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April, 2007

Administrative Professionals  Week - April 19-25
Administrative Professionals Day - Wednesday April 22
More Administrative Professionals Week Possibilities
International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP)

Major Event Opportunity For April

It doesn't matter if you operate a restaurant, nightclub, neighborhood pub, a coffee shop or a cybercafé, the week of April 19-25 should be flagged as a major event opportunity to focus on a specific market "niche" group consisting of over 4 million professionals. The 50+-year-old tradition of honoring administrative professionals continues each year during the last full week of April.

The National Secretaries Association, now known as the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP), first organized Professional Secretaries Week® in 1952 to call attention to the contributions of administrative support staff and to promote professional excellence. This annual observance has grown to become one of the world's largest workplace observances.

Today's Administrative Professional is defined as:

Today, the title "secretary" has been replaced in many offices & board rooms with "aide", "coordinator" & the most popular, "administrative or executive assistant".

Here are some leads that you should begin to work on right away. Nice thing about this event is that it's a win-win for all. You get to be of service in a positive way in the community by directing recognition towards the group & in return, you increase traffic, make the cash register ring & perhaps even receive some media coverage for your efforts. Read on.....

Plan activities all week with a major party(s) on Wednesday, April 23rd for all secretaries.

Contact the local IAAP chapter in your area. Ask for a mailing list of their members. Send personal invites to the party in their honor.

Set up a telemarketing & fax program to book special parties all week from large office pools in the area. Develop a fax list & flood the town with clever fax invites or a newsletter filled with all your planned activities, prizes, co-sponsors, etc.

Reserve space for each separate group. Could be for lunch, an after work social, whatever.

Have placards & banners printed using the Professional Secretaries 2008 theme phrase:

Administrative Professionals Week April 19-25 This Year's Theme Is: "Excellence In Action"

Order buttons with a white heart on a red background & red letters that say,
"(your business) Loves Administrative Professionals".

Develop a whole series of activities to give recognition to secretaries. Hand out tickets for door prizes. Suggestions:

Comp lunches for two.
Personalized biz card carrier.
Offer to have business cards printed for winners.
Award a desk nameplate.
Free subscriptions to office, computer or trade magazines like "The Secretary".
Gift certificates for business clothes, accessories. (excellent co-sponsor
      opportunity here.)
A limo ride to work for a week.
Free Internet access for a month.

More Administrative Professionals Week Possibilities

If you serve lunch, set up a promo for the week that rewards administrative professionals who invite their bosses to lunch... perhaps a "buy one lunch, get the second one for 1/2 price" kind of pitch. Or, begin now to hand out bounce-back coupons to current customers with the discounts explained for Administrative Professionals Week. There are many variables to this kind of program.

Brainstorm with your CMT (Creative Marketing Team) on ways to customize some lunch items to the event. Possible: table tents with daily specials packaged around the event slogan:

"Excellence In Action"

You may wish to include women & men who perform executive support functions, regardless of title. This policy helps to further widen the demographic appeal for the events of the week.

Cybercafés, coffee shops, businesses with Internet access: Invite office groups in for coffee & free or reduced rate Internet surfing. If you have the expertise, offer ladies from this group a special seminar/workshop on how to be more effective using the Internet-- both personally & professionally.

Set aggressive goals for each day of Administrative Professionals week; number of parties, number of lunches or numbers of participants who you expect will show up each day. Let those numbers help you to set daily sales goals for the week.

Areas to target: Office buildings, hospitals, banks, lending institutions, car dealerships, all media like newspaper,  radio & TV stations, schools, colleges, etc. With just a little research, you will discover dozens of PR opportunities in your target market.

It's possible to double sales for the week if you do your homework, detail your plan A to Z.

We've just scratched the surface here. Over the years, we've had phenomenal success w/ this promotion opportunity.

More--If you have meeting rooms or banquet space, contact the local chapter of IAAP to inquire how you can be of service, prepare a luncheon, book a speaker, schedule a video conference or other events to coincide with Administrative Professionals Week in your city.

The Bottom Line: If your goal is to better serve this valuable professional group during lunch, happy hour or late night, don't miss this major opportunity to be of service.

International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP)

Today, there are 3.4 million secretaries/administrative assistants and 1.4 million clerical supervisors and managers in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, and another 400,000 in Canada. 

The International Association of Administrative Professionals, a not-for-profit professional association,  is the world’s largest association for administrative support staff, with nearly 700 chapters and 40,000 members and affiliates worldwide. 

For over 50 years, IAAP has provided up-to-date research on office trends, cutting-edge publications, outstanding seminars and conferences, and top-notch resources to help administrative professionals enhance their skills and become more effective contributors to their employers. 

The association works in partnership with employers to promote excellence. Its members include administrative assistants, professional executive secretaries, office coordinators, information specialists, & other related professionals. IAAP is sole sponsor of Administrative Professionals Week®.

To learn more about the International Association of Administrative Professionals & review more promotional tie-in possibilities, we invite you to visit their Kansas City,  Mo. corporate web site. Click here....  or email: service@iaap-hq.org

FYI for long-range planners: APW is always observed annually the last FULL week in April (standard seven-day calendar week, Sunday through Saturday). APD is always the Wednesday of that full week.

More promo ideas.... We’ve just scratched the surface here. If you want to learn more, I’d like to invite you to read more about "Success Management Systems" by ordering our new book, "Bar/Nightclub Management & Marketing - 101 Ways To Make The Cash Register Ring." It's a  powerful tool for creating traffic & increasing sales using proven marketing, promotions & improved operations techniques. Details here.