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Company News Malta Through Their Eyes
Family Matters SSC Activities CSR Events
Meet the Team Contributors to Success
Company Interests FTI News
FTIAS #TeaTalks (A glimpse of the first #TeaTalk of 2019.)
During the month of April, FTIAS kick-started the first group, out of twelve, of #TeaTalks meetings, featuring a mix of staff members from different departments alongside with FTIAS Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Jude Paris, Chief Financial Officer, Joe Gauci, and General Manager, Marouska Frantz. The idea behind these meetings is for Top Management to discuss the Company’s vision and objectives for the upcoming years and also take the opportunity to hear what motivates and challenges those present, with the ultimate aim of creating a stronger bond with the staff members. As a thank you to all those attending, staff members were also treated with freshly baked goodies prepared by the Company’s HR and Corporate Communications team.
03 / Company Newsletter / Company News - FTIAS #TeaTalks
Floor Plan Update
(Top: Customer Relations and Payments Control new seating) (Bottom: Process Management and Training new seating)
Recently there have been a number of changes to some of the seating arrangements at our premises, as explained hereunder. The Process Management and Training team, previously located at Level 5 Section A, and the Customer Relations and Payments Control team, previously located at Level 5 Section C, have remained in the same floor, but interchanged places. This change has been done with the sole intention of ameliorating the work flows in the FTI section at FTIAS following some recent internal changes in the Company’s structure.
04 / Company Newsletter / Company News - Floor Plan Update
Business Visit to Meeting Point Asia (Marta together with some of the team members from MP Asia during a meeting)
Earlier this year, Senior Officer - Systems Processes Management, Martha Potocka spent two weeks in Meeting Point (MP) Asia offices, in Bangkok,with the main aim of introducing to the MP Asia team Cyberlogic, a system catering for Transfers and Excursions bookings. During her stay Martha was responsible for setting up the Accounting part of the system. The setup was followed by intensive training on all of the systems’ modules. The colleagues from MP Asia made sure that Martha felt at home by providing her with a variety of delicious food all the time. Regardless of the long working hours, they found time for a local excursion, a bit of sightseeing, a visit to the art exhibition, and time to eat a lot more food .
05 / Company Newsletter / Company News - Business Visit to Meeting Point Asia
Malta through their Eyes
From a SPANISH Perspective
Q - Name and Surname? A - Yoana Abella Sanz Q - Country of origin? A - Spain
Yoanna Abella Sanz Trainee Officer
Q - Position at FTIAS? A - Trainee Officer Q - Resides at? A - Xghajra
Q - What do you love about Malta? A - The long periods of sun, to be close to the sea, and the landscapes. Q - What have you found most difficult to get used to, here in Malta? A- The humidity, since it brings some back pain. Q - What do you miss about your home country? A - Definitely all my family, the food, and the leisure choices.
Q - Hobbies? A - Cooking, trying new DIY projects, horse riding, diving, and Latin dancing. Q - Favourite Cuisine? A - I like Asian, Italian, French, Mexican, and of course Spanish. A bit difficult to choose. Q - What attracted you to relocate to Malta? A - I’m from Madrid, and there isn’t any sea and it is also a metropolitan city, so when I first arrived here in Malta, I immediately fell in love with the idea of living here. Q - If you could change anything in Malta, what would it be? A - I would like less traffic, and less queues, but it seems like it is something that followed me from my country. 06 / Company Newsletter / Malta through their Eyes - From a SPANISH Perspective
Yoanna together with her daughter at Ta’ Qali.
FAMILY MATTERS Birthdays Name & Surname Pisani, Britney Schembri, Roderick Theuma, Chantelle Tasevska, Melita Borg, Matthew Sammut, Maxine Camilleri, Ian Camilleri, Dorothy Zammit, Amanda
Births
Section FTI Supplier Invoice Processing MPI Accounts General Ledger FTI Supplier Relations Transport Executive FTI Supplier Invoice Processing Processes, Projects, Reports Customer Relations BigXtra Supplier Invoice Processing
Date 3rd May 11th May 13th May 13th May 20th May 24th May 24th May 25th May 27th May
S N O I T A L U T A R G N O C
We would like to congratulate Annmarie Buhagiar, Customer Relations, and David Buhagiar, Process Management and Training, as they have been blessed with baby Emma on the 12th April 2019.
07 / Company Newsletter / Family Matters - Birthdays / Births
Easter Goodies
Saying that we have a sweet tooth is somewhat of an understatement and during this time of the year the Sports and Social Committee teamed up with Baron Confectionery to organise the Figolli sales. Figolli are traditional Maltese Easter sweets which are usually baked during the Holy Week and are made out of buttery sweet pastry filled with a paste made from pure almonds. All profits made from this initiative will be going to local charity. 08 / Company Newsletter / Sports and Social Commitee - Easter Goodies
SSC Spor ts & Social Committee
Mass of Our Lady of Sorrows To mark the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, the Sports and Social Committee organised a Mass in the Lounge Area for FTIAS, MPI, and MPM, where a good number of staff members participated in the Mass celebrated by Fr Colin who is the Chaplain of the Xghajra community.
09 / Company Newsletter / Sports & Social Committee - Mass of Our Lady of Sorrows
The Sports and Social Committee are recruiting!
SSC Spor ts & Social Committee
Like organising events and have fun? Applications will be out soon.
End of Committee Party 31st May 2019
Keep the date free...more details out soon...
“Safe Blood For All” 14th June 2019 | SmartCity Malta More details coming soon
Be a donor
Donation To Karibu! Malta
(From left to right: Meeting Point International staff member, Dylan Abela, FTI Supplier Relations and also Karibu! Malta representative, Sarah Agius, and Julmae Ann Schembri,Meeting Point Malta staff member, during the presentation of the donation.)
During the month of April, a donation was presented, on behalf of all our staff members, to Karibu! Malta a youth organisation based in Malta. It’s main role is to raise funds to implement work in Kenya on yearly bases. We would like to thank all our staff for their donations and contributions. 13 / Company Newsletter / CSR - KARIBU! MALTA
Meet the Team
LAL Schools
• What are the main responsibilities of this department? LAL Schools team is responsible for Admissions and Accounting for LAL Language Centres with schools located in Torbay, London, Brighton, Berkhamsted, Tavistock, Winchester, Cape Town, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and New York. They also assist their partner schools in Canada, Ireland and Malta. • What are the main functions of the department? As soon as the agents and/or student advisers send us new booking details, the Admissions team puts them on our reservations system, and the student journey with LAL begins. We support agents and students with visa applications, and also make preparations for the students’ arrivals and stays. Last but not least, we maintain the Reservations system, which contains all the information necessary for LAL to be able to provide the adequate services.The Accounts team is responsible for producing various financial reports (like Management Accounts) and other statistics.They record financial transactions (such as hotel accommodation, school operating costs, and schools payrolls) on our Accounting system, and issue supplier payments as required.The team also takes care of debt collection from direct clients/agents, and is also responsible for the maintenance of bank accounts and reconcile the teams’ timesheets so that payroll can be prepared. Both these roles are very important for LAL because the Admissions team will take care of the customer experience. If they make a mistake and book the wrong type of room, then the student’s experience is going to be affected. Whereas the Accounts team help us understand how the business is going and where we need to make improvements, through the financial and statistical reports generated. They also make sure that all clients are paying on time, so that LAL can have cash liquidity which is necessary to continue providing services to our clients. 14 / Company Newsletter / Meet the Team - LAL Schools
LAL Schools team members.
Meet the Team
LAL Schools cont...
• What are the top job skills needed to form part of this department? Attention to detail, good communication skills, cultural awareness, good organisation skills, ability to work well under pressure, and be able to prioritizes task.
• How many members are there in the department? At the moment in total we are eight, having five members in Admissions, three in Accounts and headed by Jean Marc Bellia. • Can you specify their roles? Jean Marc Bellia is LALChief Financial Officer, and Gosia Mielczarek is the Admissions Manager. Emma Grech, Eric Ellul, Katarzyna Kula and Taryn Nicole Abrahams are all Admissions Officers and they are responsible for Group bookings and European/ Asian markets, for Latin American market, for European and Asian market , and for the Middle East market respectively. Gabrielle Curmi and Ian Muscat, Junior Accountants, are responsible for UK schools and Cape Town respectively, while Christianne Mallia, Accounts Officer, is responsible for US schools and Credit Control.
LAGUNA
7A
LAGUNA
7B
7C
Lounge
(Floor Plan Level 7.) 15 / Company Newsletter / Meet the Team - LAL Schools
Contributors to Success
Meet Alina Personal Information • Name? Alina Pisniachevskaia • Position at FTIAS? Manager Groups & MICE. • Resides at? Cospicua.
Alina Pisniachevskaia Manager Groups & MICE
• Hobbies? Skiing • Favourite Cuisine? Mediterranean Cuisine.
Career Information 1. What made you choose MPM? I have chosen Meeting Point Malta because it is part of an international company with great experience and perspectives. 2. Your experience at MPM? I started my career at MPM in 2017 as a Key Account Manager and in six months, I was promoted to the Groups department, thanks to my previous experience in Russia where I worked in the tourism sector and organization of events for corporate clients for about 13 years. 3. Describe your main responsibilities at MPM? Usually we all work a lot, and rest when we are travelling. My main responsibilities in the department is to make our clients’ holidays amazing so that they will want to return to our beautiful island, Malta. 16 / Company Newsletter / Contributors to Success - Meet Alina
Alina, during a photoshot in Tigne, Sliema.
Contributors to Success
Meet Alina cont...
a) What do you enjoy the most? I love very much that what I do is not just work - it is part of my life. Therefore, it is difficult to say exactly what I love. Seriously, all the difficulties are the challenges, after which you are b) Most difficult aspect of your job? Waking up early in the morning stronger and more experienced. Therefore, I cannot name any particular aspect that creates difficulties in my work. 4. How do you imagine your life in five years’ time? Life is very unpredictable! Six years ago I couldn’t even think that I will move from Moscow to Malta. Therefore, I don’t want to think where I will be in five years. I live and enjoy every day!
Alina, enjoying her holiday in Disneyland Paris. 17 / Company Newsletter / Contributors to Success - Meet Alina
Company Interests
One Game, One Passion
I inherited my passion for football from my father, since he used to take me watch football games. I started playing football from the young age of five and have continued to play ever since. Currently, I am playing for Sirens F.C, on loan from Pieta Hotspurs, where this year we managed to get promoted to the Maltese Top Division. Apart from the passion of playing football, I also like to travel especially when visiting football stadiums and watching matches of renowned football teams. Football is important to me as it gives me the opportunity to make new friends, to be physically active and to serve as an escape from daily challenges. Clive Gauci Supplier Relations Technician
A snapshot of Pieta Hostpurs celebrations when they were awarded the title of the MFA first division league champions. 18 / Company Newsletter / Company Interests - One Game, One Passion
Clive Gauci, Season 2018-2019, versus Lija Athletic F.C.
FTI Group News
New FTI Connection to Gambia
Starting from mid-April, all FTI guests have been able to get to Banjul, main capital city of Gambia, quickly and easily with the new FTI connection from four German cities, being Munich, Leipzig, Frankfurt, and Düsseldorf. Present for the launch of the first flight were Network Planning Director, Mark Cali, Sales Director, Richard Reindl, and Destination Expert, Sainey Sawaneh. Together with Head of Marketing, Thomas Kube they opened the new route to Banjul, where the Boeing 737-800 landed after about seven hours. For the next few months, this new connection is already well booked from all German departure airports. “Gambia offers year-round mild temperatures and a 70-kilometer Atlantic coast with countless of swimming. With the direct connection of four German airports to the destination area, we offer a perfect alternative for our customers, who already know the Canary Islands or Thailand. Our guests will love it!” added Destination Expert, Sainey Saw.
(On the Left: The FTI crew with Mark Cali (5th from the left), Richard Reindl (5th from the right), and Sainey Sawaneh (3rd from the right), during the launch of the new FTI Connection to Banjul.) 19 / Company Newsletter / FTI Group News - New FTI Connection to Gambia
EYE SPY CONTEST Guess whose eyes are in disguise!
Guess one or more of the staff members’ eyes and submit your answers by email to communications@ftias.com, by not later than Friday 10th May with “Eye Spy” in the subject heading. Good Luck
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Special Thanks Kevin Paris Alexander Barbara Rachel Falzon Yoanna Abella Sanz Christine Apap Clive Gauci Bettina Knauer Gosia Mielczarek Martha Potocka Alina Pisniachevskaia Sports & Social Committee
Chief Executive Officer Newsletter Editor Newsletter Co-ordinator
FTIAS . Meeting Point International . Meeting Point Malta
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