On Sunday, March 30th, our two Lugano Ambassadors Maria-José Horstkamp and Alon Goldreich, along with their team of helpers, spread the InterNations spirit at the local Expat-Expo in the Ticino region of Switzerland. In Lugano’s Palazzo dei Congressi, they distributed flyers, enrolled quite a few new members, and created a lot of visibility for our community.
From the beginning, the booth was abuzz with conversation. Local InterNations members visited the booth and mingled with other expats. There were moments when a dozen people gathered around the stall, which attracted considerable attention. No other booth caused the same kind of interest, except for the food stalls maybe.
Some people came to our booth because they had heard about InterNations and wanted to know more. Others approached us out of curiosity, and some came because they were interested in the free raffle. All of them were welcomed by the Ambassadors and warmed up quickly to the concept of our network. Furthermore, they got to know some of our friendly and welcoming InterNations members and started chatting with them.
Our Ambassadors truly went the extra mile and organized everything themselves: They made the arrangements, they set up the physical location, and they used their social skills to get people involved. InterNations is about connecting expats and global minds, and the success of the Expat-Expo highlights the power of this idea.
After the Ambassadors had arranged the logistics, everything else happened all on its own. Our members talked to non-members, shared some stories, and many people decided to sign up. And this is in no small part due to the genuine spirit of openness that each InterNations member demonstrated.
This event also offered an opportunity to network with other companies and even venues (i.e. restaurants, hotels, etc); accordingly, our Ambassadors proactively sought out new ideas for activities and ways to enhance their official events.
Our Ambassadors Maria and Alon used the banners and proceeds of previous events to help our network grow and get new members on board. We would like to thank them for their great commitment and for sharing the InterNations spirit so generously!
(Image credit: Jim Fok, Lugano Foto)
