April’s Local of the Month AEGEE-Valletta sharing tips on organising high quality events

Last November, AEGEE-Valletta had its 15th anniversary. This antennas’ history is quite varied and successful. Despite being a very small antenna, comprising of only around 100 members, of whom only about 20 are active, big results are still achieved. During the previous years, the antenna has successfully organised an Agora in 2007, a Network Meeting in 2009 and many more events. The latest pride lies in the Best TSU (Travel Summer University) of 2012 and EBM (European Boards’ Meeting) 2013, which is the reason why AEGEE-Valletta is the Local of the Month of April 2013.

After the EBM we had more than 50 people nominating you for Local of the Month, congratulations! What does this honor mean to your antenna?

Martha Mifsud (PR responsible of AEGEE-Valletta): AEGEE-Valletta has always strived to maintain its reputation, a reputation which precedes it and a reputation which is evidenced by the high quality events organised periodically throughout the year. Having more than 50 nominations is a great honour for us. After all, our activities are for you, the participant, and each AEGEE member to enjoy. The greatest satisfaction for us is the appreciation of all those who participated in the EBM.

If you were to explain the experience of organising EBM Valletta what would you say? How was it?

Simply amazing and very enriching! The friendship forged while working together and attaining the same goal is the one which lasts the longest. On another note, it was very professional and each one of us had the opportunity to discover his/her potential in relatively new areas.

What were the best things about organising the EBM?

The team work! It was the most effective asset we had and the bond which will last for all subsequent events. The EBM team was a relatively new team, having old members like me and the rest of the board being the strong points of every sub commissioner, but the rest was composed of new members.

Last year AEGEE-Valletta had the best Summer University and now it has organised a successful EBM. Why is it that you are so good at organising events in your antenna? Can you share some tips for other antennae?

As Vice-President of AEGEE-Valletta I have been a main organiser in both events. The best tip I can offer to other antennae is to be professional and do not take matters lightly. We do our best to achieve the best. Moreover, the other tip to achieve a holistic result is to put passion is the work you do. If AEGEE was a job, we would be working among colleagues, and the attendees would be our clients. In AEGEE-Valletta we enjoy organising events among friends to welcome our participants, who are at the end new friends in our country.

What have you been doing in AEGEE-Valletta after organising the EBM?

After the EBM we had a well deserved break. However, it was a very short one and now we’re back to our full potential. We organised a short course, an Local Training Course (LTC) which lasted for a whole weekend. We have also set up board meetings and also monthly meetings to inform our members what course AEGEE-Valletta is planning on taking.

What lies in the future of AEGEE-Valletta, which events are you working on?

Yet another summer event! After winning the best Travel Summer University of 2012… we’re heading on to organising another fabulous event for Summer 2013! So everybody get ready to set sail to our little Mediterranean Island! We also have planned local events for our local members and loads and loads of parties for our Erasmus friends!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København