Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and Blaine, WA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 01/21/2008 -- Tawnya Sutherland, founder of VANetworking.com, honored one of her forum’s members last month with the title of “VAccolade Business Entrepreneur of the Year”.

The VAccolade Business Entrepreneur Award is presented to a different member of VANetworking.com, (‘VANA’ to its members) each week. To qualify for this distinction, a VA must be nominated by a peer and meet the following criteria: the VA must be an important contributor to the forum, show business savvy and good judgment, have a strong USP, and uphold VANA ethics. Their website must demonstrate: solid copywriting, excellent design, search engine friendliness, usability and original content.

Patty Dost, owner of Time is of the Escents, was selected from all of 2007’s weekly winners of the ‘VAccolade’ as the Entrepreneur of the Year. Ms Dost has been involved with VANetworking.com (VANA to its members) for 2 years, as a member, volunteer and VA (virtual assistant) to Ms. Sutherland.

“She is the one behind the scenes keeping VANA running smoothly and in focus so that all virtual assistants worldwide have a comfortable and friendly place to network online,” commented Sutherland. She went on to say, “Patty is always there for us answering questions at the forum from ‘how to post your avatars’ to ‘finding out your password when it's forgotten’. She contributes in so many ways to VANA that I cannot even begin to list them. Without Patty, VANA would not be the wonderful resource it is to so many VAs worldwide. We should all be tipping our VA hats off to Patty Dost, the VA who helps keep over 7,700 members informed about the VA industry today.”

Virtual Assistants work from their own offices and provide administrative support and other specialized services to businesses, entrepreneurs and executives. VAs often experience feelings of isolation when they leave the ‘corporate world’ and organizations like VANetworking.com serve as a family these entrepreneurs can turn to for advice, mentoring, and camaraderie. The VANA forum theme states, “Hey, Hey, The VA Gang’s All Here,” and they are! Supporting one another and working hard to promote the Virtual Assistant Industry.

About VANetworking.com
VANetworking.com is the global meeting place for aspiring and successful VAs, so if you are considering becoming a Virtual Assistant it’s the perfect starting place. Members have access to over 76,000 posts, expert advice on work-related topics, weekly VA chats, monthly contests, the VANA Newsletter, discounts on products and services, and placement on a growing listing of VAs in 14 countries in the VA Service Directory.

If you are a business owner who would like to learn more about the VA industry, look no further. You can’t beat VANA (http://VANetworking.com) when it comes to resources and the vast pool of professionals from which to draw.