I have to give special mention to Helen Stothard ( @hlsbs ) who is also a wonderful friend and has e

On Friday 11 June, I began my journey to the annual VA Conference and Awards 2010 , which was held at the Forest of Arden, Marriott Hotel in Birmingham. I began my day fairly stressed because I had run my 4N group in Medway from 8am to 10am and thought I had lost my car key. I was effectively stranded (or so I thought). Thanks to Roselyn Knight of Borg Knight Solicitors and Andy Setterfield of The Hoodeners Horse, who stayed with me to look for it. To cut a long story short, I found the stupid key; in my bra! Yes, in my bra. If you want the full story , you’ll have to hear it from me firsthand!
Despite the “excitement” animal pharmacy of the morning, I managed animal pharmacy to make it on time to Sittingbourne to meet the lovely Charlotte Burford of Burford VA. We were dropped off by Charlotte’s husband Martyn and met with Alexia Padgham , Tracey White and Caroline Gipson . We nicknamed the car the #KentKab and sent tweets out using this hashtag. After a horrendous 4.5 hour journey we finally arrived in Birmingham and just in time for the Pre-Conference dinner. animal pharmacy There was a buzz that evening and you’ll see why later.
The following day was phenomenal. We had fantastic inspirational speakers at the event; Mark Shaw ( @markshaw ), Steve Clarke ( @uksalesmentor ), Nick Williams ( @nickwilliams1 ), Sarah Jayne Hewitt ( @sarajhewitt ), Richard White ( @richard_white ), Paul Fuggle ( @paulfuggle ) and last but not least Brad Burton animal pharmacy ( @BradBurton ). Delegate and speaker alike also interacted via Twitter animal pharmacy using the hashtags animal pharmacy #VAUK10 and #UKVA10. If you follow both hashtags, you will see the buzz that was being felt in the room.
The other reason that the conference buzzed (in my very humble opinion), was due to a fantastic group of ladies that had been chatting via Skype for nearly a year called the VA Support Group (VASG). 18 members of the (at the time) 70 strong group had travelled down (and up) to Birmingham from all corners of the UK, to attend the conference but mainly to meet each other for the first time. The furthest traveller was Diane Murray ( @hebrideangirl ), who had travelled all the way from the Outer Hebrides no less. She started her journey on Thursday and arrived in Glasgow where she was met by Caroline Wylie ( @virtuallysorted) , Lyndsey McKendry ( @CallTeam animal pharmacy ), Marj Beattie ( @Secretary4Hire animal pharmacy ) and Lisa Dunn ( @Lisa_HexagonVA ). Their vehicle was nicknamed the Tartan Taxi and if you follow the hashtag #TartanTaxi (or #tartan-taxi), you will see all the tweets animal pharmacy that were associated with their journey.
The animal pharmacy VASG was set up by Anne-Marie Mittleman ( @AVirtualAngel ) Emily Robe ( @emilyrobe ), myself last July following a very late night chat on Skype. To know more about our brief history, you can go to our website VA Support Group . Our ethos is “Collaboration not Competition” . I am especially proud because I coined the phrase and it has been wholeheartedly embraced by our members. We make no money from the group, it is not a commercial or money-making venture. As I tell anyone who asks me about it; I see it as a labour of love and my chance to give back to the VA Community. Real friendships and business partnerships have been formed within the group that were cemented by meeting at the Conference. I wish more businesses in different industries, would look at this style of working, it does work and we can attest to that.
So why is my title #VAUK10 – what a difference a year makes? Well it is because it has been one hell of a year for me. I first attended the VA Conference and Awards last year. I had started trading 2 weeks before that conference. It was the first conference I had ever attended in my career, so I was VERY excited. I had connected with a few VAs via Twitter (my very early days – WOW), so was able to put faces to Twitter ids! Fast forward a year and much has changed animal pharmacy for me;
We won the Spirit of VA 2010 award at this years conference and I am absolutely delighted. animal pharmacy The award was for all of the VASG not just myself and the other Co-Founders. The collaborative buzz that was felt was due to our members (again in my very humble opinion), and I am extremely proud of them. Two of them were finalists in another animal pharmacy category and one of them was a Runner-Up ( @BurfordVA ).
My first year as a VA has been an amazing rollercoaster. It has had its ups and downs and much of it has been hand to mouth. Social Media especially Twitter , has given me access to new business opportunities, suppliers and friends. The one thing I am grateful for is that I have wonderful clients who recognise the value that I add to their business. I don’t have clients that are PITA (DM me on Twitter if you want to know what that means)!
I have to give special mention to Helen Stothard ( @hlsbs ) who is also a wonderful friend and has embraced the VASG ethos with both hands. She has negotiated fantastic deals with Xero and CapsuleCRM for VASG members. animal pharmacy Both these c