I’ve just sent an email to all registered delegates so if you have registered, please check your inboxes.  We’re making sure we have the bookings for the dinner on Friday night, know your catering requirements for the conference and a couple of other things.

For those looking on, or perhaps you’ve just found out about the conference, it’s not too late to book and we still have room for you!  Just fill out the form here and choose your payment option and you’ll be added to our delegate’s list! Good to see a number of new names registered this year. We look forward to meeting you at the event.

17 days and counting down…

I’ve received a phone call from a Virtual Assistant in Sydney today who had only just heard about our event today. She’s organising flights so she can come down. I heard yesterday of another lady planning to come who isn’t a VA but knows she’ll benefit from the information at the conference anyway.  Are you another who has been considering it but thought it might be a bit too late to book? Or perhaps you know of a VA who hasn’t mentioned the event… because they might not know of it!

It’s not too late to book and we certainly invite you to come along and be involved.

Additionally I’ve had two people ring me today to find out about whether they can have a trade table or become a sponsor for the event. The answer is a resounding ‘yes’!  So, if you’ve been thinking about being involved but have done nothing about it yet, why not make that decision right now!

Register here to come to the conference or visit this page to find out about trade tables, sponsorships and door prize giveaways.  Hope to see you there!

Are you getting excited?  I hope you’ve got your booking in, but if not, it’s not too late. We’re still accepting them.  I can tell you our speakers are getting excited and can’t wait to meet you all.  Behind the scenes we’re busy working getting the information together, handbooks organised and the goodies to go in your conference bags.

By the way, if you have something you’d like to supply to the conference in the way of conference bag items, or giveways or whatever, please contact us to let us know about them.  And our delegates will get to know about you!

There are still rooms available at the venue too, if you need a place to stay while attending the event.  Just make sure you use the code AVAC when you make your booking.

Again, we must thank our sponsors for their involvement in our conference.  Without them putting on this event would be far more difficult and would cost the delegates considerably more to attend.  So please make sure you visit our sponsors and get to know who they are and what they do.

It’s good to see the bookings coming in, and in particular, from those who are new to the industry. We have so much to share with you and teach you about the industry you’ve chosen to join.  And for those who have been around for awhile, we’re excited to be getting together again – face-to-face. While our industry is largely virtual, there is nothing like actually meeting people in the flesh, so to speak, and connect with each other, share a chat, a meal and general fellowship.  You can’t get a physical hug from someone online and the opportunity for personal discussion, sharing of experiences and group discussions make for a very personal experience that will stay with you for a long time after the event.  Friendships can be forged for years to come – so it’s not too late to book!

Venue details are on the site, as well as accommodation.  Some of the committee will be staying at the venue as will our MC and a couple of speakers, so if you’re thinking about staying too, you’ll know that there will be company around 24/7 during the event.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Now, our sponsor, BeMyVA has something to say!

We are delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor and work with such distinguished multi-award winning members of the VA industry – such as Kathie Thomas, Anita Kilkenny, Kylie Short and all of the AVAC committee of Virtual Assistants.

It is a pleasure working with such a professional, organised team, and we look forward to the Australian VA Conference in Melbourne, being a major success once again in 2012. Here’s to another great networking and learning experience for VAs.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - -

We’d also like to introduce one of the male speakers for our event – Alister Cameron.  In recent years, Alister Cameron has been listed in the Age as one of Australia five most read bloggers, and identified by the Herald Sun as Australia’s third-most followed Twitterer (behind Kevin Rudd and Shane Warne). He is a frequent speaker and consultant on matters related to the future of business communications and social networking technologies.

Alister lists his profession as “Blogologist” and, over more than 10 years, has developed expertise in both the strategic and technical aspects of blogging and online marketing/communications.  For those of you who have thought about blogging, or have dabbled with it, here is a real opportunity to hear from someone who has taken blogging very seriously indeed and we are honoured that he has accepted our invitation to speak at our event.

The countdown is on!  79 days till our conference. Will you be coming?

It’s a great time to meet those other VAs you know by name, and perhaps by face (photo) but not in person.  And there’s nothing like being in good company for a couple of days – you never know what is going to rub off!  At a face-to-face event, there is an atmosphere you just can’t get at an online event.  Why not plan to take a couple of days off, away from home, and spend it with your peers?  You deserve it, and we promise you, that you will go back home, buzzing with ideas and excitement, not to mention the momentum to build your business to greater heights!

Early bird bookings close very soon – why not take advantage of the savings by booking today?

And while you’re at the site, make sure you take time out to visit our sponsors – their logos are on the site.  We thank our sponsors for their involvement, because without that, we would not be able to put the event on at the rates that we do.  We like to keep the delegate rates low to encourage as many as possible to come along to the event. And now a word from our major sponsor, BeMyVA.

BeMyVA – Our vision for supporting the Virtual Assistant Industry

We have access to exclusive on-line platforms to communicate to our business networks the value of VAs to a business.

Particularly with the backdrop of the current economic status that many of us are now operating within – in our opinion,  flexible workforces are one of the most positive ways forward – and we are actively promoting that message in our day-to-day business consulting activities.

To this end the BeMyVA team are currently members of entrepreneur groups with memberships in major cities and organisations across the globe, and we have detailed plans to continue to expand the audience reach with entrepreneurs and start-ups being provided with details of working with Virtual Assistants in our business consultancy and BeMyVA marketing activities.

We also wish to encourage and support the professional development of Virtual Assistants and the VA industry.

7 days till early bird bookings close. Why not book now to save?  The price is $225 or you can elect to pay 3 x $75 payments on a monthly basis – your choice. The option for this closes from 15th February and after that the amount will be $299.00.  In fact, the difference between booking now and booking after 15th February would cover your dinner for the Friday night and give you some change!  Or, could go towards accommodation for one night at the Parkview, where we are holding our event.  Remember to mention ‘AVAC’ if booking accommodation for the event.

AVAC will be on Friday 4th May and Saturday 5th May and we have a great program lined up for you!  Some of our speakers are from the VA industry and others are those who provide a service for our industry.  There is something there for new VAs and for the more experienced VAs alike.  Some of the names you will know, and others you won’t.

Best of all, you’ll get to meet face-to-face those VAs you see on any one of the various VA forums out there.  There’s nothing like meeting someone for the first time (or second) and being able to catch up with them, instead just in the written form.

The next speaker I’d like to introduce to you, is no stranger to most VAs here in Australia, and that’s our very own Charly Leetham.

Charly has more than 20 years experience in the IT industry ranging from ‘hands on’ technical to high level business management. She has actually installed and configured computing equipment and personally managed business contracts in excess of $26 million dollars. For the past 10 years, she has operated her own businesses, customizing blogs and handling technical projects for many clients. Her unique experience, coupled with her  natural ability to educate, offers an exceptional ability to assist clients in services ranging from web development and design to full service business coaching.  Charly has been my (Kathie’s) back end support on occasion too, and I can tell you I’m glad to have her as part of the team.  A very knowledgeable lady.  And she was recently a two-time finalist for the Wishlist competition too – that’s really special! (winners to be announced soon apparently)

Hi everyone, well the time is moving on. Did you know it’s only 14 days till the early bird bookings close? Don’t miss out and book today!  Oh, and if you have problems with booking, please let us know. We’ve had two people say they had problems, although all other bookings have been coming through fine. And we’ve set up a Paypal payment link as well, to give you options. Or, if you wish to pay by EFT, then fill out the registration form and let us know. We’ll give you the details.

In the meantime, we wish to introduce you to our Gold Sponsor for this year.

BeMyVA – In the beginning …

Since 1999, our parent company has operated as a business consultancy, engaging Virtual Assistants on a regular basis. In searching for specific skill-sets and availability, we became frustrated by many of the Virtual Assistant directories that have existed to date and more specifically, the search result information available.

BeMyVA.com has been developed as an independent, international and innovative directory for locating professional Virtual Assistants worldwide. Our primary business mission is to actively promote the value, skills, resources and professionalism of Virtual Assistants to the business community at large.

Please make sure you visit BeMyVA.com’s site to learn more about them.

By the way, we still have room for more sponsors so if you know someone who has an affinity with our industry and would be a potential sponsor, please point them in our direction.

- – - – - – - -

Last week we introduced our MC to you.  This week we’d like to introduce Annemarie Cross who is a Branding Strategist, Money Mindset & Business Coach and Host of the Ambitious Entrepreneur Show.

Annemarie helps entrepreneurs get more clients by standing out, getting hired and paid what their worth so they can breakthrough to a 6-figure (or more) business.

- – - – - – - -

We are so looking forward to seeing you all at our event which is really not that far away. So don’t forget,  set the date in your diary, make your travel plans and book to attend our event today!

Oh, and we’d like to leave you with some thoughts about why you should attend a conference in person!

Here’s 10 Reasons Why You Should Attend a Conference (in Person, not tele-seminars)

1. You may meet people with similar interests and experiences who may help you expand your network and circle of influence

2. Your mind may be open to new opportunities

3. Your mind may be challenged to consider new ideas and theories

read the rest here….

Kathie Thomas & Anita Kilkenny, co-founders of AVAC

P.S. if you’re tweeting about AVAC, the hashtag is #AVAC2012

We’re delighted to advise that Sandi Givens will be our MC for this year’s event.  Those in the office professional industry will know who Sandi is, especially since she is the Patron for AIOP.  Sandi has tons of experience when it comes to being involved in conferences and seminars and it will be great to have her join us this time round.

A Conference needs to stay on track, on time and provide optimal learning for all … that’s why we’ve engaged Sandi Givens as our MC!  Energetic, light-hearted and down-to earth, Sandi has an engaging style that is ideal for our conference.

A specialist in Shattering the Glass Ceilings that Limit Success, Sandi will also be delivering a powerful presentation guaranteed to move you forward in your business.

What else do you need to know about AVAC2012?  Early bird bookings close on 15 February (in 21 days!) and the cost is $225.00.  You can elect to pay in 3 part payments as well.  Full payment will be $299.00 thereafter.  Can’t come for both days? We have a one day option as well.

Have you seen our new look site yet? It had an overhaul over the weekend and has a brand new look. Why not come check it out?

Want to see who else is coming? Why not come join the chat at our .  And if you’re on you can follow us too.  #avac2012

And there’s only 22 days till the early bird fee closes. $225 early bird, $299 thereafter.

The countdown is on which you will see if you visit our new look site!   Please do come visit the site and let us know what you think.

The list of speakers is on the site, with an outline of the topics being covered.   We’re still open to sponsorships, or if you prefer, you can book a trade table, or even choose to have your brochures or product included in our conference showbags.  Lots of opportunities for you to get involved with our event – as well as come along.

While the focus of our conference is for the Virtual Assistant industry, we are aware that any home based worker will find all of our topics of interest. So please do share your knowledge of our event with everyone else you know – let’s make it bigger and better than ever!

Looking forward to seeing you at AVAC 2012!

Yes, AVAC will be on again in 2012.  Reserve the dates 4/5 May in your diaries now!

Our apologies for those who received a very old message. We have no idea how it got sent out or why, however it’s prompted people to email me to find out if there will be an event in 2012.

We have a new team working on it right now and we’re in the planning stages so we can’t yet tell you where it will be or what the line up is.  We will be accepting applications for speakers and sponsors very soon though and look forward to telling you what you can expect.  So, if you need to travel to Melbourne via air, now is probably a good time to start looking at flight bookings.  For accommodation we’re hoping to have that combined with conference costs for those who need it very soon.

Kathie Thomas
AVAC Co-ordinator