Yes it DOES Smell nice in here...

As if preparing for Mother's Day wasn't enough...

Some crazy person decided to schedule Administrative Professionals Week (formerly Secretaries’ Week) two weeks before the busiest week of the entire year (for Flower Shops, at least).

Now, truth be told, APW is not near as busy a holiday for florists as it could be – it is a fairly busy week; Lots of multiple deliveries to the same office. APW makes for a nice financial end to the month of April, but leaves everyone just slightly more exhausted than they would be heading into May to start our preparation for Mother’s week.

10-15 years ago, SW was celebrated with a Boss buying flowers or a gift for his or her secretary; but with the more politically correct designation of APW, a broader net is cast over the entire administration. This has resulted in a much larger group of employees to be recognized and thanked by not just one boss, but in most cases by the entire company.

In fact, it has become common for owners & administration of companies to recognize the hard work that individuals at vendors, partner companies, accountants or other support organizations do to assist their company on a regular basis. Because of this new trend, and in the interest of budgetary concerns, gift baskets full of goodies for the whole office to enjoy have become increasingly popular.

And no one even attempts to go out to lunch without a reservation on AP Day (Wednesday) when bosses traditionally take their immediate staff out to lunch to thank them for their service. Larger offices bring the food in so that everyone can enjoy the day as well.

As for florists, well we spend the week making lots and lots of little things (bud vases and small bouquets) for the offices recognizing many staff members and several larger items (roses, spring vases & exotics) for those recognizing one or two key staff members. The hardest part for us is getting the deliveries to all the offices in the requested time frame since we cover such a large area this can sometimes be tricky.

The only thing I can do is look at this in a positive light: It’s good practice for the next two weeks, I guess.