From August 15 to September 30, NAPO members and the general public submitted their nominations for the 2010 Los Angeles Organizing Awards. The Nominating Committee has selected five finalists from each category, and we are all invited to vote!

Voting

With nearly 100 award nominees, I can’t possibly list them all here, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to mention a few who are special to me in some way:

I was delighted to learn that Margaret Miller has been nominated as Best Organizer as Coach or Mentor. As founding president of Professional Organizers in Canada, Margaret was one of my first connections in the organizing industry. I remember meeting her for a coffee in 2002, and when I was hesitant about the cost to join POC and register for the upcoming conference, she said:

If you’re not confident enough to invest in yourself, how can you expect clients to have confidence in you?

Her words had a powerful effect on me, and helped shape my career and business in the years that followed.

Harold Taylor is another one of the founders of POC, and I’ve heard him speak, read several of his books, and tried out his planner. He’s up against some pretty tough competition in the Best Time Management Expert category, but I’d be thrilled to see him win!

I am proud to count among my clients Geralin Thomas of Hoarders and Hellen Buttigieg of neat, which are both in the running for the Best Show Incorporating Organizing on National Television category. Although that makes it a pretty tough call for me, I think I’ll have to choose Hoarders for this category, as neat is also nominated in the Best National Makeover Reality Television Program category, and Hellen’s awesome new book, Organizing Outside the Box is up for Best Organizing Book.

There are many other worthy candidates, including organizers and businesses I’ve come to know through various social media. There’s a complete list on the NAPO-LA website, where you can also vote for your favorites.

The awards ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on January 30, 2010.