Baltimore, MD, May 19, 2006 –
For most professionals Friday, May 19, 2006
will be an ordinary workday – but not
for Sharon Williams, Becky Gregory, Kirsten
Womack or Carolyn Moncel, all African American
Virtual Assistants, who along with over 5,000
colleagues worldwide will be celebrating the
first annual International Virtual Assistants
Day (IVAD).
Proposed by Sharon Williams’ online advocacy
group, Alliance for Virtual Businesses (A4VB),
IVAD is now officially registered with Chases
Calendar of Events, the recognized authority
of special days, weeks and months. IVAD will
appear in the 2007 edition and will be held
annually on the third Friday of May. The inaugural
celebration of International Virtual Assistants
Day coincides with a three-day assembly sponsored
by the Online International Virtual Assistants
Convention (OIVAC) running from May 18 –
20, 2006. Virtual Assistants worldwide will
display the free IVAD logo and creed on their
websites.
“VAs are making important contributions
to the growth and stability of small businesses
everywhere, and the establishment of IVAD simply
acknowledges all of those virtual professionals
who work so hard to honor our creed: Dedication,
Experience, Expertise and Determination to Succeed
(DEEDS), ” says Williams who says almost
10 percent of her organization alone is comprised
of African American VAs. “In the 10 to
20 calls I receive from aspiring VAs each week,
25 percent of them openly identify themselves
as African Americans. It’s great because
these women view this industry as an open opportunity
to take control of their careers and become
serious business owners."
Williams, a former federal employee, is a VA
pioneer who started her business, The 24 Hour
Secretary, long before the Internet Revolution.
Specializing in digital dictation and transcription
services, her company literally operates 24
hours per day. Utilizing the latest technology
at her finger tips, she and her expert team
of internationally-based Virtual Assistants
handle the responsibilities busy and often overwhelmed
executives and entrepreneurs dislike or lack
time to complete. She is a Master Virtual Assistant,
a certified Real Estate Virtual Assistant, a
mentor and author of three books.
Virtual Assistants or VAs are independent entrepreneurs
who work remotely and use the latest technology
to deliver professional administrative, creative,
managerial, technical, business back-office
and/or personal support services to busy professionals.
Clients only pay for the time actually spent
working on projects and often retain a fixed
amount of hours per month for service.
Typical services could include everything from
general secretarial and word processing services
to desktop publishing, website creation and
marketing. Projects are often handled over the
phone, by fax, e-mail and even instant messaging.
Most attractive is the fact that VAs are also
responsible for their own taxes, training, healthcare,
insurance - overhead costs that make hiring
an employee expensive.
With a 25 year career within the academia,
healthcare and law, Becky Gregory of Virtual
Administrative Services (VAS) operates her business
from Baltimore, MD as well. Gregory uses her
extensive administrative, technical and desktop
support experience to serve busy, mobile professionals
who need expert administrative assistance but
don’t need an ‘employee’.
Launched in 1992, VAS provides a wide range
of business support services including complex
document processing, information processing,
desktop publishing and customer service management.
A graduate of Virtual AssistanceU, one of the
leading organizations designed to train aspiring
virtual assistants, Gregory is also a Microsoft
Certified Professional (MCP) and a Certified
Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS).
Kirsten A. Womack, owner of Im-mack-ulate Impressions
runs her company from Turtle Creek, PA, located
just 10 miles outside of Pittsburgh. In addition
to offering general administrative and HR support
to business owners, her company specializes
in interviewing, training guide development
and PowerPoint presentations. Holding a series
of management positions before starting her
own firm, Womack is also a VirtualAssistanceU
graduate, but holds a Bachelor of Science Degree
in Human Resource Management.
Since 1996 more than 5,000 professionals around
the world have become VAs. More than 90 percent
of them are highly-skilled working mothers who
choose to start their own businesses in order
to achieve a better work/life balance. According
to a study conducted by Brenner Books in conjunction
with A4VB in 2004, the United States accounts
for the largest number of VAs followed by Canada,
Australia and Great Britain.
Carolyn Moncel, a former marketing and PR manager,
launched MotionTemps, LLC in July 2001. When
her French husband, accepted a job offer in
October 2002 and moved the family from their
home in Chicago (her hometown) to Paris, Moncel
decided to expand her company rather than close
shop. Moncel, whose company specializes in working
with English-speaking communications professionals
to create training materials and web presentations,
still works with her Chicago clients. Additionally,
she now services clients in the UK and Canada
as well. Like so many others throughout the
industry, Moncel started a new career in order
to spend more time with her oldest daughter
who was in pre-school at the time. Ironically
this year, IVAD and Moncel’s daughter’s
ninth birthday will share the same date.
About Alliance for Virtual Businesses
Established in June 2003 the Alliance for Virtual
Businesses™ is volunteer-directed organization,
whose primary mission is to promote the growth
of free enterprise between virtual assistants,
entrepreneurs, small businesses, corporations,
associations and other business entities. At
the web site client-related case studies, industry-related
demographics, and a wealth of other types of
information are available to facilitate learning
about our industry. Visit the website at www.allianceforvirtualbiz.com.
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