I recently took some time away from my busy schedule of client work to focus on my own professional development.

From June 3 to 7, I was in Niagara Falls, Ontario with a number of other virtual assistants at the Forum on Virtual Assistance, or as we call it, FoVA.

The slogan for FoVA is ‘Meet, Learn and Grow’ and we sure did that (and more!).

It is a gathering where we meet others in same line of work (it can be isolating working from home all the time!), and where we learn (seminars and workshops) and where we grow from our experiences at the conference (whether they are work-related or personal experiences!).

Wesnesday, June 3, I made my way to Niagara Falls and got in quite late. I was lucky enough to locate a gang of VAs – some of whom I had met before, but some of whom I had not. They had finished dinner and were just hanging out relaxing after dinner, and luckily I was able to join them to unwind after a long day of driving. I also met my roommates that I would be staying with for the week (more on them in another post!). There is nothing like meeting people in person who you ‘know’ online. Great fun!

Thursday, June 4,  I had the very good fortune to be able to attend a workshop on blogging and social media by an industry great, Kathie Thomas. Kathie came all the way from Australia to speak at FoVA this year, and I was thrilled to meet her and to learn from her.

Thursday night was the official meet n greet for FoVA, and everyone else arrived for dinner and drinks. Somehow after our great dinner at the Marriott, we ended up at the Casino, where we had fun dancing to the band, and we even spotted a celebrity or two (check out Facebook photos for our much-discussed missed photo op!).

Well, it so happened that Friday, June 5 was my birthday, so when the clock struck 12 in the Casino that night, I received quite the celebration (with my friend Pat @cletch who was also born June 5). There aren’t many better places to celebrate your birthday than with a gang of crazy friends in Niagara Falls (but I digress!).

Friday brought more seminars, and I was happy to see my favourite FoVA 2008 speaker again, Mary Lou Ashton, who talked about how to set professional and personal foundations and how to eliminate tolerations. Friday lunch was a Lunch n Learn session about different personality types with Janet Barclay. Friday afternoon we learned all about Wordpress from Frances Palaschuk (one of my awesome roomies). Friday night the whole gang went for dinner with Alex and Julie from Solvate. Very full schedule, so Friday night was a welcome relaxing evening with plenty of laughs!

Saturday morning we had an amazing panel of professionals available for a panel discussion: representatives from various VA groups and associations around the world  (Yvonne Weld, Kristi Pavlik, MaryLou Ashton, Jeannine Clontz, Stacy Brice, Dawn Goldberg, Kathie Thomas, Sharon Williams, Pam Ivey .. have I missed anyone? If I got your link wrong, please let me know and I’ll edit it!).  We missed seeing Tawnya Sutherland and Elayne Whitfield on the panel, but it was amazing to have such a group of highly respected people all on the same panel!

Saturday afternoon we spent with Pam Ivey who discussed defining your niche, and creating passive streams of revenue within your niche.

In between we had loads of fun, but the sessions were extremely informative by all – (there were many more sessions available – the above list are the seminars I attended).

It’s truly professional development (amid the fun) for virtual assistants anywhere. I would highly recommend attending FoVA to any virtual assistant, whether you are starting out or have been in business for while.

There is nothing like getting together with colleagues and even mentors, to discuss the finer points of our industry. And there is definitely nothing like meeting the people that you are in contact with every day online, up close and in person!

I know for myself that I came home from this year’s conference with a renewed excitement for my business, some great networking opportunities, and some fantastic new friendships. I am looking forward to using all of my newly-acquired knowledge to forge ahead in my business for 2009.

Thanks to Barb Lang for all her hard work this year, pulling FoVA 2009 together. Thanks also to all of those who helped in any small (or large!) way, to make the conference such a memorable event for all of us.

I can’t wait for FoVA 2010 (wherever it is!) …

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