The Ecommerce Cup is coming up on the 13th June 2019, offering a space for members of the ecommerce sector to network over a fun, competitive football tournament. As part of our countdown to the event, we spoke to Stephen Connor, Demand Generation Marketing Manager at Ingenico ePayments, who was on last year’s Ingenico team. Here, he tells us what he and his colleagues enjoyed about the last tournament and reveals how they are preparing for this year’s competition.
The team here at Ingenico ePayments can’t wait to head down to PlayFootball in Shepherd’s Bush, London, to get stuck into the seventh annual Ecommerce Cup.
Last year’s tournament was a great event. It saw the biggest names in Ecommerce come together for tough competition on the pitch, and friendly chat on the sidelines. The weather was good, and the event was a lot of fun too. Five-a-side football is much more fast-paced than a standard kick-about. The potential to go from two goals behind to three up in the blink of an eye makes the game unpredictable and exciting which is why we like it.
The Cup was also a great place to meet people – not just customers and partners from the online retail world, but Ingenico colleagues from other offices too. It was an excellent opportunity to really get to know other movers and shakers in the industry, sharing knowledge over a few drinks and a delicious hog roast.
The only cloud on an otherwise perfect day – at least, for my colleague Brent Heynsmans, Digital Marketing Manager & Brand Communications at Ingenico – was the fact that our team didn’t win! We did make it to the quarter finals however, and certainly celebrated like champions later that evening.
We’re immensely proud of what we achieved last year. Our internal Ingenico management sponsor for the cup, Sangeetha Narasimhan, Regional Marketing Director, SMB Online Europe, who is an enthusiastic supporter of Tamebay’s work on the Cup, did a brilliant job putting a team together from all our offices for the tournament.
This time though, we want to go further. As Sangeetha put it, “the team is more competitive than ever and ready to go for a proper win.”
Members of our Edinburgh office have been practising regularly, forming a five-a-side team of their own to brush up on their skills, and they will be coming down to London for the Cup. We’re also going to be joined by team members from our other offices across Europe, so we can benefit from a little continental flair.
With all of this preparation – and a little luck too – we’re hoping to beat the Ecommerce Cup big hitters at their own game this time around. OFX, the foreign exchange and payments company, won the tournament last year with a really good team, so we would love to try to get close to them. We also have our eye on JustEat too – not only because it’s one of the stronger teams, but it’s also indirectly responsible for the few extra pounds some of us are carrying too!
Whatever happens though, we know the day will be a great laugh, and an opportunity to make new friends across the industry, laying the groundwork for positive new partnerships. Fingers crossed, we’ll have the same sunshine too – although, in England, you never really know.
You can register your team for the Ecommerce Cup here.
To find out more about Ingenico ePayments, visit: www.ingenico.com/payments
