When the inaugural VYVA Conference was announced for 2020 to be held in Sydney, I decided to attend as I enjoy the opportunity to meet fellow VAs face to face, and it was local. Due to Covid-19 the conference was postponed until 19 & 20 March 2021, and was changed from an in person event to a virtual event. We were given the option for a refund, and I was a little unsure as to whether I still wanted to attend as I don’t really enjoy (or get a lot out of online events/webinars), but decided as I had already paid, I would attend and see how I went.
On the very wet morning of Friday, 19th March, I took over my daughter’s bedroom and set myself up for the conference not sure what to expect –apart from spending the two days emptying buckets as due to the excessive rainfall the room started to leak, the conference was just WOW!
The two day event was packed with great speakers and topics and some fantastic opportunities to network and learn more about the other VAs attending and lots of laughs and #hashtags. The platform that was used was Airmeet and from a delegates perspective I thought is was pretty good, easy to navigate and opportunities to feel connect with other delegates.
Our hosts were Rosie Shilo of Virtually Yours and Kate Toon, who did a great job of keepings things exciting and fun, and such a a great line up of speakers and topics including:
- Surviving the VA Client Dating Game with Kate Toon
- Time Management & Planning with Carly Reading of Inkblot VA
- Should I Niche My Services? With Lyndal Harris of Podcast VA
- Who’s who in the Zoo? with Rosie Shilo of Virtually Yours interviewed some of the VA attendee
- Modern Marketing with Rachel Allan Your Strategic Marketing Partner
- Elevator Pitch with Rosie Shilo of Virtually Yours
- Speed Dating – we were given the opportunity to go to the networking rooms and meet some other attendees and practise our Elevator Pitches
- Balancing Stroke, a Motorcycle Accident, Part-time work and a busy Copywriting Business with Shauna Upson Copywriter
- Instagram – Everything You Need to Know for Business with Sam McFarlane of Sam Says
- Web Reviews with Kate Toon
- Being the Opportunity Seeker for Your Clients (and for yourself) with Korryn Haines – Encore Consulting
- Insurance for Savvy VAs with Philip Watson of Insurance Made Easy
- Top Tips for Finance in Business with Chris Alleyn of AMC Biz Solutions
- Top Tips for Managing a VA Team with Lee Doherty of Admin & Co
- Fear of Success with Rosie Shilo of Virtually Yours
Due to some technical difficulties I’m looking forward to listening to the following two presentations once available by recording:
- Networking & Business Building Strategies for VAs with Ingrid Bayer of VA Institute
- Why all VAs should answer their clients’ calls with Hanna Finlay of Off-Site Reception
I have come away with a head and notebook full of notes with some great information and tips and a head swimming full of information, with some takeways being:
- I need to set aside time to prioritise my own business
- It is better to do one quality post a week on social media than lots of ordinary posts
- When starting out with new clients you are better to overcommunicate until you learn their communication style
- ‘Stay in Your Lane’ – your lane is unique to you, so have confidence in what you’re doing
- Every experience is a learning experience – so take control and look for opportunities
I can’t forget the mention the “Pink Box”, this was a delegate box sent to us prior to the conference, it was jam packed with fabulousness including:
pink Virtually Yours travel mug- a “Boss of Virtually Everything” Sea Salt & Driftwood scented candle provided by The Sassery (if you are looking for unique, sassy and sweary gifts I recommend checking them out
- some earphones rom Encore Admin Consulting
- some snacks for the day – a Sam Says Cookie and a Misfortune Cookie (we all got a laugh out of our misfortune)
- a couple of books I’m looking forward to reading
- Share Your Passion by Renee Hasseldine
- Authentic Dynamic Savvy by Rachel Allan
- and a couple of pens, some vouchers and lots of other great stuff
After leaving a conference it is always good to come away with a small, medium & large action, so I look forward to doing some reading and implementing some of the things I have learnt into my business over the coming months. My small action was ‘write a blog on the conference’, so yay, that is done, now to get to finishing and launching my long-overdue updated website (I’m sure you all agree with me the current one is pretty ordinary) 😊.
A big Congratulations to Rosie Shilo of Virtually Yours for jumping out of your comfort zone and putting on a fantastic conference. If you are a VA, I would highly recommend you putting it in your budget for 2022, so you can attend (hopefully in person).
