[Chrissy Scivicque]

Here at OfficeArrow, we're welcoming 2009 with a fabulous new contest. Learn how you can participate simply by sharing your 2008 accomplishments and your goals for this year. You may even win a $100 gift card to help you fulfill that New Year's resolution!
View The Full Article

[jwalz]

1. What did you accomplish in 2008 that you are most proud of?
* Obtained Notary Public certification
* Co-managed United Way Campaign meeting 150% of financial goal!

2. What is your New Year's resolution (personal or professional)?
* Learn one new software package

3. How would you use the $100 Visa gift card, and how would it help you fulfill your resolution?
* To purchase the software package I choose to learn this year. Owning the software would allow me to learn by spending time outside the office and have full access to all of the software's capabilities. I would be able to spend more time practicing the new skills and gain more experience with the software.

[Jodith]

2008 Accomplishments

• Chaired our office United Way campaign, and increased both total donations and number of participants over 150% from the previous year.
• Created an Office Manual for my old job with how-to's for all the major clerical duties in the office.
• Reviewed over 15 years of archived files and arranged the shred of over 100 boxes of files according to our File Retention Policy.
• Archived old files from the server to DVD, freeing up over 10 gigs of space on our network server.
• Started my own blog about being an Administrative Assistant, and grew it to over 180 subscribers and over 3000 unique visitors a month (I'm really, really proud of that).

Goals for 2009

• Learn CSS
• Keep a Neater Desk
• Be More Assertive in asking for new duties

As for the $100, I'd use it to buy a great CSS book that's been highly recommended to me, and I'd use the rest to buy a prize for a giveaway on my blog to celebrate my blog's first anniversary coming up in February. I'm rediculously excited about that *laughs*, almost as much as looking forward to my first wedding anniversary in July.

[LysaDell]

Accomplished in 2008 - Becoming recognized as a team member in my department, not just an Administrative Assistant. By making sure all processes are followed and streamlining the ones that needed to be done.

What to accomplish in 2009 - Microsoft Office 2007 Certification

What to do w/$100 - Treat my family to a dinner out rewarding and thanking them for patience with me as I accomplish my goals.

[mcrouch]

1. What did you accomplish in 2008 that you are most proud of?
* I sucessfully managed our office build out and relocation.
* I was able to obtain all necessary documentation from my boss to file his taxes in May instead of December like the prior year. It is like pulling teeth.

2. What is your New Year's resolution (personal or professional)?
*Professional-1)file my boses taxes by the April 15th deadline 2)Tightly manage my bosses time to raise his productivity
*Personally- get my closet at home as highly organized as my office space at work is.

3. How would you use the $100 Visa gift card, and how would it help you fulfill your resolution?
* To purchase dividers, sweater boxes and shoe racks for the closet. You know a girl can never have too many shoes!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[jord0205]

In 2008 I officially made my transition from college life to professional life: I 'revamped' my 'look' to appear more professional. I became completely independent personally and became more responsible for healthy eating and exercise. I became a snowboarder; I'm still learning, but in doing so, I'm facing my fears instead of straying away from them (the steep hills are scary!!!). I successfully chaired our United Way Campaign, organized a chili cook-off and a Halloween Costume party at work.

2009 has a lot of goals for me to accomplish:
-Run 6 miles without needing to stop (right now I'm running 3 with 2 minutes breaks now and then).
-Save 10K for a new car
-Get a promotion; I have a goal to become an executive assistant in 4 years.
-I want to get 3 certifications this year. I don't know which ones yet, hopefully after a very busy January I can sit down and decide which ones and the timelines.
-Fully recover from tendinitis and start playing my clarinet with a semi-professional group by fall.
-Pull off a successful Student Recital with my 7 students this spring.

With the gift card I would probably continue to expand on my professional look; I have yet to find a new suit that I like for the right price. If not for that, probably some new music to study with my clarinet or for my students to work on.

Lots of goals, but if I don't stay busy I either spend too much, eat too much or drive myself crazy.

[Pattyh]

1. What did you accomplish in 2008 that you are most proud of?

- Finally (at my age) accomplished getting an Associates Degree and am now working towards my Bachelors Degree.
- Successfully overcame the terrible “Empty Nest Syndrome” – which was much harder than I ever thought it would be.
- Completed 2 full years of non-smoking!!!

2. What is your New Year's resolution (personal or professional)?
- Professional – to continue to work towards my Bachelors Degree and become certified as a Microsoft Office Specialist.
- Personal – to work on becoming more active and staying healthy.

3. How would you use the $100 Visa gift card, and how would it help you fulfill your resolution?

- I would probably use my gift card towards the purchase of school books.

[Emma59]

1. What accomplishments of 2008 am I most proud of?

I am proud of taking and passing the Certified Professional Secretary Exam. I also became the Treasurer of my chapter of the IAAP. I bought a motorcycle have passed the rider's edge class and received my endorsement.


2. What is your New Year's resolution (personal or professional)?

Professional resolution - I continue to take college classes and work on obtaining my associate's degree. I also plan to attend several seminars that the IAAP will be hosting this summer.

Personal resolution - to spend time with my husband, riding our Harleys and seeing more of the country.

3. How would you use the $100 Visa gift card, and how would it help you fulfill your resolution?

The gift card would more than likely be used to purchase a few books that are on the IAAP read list. I would also buy my husband breakfast before one of our rides.

[Bspandrio]

1. What did you accomplish in 2008 that you are most proud of?

I started my new business doing something I really love -- and making money! Unlike previous businesses I've tried, I am so into what I'm doing that I don't hesitate to put myself "out there". I am proactive in ways I've never been before with promoting my business and follow-up.

2. What is your New Year's resolution?

To grow my business in such a way that it impacts others' ability to become what they envision. This can happen both with clients and associates. A couple of my specific goals:
-- 25-30 billable client hours per week
-- form an association of others in my community doing the same work in order to help each other meet our goals. By joining together, we can increase community awareness of our profession in general and our respective businesses specifically. My plan is to conduct workshops, charity events and seek out other appropriate venues to reach out to the community at large. Essentially, we can help each other up that hill of success!

3. How would you use the $100 Visa gift card and how would it help you fulfill your resolution?

I would use it to promote a charitable function that I and my colleagues could conduct together to increase community awareness of our industry (Professional Organizing) while at the same time assisting a member of the community who may be struggling. I envision a campaign similar to "make-over" shows where we would help declutter and organize the home, as well as do a wardrobe makeover (the specialty of one of my colleagues). The Visa money would go toward any materials needed that could not be obtained through donations of local companies.

[strayreverie]

1. What did you accomplish in 2008 that you are most proud of?

There are a few things I've done in my job that I find really satisfying, such as: working overtime and weekends for several weeks to document every contract we had in our contracts safe which has never been done before and my boss really appreciated; and receiving a beautiful bouquet from our NZ General Manager as thank you for working in the office till 6am on a tender (22 hours of work time I would not want to re-live!).

Having said that, the achievement I'm most proud of from 2008 is actually getting my drivers licence. I grew up quite sheltered and unexposed with an expectation that I would never get anywhere in life or achieve anything that my friends had accomplished. But, at the ripe old age of 23, years after my friends got theirs, I finally passed my driving test (after getting over denial from my first failed attempt which involved a lot of crying and bad parking).

I'm still not the best driver, but what's a few scratches and dents in exchange for this kind of freedom - and I didn't have a single accident or speeding ticket in '08!


2. What is your New Year's resolution (personal or professional)?

I've just posted on my fridge my 8-item-long list of resolutions. A couple quietly carried over from last year with tails between their legs, but a lot more are fresh ones. My most meaningful resolution will be learning to swim. This simple skill is just going to have so many benefits - it will help me achieve some of my other resolutions (lose weight, get fit, find a hobby for myself instead of depending on other people) but it's also been one of my biggest fears since childhood. I'm looking forward to shocking friends and family at our next get-together when I turn up as the notoriously water-phobic girl who can suddenly do freestyle!


3. How would you use the $100 Visa gift card, and how would it help you fulfill your resolution?

I would use the Visa gift card to pay for adult swimming lessons, which are $99 for 9 lessons at my local pool. Perfect!