Post by Annie on Jun 28, 2005 20:04:02 GMT 3
Visit to Elite Management, Monaco 2003
By Ruth
Please do not reproduce this without permission
Front Cover
Inside Example
Cover Letter and CD version of book
The Get Well Soon Book photographed on the appartment floor!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday July 7th 2003
Well, I promised I'd keep you up to date with both the birthday book and get well soon books we've signed for him, so here's the news!
As most of you know, I was on holiday with my family last week in Nice, France and thanks to a favourite spy of mine (I know you're reading this!) who made a few phone calls and nudged me in the right direction, I managed to visit Elite Management, (Marat's management headquarters) in Monte Carlo and hand over the get well soon book in person! Elite was only 25 minutes from where I was staying but it meant I had to close the book earlier than I'd intended, on the Thursday, because my flight to Nice was on Friday.
Ok, down to details! I'd arranged to go on the Monday and after getting the bus to Monaco, I found the Elite office and got a really warm welcome! Typically, Marat had been in MC the week before (right place wrong time, Ruth....) but is now resting in Moscow. The reason for his MC trip? He was visiting one of his doctors about that wrist injury and everyone said how terrified he is of surgery: not just because he would be out of action for 6 months, but because he's so scared of hospitals and everything medical. Fortunately, things went well and he's chilling in his beloved Moscow with his family. They were all complaining that Marat had spent the whole of last week harrassing them with last minute changes of plans, then re-arranging things for Denis to be included, then changing them again so he can see Dinara, then confirming, then ringing and saying 'No, wait,.... I want to change hotel' then 10 minutes later "I've changed my mind.... Denis likes that hotel, so we'll go to that one..." I think you get the picture! They were all breathing a sigh of relief when he went back to Russia! They told me that his next tournament will be LA, as long as his wrist is still healing well, but he's made no plans for anything before that.
OK, back to the books! Nothing was said about the birthday book, except that he definitely got it. But everyone loved the GWS book, saying how beautiful it was and how they couldn't believe his fans had taken the time to cheer Marat up and leave such "lovely" and "special" messages for him. Before I'd even arrived in France, they had known about the book and had told Marat while he was in MC "You will be getting a book by your fans with get well messages next week" and he had been like "Really? For me?! Really? WOW!!!" One of them said "He was really happy when we told him and he looked quite excited!" So the book is now on it's way to Marat..... isn't it good to know we made Marat smile?!?! They all wanted to read the book for themselves so it got passed around the office!
Someone opened the front cover and saw the GFR.com website logo on the cover letter and said "Oh, we all know that logo here!" I said "Really? You recognise it?" They said "Oh yes, we all know theguyfromrussia. You're famous here! And all around the world!"
I said "Most of it's in English, can he read it ok?" They said "I don't think it will be a problem, because he can read english really well now, it's really improved...... oh look, some of them have written in Russian! That's so cute! He will love that!"
I won't bore you with all the details of the conversation as I was there for quite a while, but we got onto the topic of Marat's male fans and I pointed out some male entries in the book by Jojo and Vassily, which got read out loud to everyone! They wanted to know about Jojo and Vassily, so I told them little things I knew, like Vassily bribing someone so he could be a ballkid at Marat's match in Dubai (which they thought was hilarious and are probably going to tell Marat because he will love it!) and that Jojo was only 14 but a huge Marat fan in Thailand (I included all the flags from your countries in the messages and they couldn't believe how many nations were represented) and they said " Marat will appreciate that more than anything, that he has dedicated male fans who have taken the time to wish him well, that means so much to him" Hope Jojo & Vassily don't mind me singling them out!
They couldn't believe how much work had been done and how dedicated his fans are and how kind we were to think of something like this. I got the impression that both Marat & his management felt we would have forgotten about him while he was injured, and so this little book really did show them that Marat's fans are here for the long-haul!
I don't think they'd realised how big Marat's internet fan-base is and they asked lots of questions about GFR.com and also "How the fans see Marat's image.... what do they think of him?" So I kept getting pumped for information! I think they'll be interested in the results of the Marat Fan survey we did. I also mentioned Christine's Forum and Delfina's site as other main players on the net. (They already knew about maratsafin.com) They'd also been checking the links on 'Lockeroom' and were amazed at how many sites he has! And his mythical 'official' site? Well, they said he does want one and they have made a few plans, but still nothing has been decided. It's pretty low on their list of priorities, especially with this injury, BUT having seen the impact a website can have and the network it creates between fans, it may have motivated them a little to pull their finger out!
We swapped 'weird fan stories' and I won hands down.... it was a really good laugh! Actually, there was one girl who called while I was there, claiming to be a 'member of Marat's family who wanted to send something to Gerard but didn't have his address......' It was so funny watching the face of his secretary take the phone call and roll her eyes, mouthing 'another crazy fan...' but at the same time, I felt a bit embarrassed, and really tried to emphasise that 99% of his fans are just normal people with lives!
We chatted about Dinara (who has just joined Elite's books as their third player.... they only have Marat & Goran) and Marat had been complaining about his sister, saying " She's at this funny age.... she doesn't know what she wants" (oh, is that right, Mr I-change-my-mind-every-30-seconds?) and he sounded like a worried mother...awwww.... They also gave me mixed reactions on Denis. He had been in MC with Marat and by the sound of things, it's a pretty intense friendship that seems to exclude everyone else. He also seems like a very unemotional person, quite cold and distant. Someone said "a bit of a cold fish" which got me wondering if that is healthy for Marat? And there's no girlfriend for either of them, just Marat and Denis being inseparable big kids!
One last bit of news: Marat had a haircut in MC. He walked into the office and the first thing the girls said to him was "You need a haircut!" He protested because he'd been trying to grow it longer but all the women were like "No Marat, get it cut!" It's not shaved, just a bit shorter and at least this time it was done by a professional! (I think he'd been trying to grow it like Denis..... copycat best friends hehe)
Well, I had a great time at the office and we talked about more things than I can possibly remember but it was so nice to meet people face-to-face! So a big thankyou to Elite for having me for a few hours and being so friendly, a special thank you to a certain someone for arranging it (and kicking some backbone into me: man, I was nervous!) and a major thanks to everyone who signed the books: you did yourselves proud! You gave Marat & co a glimpse of the support he has all around the world and they couldn't stop singing your praises, so thanks to you guys for giving me something to hand to them!! Your dedication has really paid off, and I promise, if I hear anything from the man himself, I'll post it !!
Ruth
13/7/03
By Ruth
Please do not reproduce this without permission
Front Cover
Inside Example
Cover Letter and CD version of book
The Get Well Soon Book photographed on the appartment floor!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday July 7th 2003
Well, I promised I'd keep you up to date with both the birthday book and get well soon books we've signed for him, so here's the news!
As most of you know, I was on holiday with my family last week in Nice, France and thanks to a favourite spy of mine (I know you're reading this!) who made a few phone calls and nudged me in the right direction, I managed to visit Elite Management, (Marat's management headquarters) in Monte Carlo and hand over the get well soon book in person! Elite was only 25 minutes from where I was staying but it meant I had to close the book earlier than I'd intended, on the Thursday, because my flight to Nice was on Friday.
Ok, down to details! I'd arranged to go on the Monday and after getting the bus to Monaco, I found the Elite office and got a really warm welcome! Typically, Marat had been in MC the week before (right place wrong time, Ruth....) but is now resting in Moscow. The reason for his MC trip? He was visiting one of his doctors about that wrist injury and everyone said how terrified he is of surgery: not just because he would be out of action for 6 months, but because he's so scared of hospitals and everything medical. Fortunately, things went well and he's chilling in his beloved Moscow with his family. They were all complaining that Marat had spent the whole of last week harrassing them with last minute changes of plans, then re-arranging things for Denis to be included, then changing them again so he can see Dinara, then confirming, then ringing and saying 'No, wait,.... I want to change hotel' then 10 minutes later "I've changed my mind.... Denis likes that hotel, so we'll go to that one..." I think you get the picture! They were all breathing a sigh of relief when he went back to Russia! They told me that his next tournament will be LA, as long as his wrist is still healing well, but he's made no plans for anything before that.
OK, back to the books! Nothing was said about the birthday book, except that he definitely got it. But everyone loved the GWS book, saying how beautiful it was and how they couldn't believe his fans had taken the time to cheer Marat up and leave such "lovely" and "special" messages for him. Before I'd even arrived in France, they had known about the book and had told Marat while he was in MC "You will be getting a book by your fans with get well messages next week" and he had been like "Really? For me?! Really? WOW!!!" One of them said "He was really happy when we told him and he looked quite excited!" So the book is now on it's way to Marat..... isn't it good to know we made Marat smile?!?! They all wanted to read the book for themselves so it got passed around the office!
Someone opened the front cover and saw the GFR.com website logo on the cover letter and said "Oh, we all know that logo here!" I said "Really? You recognise it?" They said "Oh yes, we all know theguyfromrussia. You're famous here! And all around the world!"
I said "Most of it's in English, can he read it ok?" They said "I don't think it will be a problem, because he can read english really well now, it's really improved...... oh look, some of them have written in Russian! That's so cute! He will love that!"
I won't bore you with all the details of the conversation as I was there for quite a while, but we got onto the topic of Marat's male fans and I pointed out some male entries in the book by Jojo and Vassily, which got read out loud to everyone! They wanted to know about Jojo and Vassily, so I told them little things I knew, like Vassily bribing someone so he could be a ballkid at Marat's match in Dubai (which they thought was hilarious and are probably going to tell Marat because he will love it!) and that Jojo was only 14 but a huge Marat fan in Thailand (I included all the flags from your countries in the messages and they couldn't believe how many nations were represented) and they said " Marat will appreciate that more than anything, that he has dedicated male fans who have taken the time to wish him well, that means so much to him" Hope Jojo & Vassily don't mind me singling them out!
They couldn't believe how much work had been done and how dedicated his fans are and how kind we were to think of something like this. I got the impression that both Marat & his management felt we would have forgotten about him while he was injured, and so this little book really did show them that Marat's fans are here for the long-haul!
I don't think they'd realised how big Marat's internet fan-base is and they asked lots of questions about GFR.com and also "How the fans see Marat's image.... what do they think of him?" So I kept getting pumped for information! I think they'll be interested in the results of the Marat Fan survey we did. I also mentioned Christine's Forum and Delfina's site as other main players on the net. (They already knew about maratsafin.com) They'd also been checking the links on 'Lockeroom' and were amazed at how many sites he has! And his mythical 'official' site? Well, they said he does want one and they have made a few plans, but still nothing has been decided. It's pretty low on their list of priorities, especially with this injury, BUT having seen the impact a website can have and the network it creates between fans, it may have motivated them a little to pull their finger out!
We swapped 'weird fan stories' and I won hands down.... it was a really good laugh! Actually, there was one girl who called while I was there, claiming to be a 'member of Marat's family who wanted to send something to Gerard but didn't have his address......' It was so funny watching the face of his secretary take the phone call and roll her eyes, mouthing 'another crazy fan...' but at the same time, I felt a bit embarrassed, and really tried to emphasise that 99% of his fans are just normal people with lives!
We chatted about Dinara (who has just joined Elite's books as their third player.... they only have Marat & Goran) and Marat had been complaining about his sister, saying " She's at this funny age.... she doesn't know what she wants" (oh, is that right, Mr I-change-my-mind-every-30-seconds?) and he sounded like a worried mother...awwww.... They also gave me mixed reactions on Denis. He had been in MC with Marat and by the sound of things, it's a pretty intense friendship that seems to exclude everyone else. He also seems like a very unemotional person, quite cold and distant. Someone said "a bit of a cold fish" which got me wondering if that is healthy for Marat? And there's no girlfriend for either of them, just Marat and Denis being inseparable big kids!
One last bit of news: Marat had a haircut in MC. He walked into the office and the first thing the girls said to him was "You need a haircut!" He protested because he'd been trying to grow it longer but all the women were like "No Marat, get it cut!" It's not shaved, just a bit shorter and at least this time it was done by a professional! (I think he'd been trying to grow it like Denis..... copycat best friends hehe)
Well, I had a great time at the office and we talked about more things than I can possibly remember but it was so nice to meet people face-to-face! So a big thankyou to Elite for having me for a few hours and being so friendly, a special thank you to a certain someone for arranging it (and kicking some backbone into me: man, I was nervous!) and a major thanks to everyone who signed the books: you did yourselves proud! You gave Marat & co a glimpse of the support he has all around the world and they couldn't stop singing your praises, so thanks to you guys for giving me something to hand to them!! Your dedication has really paid off, and I promise, if I hear anything from the man himself, I'll post it !!
Ruth
13/7/03
