Every year JCI Malta, the international leadership organisation for enterprising young leaders, hosts its National Convention – a two-day conference that offers talks, training sessions, public speaking opportunities, and a healthy dose of fun.
The 2021 JCI Malta National Convention will be based on the year’s theme “Leaders for Change” and will be held on 30 and 31 October at The Notch Business Centre in San Ġwann.
2021 National President and the main organiser behind the convention, Nicole Borg said: “This year we have been focusing on giving our members the necessary tools to be true leaders of change through a variety of initiatives. After a long period of not fully coming together due to the pandemic, the National Convention will serve as a hotspot for all our members, partners, supporters and those young people interested in leadership.”
Hosting an eclectic group of people with different backgrounds and experiences but who are all committed to the importance of honing their leadership skills, the convention will kick off with a session on ‘How leaders start their day’ focusing on the importance of mental and physical health in people’s daily lives. This will be followed by the first keynote speech of the convention by international motivational speaker from the USA, Jay Johnson, on ‘The Power of Being Open to Change’. Thereafter, a panel session titled ‘When Sh*t Hits the Fan’ will regale the public with real life experiences from people who failed before they succeeded; they’ll speak about their struggles, the sleepless nights, the doubts, and eventually the climax and satisfaction of success.
The second international speaker for the conference, Keira Keogh from Ireland, will talk about emotional intelligence, asking ‘Where has our empathy gone?’ This topic is extremely prevalent to our lives, that seem to constantly get busier, especially as technology becomes more ingrained in our daily routine (sometimes overtaking human interaction), leaving us with fewer opportunities to relax and be aware of how our words and actions affect both our lives and the lives of those whom we interact with.
The second keynote speech of the day will be delivered by renowned local speaker, Julian Azzopardi, CEO of UP Performance Coaching, as he tackles the topic of ‘If not me, who? Your actions matter’. With seven billion people inhabiting the earth, the importance of the action of a single person cannot be underestimated – added together seven billion individual actions could have tremendous life-changing consequences.
The afternoon will then be split into two streams – a business networking session, and the semi-final and final of the 2021 National Debating Competition. Delegates can choose which sessions they’d like to follow according to their preference. Day 1 will close early enough to give all delegates plenty of time to get dressed up for the Murder Mystery dinner. Being Halloween weekend, JCI Malta deemed it appropriate to add a little spice and spookiness to the event, so delegates are encouraged to dress up for the occasion and let their inner eeriness shine through.
The second day of the convention will include another keynote speech on the importance of reconnecting with people following the imposed distance due to the pandemic that saw a spike in cases of mental health issues and social problems like loneliness.
Jay Johnson will deliver what is sure to be a rousing session on how to deal with difficult people – and how to recognise if you are one of the difficult people! There will also be a slot that will be of key interest to people in the start-up scene and seed investors as the winners of the SeedGreen accelerator/validator programme will present their projects and future plans.
Public speaking is a key pillar of leadership and therefore of JCI’s ethos, so delegates will have the opportunity to participate in an off-the-cuff public speaking competition that will challenge people to think on their feet and present their impromptu speeches to an audience. The convention will close off with a roundup of the projects and initiatives that JCI Malta delivered throughout the year.
2021 National President and the main organiser behind the convention, Nicole Borg said: “The whole team behind the National Convention is super excited to be bringing to the table a varied conference, full to the brim with knowledge, inspiration, opportunities, regocnition and pure fun. We’re also delighted to be hosting our Vice President assigned to JCI Malta, Michaela Palmberg coming all the way from Finland to meet our current and potential members and learn about how they aim to be true leaders of change.”.
The JCI Malta National Convention is open to the general public. Registration for the convention is open online on https://jci.org.mt/national-convention/