office* show announces launch of National PA Day on 15 September 2011
Following the success of office*, the annual trade show aimed at meeting the business and training needs of Britain’s leading PAs and office managers, the event’s organisers, Diversified Business Communications UK, have today announced the launch of an annual day to celebrate Britain’s PAs – the unsung heroes of Britain’s offices.
With the slogan “We make Britain’s offices work”, the day aims to highlight the increasing importance of the estimated 600,000 highly skilled PAs working in offices across the UK and to promote the profession to well-educated young people seeking an exciting and stimulating career.
Commenting on the importance of this new launch, Ali Mead, office*’s event manager, said:
“It’s incredible how the role of the modern PA has changed since technology has taken over many of the traditional PA roles. Instead, the modern PA has become a multi-tasking master of everything, including being the link between senior management and the outside world, as well as other departments and staff inside the organisation, a confidante of some of the most sensitive information in the company, event organiser, personnel advisor and the list goes on...”
“It’s quite extraordinary how much good PAs really do and we think it’s about time the broader world knows that PAs are some of the most important people in Britain’s offices – the people who make Britain’s offices work,” enthuses Mead.
It’s a sentiment already shared by many top executives, including Jacqueline Gold, chief executive of UK lingerie chain Ann Summers and Knickerbox. Gold, who’ll be making her debut appearance at this year’s office* show, will be hosting a Keynote on the morning of 15 September 2011, National PA Day.
“I am delighted to hear of the launch of the National PA Day,” comments Gold. “It is so important to have a PA who offers a consistently high level of service and who you have chemistry with. Having the support of a great PA is what brings it all together. They are someone who not only represents you in business, they become an extension of you in so many other ways.”
Diversified UK has also announced that the results of the UK’s first annual National PA Survey will be launched to the press on National PA Day, providing a fascinating benchmarking insight into the world of one of the biggest and most important professions in the UK.
Diversified UK are encouraging anyone involved with PAs to get involved. The National PA Day itself will be marked with the opening of the office* show at Earls Court, London, on 15 September, where around 5,000 of the top PAs in the country will meet to network, learn and do business. Companies and associations involved in the sector are also invited to get involved and make use of the National PA Day logo.
For more information, please contact Ali Mead on 01273 645124 or amead@divcom.co.uk.
office* is free to attend for pre-registered visitors. For further information and to register, please visit www.officeshow.co.uk quoting priority code OFF11150.
Notes:
What can you do to get involved?
The idea behind the National PA Day campaign is a bit like one of those trendy ‘viral’ campaigns, where everyone is encouraged to get imaginative and get their creative juices flowing. So, please get your colleagues together for a brainstorm to explore ideas in which you can take advantage of the campaign. It should be good fun and a win-win for everyone involved. The rules are pretty basic and as long as the logo and slogan is not abused, we encourage you to use it in any way you see fit.
Why get involved?
It’s quite simple. The idea is to provide an annual celebration for some of the most important people in Britain’s offices, yet people who are often taken for granted. Being a top PA requires great skills, dedication, and judgment, which deserves recognition. But we also need to continue to improve our profession through training and learning and through greater recognition from the organisations in which we work.
Some ideas on how to get involved...
- Send a fun email to your work colleagues, managers and bosses letting them know it’s National PA Day and use the campaign logo on internal emails on the day itself.
- Arrange an informal meeting with your fellow PAs to talk about how you can improve the way you work together.
- If you have a number of PAs working in your company, why not set up a regular PA networking forum where you can discuss the particular issues and challenges facing busy PAs.
- Ask your company to invest in your development by allowing you to spend a day at office*, the most important training, learning and networking event in the UK this year, with 5000 top PAs attending.
Become a National PA Day Partner...
Any company, publisher, media owner, supplier or organisation otherwise involved with the PA community can get involved and can use the National PA Day initiative, marketing strap lines and logo as part of their marketing. Licence to use the logo is implied as granted, as long as you keep within the very basic guidelines – set out in the ‘Small Print’ below. But if you can, please let us know what initiatives you come up with so we can publish them and inspire others to follow your examples and ideas!
The ‘Small Print’
What we don’t want people to do:
- Use the campaign to promote products or ideas, which are against the interests and ideals of promoting the PA profession.
- Use the logo and slogan to imply that products are endorsed by the National PA Day campaign.
- Use this campaign to gain unfair competitive advantage.
- Use this campaign in a way which can lead to misunderstanding or confusion.
- Or any other use which, in the opinion of the promoters of the campaign, is against the intended aims of the campaign, its interested parties, or the commercial interests of Diversified Business Communications UK.
To prevent any such use, Diversified UK, who are the promoters of the campaign, its logo and slogan, reserve the right to withdraw the right for any company to be involved in the campaign, and the right to use the logo and slogan. Please feel free to call Diversified UK, if you are in any way in doubt about this.
THANKS FOR BACKING BRITAIN’S BRILLIANT PAs – AND GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR IDEAS!
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Media enquiries to:
Emma-Louise Jones, PR Executive
t: 44 (0)1273 645134 e: ejones@divcom.co.uk @DiversifiedUK
office* Exhibitor enquiries to:
Ali Mead, office* Event Manager
t: 44 (0)1273 645124 e: amead@divcom.co.uk @officeshow
If reproducing this press release, please include the Priority Code: OFF11150 and the following link: http://www.exporeg.co.uk/visit/sites/dbc/office/11/vis/reg.asp?PC=OFF11150
office* is a results focused event which aims to brings Office Professionals, PAs, Office Managers and Executive Assistants together with potential new business partners and solutions providers. Developed in consultation with prospective visitors, associations, publishers, manufacturers and training providers, it aims to inspire and educate all those working within this dynamic industry.
VISITOR INFORMATION:
Admission: Free to pre-registered visitors, £20 on-the-door
Location: Brompton Hall, Earls Court, London SW5 9TA
Opening hours: Thursday 15 September, 9.30-17.30 & Friday 16 September, 9.30-17.00
www.officeshow.co.uk
http://twitter.com/#!/officeshow
http://www.facebook.com/pages/office/116716991701373
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=3319575&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
Members of the media can reserve press passes to office* by contacting Emma-Louise Jones at ejones@divcom.co.uk.
Diversified Business Communications (UK) Ltd (Diversified UK) is a fast growing event organising and publishing company based in Brighton. In addition to office*, Diversified UK also organises Natural & Organic Products Europe, lunch!, the Independent Health Store Conference, camexpo and the Service Desk & IT Support Show. It publishes Natural Products – the industry’s leading trade magazine, and the Natural Beauty Yearbook.
Diversified UK is part of Diversified Business Communications, a leading international media company with a successful portfolio of sector leading exhibition, conferences, publications and websites.
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