Athens is a huge, congested city and the local taxis are your main means of getting around. The average Athens tax ride is inexpensive, just bring your helmet.

Living on the Edge

I had just arrived in Athens with a couple who�ll remain nameless. [He�s now a respectable doctor and married to someone else.] My buddy, �John�, had a Greek friend who lived in town named Stavos. We were going to stay with him and explore Athens before heading to the islands.

Stavos had gone to college with us in California and more or less been raised there. After experiencing the finer points of higher education [fraternity parties, etc.], he and his brother had started a snowboard company in Athens. Who could possibly be buying snowboards in Greece? It turned out Stavos and his brother were selling them throughout Europe, not in Greece Oakland Raiders Football Tickets.

Anyway, Stavos collected us in a friend�s car and took us to his small studio. We decided to catch some winks and then head out for a night on the town. Thus, we would experience an Athens taxi ride for the first time.

Taxi driving is a competitive sport. I am convinced there is a World Cup of taxi driving and drivers practice on the streets of their location. San Francisco and New York taxi drivers are an elite group, while taking a taxi in France is a good way to see the Eiffel Tower while going the wrong way down a one-way street. In Athens, it was all about speed.

Being an idiot, I yelled out �shotgun� as the taxi pulled to the curb. I should�ve guessed my triumph wasn�t a good thing when Stavos just smiled. In we went and Stavos gave the driver our destination. For the next fifteen minutes, I feared for life itself. Mine and others.

Our driver was apparently convinced he would get a bonus if he beat a certain time. We peeled out at the curb and the race was on. Through the tight, winding streets of Athens we went. As is the nature of chaotic Athens, the roads are packed with cars, buses, people and very brave cyclist. Considering this an obstacle course, a driver whipped through the throngs at over 80 miles per hour. Most of the time was spent in the SLOW lane, where less cars were. I still have nightmares about the faces of cyclist staring at me as we passed them with maybe 5 inches to spare. Frozen pictures of terror. Throw in cars starting to pull out in the road and you have the white knuckle event of the year.

When we finally pulled up to the club, I started breathing again. As I pulled my hand off the handle on the door, I left impressions. Standing outside of the cab, Stavos asked me if I wanted to sit in the front on the way home and started laughing.

It took two drinks to calm my nerves. Come hell or high water, I was walking home.

About the Author: Rick Chapo is with http://www.nomadjournals.com - makers of writing journals. Travel journals are great travel accessories and travel gifts for him or her. Visit http://www.nomadjournaltrips.com for more travel articles, travelogues and travel stories.

Anybody who works in marketing knows well that one of the first and most important thing to do is target definition.

Target definition requires a systematic approach: from the analysis of the needs of the market to the analysis of the existence of an economic potential going through the market borders definition till the selection of the sector/sections of the market to be considered.

Companies are increasingly choosing to reach their target using innovative tools such as CRM, guerrilla marketing, one to one etc. etc.

Consumers preferences and wishes are changing on a daily basis and marketing strategies have to follow this constant transformation if they want to be effective.

As a consequence companies must be flexible and ready to change quickly their marketing instrument.

Sports marketing is an effective marketing tools , it gives a company the opportunity to leverage on the passion that consumers have for sports Oakland Raiders Football Tickets.

To sponsor something doesn't mean simply to appear with one's logo on the shirts of a football team or on the board around the playfield. To be sponsor means to be able to transfer to the brand or to the company the sports' positive value reaching at the same time via the passion the heart of the consumer.

Sports marketing is one of the most effective way to reach a specific target because just as every product has got its target of consumers, every sport has got its target of fans, viewers and followers.

So companies need to select among all the different sports the one which gets the highest number of people in target, check TV and other media coverage, understand what is the competition doing , look at the sports market and device a communication plan based on it.

This extreme simplification doesn't have to mislead you to think that planning a sponsorship programme is an easy task.

There are so many different players around a sport event , just to name a few: athletes, clubs, promoters, sponsors, agents, tv and other media , supporters and so on that in order to be sure that everything is properly taken care of one needs to manage carefully any and each aspects.

Marketing plans always start from imagination and creativity but results are achieved only through good planning and perfect implementation, because of this a sport marketing programme requires

� A Specific research to evaluate the congruency between product and sport

� A careful exam of the chosen sport's market to reach an agreement with the most trustworthy partner

� A good communication campaign

� Constant and targeted PR

� Reliable People on field

In few words one needs a steady organization with a lot of experience and a professional approach in order to be sure to get the most out of a sponsorship.

About the Author: Riccardo Taf�, RTR Sports Marketing Agency. Consultant Firm on Sports Sponsorship and Strategic Marketing Management. 10 years of experience. Find out why Top Companies are choosing to do business with RTR at http://www.rtrsports.com