About

Who is behind AVAC? Two well-grounded Virtual Assistants of long-standing in Australia.

Kathie M. Thomas began her home based secretarial business in March 1994. Eighteen months later the internet entered the business scene in Australia and Kathie founded the first homebased network of virtual workers (now known as Virtual Assistants) in Australia.

Today that network, known as “A Clayton’s Secretary” spreads into 11 countries and services clients worldwide.

Kathie is well known for her passion for the Virtual Assistant industry, writes the popular VA Blog and speaks at teleseminars, webinars and conferences both in Australia and overseas.

Kathie has accreditations in the VA industry and is also a multiple award winner for her efforts in the VA industry and home based businesses.  Her most recent achievements are nominations for “Australian of the Year” in both 2008 and 2009.  She is also listed in the 2009 edition of “Who’s Who of Australian Women“.

Kathie is one of the founding  steering committee members for OIVAC (Online Internationals Virtual Assistants Convention) and is a moderator on the Virtual Assistants International Group (VAIG).

 

Anita Kilkenny owner of AKA Virtual PA was originally established in January 1994, however it wasn’t until 2000 that Anita became a full-time VA. With a Bachelor of Business Degree (Office Admin) and over 20 years experience in the secretarial and PA field, Anita has extensive experience in the public and private corporate sectors.

In 2002 Anita became one of the first in Australia to be awarded with the post nominal of Accredited Office Professional (AOP) and in 2003 was awarded a Master Virtual Assistant (MVA). Anita also won the 2003 AIOP (Australian Institute of Office Professionals) Award of Excellence. In 2006, Anita received the AIOP President’s Award for Excellence and was nominated for the National Award of Excellence.

Anita was one of the founding steering committee members for OIVAC (Online Internationals Virtual Assistants Convention), founding Committee Member of the A4VB Au (Australian Chapter of the Alliance for Virtual Businesses) and Moderator on Virtual Assistants International Group (VAIG), as well as being a member on various online forums and groups.

BeMyVA.  BeMyVA has joined us as a gold sponsor for 2012.  We are grateful to their  involvement and will introduce you to them very soon.

How did the last event go?

AVAC was successful and so wonderful to see everyone there. Thank you so much for coming!  Below is a group photo from the last day at 2011 event – a few are missing from the shot.

Here is just some of the feedback we got from delegates.

Great conference!  Very insightful and made some wonderful contacts.  Will definitely attend again

My first AVAC conference and I’m inspired and motivated. Plenty of useful tools to implement straight away.  Love the networking. Thanks so much.

Awesome time – great networking.  Some great sessions, now have a great action list to go home and start doing now.

Loved 2nd AVAC event. Amazing event – great speakers and amazing opportunity to meet other VAs in person

Great two days, learnt a lot.  Fabulous speakers.  Well worth the investment!

The most informative conference I have attended.  Very enjoyable and really well thought out. Speakers covered a wide range of topics.

The conference was a great investment for my business.  The speakers were great, and it was fantastic to meet other people in similar situations.  This workbook is a great idea. Good to look back over and remind myself of what was discussed.

I’ve only just launched my VA business 3 months ago. I have learnt more than ever imagined and met some great people. Highly recommend for anyone starting out!