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Hey Padel enthusiasts welcome to Padel Smash Academy, I am Cesc and I am here with Julian and we're all about Padel! Whether you're new to the sport or an experienced player, you've come to the right place. Our goal is to provide you with the best tips & tricks, news, and weekly lessons to help you improve your game and take your Padel to the next level. So grab your Padel Racket and let's get started with all things Padel on Padel Smash Academy.
How do we get press passes
and the VIP, me and Julian?
Julian's a VIP wherever he
goes, so I'm not worried.
So what are you saying?
I'm not a VIP?
No, I just, I, you know,
Julian and I go way back.
Yes.
So, um, I'm happy to hook you both
up, um, for you both to be there.
Alright, we got the recording,
VIP and press passes.
Thank you so much.
Good, I love it.
I'm a sucker.
We are.
All things Padel.
Hello, everyone.
Welcome to another exciting
episode of Padel Smash Academy.
Today, we have the incredible
visionary Robin Duda.
The mastermind behind Rocket X,
the biggest expo, rocket expo in
the entire planet coming up soon.
Okay.
So Robin, welcome to the channel.
Please let us know, start with you.
Who's Robin Duda?
Oh man, who's Robin Duda?
Um, Robin is based in Atlanta
and it's very cold today.
It was like 14 degrees when I woke up.
So, um, but I'm a, I've been in
the event industry for 20 years.
I live to connect people to other
people, to businesses and to ideas.
Um, I've done this for, uh, you name it,
probably have dabbled in that industry.
Um, and I, uh, I'm so excited
that we are, we saw some white
space, uh, in the racket.
industry.
Um, and there are conferences that
are, you know, and trade shows that are
really well done by lots of different
associations, but nothing that services
the entire ecosystem from player to
maker in all of the sports, um, for
a chance to be inspired, um, learn
some stuff and play, uh, altogether.
So we are, um, I'm really excited to
be putting this on and I'm a teamist.
So Robin, how did you get into Padel?
I mean, how are we introduced to that?
I mean, do you play?
Um, people want to know.
Julian's seen the extent of my skills.
Very well.
She has great potential, let me tell you.
Potential.
Great potential is the key word.
I love Padel.
I loved, I love it.
Um, in Atlanta, there hasn't
been there just recently
opened up the first club here.
So, um, the exposure outside of me being
in Miami, um, for launching the show,
um, you know, has been minimal to date.
Um, you know, I've, I've taken tennis
lessons a handful of times, not a
handful for a handful of my life.
Um, would I say that I'm great?
No, I'm a much better event
person than I am player.
Uh, but hopefully getting
set to play more in Padel.
But I think it's so exciting, um, seeing
how, uh, it swept the rest of the world
and what's starting to happen here in
the chatter that you're seeing every day.
I see a new article between the
Washington Post and New York
Times, Forbes, you name it.
Um, Padel is kind of the, the talk
of, um, talk of the town right now.
And I think it's really, it's, it's well
deserved and very exciting for the sport.
So let's go back a little bit.
So tell our viewers and listeners.
Um, we know it's going to be Miami, when,
where, and all the juicy details there.
Yeah.
So Racket X, uh, B2B, so
businesses and consumer event.
Um, we are, uh, March 26th at the
Miami Beach Convention Center.
We are lucky enough to be doing
this over the, um, Miami Open tennis
tournament dates, uh, our Monday evening.
Uh, we'll actually be at the,
uh, Miami Open as a group.
We'll be going up together.
Those who have the proper ticket
types for that, as well as.
The APP Pickleball Miami Open.
There's a lot of Miami opens happening
at the same time, um, will be actually
two doors down at the convention
center and their championship day
overlaps with our opening day.
Um, it is both a conference
and show floor, however.
You won't see me say that very often.
Um, I'm calling it more of a festival,
uh, of racket sports where there's
a main stage, um, and nothing is
dedicated to one particular sport.
Um, it's really learning, um,
celebration and learning, um, from
other industries, from other sports.
Um, and from each other on how we can
all continuously continue to grow all
of our the respective racket sports,
um, not by, uh, trying to cannibalize
thinking that we're cannibalizing
each other, but that there's beauty
in having a racket in one hand, you'll
most likely have a Padel in another.
So, so clarify a little bit there
when you were talking about Miami.
So if I buy a Miami ticket open,
I can go to the expo or vice
versa or how does that work?
If you buy a specific ticket, so there's
a Miami Open and Racket X experience
ticket that you can buy, um, that's on
sale now, it's 55, that gets you access
to three days of Racket X and the Miami,
Miami Open evening session at 7 p.
m.
on Monday evening.
Oh, fantastic, that's great.
Yeah, I'm sorry, but you can buy that
on, um, the Racket X, explore the
Miami open ticket box or how's that?
Where, where you can buy both,
but, but the easiest way is,
um, from the, the, the Racket X.
com, um, you'll see a register and
you can, you'll be able to click
into the Miami open experience.
It's pretty clear.
Um, what's there and we'll all be
up there together in one section at
the Miami open and we'll get some
shout outs and, and kind of get to
celebrate that evening together.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So what can people expect
when they go to this expo?
A lot.
We're basically building, um,
club racket X, which is a mini,
a mini racket club, if you will.
Um, in three days, which is a lot,
there are going to be four Padel
courts, a tennis court, three
pickleball courts, and more than
likely the ninth court will be squash.
Um, so yeah.
Um, although, um.
Padel or platform tennis is making
a play for that spot pretty hard.
Um, and we're trying to find a wall
for racquetball somewhere so they
can have a wall, um, as well as, uh,
table tennis will be represented.
So I'd say half of the entire experience,
the experience itself, you know, we
can, we can do things that are cool
and fluffy and there, and there will
be lots of really interesting stuff
happening outside of that, but the
meat and the heart of the event.
is on court.
Um, there will be demos.
Um, you can get on court.
If you've never played one of the sports,
there'll be time for you to get on.
There'll be coaches there.
Um, there'll be exhibitions
with some really high level
players that you can see.
There will be technology, some of the
latest and interesting technologies
that will be on these courts that
you can kind of see in action.
Um, so One of my favorites.
Oh, there's, there's a couple.
I don't want to spoil the surprises.
There's a really interesting AI based tech
that'll be out there that I think a lot
of people might not have ever seen before,
as well as of course the, you know, all
of the brands that'll be represented.
Um, they'll all be doing their
own activations in their spaces.
Um, you know, we're, we're more
than likely doing a podcast
studio on the floor, um, as well
as lots of conference content.
So people can expect, uh, something
a little bit for, for everyone, um,
regardless of whether you're, you're
a Padel player, a tennis player, a
badminton, um, a squash player, um,
there'll be, uh, like I said, there's,
there, there'll be a lot of action,
including, um, What we're calling.
It's like center court.
Um, there are three, you know, premier
courts that are front and center, um,
aligned with our viewing bar area.
Well, there'll be lots of brands
activating some fun stuff, coffee bar,
um, and different things and kind of the
action of everyone meeting and getting
together and, um, kind of networking.
Okay, so let's talk about the vendors.
What major vendors are
going to be attending there?
In, uh, well, across the major,
uh, I think everyone is considered
major when it comes to Ragnarok.
Well, I'm sure there's
a long list, you know.
Yeah.
There is.
And the list is being updated, um,
continuously and day by day, but Um,
what I will say when we talk about
major brands, um, I think there's
beauty in, in both, um, there's beauty
in, uh, brands that we know and love,
um, and that we want to hear from
that are doing something interesting,
but there's also this, I think this
awesome opportunity for discovery.
Of some really small brands.
And what we've been trying, I
knew an up and coming brands.
And what we've been trying to do is
make sure that the entire ecosystem can
be, um, service and available to them.
No matter if you are, you know,
somebody who has lots of money
that's been in business for 50
years, or if you're a new direct to
consumer startup, that primarily does
everything on your Instagram, um, that.
You know, that there's, um,
there's a, an opportunity for,
for you, for, for everyone there.
And to be fair.
Yeah.
I did a sneak peek on the website and,
and, and there are some very brand, I
mean, small brands that I don't know
that I would love to meet and see the
technology and, and, and some of the
Padel brands that I never heard of.
I think it will be great to, to
expose the Padel in the U S with
those new, new brands and all that.
I mean, uh, I saw you, you're
going to have these, um, huge
sort of like a transformer type
of machine that he can do tennis.
Yes.
You can do that would be super
exciting to, to see that in action.
And there's, there's a couple others,
you know, they're, they're not, it's not
finalized, I know there'll be there one
way or another, you know, there's some,
um, I don't know if you've heard it,
especially you, Julian, as a coach, uh,
Tenny bot, are you familiar with them?
I didn't think so.
They're, they're, they're really new,
but it's basically think of Roomba, uh,
for collecting the balls after a session.
I would love to see that.
You need that, man.
You need that.
So it's just this, like, basically
like a Roomba esque machine that
actually can pack up folding.
You can carry like a suitcase, um,
that goes and gets all the balls for
you on the court and collects them.
How I like, I just Fantastic.
Is that available now?
Or is that Something that
they're just going to show
there, um, in small quantity.
They're very, very new.
So there'll be some cutting edge stuff
that I think both clubs, players, um,
coaches, et cetera, it'll just be really
exciting to showcase, like showcase
all of this stuff in terms of brands.
We're buying wine.
They're gonna have a
really long order list.
I feel like after everyone sees
what they, what they can do.
So, so going back to that.
So I'm an attendee.
I go there.
Can I buy products there
or I can only place orders?
Both.
Um, it's up to the, um, sponsors
discretion, whether they want to sell
on site or they just want to promote
what they're, what they're doing.
I think everybody's a little bit
different, but yes, there will
be, um, one at a minimum, there'll
be things to test, um, different
Padels and rackets and things like
that, that you can get on court.
You can feel, you can
kind of see that stuff.
Um, and then many of them will be
also selling products there as well.
If you should you want.
That's great because we know we
interview quite a few brands and,
and, and Padel brands and all that.
And that one of the things that we,
it's missing here in the Padel world
is like people, a place where they
can try the, you know, the Padels,
especially Padels are very expensive.
The records are very expensive for
like, they go from three to 400.
So before they want to make an
investment, they want to try it out.
Can people do that at the expo?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Um, that's part of the beauty of this is
being able to get on a court and feel it
and, and test it out along with all of
our partners who are represented there.
So yeah, yeah, you certainly will be.
And now we just interview, you
know, a low Padel, uh, we interview
a very small, uh, Padel brand
that's just coming into the market.
Can they be there and have
enough inventory for them to
sell it there if people like it?
I mean, if they have a booth
and they, you know, they can
sell there if they want, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
Again, that's up to their discretion.
Um, what they, what, you know, where
they can sell, how they sell all of
the details behind the sales piece
of it, but absolutely we're, we're
making that available to folks.
Get you the, you know, get
everyone the growth that they need.
And I think we're just trying to create an
environment that, um, elevates all of the.
hard work and growth to date
that's happened, help make sure
that that continues that way.
And that's bringing in the right
people, the right speakers, the
right stories, the right inspirations
and doing it at the right time.
Um, and I, I think we're, I think we're
achieving that in year one so far,
but it's definitely not an easy feat.
The exciting part about this is.
It's, it's, which is,
I believe it's great.
You're building four Padel courts.
I mean, there's so many great things
that you can do with four Padel courts.
I mean, you can do clinics, you can do
tournaments, you can do so many things.
Can you give us a little bit of
the juicy stuff that's going to
happen on those four Padel courts?
Yeah, um, we will be publishing, um,
you know, more details on this soon,
but, um, clinic wise, I know, um, Padel
MBA, um, will be present, um, and our
friends there, um, I can't, I'm not
going to say what anyone's doing yet,
uh, along with them, there will be an,
uh, a, a tournament, um, I, we will
Details will be out probably in the
next couple of days, but there is a, a,
a, um, tournament that will be played,
um, on, on site, um, and on court, um,
as well as like, uh, again, there'll be
a list of full brands on what they're
doing and what kind of sessions that
you'll be able to sign up about a month
before the event for different demos.
So do I have a ton of juicy details
that I can publicly say yet?
No, but you guys will be the
first ones you'll be the first
one that I tell that to everybody.
No, but Robin, let me ask you one thing,
because I mean, uh, uh, I was looking
at the schedule of the USPA tournament
schedule and there is one called Rocket X.
Is that the one that you guys
are going to have there or not?
Uh, for the USPA?
Yeah.
Is the USPA having a
tournament there or not?
They're, they're going to be at Rocket X.
Oh, okay.
We have a partnership and they'll be at,
have a presence and they have court time.
So they'll be activating.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
Okay.
That's probably what it was.
Okay.
Perfect.
Yeah.
Good.
Anything more than that.
I'll give you the, I'll give you
the hot tip behind the scenes.
You can unveil it.
You've been avoiding all the
specific questions that I asked.
She doesn't want to
get her feet wet there.
So, uh, attendees where they can buy
the tickets on the Rocket X website.
Uh, correct.
The rocket X.
com.
They come out.
There is.
And what I will say is the early bird,
um, It's through the end of this month.
So there's preferred pricing and there's a
discount, um, through the end of January.
So if you're going to sign up,
I highly recommend this is the
most inexpensive level of ticket
that you can buy across the board
for all the different past types.
And if you're coming in from out
of town, I highly recommend we have
created, uh, and worked very hard
to secure, um, a discounted group.
Um, it is a very busy week in Miami
between the Miami open, which is
that's their busiest weekend as well
as the Miami music, um, week and ultra,
um, it's happening at the same time.
Yeah, there's a lot happening.
So we've secured some, um,
some really good rates, um, at
very close hotels, walkable.
Uh, to the convention center.
So I do suggest if you are thinking
about coming, signing up and
getting those, um, sooner than
later, cause there's not a ton.
Okay.
The price of the tickets.
How much are they?
Uh, various prices, um, depending
upon what level, I'm actually going
to pull this up so you can, so I can
see exactly the, so there's different,
so the Miami open, there's a Miami
open Racket X experience, if you will.
Um, that's 55 that gets you three days.
Like I mentioned earlier, um, at the
show and the evening, um, uh, Monday
evening at the, for the evening session,
um, there's a VIP all access pass.
That's the highest level right now.
It's 5 99, um, through
the end of the month.
Um, and that gets you, you know, um,
access to all the main stage talks, all
of the, um, sessions VIP seating there.
Uh, it gets you the, uh, Miami open.
It gets you access to the APP.
Pickleball tournament on Sunday, um,
with all preferred, um, options there.
Um, and then early access to some of
those experiences that I talked about
that we'll be unleashing, um, through
our app, they'll be able to sign up a
little bit earlier than everybody else
to get those and then any other private
events that happen, they'll have access
to, um, pricing for there's an all access
pass, which is basically, um, all of
the content, the show floor, et cetera.
Um, none of the fancy VIP things.
That's 299.
Um, through the end of the month.
It goes up to 4.
99 thereafter.
Um, and then right now, to just attend
the show floor piece of this, none of
the main stage content is 25 right now.
But at the end of this
month it goes up to 55.
Okay.
Okay, so how do, how do we get press
passes in the VIP, me and Julian?
Ha ha ha.
Julian's a VIP wherever he goes.
So I'm not worried.
So what are you saying?
I'm not a VIP?
No, I just, I'm, you know,
I'm Julian and I go way back.
Yes.
So, um, I'm happy to hook you both
up, um, for you both to be there.
All right, we've got the
recording VIP and trespassers.
Thank you so much.
Good.
I love it.
I'm a sucker.
All right, baby.
I love it.
I love it.
No, I mean, we would love to be there.
I know, probably, you know, that, um, one
of our main sponsors is Racket Central
and Racket Central is going to be there.
So they're one of our sponsors.
So we're going to be helping
them to, you know, promote and
sell rackets and do all that.
So.
I mean, we're going to be
recording everything in RacketX,
you know, what it stands for.
So we'll be there at least.
I mean, we're, we're super, super excited.
I mean, I mean, me being in the
racket industry for over 30 years.
I mean, this is the first one
ever and I'm super excited.
Uh, you know, I, I went for you guys
to succeed and be the best ever.
I'm from here to grow
and be the one to be.
And, and let me ask one important thing.
You know, a lot of people,
they're going to be coming here
either for the Miami Open on the
RacketX and they buy the package.
Are you guys, is there some
type of shuttling between the
events or anything like that?
Not right now.
The logistics behind that is really
difficult, um, and the timing,
especially from the different
hotels and the different points.
Um, if that changes,
we'll let everyone know.
Um, we're trying to hint, work with the
city of Miami to maybe, um, help us.
If anyone ever listens from the city
of Miami that wants to help from the
Convention Visitors Bureau, happy to chat.
Um, to make sure that we're doing that.
But as of right now, no, everyone's kind
of on their own, but we're going to work
on some discount codes for, um, you know,
uh, Uber and Lyft and all those things.
So, um, that information will come
out a little bit closer to the show.
And, and, and refresh us again,
uh, for the listeners and viewers.
Um, you get the Miami Open ticket for
the Monday night night session, right?
And we'll all be together in a section.
All the Racket X attendees, um, sponsor
speakers and anyone who buys, um, a
pass, um, and then you get three days.
Access to the, all of Racket X, the
show and the night session, the Miami
night session starts what at five
o'clock, six o'clock at the doors
open at five session starts at seven.
Okay, perfect.
Good.
So they can go and, you know, they
put on an amazing experience on the
grounds, so it's definitely worth going
up there and walking around and seeing
everything that they have, getting a bite.
And then we'll all be together in our
own sections to cheer for who knows who
will be, who will be playing that night.
I mean, I love, I love, I mean,
it's having a tennis game.
Cord out there and you
guys own the Miami open.
I think it's absolutely
a home run right there.
I mean, I love it I
think it's gonna be huge.
It's gonna be awesome.
There's some great exposure to
all these records for especially
Padel So tell us a little bit.
What are the big brands?
Padel brands are gonna be there.
She's trying to avoid that question No,
no, no, no, i'm not trying to avoid it
at all Um, from a Padel standpoint,
um, we got, um, which we just came in.
I think, I think you said Knox,
um, is one of our marquee sponsors.
Um, we have Major Set, uh, Building
Center Court along with Padel
Court Deluxe, um, Portico and Padel
Gallies, um, our building reports.
The four biggest, uh, you know, um,
core builders fighting for, I love it.
I love it.
I love it.
Go ahead.
I know.
I know.
It's good.
Let me tell you, the three days to build
this up is going to be, uh, for all of us.
It's going to be exciting.
It's going to put it
together faster, you know?
Yes.
Yes.
Of course, you know, Bull
Padel will be there.
Um, Hero Star, um, uh, will be there.
We have a bunch of the technologies
of the booking apps, um,
you know, that'll be there.
Play by Point amongst, amongst others.
Um, Cassus Padel, um, will be there.
Oh, I'm trying to think who else?
I think Osaka falls into it from
a, from their standpoint of course.
I love the guys at
Osaka have been amazing.
Um, you might see us in some,
some clothes as well from them.
We'll see.
Um, now, um, and then.
I'm trying to think of who else, um,
well, you have all the technology
and, and all those, you know, uh,
yeah, um, there's a handful of other
court builders, um, a bunch of the
technology and I'm trying to think of
what other, um, actual Padel brands,
um, will be there, um, outside of that.
But, but again, like I said,
it's, it's, we're adding a day,
like they'll be up on the list.
So you could say there's spots
available for other vendors right now.
There are not a ton, but
there's a few, um, for sure.
Um, some of the, a couple of the
big names will be put up on the
website soon, but I can't say it yet.
So let's say, let's say a brand
wants to reach out to you guys.
They should contact you, contact
the website or how's that work?
Like Robin at the Rocket
X, Robin with a Y.
At the racket x.
com.
I'm happy to put them in touch.
I, you know, I could handle it
and we have an amazing sales team
that could also, um, kind of help
assist with some of this stuff.
And, um, but yeah, the more, I mean, the
more brands that are there, the better.
Um, so any, anyone, and we'll
work through, you know, like I
said, we, we want to make sure we
represent the market as best we can.
So, um, anyone else who's.
You know, some of the smaller
companies that are popping up, um,
would love to talk with them and
make sure that they have a presence.
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
So where Not smaller.
Smaller's not the right word.
Up and coming.
Emerging.
Yes.
There's something that comes out
every single day from a major media
outlet about Padel, about Pickles,
Pickleball's other brother, other sister.
You know, I mean, the way they're
kind of positioning it, I think it's
really, it's really interesting.
Um, I mean, it's, from what I can
see behind the scenes and, and
my involvement in it, it's It's
growing at a pretty rapid speeds.
I think, uh, although it feels
that way to us, I think to the
outside, it's even faster because
it's like, what's, what's Padel.
Oh, wow.
I'm hearing about it all the time now.
So, um, the buzz is huge.
Um, I've gotten a lot of comments
from folks in the industry who are
coming to Rocket X, who have never
been able to play because they
haven't been able to get on a court.
Um, and they're very excited
to, to get on and try it.
So I just, I think it's
going to be explosive.
Um, will it be as big as Pickleball?
You know, I think time
will tell and we'll see.
Um, but, um, I think there's some,
there's limitations of course, to the
amount of courts that happen in them,
but the more courts that are built, um,
the more accessible the sport becomes
to folks, and I think that it's, um.
I think America is going
to very quickly, and the U.
S.
is very quickly going
to fall in love with it.
Alright, Robin, so much.
I appreciate you both.
Thanks so much for having me on.
I hope, I, I hope I helped your audience,
um, have a better understanding of,
of Rocket X, what we're trying to do,
and to get everybody down in Miami
for some action and some sun in March.
That's right.
Robin, thank you so much
for coming on the show.
We wanna wish you all the
luck with, uh, rack atx.
Okay, thank you.
Bye-Bye.
Thank you.
We'll see you both there.
Thank you, Robin Live podcast.
Bye.
Thank you IP and press pass, right?
Mm-Hmm.
Thank you . Yes.
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