Category: Teamwork Circle of Excellence

Awarded to an Ambassador team that exhibits outstanding teamwork and collaboration.

2017 Winners: Elsa Kamberi, Shiv Anand, and Marco Iachello in Eindhoven

2017 Honorable Mention: Randall Birnberg and Marcus Coats in Aachen

Why They Won

The majority of InterNations Official Events are led by a team of Ambassadors, not just one individual. Some of our teams work together on all events, and others host events on a rotating schedule. In 2017, we searched our 390 communities for teams who are committed to collaboration — either organizing events as a single unit or very fluidly as individuals within the greater team.

The teams who were nominated work together and inspire one another to support the InterNations mission and their local community. These teams combined individual skills to strengthen their unit while working towards a common goal. They make key decisions as a single unit, collaborate and brainstorm on new ideas, and make sure every voice on the team is heard.

This year’s winner was our Eindhoven Ambassador team, and one of our Jury members explains why:

“This team was put together only eight months ago and within this time, they have gotten stronger and stronger with each event. Not only do they work excellently together, coordinating seamlessly with one another and HQ, they also all bring an area of expertise to the events that they organize. Elsa, being the most long-term Ambassador, provides the team with years of community knowledge, Shiv is the entrepreneur of the team and provides excellent negotiating skills, while Marco is bursting with creativity — he recently inspired the team to organize a charity event in December. Elsa, Shiv and Marco are amazing individuals and together organize truly great events. They have excellent attention to detail — so you really get a sense for their passion!”

In your opinion, what it the key ingredient for being a good team player?

Marco: Share a common goal and be willing to support each other when needed.

Shiv: T E A M — Together Everyone Achieves More. From my experience of leading teams and divisions in my past roles as team leader, client manager, business development manager, and as an Ambassador, I can confidently say that good team players are the backbone of any team and organization. When others fail, these are the people who venture on with strong resolve and persistence, committed to getting the job done. In fact, good team players sport all kinds of personalities. You just need to be an active participant and do more than your responsibilities. Put the team’s objectives above your own and take the initiative to get things done without waiting to be asked. In return, you will build positive perception, gain more visibility, and develop influential connections to become a leader.

Do you have a piece of advice for other teams who organize and host events together each month?

Elsa: Depend on each other and cooperate with each other in order to accomplish the same goals and apply individual skills and creativity of the members which benefit to the overall team productivity. Provide transparent feedback to each other and act united based on received feedback to improve, which subsequently leads to the satisfaction of the targeted group.

Marco: Organizing events takes time, so it is essential to share tasks within the team. Ask yourself the following questions before organizing an event: Who is your target audience? What would they love? How can you surprise them?

Congratulations to the Eindhoven team for being 2017’s Teamwork Circle of Excellence, as well as our honorable mention, Randall Birnberg and Marcus Coats in Aachen. We applaud your collaborative spirit and look to you as shining examples of what it means to be a team!

About the Winners: 

Shiv Anand is originally from India but has spent time living in Singapore, Sydney, the UK, and now the Netherlands. He became an InterNations Eindhoven Ambassador in July 2017 where he organizes monthly events with his fellow Co-Ambassadors, and from time to time attends events in neighboring cities.

Elsa Kamberi is from Albania and has been an Ambassador since July 2012. So far, she has organized a total of 66 official events. She likes meeting people from different cultures and the idea of bringing them together each month.

Marco Iachello was born in Syracuse, Italy and works as a Design Engineer in Eindhoven. He is passionate about organizing social events, so much that he is also responsible for organizing team building events, corporate outings, and farewell dinners for his company in addition to the monthly events he hosts as an InterNations Eindhoven Ambassador.