Comments on: Arizona Virtual Assistants Retreat

By: Judy Vorfeld

Judy Vorfeld — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:51:10 +0000

I was only able to attend part of the retreat, and that included lunch and giving a breakout presentation, but the value of that time is difficult to measure. What an energetic, enthusiastic group of people.

Once my session was completed, my group had time to brainstorm on this, that, and the other, and wouldn’t you know that with such talent, we came up with an idea to help visiting Greater Phoenix businesspeople who find themselves in emergency situations re admin support/technology, etc.

We got a good handle on it, then went down to the lobby to enjoy coffee and lattes. The ideas kept flowing. Other retreat attendees joined us. More ideas. More questions. It was fun, at times hilarious, and quite serious in nature.

We will use ning.com, a social networking site, to continue brainstorming on how to best serve people who need emergency help. We’re calling it VA-911, and it’s open to VAs who’ve been in business for at least two years and who have a number of regular clients.

Check us out at http://VA-911.ning.com. Perhaps you can use some of our ideas in your locale. Or perhaps you have some ideas that will make our group even more valuable to its potential clients…

By: Julie Moran

Julie Moran — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:41:36 +0000

I’m planning to go casual–what about anybody else? At 110 in the Valley, it’s too hot to dress up. Capris and tees ok are for me!

By: Tara Fort

Tara Fort — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:28:52 +0000

REALLY excited about the event and responses! If you haven’t checked out the list of prizes and coupons, they are AMAZING! Especially the IVAA membership joining fee — what a deal made available especially to our group at this retreat!

By: ktcosmos

ktcosmos — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:58:49 +0000

Jennifer, Glad you brought this to my attention! I think we'll easily find a laptop user that you can buddy up with during the event to access the sessions that are being presented. I am glad you pointed this out so that we can make certain other attendees know that wifi is the only option, no ethernet. I'll spread the word on that. In the meantime, you might put out the word on the AZVAs yahoo group or post on the Wall on our AZVAs Facebook page, letting people know you hope you can share their connection. AND I will work with you to help you gain access to any events you want to attend, including letting you use my equipment if no other solution is found.

By: Jennifer Holstad

Jennifer Holstad — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:43:03 +0000

I am really excited about this retreat. Unfortunately, I do not own a laptop, headphones, or a cell phone. I have asked around and no one seems to rent laptops. The hotel is not capable of handling ethernet and does WI-FI only. I have asked people I know with laptops and they do not have WI-FI cards and/or their computers are so old, they probably wouldn’t work anyway at the Retreat. Anyone else in this predicament or do you have any suggestions?

By: Brian Talbot

Brian Talbot — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:56:27 +0000

I would be happy to put together 10 or 15 minutes on Do-It-Yourself Internet Marketing for virtual assistants.

Please contact me if you are interested.

By: Kimberley Catanzaro

Kimberley Catanzaro — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:09:48 +0000

I agree that this is an awesome idea and hope it can be replicated for future Summit hosting cities- Good to see some local excitement generated!

By: Dana Fortier

Dana Fortier — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:59:03 +0000

Sounds like a great thing and I’m excited to hear about it after its all done! This needs to be written up for IVAACast, too. It might encourage other areas to do the same thing.

I’ll be sending you some stuff this week for you to give to the attendees. If there’s anything else you need – let us know.