Administrative Professionals Day: Makin' it Look Easy For 60 Years

     Today is Administrative Professionals Day (APD), and it is more than a Hallmark Holiday.  In fact, Hallmark has nothing to do with this day which honors the role of 8.9 million women and men who perform roles within their respective work places, which are best described under the broad umbrella of the "administrative professional".

     APD, formerly known as Professional Secretaries Day--or "Secretaries Day", owes its origin to the need for clerical and secretarial support on the homefront during WWII.  With the men off fighting in the Pacific and European Theaters, women back home kept the fabric of our nation moving forward by working hard in factories, war plants, and of course don't forget the league of their own.  Of course there was also a need for secretarial (administrative) support, and so in 1942 the National Secretaries Association (now known as the International Association of Administrative Professionals, IAAP) was born, and in 1952 the first National Secretaries Week was established (Happy 60th National "Honor-Those-Who-Make-it-Happen-Week"!).

(You can read more about the history of IAAP here: http://iaap-hq.org/connections%20newsletter/images/history_of_iaap.htm)

     Fast forward to April 25, 2012.  So, here we are, it's Administrative Professionals Day, and chances are that most, if not all, of you reading this are an Administrative Professional, and hey today is about YOU! 

     Each year on APD I cannot help but think of the movies 9-5  and (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080319/) Office Space (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/).  I really don't have much of a point to make here, except to say that while most of us are fortunate enough that we don't find it necessary to spend our days imagining ways to off our bosses, and most of us don't one day come into work and decide to cut down our cubicle walls so that we have a better view, we all from time-to-time feel frustrated, annoyed and maybe even taken for granted. 

     While I feel appreciated pretty much every day at work, I am aware that not everyone feels, or even knows, how much they are appreciated, and so that is why I think it is good to set aside one day a year when we collectively honor those who make the impossible possible and the difficult look like a breeze--heck some of us even double as expert printer un-jammers:

     To anyone who may feel underappreciated and unnoticed, know that today is for you and that your peers know just how important and integral to your office you are!

Additionl Information: http://www.iaap-hq.org/events/apw