The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-04-08
SECRETARIES GO
 TO CRESCENT CITY
TREzEyANT DESCRIBES WORK OF ASSOCIATION AND INCIDENTAL LY PAYS FINE TRIBUTE TO J. B. BABB OF BIRMINGHAM


 in the awakening of the whole southern
 country to it's advantages, the conference
 of southern commercial secretaries, to Dc
 held in New Orleans next month, May 2
 and 2S will play large part.
 Secretary Joseph B. Babb or Bifniiis-
 ham is member of the executive com- nittee of the organization, and he pro-
 poses to make the meeting count for
 much. as most of the time will be given
 up to the study Of technical problems and systems which have been successful else
 where There is no city which is out after this knowledge right now so indus tfio1sly as Birmingham.
 | The plans of the conference are seen in the following from the New Orleans Pica- yune, which also includes a high tribute to MT. Babb:
 | Announcement is made by the New Or | leans Progressive union that another im- portant convention has been secured TOT New Orleans, and on May 27 and 2S the Southern Commercial Secretaries asso- citation will hold it's annual sessions here, with a tip to Panama as a prospective addition. This organization is composed of secretaries of commercial bodies all over the south. who have organized for their mutual education and progress. M. F. rrezevsnt, secretary-manager of the New Orleans Progressive union. is seere- tary-treasurer of the body; H. H. Rich ardson, secretary of the Jacksonville, Fla, board of trade, being president; H. S. Herring. secretary of the New Orleans board of trade, is vice president for Louisiana and the other Louisiana mem bers are: E. H. Borden, secretary of the New Orleans Contractors and Dealers exchange; Will Allen, secretary of the Business Mems league: T. J. Perrin, sec- retary of the New Orleans Live Stock ex- change; l.. w. Anderson, secretary or the Monroe Progressive league; M L. Alexander, secretary of the Alexandria Progressive league, and John Marshall, secretary of the Lake Charles board of trade. number of other Louisiana sec retaries have signified their intention to join and attend the New Orleans meet ing. which is exciting unusual interest anon, those men in the south who do the executive work of commercial organiza- tions.
 Last year the association met in At
 anta, and MT Trezevant was sent by he Progressive union with instructions to get the next meeting for New Orleans. With him was H. S. Herring, secretary of he board of trade. and Roy Moyston, then secretary the Contractors and Deal- ,rs' exchange. Memphis wanted it, and James Warren, industrial commission er of the business mems club, made hot fight, but New Orleans was toe strong. and her popularity won the day
 .'-The Southern Commercial Secretaries association" said MT. Trezevant, ''is an organization of those executive officers If organizations who realize they can gain much for themselves, and conse- 1uently for their associations, by person. ,l interchange of experience and ideas. We do not permit ourselves to trench npon the broad work properly Tn the province of the organizations we repre- sent, but devote ourselves strictly 10 the consideration of those technical proo-
 ems which confront secretaries. Joseph .Babb, secretary of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, and one of our executive committee, states It tersely We do not need to be told he says, 'that we need cooperation, better roads, more ,dyertising and all the rest of the gilt 'ering generalities. We must learn from our meetings how to improve our own work, the best methods of advertising how best to secure new industries, no" 10 increase membership and the prob lem of financing the many propositions which usually must be solved and car ried out by the secretary
 "Mr. Babb is one of the most respected of our profession and his views are sound. I am in accord with him, and as is every secretary of experience and Judgment. The one thing to learn is that he secretary is subordinate to his organ ization. Many an otherwise good man has gone to pieces on the rocks or super personal publicity. While it is inevitable that the secretary must, on occasion, ap- pear in the public eye, nevertheless the man dies and the organizations live and the latter is the real vehicle for the mo- i've power given it. The public will lis ten with respect to the announcement, for instance, that the chamber Of com merce of Detroit has done this and that, but the same public would soon grow weary of learning that Mir. So-and-so, Of the chamber of commerce, has done this and that or the other and the effective ness of the organization would suffer as conseouence, even though the motive power really came from the man.
 .Ia am led to make these remarks said Mr. Trezeyant, because it must be un- derstood that those who are professional socialists in this work, are not seeking bv these conventions notoriety for them selves. but the advancement of their or eanizations. Those by whom we are em- pIoyed take similar views, and for that reason the Progressive Union sent me on a trip of investigation last winter to uash,neton. Boston, New York, Cleve- land Chicago and St. Louis, as the year before I was sent to Memphis and Allan ia From the various organizations vis- itad and the secretaries interviewed was eained a great deal of valuable informa- | tion some of which has already been applied to the Progressive Union with excellent result The object of the South ern Secretaries convention, therefore, is to bring together the men who are re- snopsible for the work and who can ben ent their organization by exchange of ideas and experience. The personal knowl- edqe of one another begets friendship confidence and understanding. It does
 r,ore It gets quick and intelligent CO., operation. request made by mar
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