The Regional Finals of The Secretary & Administrative Professionals Contest (SAPC) 2011 was hosted by the West Bengal Chapter of the Indian Association of Secretaries & Administrative Professionals in Kolkata for 8 contestants over the two weekends in August. The first weekend the participants sat for a written test, the papers for which had been received from HQs Mumbai and opened in their presence. General knowledge questions and points relating to work situations were to be answered.

The second weekend was devoted to two rounds of a Group Discussion in the presence of the judges, Ms. Ruchika Singh, General Manager East India for Jet Airways,Ms. Molly Thambi, last role as Managing Director of the Calcutta Stock Exchange and Mr. Samiran Dasgupta, General Manager – Real Estate & Site Operations of IBM, India South Asia. The participants were then called in individually for a personal interview with the judges over a range of questions relating to personal and professional life and viewpoints.

The finals were held at ITC Sonar in the presence of members of the Institute and Corporate invitees including the British Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. Sanjay Wadhwani who was the chief guest for the occasion. The contestants were asked to choose a topic, and speak for 2 minutes extempore. The 6 finalists were:

ANKITA SRIVASTAVA, HSBC
SAMARPITA CHANDA MUKHOPADHYAY, HSBC
TREASURE ROSINA, PRICEWATERHOUSE COOPERS PVT LTD
CATHERINE SYMES, M/S. JVS SECURITIES PVT LTD
SHAILAJA HOLT, ALSTOM PROJECTS INDIA LIMITED
SHARMILA SAMANTA, BENGAL AEROTROPOLIS PROJECTS LIMITED

The Best Speaker was awarded to Ms. Sharmila Samanta of Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd who was also awarded as the 2nd runner up while the Regional SAPC Award went to Ms. Samarpita Chanda from HSBC Electronic Data Processing India Pvt. Ltd and the first runner up was given to Ms. Ankita Srivastava, from HSBC.

Attractive gifts and other prizes went to the 3 Winners while the other contestants received large hampers sponsored by ITC Limited.

It was a glittering evening function at ITC on Saturday the 27th August followed with banquet dinner and drinks.

"A large turnout of members with a quite a few new faces braved the rains in Kolkata, got over the hangover of the Royal wedding and decided to miss the Kolkata Knight Riders Match at Eden Gardens to attend the Secretaries & Administrative Professionals Day celebrations at Oberoi Grand on 30 April 2011.

Sylvia Munshi Silent Striver Rose Bowl and Outstanding Member trophy awards were initiated after a gap of few years and Lily Prasad, Member in Charge of Membership and Brunel Gomes, Hony. Secretary won the awards respectively.  Members who attended all the programmes or missed just one programme were given a loud round of applause from the Managing Committee and the members.

Nutritionist, Ms. Hena Nafis presented a few facts on health and how important it was to remain healthy.  Ms. Sumita Chattopadhyay from Nestle showed the members how a few health foods could be put together in a short period of time.

Chairperson, Sangeeta showed the members a short video on ‘The Fish Story’ which was very apt in today’s working environment.  The four key messages were from this video were:

-       Play

-       Make their Day

-       Be There

-       Choose your attitude.

In commemoration of the International Women’s Day on 8th March, an experimental learning workshop was conducted by Neil Law at Vedic Village. We had 24 participants for the event from different companies in Kolkata. Group activity and interaction games were conducted by Mr. Law and two of his assistants which was not only beneficial to the attendees but also the importance of leadership and team work was emphasized. It focused on how to improve our communication skills at our work place, building trust within the group and to develop our own self-esteem.

In addition to this was the mouthwatering breakfast and lavish lunch spread served by Vedic Village. Each participant was also given a certificate for attending this programe. The event was much appreciated by everyone.

The Kolkata chapter's annual picnic accompanied with family and friends was held at The Pacific at Bantala. A bus was organized to pick up everyone from Christ the King Church which was a two hours drive out of Kolkata. It was a fun filled activity day with delicious food and entertainment, there was fancy dress for the younger crowd, games and music for one and all with exciting gifts for the winners. It was a nice day out and the pleasant weather which made everyone comfortable and on the return journey all that was heard were quite conversations and sounds of contentment.

At the St. Thomas’s Presbytery, Middleton Row the above event was held wherein two programmes were combined primarily for those who attended the ASA, to share their experience and secondly was to commemorate the Shubho Bijoya festive season. The programme was a usual success with a good number of attendees including members and guest. All MC Members were dressed in red par saris with white shaka and red pola.

Sangeeta and Nina shared their experience of the ASA Congress, Taiwan with everyone present. There was a discussion on the upcoming ASA Conventions which was of interest to everyone. A pamphlet for the 21st ASA Congress scheduled to be held in 2012 at Bangladesh, Dhaka was circulated so that everybody was made aware and all those interested could start their planning from now.  The certificates and badges were handed over to all the members who had attended the convention at Taiwan. This was followed by a bonding game which was conducted by Nina and Esther and then subsequently by a quiz wherein members were asked questions based on IASAP and for those who answered correctly were presented gifts.

The programme was concluded with yummy traditional Bengali buffet dinner."

The Management Committee, West Bengal Chapter organized a full day off-site programme at ECHO Hub – Rajarhat on Sunday 12th September from 11am – 4.30pm. The Regional Winner and Runner’s Up for the SAP Contest 2010 shared their experience with the members.

The programme was a great success with a total of 27 members, 3 contestants (invitees) and 11 guests in attendance.  The three contestants present were still hung over with the contest and were excited to share their experience both at Kolkata and for the two finalists at the All India Finals, Mumbai.

Eco Hub was kind enough to sponsor the event for approximately 50 heads which included the bus journey, the programme and venue. A short presentation was made by Eco Hub which was also much appreciated by everyone. All those who attended were enthused with high spirit. The lunch served was relished by all and the ambience was also much appreciated.

The Regional Finals of The Secretary & Administrative Professionals Contest (SAPC) 2010 was hosted by the West Bengal Chapter of the Indian Institute of Secretaries & Administrative Professionals in Kolkata for 8 contestants over two weekends in July. The first weekend the participants sat for a written test, the papers for which had been received from HQs Mumbai and opened in their presence. General knowledge questions and points relating to work situations were to be answered.

The second weekend was devoted to two rounds of a Group Discussion in the presence of the judges, Ms Shaila Hasan, British Council, Ms Molly Thambi, Calcutta Stock Exchange and Mr Samiran Dasgupta, Regional Head East of IBM. The participants were then called in individually for a personal interview with the judges over a range of questions relating to personal and professional life and viewpoints.

The finals were held at ITC Sonar Bangla in the presence of members of the Institute and Corporate invitees. The 8 ladies were asked to choose a topic, and speak for 2 minutes extempore. The participating ladies were:

Samarpita Chanda HSBC
Anita Srivastava HSBC
Sutonuka Majumdar HSBC
Treasure Rosina Price Waterhouse Coopers
Agnes D’Gama Tata Steel
Dhanalakshmi Saturday Club
Reena Sarkar ITC Ltd.
Poulomi Sen Tara Bangla

The Best Speaker Award was awarded to Ms Treasure Rosina of Price Waterhouse Coopers while the Regional SAPC Award went to Ms Reena Sarkar from ITC with the runner up from HSBC, Ankita Srivastava. The 2nd runner up was Dhanalakshmi working at the Saturday Club.

Attractive cash and other prizes went to the 3 Winners while the other contestants received large hampers.

It was a glittering function at Sonar Bangla on the 7th August with a sumptuous lunch and a truly professional ambience.