The Association of British Secretaries in America (ABSA) was a New York-based organization of the 1960s and 1970s consisting of secretaries from the United Kingdom who had come to the United States to work and live.
A secretary, administrative professional, or personal assistant is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication, or organizational skills. However this role should not be confused with the role of an executive secretary, who differs from a personal assistant. In many countries, an executive secretary is a high-ranking position in the administrative hierarchy. In fact in Pakistan, federal secretaries are dubbed as the most influential people in the country.
The creation of the association appears to have taken place in New York in 1961. [1] During the 1960s, there was a steady demand for young British women to come to the U.S. and fill temporary or permanent secretarial positions. [2] [3] Reasons stated for the demand included a secretarial shortage in the U.S., better aptitude and seriousness for detail work among the British, and the perceived prestige in the U.S. of having an English accent answer the phone. [2] [3] For the British women who came over, there was a chance for better pay and advancement in the U.S. than within the British class system. [2]
The association's stated purpose was that it "offers assistance to members seeking jobs and apartments, and generally helps girls new to this country to settle in New York." [4] It also helped members navigate the New York social and dating scene, and the association threw parties of their own as well. [4]
The association is remembered for one unusual recorded vocal chorus effort, when they performed IBM corporate spirit songs on the 1969 album Paean. [5] The album was the idea of the computer software and consulting company Advanced Computer Techniques, [6] all of whose secretaries at the time came from England. [7] The album's songs and recordings were judged as "quite endearing" by InfoWorld magazine some years later, [8] and software design pioneer Larry Constantine subsequently described the association's role on the record with just one word: "indeed!" [9]
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, with operations in over 170 countries. The company began in 1911, founded in Endicott, New York, as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) and was renamed "International Business Machines" in 1924.
Advanced Computer Techniques (ACT) was a computer software company most active from the early 1960s through the early 1990s that made software products, especially language compilers and related tools. It also engaged in information technology consulting, hosted service bureaus, and provided applications and services for behavioral health providers. ACT had two subsidiaries of note, InterACT and Creative Socio-Medics.
InfoWorld is an information technology media business. Founded in 1978, it began as a monthly magazine. In 2007, it transitioned to a Web-only publication. Its parent company is International Data Group, and its sister publications include Macworld and PC World. InfoWorld is based in San Francisco, with contributors and supporting staff based across the United States.
By 1971, the association had about 80 members. [4] At meetings they discussed, or heard from speakers on, topics such as safety, cultural trips, vacations, and techniques for shorthand. [4] A similar organization at the time was the Society of International Secretaries.
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos (narrow) and graphein. It has also been called brachygraphy, from Greek brachys (short) and tachygraphy, from Greek tachys, depending on whether compression or speed of writing is the goal.
