Dame Susan is star guest at city business breakfast

New Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy will be the star attraction at a Rotorua business breakfast.

Dame Susan, controversially appointed to the role last month, will be guest speaker at the 41st Annual Administrators Day champagne breakfast at the Rotorua Holiday Inn on April 17.

Hosted by the Rotorua branch of the Association of Administrative Professionals New Zealand (AAPNZ), the breakfast aims to celebrate and recognise the work done by administrators.

Branch president Trish Dunn said administrators - a term that covers a broad range of roles - were too often under-appreciated by their employers.

She said the annual breakfast had been running in Rotorua for a number of years, with events being held all over New Zealand and the world on the same day.

Ms Dunn said she was delighted to have secured former Rotorua woman Dame Susan as guest speaker. "I was looking for someone who was going to draw in the crowds," she said. "She was mentioned to me a few times as a fabulous speaker who was funny and off the cuff."

Ms Dunn approached Dame Susan who confirmed she was happy to speak at the event. Days later her appointment to the race relations top job was announced, bringing the former squash champion firmly into the public eye.

Ms Dunn said she hoped Rotorua employers would get along to the 7am breakfast and take their administrators with them.

"Let's appreciate our administrators," she said. "It will be a really entertaining morning."

She said Rotorua AAPNZ was also hoping to recruit some new members on the day, who would benefit from networking and personal and professional development opportunities as well as mentoring.

Tickets are $31 which includes a glass of champagne on arrival, a cooked or continental breakfast and the chance to win prizes. Ricky Brackfield of Rotorua Drycleaners will MC. Tickets are available until April 15 by emailing trish@iao.co.nz or call her on (027) 288 2813.