office* Keynote Theatre

Talk Synopsis

This is your opportunity to find out how two award winning PAs have made their way to being recognised as a Top PA. As Hays PA of the Year Award winners in 2010 and 2011, they will share their experiences since winning the award and what they have done to get to where they are today. They will provide you with useful tips on how you can make an impact in your organisation and get the recognition you deserve. In addition, Geoff Sims, Managing Director, Hays PA & Secretarial, will provide an overview of the jobs market. This will include some useful tips on how to prepare a stand-out CV, an update on key skills required by employers and some essential interview advice. You will also have the ability to ask questions of any of the speakers.

Laura Richardson & Louisa James. Chair: Geoff Simms – MD of Hays

Talk Synopsis

Jacqueline Gold is one of Britain’s most successful businesswomen.  As Chief Executive of Ann Summers and Knickerbox, she’s become known as the “woman responsible for bringing sex to the high street”.  Jacqueline is an engaging and imaginative speaker, who delivers presentations described as simply ‘stunning’.  Jacqueline will take you through her inspirational story, detailing how she turned a male dominated business into a female institution which boasts a sale force of over 7,500 women and over 140 high street stores in the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands and Spain.

Jacqueline Gold,  Ann Summers & Knickerbox

Talk Synopsis

This session sees the UK’s lead Make-up Artist for Benefit Cosmetics, Lisa Potter-Dixon bring her years of experience to the stage. Here she will show you how looking good makes you feel good, whilst also giving you the confidence you need in the work place. With tips and tricks galore, can you afford to miss it!

Lisa Potter-Dixon, Benefit Cosmetics

Talk Synopsis

This session will be in the form of an entertaining interview, designed to bring out the differences in perspective and culture that can come into play when a boss has a male PA. How does it feel to be a male in a profession that is by tradition an overwhelmingly female one?  Does a boss (of either sex) find it more difficult (or more easy) to be giving instructions to a male assistant? These questions and many more, with some amusing anecdotes thrown in, will be covered in what promises to be a real highlight of Office 2011. 

Colin Brouwer-Ince, Assistant to the Director of Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, Sheffield Hallam University. Michael Hislop, Founder of The PA Club

Talk Synopsis

Good EAs and PAs are nearly always valued by their bosses but this value is not always reflected in both salary and career progression. Andrew Organ, publisher of Executive PA Magazine, chairs an informal Q&A session with winners of the 2008/09/10 Executive PA Magazine Awards and the magazine’s editor Cora Lydon.

Jamie Hartridge, Dawn Carey & Debs Eden – Executive PA Magazine – PA of the Year Awards

Talk Synopsis

Mixing practical advice with a genuine, down-to-earth personal account of her journey to the top, Michelle’s session will include insights and anecdotes garnered from a hugely successful business career, built on the incredibly simple concept of giving today’s women what they want.

Michelle Mone, OBE – Ultimo

Talk Synopsis

As a busy professional do you sometimes wake up in a rut thinking “what to wear today?” Well, personal stylist Natalie Robinson is the answer to your prayers!! Her ‘Dress To Impress’ seminar will reveal all. Natalie Robinson will talk you through key seasonal and trans-seasonal wardrobe staples to invest in. Natalie will also focus on what to wear for the office whether you work from home or not, and most importantly how to dress to impress- what to wear to that important business meeting to make a lasting impression, how to look sexy and classic at the same time to impress potential business contacts at social events. Natalie will take you through a visual transformation from a casual/smart day look to evening glamour with a contemporary twist with the aid of complimentary accessories fit for any occasion.

Natalie Robinson, Style Icon

Talk Synopsis

An interview with Debbie Cameron – Manager of the Institute of Directors Kent Branch conducted by Mike Caridia, CEO of pa-assist.com the No 1 website for office professionals. The interview will explore how Debbie has developed her career, from a junior in a sales and marketing agency, located in a small town in Kent, to become the only female Branch Manager in the Institute of Directors; an institution often, wrongly, thought of as a bastion of all things corporately male. In the interview, we will discover what pressures Debbie is under and how she copes with the diverse temperaments of the members of the two voluntary committees as well as the smooth running and administration of a branch that puts on over 70 events a year, for the benefit of its members. Finally, Mike will ask Debbie to give her thoughts and advice on how office professionals can climb the male dominated corporate ladder and create their own level playing field.

Mike Carridia, pa-assist.com & Debbie Cameron, Manager of the Institute of Directors