office* 2013 is now less than a week away so time to start planning who to see and who to visit in order to get the best from my day out. This year there are so many exhibitors and so many great seminars, it’s going to take some organising.
Day 2 could be the day to go. On Wednesday 9th October, office* has organised a whole host of seminars and events, specifically aimed at Virtual Assistants. In fact, if you attended every one of these, you would pretty much have an overview of the complete the life cycle of a VA business!
The day starts off with the VA Breakfast, sponsored by BeMyVa. Suzanne Dibble of Niche Legal Solutions discusses preparing your standard ‘Terms of Business’ document, looking at what you need to include – and more importantly, why.
Later in the morning, Carolyn Pearson (maiden-voyage.com) gives advice on the elements you must consider – mental, emotional, physical and fiscal - before you make the leap from employee to running your own business.
After lunch, the VA Panel Discussion takes place in the Office* Interactive Theatre. Caroline Wylie (Society of Virtual Assistants), Jacky Workman (J’s Office Services andYour Business Aunt) and Carmen MacDougall (Virtual Assistant Coaching & Training Co) will be discussing (among, I’m sure, many other things) the past, present and future of the VA world. This promises to be an informative session, whether you’ve been a Virtual Assistant for many years – or are just thinking about taking that first step.
Rounding off the day, Helen Jacobi (The Inspired PA) looks at how to start your VA business, where to go next, growing your business, thinking about the future – and how getting through the bad times as well making sure you celebrate the good times.
Having met or attended workshops given by several of the speakers, I know all of these seminars will be thought-provoking, motivating and enlightening.
About Christine Christine is a Virtual Assistant/Copywriter based in Surrey. She has more than 25 years’ secretarial experience in a diverse range of business sectors: from pensions to petrochemicals. Christine has been self-employed since April 2000 after four years of (mostly) boring and uninteresting temp jobs. Her VA business, In the Shed Secretarial, takes its name from her many conversations with clients who say, “I have an office in the house... well, it’s in the shed”. She specialises in working with accountants and solicitors (mainly Matrimonial Law and Wills & Probate) although her clients also include a folk music magazine and a garden maintenance company.
Christine set up In the Shed Copywriting in 2008 and since then has written and ghostwritten articles, stories, newsletters and websites. She has taken part in the Great North Run for several years, fundraising for elderly charities such as Age UK, Action on Elder Abuse and Contact the Elderly.
An exiled Geordie, she is currently researching her family tree and the history of her home town.
