For the whole length of the 2006 World Cup, we held a contest for our authors, challenging them to examine the World Cup from their unique business topic perspectives; to speak on the marketing of the World Cup, the effect on the German economy, on advertising, how it’s handled operationally, etc.

The result was a great success, with our network producing over 125 posts that inspected and commented on the business of the World Cup. We had a drawing to determine a winner, and that winner was Melissa Petri, author of RoadGladiator, our blog on business travel.

Ironically, Melissa lives in Germany and works in Frankfurt, so was able to speak on the World Cup from a very unique perspective indeed – an insider’s view. Melissa wrote almost a dozen entries touching on the World Cup, one of my favorites being her account of how business travel for her and her colleagues has changed due to the World Cup.

Melissa is a business traveler extraordinaire, having traveled many places all over the world. She is extremely knowledgeable in the field, and is a prolific producer of travel advice, having made the Blogebrity B List of popular bloggers. Melissa is also the founder and editor of PINOYexpats, an e-zine for Filipino expatriates.