Executary International Magazine

Some of you may, or may not, remember my review on the Chewton Glen Country Hotel and you may remember even further that I visited this luxurious pad via the courtesy of Executary News.

Executary News, or Executary International as it is sometimes known by, is a magazine for Executive Secretaries and PAs.

It’s not free, it has to be paid for BUT if you have a boss that wants to keep his PA happy, then you can get the company to pay for it and, in my view, the company SHOULD pay for it as the magazine provides so much good advice on current topics. I think I, or should I say my company, paid £19.50 for a year’s subscription and I also got a freebie present – a nice desk address book which I took home as all my work contacts are on my Access database on my work pc. The magazine is issued every two months and Executary News usually send me an email informing me of the contents of the next issue. I have been receiving this magazine for approximately two years and I really do like it.

It’s quite large to look at – 27cm x 38 cm, is extremely colourful and eye-catching and usually consists of approximately 28 pages of fabulously, useful information.

It covers very topical issues and in the October/November edition the front page is covering the pensions crisis, rights of temporary staff and a survey from the Chartered Management Institute/DTI – although I have noticed a mistake as they name the CMI as the Chartered Institute of Management which is now incorrect as the name was changed a couple of years ago! Now my beady little eye didn’t spot that on my first read but, for the purpose of this review, I had to scan the pages again and instantly spotted the obvious mistake! I knew Ciao was good for something!

Another story on the front page is that of a company taking one of its salesmen to court for £250,000. Why you may ask? For bedding the secretary and wasting company time and losing business!

The front page also tells you “What’s In It” – meaning the magazine.

As mentioned previously, it covers a wide range of topics including childcare provision, pregnancy, harassment of male staff (!???), surveys, articles on various companies and so much more.

Its centre fold story (yes, it has one but unfortunately the picture is of a cartoon male) is reporting on “Psychos in the Office” and what an interesting piece this is. I now look at all my colleagues with suspicion! Lots of laughs! The “Ten Ways to Spot a Psycho Manager” could apply to such a number of colleagues.

Lots of information on meetings, how to organise, where to go – so many useful tips.

One of the features I most admire is the competition section.

They always have quite a few really good competitions in each issue. They write a small article about the particular product, service or company and readers are invited to email their details to Executary News (sometimes you have to email the company concerned). It’s so easy . It is definitely worth entering these competitions as the prizes are usually extremely good. In fact, I actually won a phone system. I hadn’t realised I had won a prize and a parcel arrived at work and hey presto, there was my phone. As it couldn’t be used at work I took it home!

In the current issue there are several weekend breaks for two to be won and let me tell you that the hotels are beautiful – after all they are trying to sell these services to our bosses.

They also invite readers to attend “Reader Event” days or evenings – these are usually at hotels and are similar to the visit I made to the Chewton Glen Hotel.

It doesn’t cost much – apart from your time and travelling costs – but the actual venues are fantastic and sometimes an overnight stay is offered.

It is really worth keeping all these magazines because you might see an article or meeting venue that you can refer back to.

There is usually an article on pc programmes which is written by Helen Bradley and she can offer some great advice and even better tips.

As with all papers and magazines there are also lots of adverts too but even these can be useful

A “letters page” can be found in this magazine too and I do like to read these as some can be quite controversial.

So, I would definitely recommend this magazine to all you PAs, secretaries and office administration staff. Keep abreast of the many changes in the workplace by reading every copy. If anything is happening, or going to happen, or will affect you in your workplace then you can be assured that this magazine will feature coverage of it.

Their website is: www.exectuarynews.co.uk

Head Office:

Groves Business Centre
Milton under Wychwood
Oxon
OX7 6JF
Tel: 01993-832555
Fax: 01993-832999