Administrative
Professionals Week
Celebrated
Since 1952
Now
the largest workplace observance outside
of birthdays and major holidays, Administrative
Professionals Week began in 1952 as an effort
to honor administrative staff for their
efforts and attract more people to office
and administrative careers.
Mary
Barrett, president of the National Secretaries
Association (now called the International
Association of Administrative Professionals)
and C. King Woodbridge, president of Dictaphone
Corporation, were serving on a council charged
with addressing a national shortage of skilled
office workers that existed at the time.
Together with Harry Klemfuss, public relations
account executive at Young & Rubicam,
they originated the idea for a secretaries
week campaign.
After
months of planning, their efforts came to
fruition when U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Charles Sawyer proclaimed the first National
Secretaries Week held June 1-7, 1952. Wednesday,
June 4 was designated National Secretaries
Day. Barrett and Woodbridge were invited
to Washington, DC for the official announcement,
which received widespread publicity. National
Secretaries Week was created with two objectives:
to recognize "the secretary, upon whose
skills, loyalty, and efficiency the functions
of business and government offices depend,"
and to call attention "through favorable
publicity, to the tremendous potential of
the secretarial career."
In
1955, the National Secretaries Association
changed the date of National Secretaries
Week to the last full week of April, with
Wednesday of that week being designated
National Secretaries Day. The name of the
observance was changed to Professional Secretaries
Week in 1981 when the National Secretaries
Association became Professional Secretaries
International (PSI). In 1998, PSI changed
its name to the International Association
of Administrative Professionals (IAAP),
to further reflect the expanding role of
office staff. In 2000, IAAP changed the
name of the observance to Administrative
Professionals Week to encompass the expanding
responsibilities and wide-ranging job titles
of administrative support staff today.
Over
the years, observances of Administrative
Professionals Week have become more focused
on professional development. Today, chapters
of IAAP hold hundreds of seminars and workshops
in their local communities during this week.
Other events include Administrative Professional-of-the-Year
presentations and special events saluting
employees who offer exceptional support
for their office staff.
Headquartered
in Kansas City, Missouri, IAAP today remains
the sole sponsor of Administrative Professionals
Week and Administrative Professionals Day.
IAAP continues to believe in the importance
of this event in calling business attention
to the increasing value and contributions
of administrative professionals in today's
workplace.
Administrative
Professionals Week will be observed April
21-27, 2002. Administrative Professionals
Day is Wednesday, April 24, 2002.
SOURCE:
http://www.iaap-hq.org
