I’m back from the NAPO Conference!

Look how the 600+ of us were welcomed when we landed in New Orleans. I thought that was pretty cool–it was right next to the Arrivals and Departures sign.

Premium Modular Canisters by Rubbermaid

Floor Organizer by ClosetMaid

SMEAD Erasable SuperTab File Folders

ColorVue Expanding File with SuperTab by SMEAD

‘Tree Free’–I love that name. Whoever thought of it should get a raise, in my opinion. They are made from sugar cane waste fiber. I have no idea what that is but it saves trees so it’s OK by me. Super Tabs–another great idea especially for those who have ‘large’ handwriting or a lot to say on the tab of a folder. 

SuperTab Oversized Tab File Folders by SMEAD

Jill Yesko, of Discover Organizing Inc. had a great idea. Besides being a Professional Organizer, she is the owner of Clearly Noted, a company that offers greeting cards to Professional Organizers and their clients. These cards, ‘encourage, motivate, and congratulate your organizing client.’

Her cards are brightly colored, whimsical and offer a bit of bling, too. The part I liked best was that a Professional Organizer has the option of placing a sentence on the inside of the card giving permission to the client to recycle the lovely card at the end of the week. We don’t want to make more clutter for our clients!

Kudos to Jill for creating a product that Professional Organizers can use to express their gratitude!

Greeting cards by Clearly Noted

You paint a room in your home. You either label your paint can with a Sharpie, or your label maker. OK–maybe you don’t label your paint cans in the hopes you’ll remember where you used that color and the year you used it. The people at What’s That Paint have made the labeling process a snap with their fill-in-the-blank paint can labels. Despite their simplicity, everyone was ooohing and aaahhhing over them. They also used a paint tray instead of a box to collect business cards for a raffle–loved that creativity! 

What’s That Paint fill-in-the-blank paint can labels

This is just a smattering of the products I saw at this year’s NAPO Conference EXPO. Absent this year was 3M/Post-it. Good thing I hadn’t used up my samples from last year. The people from Brother were also missing–they make amazing label maker products. Maybe they’ll be back for next year’s conference in Phoenix. The bigger question is–will I be there? If so, I promise to report back on some new and exciting products.

Which of these products would help you get more organized?

In a few days, I’ll be attending the National Association of Professional Organizers 25th Annual Conference. This year it’s in New Orleans. I’ve never been to ‘NOLA’–I’m very excited to go! This will be my fifth NAPO conference since I started my business back in 2002.

Last year’s conference in Baltimore was a blast. It was jam-packed with meeting new people, learning new ways to grow and enhance my business, and it started off and ended with my first lengthy solo drive (for 3.5 hrs each way from NJ).

This year, since the solo drive would be MUCH too long, I’ll be flying. I’ll be packing everything I need in a carry-on bag–this is where my skills as a Professional Organizer will prove very useful. I’ve decided that despite the warm weather report, I’ll base all my outfits around the colors black, red/purple/pink. I’m trying to limit the shoes I bring to three pair. The true challenge will be paring down my bag of medical/health/makeup products!

Last year, I took some ‘techie’ workshops–this year I’m focusing on some areas I have little or no knowledge of. The workshops I’m signed up for are:

Self-Confidence: The Secret Success Mindset (taught by NAPO-NNJ’s Chapter President, Cena Block)
Organizing: Eyes Toward Re-Design
Packages, Programs and Value-Based Pricing
Pinterest for Business
Becoming a Kindle Book Author
Turning ‘Likes’ into Paying Clients

There will be two ‘Ask the Organizer’ Panels – one of which will feature Golden Circle Members on the panel (those who have been in business over 5 years). I always learn something new from my colleagues at these panels.

In addition there will be three Keynote speakers, a NAPO Business Meeting and Luncheon, and a NAPO Awards Luncheon. If it’s anything like last year’s Awards Luncheon, it’s sure to be a three hanky affair…

And let’s not forget the place to learn about new and exciting organizing products–THE EXPO! Big names like Rubbermaid, Ziploc and 3M are there as well as small business that provide Professional Organizers with products to revolutionize our client’s lives (and ours, too!), If the Command Hook people are there, I’m going to have to stop by for a demonstration. I always forget how to use those hooks properly…

Stay tuned for my post-conference blog post!

While at the NAPO Conference in Baltimore this past Spring, I got to meet a lovely representative from SMEAD at our Product EXPO. She and I chatted about office products, ‘liked’ each other on Facebook and a few months later, she asked me if I would want to review SMEAD products on my blog.

What organizer can say no to checking out new organizing products?

A few weeks later, I received the MO File System.  MO stands for ‘My Organizer.’ There are three parts to the MO File system: a folder kit, a file case and a case wrap. Here’s a video with all the details:

Besides the Financial Kit, the other kits sold are the MO Medical Kit, the MO Project Kit and the MO Starter Kit. According to the SMEAD website,

“MO file kits provide all the help you need to get organized. Each kit contains 9 letter size SuperTab folders, one label sheet with pre-printed and/or blank labels and a detailed instruction sheet.” 

The My Organizer system can be found at most office supply stores and on Amazon.com.

Why consider the My Organizer File system for your paper organizing needs?

– It fits easily into a letter-sized file drawer
– It is easily transportable
– It’s a great way to organize papers for a particular project or aspect of your life

I haven’t started using it yet but here’s what I like about My Organizer File system so far…

– It’s compact
– The File Case slides out of both sides of the Case Wrap
– The Super Tabs on the file folders are huge! Plenty of space for writing file descriptions.

I have a lot of business and family-related papers that always need action or are pending so I’m going to explore the features of he My Organizer File system and give it a try on my desk. I’ll keep you posted!

Long commute?
Live far from your family?
Got kids?

Then you probably spend a lot of time in your car.

Our cars are like a home-away-from-home. Sometimes we eat in our car. Sometimes we sleep in our car. We have TV screens and stereos and storage spaces in our cars. Yup–sounds like home to me…

So, if it’s important to keep our homes organized, it is equally important to keep our home-away-from-home organized, too.

I drive a big SUV and if I didn’t organize it, it would resemble a dumping ground on wheels. I have to organize my belongings, stuff for my kids, supplies for my business and supplies for the car just like I would organize any space in my home. When you’re ‘on-the-go’ you have to be able to find what you need quickly.

Your first step towards organizing your car is to sort and purge the items currently living in it. Once you know what is staying you’ll need a few organizing products to help you keep your home-away-from- home neat and tidy and of course–organized.

Here are a few products I use in my own car and a few that might be useful in special situations:

Trash receptacle – If you don’t want your car looking like the city dump. I highly recommend purchasing a trash receptacle for your car. This is the one I have by Case Logic and it works well for me. Unfortunately, it’s so old, the company doesn’t make it anymore:

I keep it thrown over my gear stick and hanging into the passenger side. It’s easy to stuff the garbage into the top and the velcro bottom opens easily to release the trash. I own this in tan to match my old car’s interior but when it has seen better days (the time is coming soon!), I’m getting one like this:

Auto Trash Bag by The Mod Mobile

There are so many fun, colorful and cool designs, I’m not sure which I would pick! Check all of them out on Allyson Hill’s The Mod Mobile Etsy site.

Visor CD Organizer – Downloading songs to my iPhone is on my long list of ‘Things I’d Like to Do Someday.’ So in the meantime, I’ve purchased a CD organizer for my visor–also from CaseLogic. My music, kiddie music–it’s all stored neatly and at arm’s reach.

Collapsible Crate – I got mine at a discount home store a bunch of years ago but you can find them at some office supply stores and The Container Store.

Photo Courtesy of Office Max

This is what is in mine: box of manila folders for organizing jobs, plastic bags, extra umbrella, and the ‘restaurant’ bag I’ll be discussing next. Other items that can fill the crate are groceries, car accessories, and random items that might otherwise float around your trunk or back of car.

“Restaurant” Bag – I got a drawstring backpack as a promotion from a store I was making a large purchase at a few years ago. When I saw it, I knew what it would be perfect for–a ‘restaurant bag.’ I call it a ‘restaurant bag’ because it is filled with items to keep my kids occupied when we go out to eat. I keep it stocked with paper, crayons, stickers, and a package of wipes. This is kept in the crate so I’ll always know where to find it when we pull into the restaurant parking lot.

Other Organizing Products for Your Car:

The people from Tote Buddy were at the NAPO Conference 2012 EXPO with all of their beautiful designs. It would make a great gift for someone who prefers to use recycle bags when they go shopping.

Organizer for Kids: Kids come with a lot of STUFF and they like to bring some of that STUFF with them when they go in the car. To prevent all that STUFF from being all over your car, consider an organizing product that hangs over the driver/passenger seat and faces the child. Many styles have room for crayons, hand-held games, books, DVDs and other STUFF kids like to have with them in the car.

Over-the-seat Car Organizer by Lillian Vernon

Desk: Do you or someone you know work out of their car? This product is a very good solution for those with mobile office needs. The Car Go Desk secures in the passenger seat with a seat belt and offers space for files, mobile equipment and peripherals.

cargodesk.biz

OK–next time you get into your car, take a good look inside. Would any of these products make your car more organized? Do you currently use any of these products? Tell me–I’d love to know!

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I have returned from the NAPO 2012 Conference in Baltimore, Maryland!

It was non-stop learning, networking, note-taking–very little rest. Like I said in my pre-conference blog post, ‘this was no vacation.’  But despite the brain overload and the seven hours of driving I did in three days, I am energized and motivated to put in place the wealth of information I learned.

Our view from the Baltimore Hilton–so close to Camden Yards!

Not only did I learn a ton, I also collected a tote bag full of information (and samples!) from our Product EXPO.  Large companies such as Rubbermaid, Smead, 3M and Staples as well as smaller companies such as NACKit! and The Tote Buddy were represented. (I did something with Smead that I’ll be blogging about soon…) Besides collecting information, I saw demos of different products and learned how to install and remove a Command hook without ripping off a layer of paint or wallpaper.

The workshops I took will be instrumental in moving my business forward in the coming year. Besides being good for my business, the ideas of the ‘Clearing Clutter the ‘Fun’ Shui’ Way’ class I took are already being put to work in my own home. Before I started writing this post, I took a block of time and did some de-cluttering in my home office which has become a repository for items having nothing to do with my business.  The instructor told us that “Clutter blocks the flow of prosperity.” I’ll be doing some more de-cluttering after lunch…

I’m looking to move forward with the social media part of my business so I took workshops on YouTube and Blogging. I learned how a presentation is like a hamburger in a public speaking workshop and discovered the ‘ABC’s’ of organizing photos.

But the BIG news is about the local NAPO chapter I belong to–NAPO-Northern New Jersey. This year NAPO National partnered with Soles4Souls–an organization that collects new and used shoes to distribute to those in need. They offered all NAPO chapters a challenge–who could collect the most pairs of shoes? Nationwide, over 100,000 pair of shoes were collected by over 30 local chapters. But who won the competition? NAPO-Northern New Jersey–collecting a whopping 24,561 and beating out chapters double in size!

NAPO-NNJ showing off awards at the NAPO 2012 Conference in Baltimore

Our ‘Queen of Sole,’ Diane Thomson (2nd from left above) collected 10,000 pair of shoes! She collected the most shoes out of any other NAPO member (and there are over 4,000 of us). All of her hard work earned her a trip to Haiti to help distribute shoes. We are so proud of her extraordinary accomplishment!

I could go on and on about this amazing conference–the people I met, the fun I had, but it’s time to go back to de-cluttering my home office the ‘Fun Shui’ way. Gotta let that prosperity flow…

I’ve very excited! Next week I’ll be attending the National Association of Professional Organizers 2012 Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

I have attended three other NAPO Conferences in the past and let me tell you, this is no vacation. My experience attending the Conference can only be described as a brain-blowing, intense, and jam-packed with organizing and entreprenurial education and networking.

The workshops I’ve signed up for are on the topic of:
Public Speaking
You Tube
Blogging
Photo Organizing
Feng Shui
Bringing Your Organizing Product to Market

There are ‘Ask the Organizer’ Panels and Pre-Conference workshops, too. I’m also going to an informal gathering for people who use Evernote (where I dump and store the thousands of ideas I have swimming in my brain). Our Keynote address is being presented by Bill Rancic–the man who was the first winner of The Apprentice!

I’m looking forward to meeting new organizers, spending more time with my NAPO-NNJ and NAPO-NY colleagues and those I don’t know very well. I’m also excited to visit the Conference EXPO hall which is always chock full of booths from companies that support the organizing profession.

My Conference materials have been downloaded, I’ve made my packing list, and mapped out the almost 4-hr drive to Baltimore. I’ll let you know all about it when I get back!

Back in April, I had the incredible opportunity to attend the annual conference for the National Association of Professional Organizers in Orlando, Florida. I was especially excited to attend because I was signed up for workshops in Social Media and Blogging. I learned so much and came away with a ton of new and fresh ideas–I couldn’t wait to start expanding my online presence!