Perception
The idea of EAPS was born to improve the secretary’s professional status, encourage the secretary’s self-development and to help ensure a role in the introduction of new technology. Sonia hoped that such an association would enable secretaries to develop their self-confidence and communication talents. She adds, "We also wanted to launch the idea that being a secretary is a professional commitment, not something you do because you can't think of anything else. It exasperated her to see a job requiring both intelligence and considerable personal qualities not having the recognition it deserved. She had no illusions about the fact that it was because women carried out the job.

Sonia does not consider herself qualified to say whether management has changed its perception of secretarial staff. Her feeling is that it hasn't. "It's largely a gender thing," she says. "It's very difficult for men to realise that women really are different. Some managers still seem surprised by their secretary's point of view. They often don't realise that their own behaviour is very demotivating. Luckily I have also met many managers who give their secretaries or PAs every opportunity to develop."

Ambassadors
It wasn’t until late 1973 that the project of establishing a European association began to take shape. In October of that year Sonia proposed the idea to a group of secretaries and management assistants attending a follow-up programme at MCE, and obtained the blessing of MCE's President to go ahead since everyone seemed so interested. One of the group, Pat Hafner, and English girl working in Switzerland, followed up with a first draft of what was needed. Ms Vanular drew up a list of MCE participants who had particularly impressed her as being excellent ambassadors for the secretarial profession and Hafner wrote to them for their opinion of the idea.

"We had originally thought the Association should be bilingual but one of the secretaries wrote back that while she and her boss were very interested, unfortunately she would not be eligible for membership as she only spoke English. As nothing had yet been fixed we asked her to join anyway and luckily she did as she became our first Vice Chairman."

At that time Sonia was involved with seminars in Austria which made it easy for her to attend a meeting in Zurich, half way to Vienna, and Hafner offered to organise this for those who had expressed interest in the circular letter. Thus in October 1974 a small working party of sixteen gathered there from nine countries - Finland, Sweden, Norway, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Spain, all but one being supported by their managers.

The next intended move for some of the group to meet at another seminar, came to nothing as this was cancelled but the foundation had been laid and what started with 16 members is now an organisation with 1,700 members in twenty-five countries.

In its silver anniversary year 1999 the Association changed its name to European Management Assistants (EUMA), in an attempt to reflect changes in the role of management support. The move was in line with similar steps taken by other professional organisations, such as the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP, USA).