DIVERSOS

TORONTO EXPLODED WITH THE POWER OF T N T !!!

This month, I want to call your attention to what happened in July !

Every year the International Association of Administrative Professionals holds an international convention and education forum gathering a number of about 2.000 professional secretaries that come from all parts of the world to attend to seminars and workshops to improve their professional and personal performance.

2001 was Toronto's year and the city exploded with the power of TNT ( Training, Networking and Teamwork) !

To give you an idea of what it is to participate of a convention this big, I'll describe some of the activities we had from July 14th to July 18th. Five days of training, networking, teamwork and fun !

Although the Opening Session is on Sunday, we can start our activities on Saturday, during the pre-convention seminars! Six seminars are offered, and after choosing one for the morning and another for the afternoon, there we are learning about Team Building - The Art of Cooperatively Working with others, in a group of more than 80 people - already networking !!!!

The Opening Session on Sunday reveals the number of participants : 2.050!!! and each country is represented by its flag in the Parade of Nations - a beautiful and moving show for our eyes and hearts.

Sunday is also the day of the Office Exhibition : a complete showcase of products and services, programs, publications and software- the latest and greatest resources - all that's new for the office!

What about business? Monday and Tuesday mornings are the days for the Business Sessions with great keynoters : On Monday, Warren Evans talked about YABUTS ( Yes, ...but...) the ways people use to cut the creativity flow and how to avoid them. As he says: "How to tame the Yabuts monsters that kill all the good ideas"

Wednesday is the day dedicated to the educational workshops - more than 50 options : leadership, communication, self-marketing,conference planning, changes, career transition, diversity in the workplace...etc.

The opportunities are great to meet not only the speakers who are successful authors and whose books we can buy in the Books Store, but also to make friends all over the world !

The convention closes on Wednesday evening with a banquet to celebrate the new acquaintances and the new board of directors who will be responsible for the 2001-2002 period.

Next year block your agendas ! July 21 to July 24 at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville - Tenessee ! The theme for 2002 is VISION WITHOUT BOUNDARIES !

Patrícia Bretas - Consultora Lingüística - Criadora de seminários em inglês e português sobre Comunicação, Criatividade, Comportamento e Estratégia dirigidos especialmente para o profissional administrativo. Patrícia também é Coordenadora de Assuntos Internacionais da FENASSEC (Federação Nacional de Secretários e Secretárias ) e membro da IAAP*-USA (International Association of Administrative Professionals).Contatos: Telefax: 0xx11 240 3038 E-mail: patricia@pratica,com.br

ATTENTION: If you sent me an e-mail during the month of July, PLEASE resend it as I had a "pane" on my PC and I lost all my messages of this month. Thanks!