership.

One gaffe amidst a credible strategy and a lot of good work didn't and will not wreck the plan, but s**t I hope he (& we) have learnt from it. Whats the old saying about wrestling a pig in it's pen? You get covered in s**t and regardless of outcome the pig likes it.

Be premium Port.

The 'we have a contract that says the Suns can't wear red' fiasco really emphasised that the guy is a morning show host on Australian free to air.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

 

[TWLS]

As an interested onlooker in all of the China footy program how are you guys going to negotiate its future taking into their Presidents further tightening of the controls.
Is it footy business as usual for 2019 up there.

 

[Lockhart Road]

As an interested onlooker in all of the China footy program how are you guys going to negotiate its future taking into their Presidents further tightening of the controls.
Is it footy business as usual for 2019 up there.

Many thanks for your continued interest in our Marco Polo project.
The going has been tougher this year mainly due to upsets beyond our control viz the Canberra : Beijing relationship, which caused the late cancellation of DFAT’s Australia Week in Shanghai, the main event of which was meant to be the round 9 match at Jiangwan Stadium.
The consequence was that side deals linked with the match and the trade and tourism exhibitions and networking spin-offs could not be clinched, with several contracts on the table, adding up to a seven-figure kick in the guts for us revenue-wise.
This should be more than corrected in 2019, provided the politicos come to their senses, and those who are the off-field players in the project, the Marco Polos wearing suits with black white teal and silver ties, are not further undermined within their own organisation.
You see, there are board members at Alberton who’ve used this setback as an excuse to come down with a severe bout of frozen feet, having made zero forward contribution themselves to the project at any stage. These types are ‘assets’ we can do without.
We can also do without naysayers and oil slicks with personal agendas at the top of AFL House.
China is challenging enough without the obstacle of disrupters with narrow vision, minimum job security and poison tongues in Canberra and club board members who qualify as no better than baggage. Three accountants on the same board, for example, are two too many.
Such extra challenges are there to test us hardery. No more, no less.
The China Project will go on.
Without it, let’s face it, the Port Adelaide Football Club - and whoever sits on its board - will be not only deserved objects of s**t and derision ... they will be dead.

 

[Relativity]

Gold Coast Bulletin, 2 Sept. 2018

KOCHIE’S (PUERILE) 2017-2018 SHANGHAI MATCH LEGACY CALLED OUT
—————
.......
Having been involved in my Club’s China venture from the start in 2013, I am sad, and angry, that this is what PAFC and in particular my club chairman will primarily be remembered for by the opposition club who ventured to China with us (and by much of the market in general) after the first two Shanghai games.

Suck this up Kochie, go sit in a corner, hold up a mirror ... and start brutally reviewing yourself.
And learn, damn you ... learn!
Damn quickly.

It is quite surprising that someone lauded as a successful businessman could have lost long term focus so quickly. It was never about the football Kochy......

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

As an interested onlooker in all of the China footy program how are you guys going to negotiate its future taking into their Presidents further tightening of the controls.
Is it footy business as usual for 2019 up there.

This article from 3 weeks ago and I posted a couple of pages back gives you an idea of the progress with the Power Footy programs in the school and the intended expansion to 2020.

https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/china-history-in-the-making.1128595/page-350#post-57520207

 

[portly]

Many thanks for your continued interest in our Marco Polo project.
The going has been tougher this year mainly due to upsets beyond our control viz the Canberra : Beijing relationship, which caused the late cancellation of DFAT’s Australia Week in Shanghai, the main event of which was meant to be the round 9 match at Jiangwan Stadium.
The consequence was that side deals linked with the match and the trade and tourism exhibitions and networking spin-offs could not be clinched, with several contracts on the table, adding up to a seven-figure kick in the guts for us revenue-wise.
This should be more than corrected in 2019, provided the politicos come to their senses, and those who are the off-field players in the project, the Marco Polos wearing suits with black white teal and silver ties, are not further undermined within their own organisation.
You see, there are board members at Alberton who’ve used this setback as an excuse to come down with a severe bout of frozen feet, having made zero forward contribution themselves to the project at any stage. These types are ‘assets’ we can do without.
We can also do without naysayers and oil slicks with personal agendas at the top of AFL House.
China is challenging enough without the obstacle of disrupters with narrow vision, minimum job security and poison tongues in Canberra and club board members who qualify as no better than baggage. Three accountants on the same board, for example, are two too many.
Such extra challenges are there to test us hardery. No more, no less.
The China Project will go on.
Without it, let’s face it, the Port Adelaide Football Club - and whoever sits on its board - will be not only deserved objects of s**t and derision ... they will be dead.

You often open my eyes LR.

But now I feel even more down

 

[DaTBird187]

You often open my eyes LR.

But now I feel even more down

Yeah LR posts used to be uplifting and enlightening. Now they're downright depressing.

 

[GremioPower]

Yeah LR posts used to be uplifting and enlightening. Now they're downright depressing.

But still enlightening! #SilverLinings

 

[Lockhart Road]

The plot thickens :

Meet Kylie Rogers, the woman behind the AFL's bold (and risky) growth push

...Longer-term, she has an eye on bigger expansion possibilities. The AFL has now played a game in China in the past two seasons, and Rogers is keen to grow. She'd like to see two games played either side of a Chinese version of G'Day USA and muses on setting up an AFL House in China, with commercial executives stationed permanently in this new frontier.
It's a bold idea and exactly the sort of thinking Rogers has been brought in to provide. ...

(published in AFR today)

 

[OneGreatClub]

The plot thickens :

Meet Kylie Rogers, the woman behind the AFL's bold (and risky) growth push

...Longer-term, she has an eye on bigger expansion possibilities. The AFL has now played a game in China in the past two seasons, and Rogers is keen to grow. She'd like to see two games played either side of a Chinese version of G'Day USA and muses on setting up an AFL House in China, with commercial executives stationed permanently in this new frontier.
It's a bold idea and exactly the sort of thinking Rogers has been brought in to provide. ...

(published in AFR today)

Port were bolder with their idea. An individual and smallish club .
She is just jumping on the bandwagon. Still, hopefully it assists us and the risks we took and the work we are doing.
Desperately need some good news.
Could she join our board ?

 

[TWLS]

This article from 3 weeks ago and I posted a couple of pages back gives you an idea of the progress with the Power Footy programs in the school and the intended expansion to 2020.

https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/china-history-in-the-making.1128595/page-350#post-57520207

Yes thanks for the article which was exactly the info I was after -Another good news story for International footy.(Which is my main research interest)
Very significant the further expansion into more provinces, and that leads to Administration eventually of that said expansion, which may lead to Port/AFL House possibly setting up a permanent H.Q. over there.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

The plot thickens :

Meet Kylie Rogers, the woman behind the AFL's bold (and risky) growth push

...Longer-term, she has an eye on bigger expansion possibilities. The AFL has now played a game in China in the past two seasons, and Rogers is keen to grow. She'd like to see two games played either side of a Chinese version of G'Day USA and muses on setting up an AFL House in China, with commercial executives stationed permanently in this new frontier.
It's a bold idea and exactly the sort of thinking Rogers has been brought in to provide. ...

(published in AFR today)

Thought I would quote some more bits and pieces from today's long AFR article on her where she gets all of page 45. She will become a key player at the AFL in our China push so understanding who she is, what shes done, what drives her, is a worthwhile exercise. Given she controls the $$ she will be more important than David Stevenson who has the title of GM China & India, Head of Audiences, Products & Innovations at AFL.

She is GM AFL Commercial Operations - and as the article says - Rogers' role is incredibly broad, encompassing every dollar the AFL makes from its fans – think ticketing, AFL membership, events, licensing – through to every dollar the league makes from its direct advertisers and corporate partners. There are 43 of these, ranging from naming rights sponsor Toyota through to specific partners for gambling, alcohol, energy and even batteries.

2018 AFL Record Season Guide says that's $200+m of non broadcast revenue is in her control in the corporate and consumer brands divisions. Worked 17 years at Network Ten making her a leading media executive in the nation and was National Commercial Director and National Head of generating the network's in-house content, strategy and integration agency. She then spent 3 years at MammaMia, helping to commercialize it and grow revenue and profit in Oz and internationally.

So she is in a powerful position to influence our China push as this is in her job responsibility. She took over from Richard Simkiss who had to resign for rooting around with a junior staff member. Quotes direct from the article

So we push the community button with her

"Footy is about connection and community, and a place of belonging," Rogers says. "That's initially what attracted me to the job – the power of this great brand." Juggling family life is a common challenge at league headquarters, too. Rogers, who arrived in Melbourne to take up her role on Australia Day, has three young sons and praises the flexibility afforded by her boss, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan. "He's a parent of four kids," she says. "He gets it. If one of the kids has a concert, go to the concert – just deliver."

Marvel Stadium was her first big deal at the AFL.

In late May, Rogers orchestrated the deal that saw the Disney-owned entertainment company Marvel take the naming rights of the 55,000-seat stadium that the AFL owns in Melbourne's Docklands precinct. The value of the deal was not disclosed, but one report put it at $70 million. The eight-year deal raised eyebrows and sparked jokes. Was the AFL really keen to throw its lot in with the home of Spiderman and the Avengers? But for Rogers, it is exactly the sort of deal the league needs to be doing. It underpins, she tells me, the AFL's plan to turn its stadium into an entertainment and technology precinct that draws crowds year-round with concerts, Big Bash cricket and even an eSports tournament later this year. "I didn't want any old corporate logo or name to be up on that stadium. I wanted it to be strategically right to ensure that it was enabling us to live out our dream for this to be a true family precinct," she says.

This is how she summed up the deal. I wonder if she will apply this thinking to China

"The way I see it, I have to be bold, I have to innovate, I have to take risks, so we can ensure we sustainably grow, so we're continually pumping revenue into the community, into pathways and into the clubs."If I sit on my hands and play it safe, and grow 3 per cent every year, are we sustainable?"

A doggies supporter, family history lived in and played for Footscray, so we will see how she balance $$$ vs community club background connections.

Before arriving in Melbourne in January, Rogers lived in Sydney for 20 years. .....Despite her time away from the home of the AFL, Rogers' connection to game and the city is strong. Her grandfather, Ron Hobba, played eight games for Melbourne before crossing to Footscray, where he played in the reserves. Rogers' mother, who grew up near Footscray's home ground, passed her love of the club, now known as the Western Bulldogs, down to her daughter. In 2016, when the club made it to the Grand Final, Rogers was on holiday with her family on a private island off Singapore. "I left them all. I flew home and I was lucky enough to get tickets for my sister and my mum and my dad and I, and dreams came true. It was magnificent," she says of the club's first premiership since 1954.

Media background. Was at Ten when they had AFL and MammaMia linked up with AFL over AFLW

Rogers joined the AFL in December 2017 after three years at MammaMia, the digital network founded by journalist Mia Freedman and her husband Jason Lavigne. Prior to that she'd spent 17 years at Ten Network, including 14 years as national sales director. At Ten she worked for a time with Lachlan Murdoch, who brought AFL to the network between 2007 and 2011.

Rogers describes Murdoch the younger as having a work ethic rarely matched, but says losing the AFL was a turning point for Ten, which she thought was failing to read how the media landscape was changing. "I was becoming increasingly frustrated at how we continued to look only within our industry. We cared too much about our share, versus revenue growth and profit growth."

She joined MammaMia in 2014, starting as national sales director before rising to managing director a year later. Her stint there allowed her to develop skills in digital and social media – and to learn how founder-lend start-ups operate. "You are HR, you're legal, you're sales, you're marketing. You're everything – and that's exciting," she says. Towards the end of her time at MammaMia, the network formed a partnership with AFL to help with the promotion of its new AFL Women's league. A connection with the league's top brass was born.

Women at the AFL, #metoo movement and male execs rooting junior female staff and replacing one of transgressers in Richard Simkiss are discussed.

The sport's governing body has changed too. Forty percent of Gillon McLachlan's direct reports are women, and two members of the nine-person AFL commission. Diversity is improving at club level too. "That's another byproduct," Rogers says. "We are attracting more terrific female talent, whether on-field or off-field. That's becoming much easier." The AFL's determination to walk the talk on diversity was underlined just before Rogers' arrival. Her predecessor, Richard Simkiss, departed in controversial circumstances,......

The #MeToo challenge
Rogers says it's hard for her to say how the episode changed the AFL, but she says the organisation is determined to be authentic in its push for diversity. She argues that is underlined by the fact 40 per cent of its executives are female, and also by its very public support for same sex marriage. Having started her career in the highly charged, very male world of television, she's supportive of the #MeToo movement and can see it helping the women in the AFL's ranks. "It gives them confidence to have a voice when they know there will be support out there – and that's really important. Back in the day when we were young executives, we couldn't necessarily use our voice. We learnt to survive the best way we could. I'd like to think I thrived more than survived, and humour helped. But we weren't immune to it."

But has some balance

But Rogers is quick to say she can see potential dangers in #MeToo. "We can take the movement too far, and women start to not be employed because it's all too hard. "It goes back to being grown up," Rogers says, giving the example of office romances. "I hope the young people of today who are working together can meet each other and fall in love – I mean, I met my husband at work. It's a normal thing. "Extramarital affairs are a different thing. Forcing yourself upon someone is a different thing."

AFL Partners - reckons AFL/clubs have to look outside traditional partnerships and use new media more

Rogers has a few key priorities for the year ahead, perhaps led by renewals of 10 key partner agreements, including with the league's airline and accommodation providers. She's also leading a review of the entire partnership program, including looking at service levels (all partners currently get the same level of service, and Rogers wants a tiered structure) and whether the league should really have as many partners as it does.
"I want to ensure I have the right number of partners, and that we can look each other in the eye and say, 'We're better together.'"

Rogers is also driven by the need to ensure the AFL Women's league has the right partners to ensure its stability, and developing the commercialisation of digital properties.

The league stopped outsourcing its digital advertising and marketing this year, and hit budget before the season started. But Rogers sees the scope to triple digital revenue.

"Sporting bodies have been quite traditional in the way they have sold their assets to their partners," she says. "For me it's about opening up new media, the disciplines and the benefits of new media to our partners."

Talks China - ignores Port's efforts and then finishes with

"Our contract is with the fans. All of my commercial decisions, and everything we do has that lens. There's a line at my office door of people who want to become famous on the back of the AFL. You can't be distracted by that."

Lets see if over the next few years talk is essential cheap on a cost effective basis by Kylie Rogers, just like most of her male colleagues at the AFL seem to do.

 

[StrappingTape]

And again back on the topic this new person looks like she will land some in China, I think we will eventually get squeezed but I hope KT is able to get from her some massive kickbacks in any agreement

 

[OneGreatClub]

Stay Safe LR. The Typhoon is coming.

 

[Lockhart Road]

Stay Safe LR. The Typhoon is coming.

Thanks mate. She is here, closest at noon our time, 1:30pm yours, maximum signal 10 just went up.

Edit: 2pm HK time. Quite a storm this one. The two trees approx five stroreys tall that shade the Pro Drinkers Corner have just been split down the middle. Out on the racecourse there's a guy walking two dogs. Hang on, not there anymore.

 

[OneGreatClub]

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/teams/port-adelaide/news-story/cf7256f70cef6d82d3e08f06385a825a

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

View attachment 559410 https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/teams/port-adelaide/news-story/cf7256f70cef6d82d3e08f06385a825a

Another reason to wear our wharf pylon jumper in a Chinese port city. Cant be a clash as Richmond jumper has more black in it than Saints jumper.

 

[Moo87]

It'd be a massive win for us if the bye from this game aligned better with the bye rounds for all other clubs. The early bye in my opinion has added to our late season fatigue for the last 2 years.

 

[Pappagallo]

Another reason to wear our wharf pylon jumper in a Chinese port city. Cant be a clash as Richmond jumper has more black in it than Saints jumper.

Yeah I think it’s pretty clashy. Black/white vertical pattern versus black/white/red vertical pattern is not a good contrast.

It’s not pre-2000 Collingwood vs North but it would still look a bit rubbish.

 

[GremioPower]

Yeah I think it’s pretty clashy. Black/white vertical pattern versus black/white/red vertical pattern is not a good contrast.

It’s not pre-2000 Collingwood vs North but it would still look a bit rubbish.

The white panel on the back and white shorts should be enough to generate contrast, imho.

 

[Pappagallo]

The white panel on the back and white shorts should be enough to generate contrast, imho.

This against St Kilda’s white centre panel on the front is a bit of a mess too with bodies going everywhere. We can do better.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

This against St Kilda’s white centre panel on the front is a bit of a mess too with bodies going everywhere. We can do better.

FFS who really gives a rats toss bag - in any great numbers - about clash other than those blind pricks at the AFL.

95% of the viewing audience have HD TV screens. Oh but we can't have black on black - despite people not having issue with it for over 100 years. Then magically the AFL says we all have impaired vision and need to have clash strips.

Clash strips became a thing in the 1960's when soccer broadcasters in Europe in black and white TV days said lets have it so one side has a light coloured strip and the other a dark coloured strip so its easier to distinguish on a black and white TV. FIFA then made it a policy for the next 40 years even when coloured TV dominated the advanced nations and developing nations. They have finally changed that although FIFA still insists it for WC games.

We are way past the stage of analogue Rank Arena black and white TV's.

 

[Grave Danger]

How is teal blue viewed in Chinese culture?