Five years ago if any one had told Caledon resident Janice Byer that the nascent industry that she had been working so hard to promote would finally receive its own day of recognition, she probably would not have believed it. Byer is a virtual assistant, and she along with more than 5,000 other virtual professionals working worldwide will celebrate the first International Virtual Assistants Day (IVAD) May 19.

Proposed by the online advocacy group, Alliance for Virtual Businesses (A4VB), IVAD is now officially registered with Chases Calendar of Events, the recognized authority of special days, weeks and months. IVAD will appear in the 2007 edition and will be held annually on the third Friday of May. The inaugural celebration of International Virtual Assistants Day coincides with a three-day assembly sponsored by the Online International Virtual Assistants Convention (OIVAC) running from May 18-20.

"This day of observance not only allows us to celebrate individual accomplishments, but also affords us the chance to pat the backs of our colleagues as well," said Byer, whose company specializes in administrative tasks and small business web design.

Byer, a former executive assistant and office manager, originally conceived the idea for her business in September 1998. She started a new career in order to be at home with her new daughter and to realize her dream of being a small business owner.

Virtual assistants or VAs are independent entrepreneurs who work remotely and use the latest technology to deliver professional administrative, creative, managerial, technical, business backoffice and/or personal support services to busy professionals. Clients only pay for the time actually spent working on projects and often retain a fixed amount of hours per month for service.

Typical services could include everything from general secretarial and word processing services to desktop publishing, Web site creation and marketing. Projects are often handled over the phone, by fax, email and even instant messaging. Most attractive is the fact that VAs are also responsible for their own taxes, training, health care, insurance overhead costs that make hiring an employee expensive.

Since 1996 more than 5,000 professionals around the world have become VAs. More than 90% of them are highly-skilled working mothers who choose to start their own businesses in order to achieve a better work/life balance. According to a study conducted by Brenner Books in conjunction with A4VB in 2004, the United States accounts for the largest number of VAs followed by Canada, Australia and Great Britain.