PA Life debate set to raise awareness of CPD

With office technology evolving so rapidly and new legislation affecting the workplace coming into play, the need for administrative professionals to keep up to speed with all the latest developments is more pressing than ever.

But which courses offer real value, what exactly should PAs be looking for when it comes to continuing education and how can it benefit both businesses and their own careers?

This will be the topic under debate at the Office show at London’s Olympia next month when PA Life Editor Colette Doyle assembles five representatives from the PA community to assess the various options available and asks them to analyse how further education can be of value to employers. The panel will also be examining the role of networking in promoting CPD for personal and executive assistants.

The debate line-up features Adam Fidler, Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive of Salford City College and European PR Officer for networking association EUMA as well as a trainer in his own right; Nuala Gansler, PA to the Heads of Life and Savings at Royal London (CIS), who graduated with credit from industry body the APA’s Diploma in Personal Assistance; Emma Kernan-Staines, Personal Assistant to Sir Trevor Brooking at The Football Association, who was instrumental in putting together the FA PA pathway career advancement programme.

They are joined by Angela Mortimer, founder and owner of the eponymous recruitment agency, who has launched and progressed the careers of over 250,000 women in her working lifetime; and Lindsay Taylor, a former PA who worked for more than 10 years as an Executive Assistant in the UK and US and who is now the Director of training and coaching company Your Excellency.

The debate takes place at the Keynote Theatre on Wednesday, 9 October at 3.30pm. Attendance at the show is free to all those working as PAs, EAs and office managers if you register in advance at officeshow.co.uk/