You have a visitor from America!

The U.S. Mission in Albania will send an American diplomat to speak to your group, school, college or university and allow you the chance to hear from an American first-hand on topics of interest. We want to acquaint you with American culture and values and allow you to meet Americans who live and work in Albania. The Embassy Speakers Bureau program offers audiences from all walks of life the opportunity to hear presentations, ask questions about American foreign policies, and political and cultural life, and exchange opinions with the American guest on a topic of mutual interest.

The themes of speeches and presentations vary from American culture, sports, history, and traditions to economics, foreign policy, and U.S. international relations.  For many audiences, the most important aspect is having personal contact with an American Diplomat. The Embassy Speakers Bureau is also looking for opportunities to speak at a wide range of venues -- from middle schools and high schools to university student groups. We are also interested in attending various conferences and cultural events around Albania. We can also schedule officers to participate in the “Read with the Embassy” program in primary schools and do press interviews with local print and electronic news journals. We are very flexible in terms of developing speech for a projected audience size but our minimum requirement is 30 people.  We also might want to ask you to provide multi-media equipment for the speech.

Please note that the American speaker’s trip will be arranged and paid for by the Speakers Bureau. We are responsible for the logistics of the trip such as booking tickets, providing transportation, and making hotel reservations as well as the organizational aspect of the Speaker’s visit at your venue. The normal format for a Speakers Bureau event is a presentation followed by questions from an audience. We welcome your suggestions concerning a preferable topic of the speech and points for discussion, as usually our Speakers are willing to be engaged in a question and answer session after their presentation. As we develop a detailed schedule, we also appreciate contact information and travel directions to the city or venue the Speaker is going to visit.

The coordinator of the program is Erjona Kurti, and is available via e-mail at KurtiE@state.gov or telephone: 04-224-7285 ext. 3253.

What can we expect from you?

In order to meet your expectations for your speaker, you will be asked to answer the following questions:
• Can you suggest the topic and date of the presentation?
• Can you draft schedule details of the speaking event?
• How long do you expect the presentation to be?
• How big will the audience group be? Please note that our requirement is a minimum 25 participants.
• Do you expect a question period after the presentation?
• Do you have any suggestions for the Embassy Speaker to give presentation at other venues in your city?
• Can you provide press coverage of the Speakers Bureau event in the local media?
• Do you have suggestions for the Embassy Speaker to have other meetings in your city, in terms of meetings with governmental officials and cultural representatives?
• Will you be able to pick up the Speaker from local transportation?
• Will translation of the presentation into Albanian be needed?