JASAP CONTACT

JASAP CONTACT

Volume 5 Issue 2 2004 April

In this Issue

Winners of the 2004/04 All-Island Secretary &
Boss of the Year Competition

Getting to know your National Executive Members

Me, Myself and I

A compound personal pronoun is not to be used if a personal pronoun will suffice. Examples:

Nancy and I are pleased to present this scholarship, instead of Nancy and myself are pleased to present this scholarship.

Send your survey responses to Jane or me instead of Send your survey responses to Jane or myself.

The use of the compound personal pronoun myself must refer to a noun or pronoun in the same sentence: I knew at the time that I was incriminating myself.

Myself refers to the pronoun I. Myself reflects the action back on the subject and is now as a reflexive pronoun: I will write the email myself.

Myself adds emphasis to the pronoun I and is known as an intensive pronoun.

REMINDERS

Visit our Website at www.jasap-online.org

Our Secretariat is located at, 78 Slipe Road,
Kingston 5.
Telephone #926-9742.
Jennifer Foster is our Assistant.

Quotations

The Secretary is the heartbeat of every office! If that fails, the other organs as important as they are, somehow collapse.

Our wish for the Secretarial profession, as it progresses and evolves into an impressive profession of the 21st Century, is that it continues to attract young people of quality who see the enormous challenges of running an office efficiently, as not only a great career but also a great honour and privilege.

Heartiest Congratulations to Mrs Gemlyn Coote and Miss Joan Wint on emerging winners of the 2004/05 All-Island Secretary and Boss of the Year respectively. They were selected from a field of 11 contestants at the All-Island Judging held on Sunday, April 4 at Frenchman’s Cove in Portland.

Gemlyn, an Executive Assistant at ACS Jamaica Limited, represented the St. James Chapter, while Miss Wint, Principal of Denbigh High School represented the Clarendon Chapter.

A precursor to Professional Secretaries Week celebrations, the All-Island Secretary and Boss of the Competition is aimed at further developing the personalities of Secretaries and Administrative Professionals making them more rounded individuals.

A confident Gemlyn impressed the judges as she addressed the topic: ‘You have been elected President of your Chapter of the Jamaica Association of Secretaries and Administrative Professionals. Outline your plans for membership growth and retention of the Chapter.’

In the Boss of the Year Competition, Joan Wint responded intelligently to the topic: ‘What opportunities and/or challenges will ensue from transforming 15 separate Caricom countries with differing levels of development into a single market and a single economy.’

Charlene Bennett, Secretary at Victoria Mutual Building Society and Rosene Greenwood, Pharmaceutical Sales Manager at GlaxoSmithKline emerged Runners-up Secretary and Boss respectively. Both represented the Kingston Chapter.

Other participants in the Secretary of the Year Competition include Althea Tomlin, Tanya Pinnock, Colleen Graham, and Melony Headley. Richard McHargh, Althea Bryan and Horace Peterkin were the other participants in the Boss of the Year Competition.

Congratulations to Gemlyn and Joan. We wish you a year filled with success and much rewards.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR NATIONAL EXECUTIVE MEMBERS

In this and other Issues of JASAP Contact we will bring you information on members of the National Executive.

Karlene Burgess

Karlene Burgess
Date of Birth:           August 22
Position on NE:         President
Present Occupation: Employee Benefits Officer at Grace, Kennedy & Co. Ltd.
Contact Numbers:     922-3440 (work) / 988-0157 (home)

Karlene has been in the Secretarial profession for 22 years before being appointed Employee Benefits Officer in 2002. She joined the membership of the Kingston Chapter in 1988 and has held the positions of Public Relations Officer, Secretary and Vice President of the Chapter. Karlene was President of the Chapter during the period 1994 to 1996.

Karlene enjoys reading and dislikes hypocrisy, gossiping, selfishness and people with negative thoughts.

Karlene’s most embarrassing moment: I am sure there are many, but I can’t remember any right now.

Karlene’s most happiest moment: It’s difficult to pinpoint one as there many happy moments in one’s life. For me it could be my landing my first job; the awards I have received (Girl of the Year -Commercial College; Employee of the Year; JASAP Presidents’ Awards); completing my Degree in HRM after 3 long years, and owning a brand new car.

Where Karlene would like to see the Association and/or profession in the future: Our Association has been in existence for over 30 years. It is my hope that in addition to owning our Building, we will become a voice in the society for all Secretaries. We will be able to negotiate on behalf of Secretaries, just like the Teachers Association and to stand out against injustices that our members face. Also, our profession is really moving fast, but we have persons out there who still believe that the Secretary ‘should bring the coffee’. We have a skill set that is broader than most managers and other professionals and so must stamp out the old adage and act as Administrative Professionals.

Doreen James
Date of Birth:            August 5
Position on NE:         1st Vice President
Present Occupation:   Planning Coordinator at the St. James Parish Council
Contact Numbers:      952-5500 (work) / 940-0550 (home)

Doreen was in the Secretarial profession for 20 years before being appointed Planning Coordinator in 1993. She has been a member of the St. James Chapter of the Association since 1978 and has held the positions of Vice President, Secretary, and Chairman of the Civic, Rules & Bylaws, Membership and Nominating Committees. Doreen was President of the Chapter during the period 1997 to 1999.

Doreen is a true soca fan and enjoys socializing. She dislikes hypocrisy, people who are lazy and persons who wait until the last minute to do things.

Doreen’s most embarrassing moment: Approximately 20 years ago, she offered a visitor a glass of white rum instead of water from her boss’ refrigerator. She had a stuffy nose at the time and so could not smell the contents.

Doreen’s most happiest moment: Something she thinks about all the time, but not something she wants to make public.

Where Doreen would like to see the Association and/or profession in the future: The National Executive and the Chapters pulling together and not against each other. It is one Association, working towards one goal and everyone should see it as such.

Lucille Jackson
Date of Birth:            July 27
Position on NE:         2nd Vice President
Present Occupation: Assistant Contracts Administrator at Windalco
Contact Numbers:     961-7082 (work) / 962-0873 (home)

Lucille has been a Secretary for 25 years, and has been a member of the Manchester Chapter for 20 years. During those 20 years she has held the positions of Vice President, Public Relations Officer, and Chairman of the Civic, Rules & Bylaws and Ways & Means Committees. Lucille was President of the Chapter during the

period 1995 to 1996. Lucille enjoys cooking, socializing, dancing and singing (in the bathroom). She dislikes persons who never have anything positive to say and those who are always criticizing.

Lucille’s most embarrassing moment: Falling on a busy street one early morning on her way to work.

Lucille’s happiest moment: Seeing her last child graduated from high school after having gone through the struggling teen phase.

Where Lucille would like to see the Association and/or profession in the future: As a monitoring Body for the Secretarial Profession and be one of the most talked about non-profit organisations.

CARIBBEAN CONVENTION

Are you ready to meet today’s professional challenges head-on? The Caribbean Association of Secretaries and Administrative Professionals (CASAP) wants to make sure you are prepared, and so has designed the 2004 Convention with the Administrative Professional of today in mind. Scheduled for July 16 to 22 in St. Kitts --- the Twin Island Federation of St. Christopher --- Administrative Professionals will have the opportunity to enhance their creativity, sharpen their skills and learn new ones, and hear about the current hot topics of their profession. There is no better way to gain the skills to maximize your potential than to be a part of the exciting Convention.

The Seminars and Motivational Workshop will cover cutting-edge topics that will allow you to get the most out of your convention investment. The following are the topics and the presenters:

The Effects of Family Values in our Professional Lives by Rev’d Alganon Lewis
Managing for Success - - - Building Leadership Skills for Today’s successful people by Suzette Plaisted (international renowned speaker)
Financial Strategies by Albert Edwards
Mastering Protocol by S.W. Tabley Seaton
Mentoring --- How to identify and form mentor relationships by Mrs Beverley Anderson Manley

Don’t miss the chance to maximize your potential, enhance your circle of professional acquaintances, and gain new ideas at this, the 9th Convention of CASAP

For further information, please speak with your Chapter President or give Jennifer Foster at our Secretariat a call at 926-9742.

UPCOMING EVENTS

April 18 to 24                     Professional Secretaries Week
June 12                               National Retreat — Madge Saunders Conference Centre, St. Mary
July 3                                  National Fun Day
July 16 to 22                     CASAP Council Meeting & Convention in St. Kitts
August 1 to 4                    IAAP Convention in Washington D.C.
September 5                      Thanksgiving Service
October 14 to 17               Local Convention at Renaissance Jamaica Grande

Sharpen your Axe

A young man approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. ‘That depends’ replied the foreman. ‘Let’s see you chop down this tree’. The young man stepped forward and skillfully chopped down a great tree. Impressed, the foreman exclaimed, ‘You can start on Monday’.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday rolled by --- and Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, ‘You can pick up your pay cheque on the way out today.’ Baffled, the young man replied, ‘I thought you paid on Friday?’ ‘Normally we do,’ said the foreman. ‘But we’re letting you go today because you have fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you’ve dropped from first place on Monday to last place today.’

‘But I’m a hard worker,’ the young man objected. ‘I arrive first, leave last and even have worked through my coffee breaks!’

The foreman, sensing the young man’s integrity, thought for a minute, then asked, ‘Have you been sharpening your axe?’

The young man replied, ‘No sir. I’ve been working too hard to take time to do that!’

Author Unknown

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we do not take time to ‘sharpen our axe’. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever but less happy than ever. Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp.

There is nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life – you. We all need time to relax, to think, to learn and grow. It we do not take time to sharpen the axe, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness. Take charge of your life today, sharpen your axe.

Volume 5 Issue 2 JASAP Contact 2004 April