Press Releases

VIPdesk Founder Mary Naylor Honored with Entrepreneurial Excellence Award for 2001

VIPdesk Wins National Award for Original Products or Services from Working Woman Magazine

Alexandria, VA, April 3, 2001 – VIPdesk, the fast-growing Internet concierge service, today announced that Mary Naylor, the founder of VIPdesk, won the Working Woman's Entrepreneurial Excellence 2001 National Award. The prize for Original Products or Service was presented at Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards Program National Event in Santa Monica, CA.

The Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards honor women business owners whose companies rank among the hottest emerging firms in the nation, and who have persevered through all the standard entrepreneurial pitfalls, in addition to those specific to women in the workplace.

"These women may vary with regard to where they hail from or the size and scope of their businesses," says Lisa Benenson, Editorial Director of Working Woman magazine. "What they have in common is extraordinary courage and the drive to succeed. They are role models for the next generation of women entrepreneurs, stellar examples of those who have overcome obstacles and succeeded."

"It's especially gratifying to be recognized in the Original Products or Services category, because Internet-related industries like ours are so packed with great ideas and smart people," Mary Naylor explains. "We always knew we had something special at VIPdesk, more than just a personal assistant service but truly a benefit that companies can deliver to their employees and clients, and this award affirms that."

VIPdesk provides companies with virtual personal assistance that offers a national network of more than 100 live, local concierges for employees and customers. This innovative technology assists more than 7.4 million users in better managing both their personal and professional responsibilities. Users have utilized the service for standard tasks such as purchasing plane tickets or more complex endeavors such as planning a child's entire birthday party.

Patty Abramson of the Women's Growth Capital Fund, who has been involved in both rounds of VIPdesk funding, nominated Ms. Naylor for the award.

Last year's winners in the same category were Jane McBride and Patricia Zinkowski, co-founders of Flighttime.com, an online service for chartering airplanes.

About VIPdesk (www.vipdesk.com)

VIPdesk helps busy people get things done through real-time web-based coordination of personal and convenience services. The VIPdesk concierge program combines state-of-the-art technology, a broad range of valuable products and services, exceptional personalized convenience services, deep technical expertise and industry experience to create a truly unique value-added service for customer and/or employees. Customers can access the service via phone, e-mail, web site or live chat 24 hours a day, seven days per week. This innovative technology and centralized infrastructure of local concierges acts as a powerful retention and productivity tool that currently serves 7.4 million users. Founded in 1997 by Mary Naylor, a 14-year veteran of the concierge industry, this personal assistant infrastructure platform serves clients including, Freddie Mac, MasterCard, Citibank, e-Tenants.com and Diners Club.

About Working Woman

Working Woman magazine, founded in 1976, reaches more than 2.6 million readers each month, and is the number one national business magazine written for executive and entrepreneurial women. It is part of Working Woman Network, which also includes Working Mother magazine, the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), a conference division, The Business Women's Network, WorkingWoman.com, Diversity Best Practices and the Women & Minority Business Exchange (WMBX).

About the Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards Program

The Third Annual Working Woman Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of women business owners, and is the first national campaign to specifically identify the achievements of women entrepreneurs. These national awards, given in eight different categories, drew close to 1000 nominations, with the winning entrepreneurs listed below.

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"I love the flexibility of working from home which allows me to be there for my children. I could not ask for a better arrangement." - Milissa Rhodes, Fredericksburg, VA

"Working from home enables me to be in the know and be in my own space and that is worth a million bucks!!!" - Lauren Levine, Hollywood, FL