Released on: March 19, 2008, 12:55 am

Press Release Author: Barb Lang

Industry: Small Business

Press Release Summary: Virtual Assistants from across North America - industry
leaders and those new to the industry - will meet in Toronto in May '08 for the
first ever forum of it's kind in Canada.

Press Release Body:
Toronto, ON, March 18, 2008 -- Virtual Assistance, while still mostly unheard of by
the general population, is an entrepreneurial career choice not only alive and well,
but growing rapidly all over the world. Many of the industry's leaders, who work
tirelessly to increase awareness and educate small and medium sized enterprises
(SME's) on the benefits of collaborating with Virtual Assistants (VAs), will meet in
Toronto Canada May 2-4 of this year at the Forum on Virtual Assistance (FoVA). FoVA
will be the first event of its kind ever to take place in Canada.

Barb Lang, owner of Virtually Anything - Administrative Services, is the Virtual
Assistant spearheading this event. "Our U.S. colleagues have been putting on
industry specific annual events quite successfully for several years now." says
Lang. "The International Virtual Assistance Association (IVAA) is in its 7th year of
running their annual in-person Summit and the OIVAC, which is an incredible online
convention, is hosting its 3rd event this year." says Lang.

"In an industry where the very nature of our business involves working remotely and
in isolation from one another and our clients, it is important to have opportunities
to meet face to face. We haven't yet had anything take place in Canada in this
regard. I just decided that I would create an event that would not only benefit
Canadian VAs but was different from anything that had yet taken place in our
industry." To Lang's delight, the response was overwhelming and VA's from all over
Canada AND the U.S. began to register for FoVA.

As the program has developed, what has resulted is an amazing opportunity for all
VAs to benefit from the industry's greatest resource. each other. "It is important
that FoVA not be confused with a conference or summit." says Lang. "It is a Forum in
every sense of the word. It is a coming together of some of the most skilled and
experienced leaders in the VA industry within a small scale, private atmosphere
where candid discussions will take place to talk about some very important issues
that are affecting our profession as it stands now and in the future."

Many VA's will meet people face to face whom they have worked with virtually for
years but never met.

FoVA will have two tracks. Track One sessions will pair experienced VA Session
Leaders with novice VAs (and those who are very serious about joining the profession
but need the right tools). In each of the Workshop / Forum sessions, challenges will
be thrown out to the group, for discussion and action planning. Each participant
will leave with a binder full of worksheets, information and plans to take back to
their offices and implement immediately. Track Two sessions will be geared for more
senior VAs to convene and discuss challenges and issues that take place in our every
day work. They will talk about strategies to take their practices to the next level
whether that involves expanding to a Multi VA business or learning to create
alternate VA related passive income streams and much more. Because these forums and
workshops are facilitated by industry leaders, attendees will have the invaluable
opportunity to learn from the best of the best.

"No wallflowers allowed" says Lang. "We need everyone's participation and input.
This event is not association specific, so all groups are represented. This allows
participants to speak openly and ask questions on what might even be controversial
topics such as training, certification, the development of Core Competencies, niche
marketing, overseas competition and so forth. It is high time we brought some of
these issues to light and initiated discussions on what we, as an industry, want to
see happen in these areas. Participants will work hard and play hard at FoVA. This
is for the serious VA." says Lang with a smile.

In keeping with the spirit of FoVA being a "One Stop Shop" for accessing information
on training, networking, associations, certification programs and so forth, Barb has
added a VA specific Book Fair where attendees can review books written BY Virtual
Assistants FOR Virtual Assistants. "I am looking for VA authors who want to showcase
their product at FoVA so I invite anyone who has created such a book, e-book or
program etc., to contact me." she says.

"I am thrilled to be a part of FoVA," states Jaime Lee Mann, owner of Mann Made Time
and one of the FoVA facilitators, who will travel from the east coast of Canada, for
the event. "Not only will I be sharing ideas and learning from other VAs, but I be
able to meet people I view as celebrities in my own industry, people like Tawnya
Sutherland, Pam Ivey, Michelle Jameson, Jeannine Clontz, Elayne Whitfield. just to
name a few. It will also be very exciting to actually meet some of the friends I
have made over the past couple of years who have been supporting me and my business,
virtually, each step of the way."

FoVA Sponsors include CVAN, Red Deer College, IAAP, VATP, CVAC, VANA, IVAA, IREAA,
AssistU, LastMinuteTraining.ca, ClientSpot, Delphian VA and Virtual Business
Partners and K&M Secretarial Services.

For full details including venue, pricing, agenda and sponsorship opportunities
visit www.ForumOnVirtualAssistance.com.
Press Release Distribution By PressReleasePoint(http://www.pressreleasepoint.com)

###

Contact:
Barb Lang
ForumOnVirtualAssistance
Toronto, ON
416-264-9632
barb@ForumOnVirtualAssistance.com
http://www.ForumOnVirtualAssistance.com



Web Site: http://www.ForumOnVirtualAssistance.com

Contact Details: Barb Lang
ForumOnVirtualAssistance
Toronto, ON
416-264-9632
barb@ForumOnVirtualAssistance.com
http://www.ForumOnVirtualAssistance.com