Today, (while hard-wired into our cable connection, lol), I was on the IVAA summit site. Barbie Dallman has a wonderful testimony to the power of conferences.
I couldn’t help going back to my own first IVAA conference. I had just joined IVAA the month before, and on a whim, decided to attend the conference in Chicago in 2004. I flew alone and stayed in a room by myself (too scared at the prospect of an unknown roommate). I walked into a room full of strangers at the cocktail party and literally had too much anxiety to go up to someone and say hi. I seemed paralyzed by fear. Looking back on it, it seems silly because now I feel perfectly comfortable walking into a room full of VAs because we already have something in common. Or a room full of writers, editors, publicists, etc.
Barbie’s testimony really struck a chord with me. It is about facing your fears. If I hadn’t gone to that conference two and a half years ago, would I have gone on to do speaking engagements, serve on a Board of Directors, and write and promote another book?
Barbie said her net profits increased 60% following the conference. I made a contact at the Houston conference in 2005, that referred a client to me that earned me over $11,000 in the span of 10 months. Now I’m not a math person, but that’s a good ROI.
If any of you VAs are on the fence about whether or not to attend the conference, please look at the bigger picture of what it will do for your business a year from now. You won’t be sorry!