Interactive, Innovative, and Informative

Photo above: VPC board member Terry Haycock put together a beautiful fall tablescape complete with refreshments.

More than a dozen members attended VPC’s fall conference, which was held on the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 22, at the Libbie Mill Library in Richmond. Special thanks to members Cynthia Price and Terry Haycock for organizing the event.

The event began with a networking activity where attendees were invited to find three commonalities in groups of three. The smaller groups then paired with another and so on until the entire large group came together. The exercise proved that with a little bit of effort, we can all find common ground across careers and generations. VPC members universally loved dogs, books, and travel, but don’t expect consensus on the use of the Oxford comma!

Following the networking activity, attendees heard from two speakers — Jill Vaughan, founder JLV Communications who spoke about “Taking the Leap With a Virtual Assistant” and Melissa Face, a VPC member and author who spoke about “Thinking Outside the Book(store).” 

Members also heard from Pam Stallsmith, secretary for the VPW Foundation, who recognized the latest Agnes Cooke Scholarship winner, Jessica Johnson, a student at VCU. Members also elected a new slate of officers to serve VPC for the 2022–24 term. 

Member Gwen Woolf summed up the conference in a thank you email to the event planners. “I enjoyed the speakers, and the networking event was so much fun,” Woolf said. “And the food and flower decorations were just lovely. It was great seeing everyone.”