MediaTroopers CTO Clinton Cutajar savours family time with his younger ones

Summer is the perfect time to get some well-needed bonding time with loved ones.

Whether it is a trip abroad together, a fun day out, or even some more quality time at home, the hotter months present plenty of opportunities for people, especially those with tight work schedules, to enjoy the company of their families.

Maintaining a balance between work and life at home is a task that becomes relatively easier for many, especially considering children are at home more often due to their summer vacation, a time MediaTroopers Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Clinton Cutajar relishes.

As part of this year’s MaltaCEOs.mt summer interview series, we caught up with Clinton to learn more about his planned trips for the summer, together with how he takes advantage of the nice weather to spend more time with his family.

He first joined MediaTroopers at the start of 2022, utilising his various years of experience in systems, networking, and security. Tasked with acting as a bridge between the affiliate marketing agency’s operations requirements and tech specifications, as well as directing its software development projects, Clinton has a lot on his plate, which makes breaks during summer even more worthwhile.

Are you a summer person, or do you prefer winter? Why?

Summer, summer, and more summer please! I’m a person that likes the long and sunny days. Waking up, opening the curtains and seeing the sunshine coming through the glass kickstarts my day in a good mood. Then I’m off for a morning two-kilometre run!

Are you looking forward to this summer in particular? Why?

Music festivals are something that I usually look forward to during summer. Isle of MTV and SummerDaze are both headlining international artists, and they are kid-friendly, something which other parties are not, so we try to benefit from this.

What’s your favourite thing to do in the summer season? Why?

Summer days are longer, so we take the opportunity to either go for evening walks close to the sea or attend some event. Summer school starts a bit later than the normal academic school day so we can afford staying out a bit late.

Do you prefer going out or staying inside during the hotter months?

Going outside.

Will you be going abroad? If yes, where to and why?

I’m not the kind of person that plans for long vacations.  We usually have some quick getaways planned for the summer. It’s more to disconnect from the normal everyday routine. We usually also organise something before school starts, but we still need to plan that!

What’s your dream summer destination? Why?

There are two destinations on my bucket list: Ibiza and Mykonos. Hopefully when the kids are a bit older we will manage to strike them off as well.

What’s your best holiday experience?

Ayia Napa in Cyprus was quite good. Earlier this year we went to Disneyland Paris and we loved it!

What’s your worst holiday experience?

Back in 2016 we went for Christmas and the New Year in Sicily. The place we were in was advertised with a fireplace, and as a nice family place. When we arrived there, the chimney was blocked, the electricity circuit didn’t support more than one fan heater, and the place was as humid as a swamp! Finding another place during that time was difficult as everyone was fully booked, but luckily after a lot of calls we managed to find an alternative place and ended the year on a positive note.

Companies are encouraged to invest to stay ahead of the curve. As a business leader, how will you be investing in yourself this summer?

With my main focus being technology, media, and SEO, the plan is to keep reading articles, attend conferences, run through some online courses and test new ideas. We work in an environment where working solutions come out of experiments.

The most important key performance indicator I consider is that comparing year on year, both the team and myself have learnt something new.

From recharging your batteries to taking on a huge task – do you have any particular goals for the summer?

Our high season starts from September to March (the US football season), so we tend to put in production a lot of new features on our core system during the less busy period so they are ready when the season starts. This period gives us the opportunity to perform tests, upgrade and launch new functionalities that will be used in-season.

However, we still make use of the leave during the summer days to recharge our batteries and have a fresher mind for new ideas!