Administrative Assistant's Update

July 2014 2 Making it look easy In April, I attended the APC 2014— an annual admin conference. I've gone nearly every year for the past 15 years, to cover the conference for AAU. This year AAU's Career Coach- ing columnist, Helen Latimer, went with me to cover some of the workshops. Not only was it terrific to have someone there to talk about the workshops with, but I found myself getting a master class in networking and communicating from Helen. I've read lots of research about networking and on how to help make other people feel at ease, but I'm not sure I'd ever seen it put into practice as graciously as Helen did that day. Let me give you a fer-instance. Helen and I took our lunch plates from the buffet into the dining room where large round tables were set up, each seating about six people. The table we chose had one other person already sitting at it. Rather than just taking our seats across from her and talking to each other (as, I admit, I have done before—af- ter all, a morning of workshops can wear you out and sometimes all you want to do is cocoon), Helen held out her hand to the other admin and introduced herself and me. Then, as other admins joined us, Helen welcomed them to the table with a smile and introduced every- one. She asked them questions about how their morning had gone and she listened—really listened—to answers. So instead of several groups of people at a large table, we soon all became chatty and by the time lunch was over we were old friends. What a difference a smile, a handshake, an introduction and sincere interest in someone else makes! Helen wasn't trying to control the conversation at the table—rather, she was helping everyone to feel more at ease and comfortable shar- ing their own information with everyone. It was a good lesson for me to see in action, and one I'll try to emulate at future business functions. You can read Helen's Career Coach column on page 3 in this month's edition of AAU. Administrative Assistant's Update is published once a month by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. EdItorIAl offICE v joycegrant@sympatico.ca S (416) 656-7796 U Joyce Grant, Editor Administrative Assistant's Update Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. 1 Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Road Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 CustomEr sErvICE S (416) 609-3800 (800) 387-5164 T FAX (416) 298-5082 (877) 750-9041 v carswell.customerrelations@ thomsonreuters.com Contents copyright. All rights reserved. © 2014 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. Contents may not be reproduced without written permission. Brief extracts may be made with due acknowledgement. Annual subscription: $189. Publications Mail Registration No. 40065782 GST# 897176350 uPDATE Administrative Assistant's F R O M T H E E D I TO R Joyce Grant Net neutrality Net neutrality is a boring sound- ing term, but it's a concept that's important to understand. Net neutrality means that all data must be treated equally no matter who creates it. Without net neutrality, we could have a two-tier system. Large companies that pay more would send their data at faster speeds than smaller companies that can't afford to pay a pre- mium. Internet providers (cable companies, for instance) would charge tech companies to be able to send content to consum- ers more quickly. For instance, Netflix might pay the premium and be able to send their data to their customers more quickly than smaller competitors that could not. Some people use the terms "fast lane" and "slow lane" to describe the two-tier system. Google, Facebook, Netflix and Amazon have all signed petitions asking the American government not to abandon net neutrality. Many Internet providers, how- ever, are lobbying for the two-tier system. The FCC in the U.S. is taking comments on the issue and will be making a decision about it.

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