IT used to be that behind every great man is a great woman. But now we know that behind every great man or woman is a great assistant. The Visayas chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines celebrated these indispensable members of staff during the Amazing Assistants Night held at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino. The dedicated secretaries and assistants who usually do their hard work behind the scenes were in the spotlight that evening, and deservedly so. What would become of an executive or top manager if the support staff are not around to ensure that schedules are smooth, the boss is informed of internal concerns, important documents executed and filed, and all the finer details and processes combed through? An assistant’s job description could simply be summed up as preventer of office chaos to allow the manager to do his or her work more effectively.
The dress code for the evening was anything white, as the color is associated with the honesty and integrity that are crucial in administrative support work. Keynote speaker for the evening was Cebu City Councilor Mary Ann De Los Santos, who shared insights and anecdotes on what it means to be of service to others.
One of the fun things about AmCham events is that the event host never has to pull anyone in to join the games, as everybody was okay to be a little silly and have a lot of fun with blindfolded musical chairs and wrapping their colleagues in toilet paper for the games. Aside from the buffet dinner and musical entertainment, everyone enjoyed the huge goody bags full of corporate gifts from AmCham member companies.
Fluor Daniel Corp. and Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. were the major sponsors for the event to be possible. There were also dozens of prizes raffled off, from Titay’s and Knowles Electronics gift bags and Timex watches, to hotel gift certificates from Marco Polo Plaza Cebu and Radisson Blu. Other prizes that excited everyone in the room were Boyce Avenue concert tickets sponsored by Waterfront Hotel’s general manager Anders Hallden, and a roundtrip airline ticket to Palawan courtesy of Grand Holidays Travel and Tours.