Organized Assistant » technology

Are Your Tweets Timely?

Janet — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:51:09 +0000

Twitter is a great tool for busy professionals whose schedules often keep them from attending live networking events. You can take part in conversations at whatever time best suits you, even if the other parties aren’t online at the same time as you. Although convenient, this is not without its drawbacks. The most obvious is that you can’t answer time-sensitive questions. If someone is looking for a restaurant in Pittsburgh that’s open at 11:00 PM on Sunday night, they aren’t likely to welcome your suggestion on Monday morning, even if you know where they can get the Best Cheesecake Ever. A second problem arises if your followers aren’t online when you post your best content. Of course, it will still be there when they log in, but they might not go back far enough in their feed to see your posts, especially if they’re following a large number of people and don’t use Formulists or another way of organizing the people they follow. The situation is compounded if you like to post a lot of retweets and/or links to other content. I’m very sorry, but if I go into my Twitter account and see 10 or more tweets in a row from you, chances are I’m not going to look at any of them, unless I am a rabid fan. There might be some really good stuff there, but I’ll probably miss it, just because you’ve flooded my newsfeed. Fortunately, none of these challenges are insurmountable. In the case of the time-sensitive question, don’t assume it’s too late for you to answer. You can always ask if they found what they were looking for. Even if they did, or if they no longer need it, they’ll probably appreciate your asking, and you never know where a conversation might lead. Much to my delight, I’ve recently discovered a solution for the second problem as well. Timely is an online tool that analyzes your last 199 tweets, determines when you tend to get the most engagement, and suggests the best times for you to tweet based on those results. If you use a service like HootSuite or TweetDeck, you can use those results to schedule your tweets to be posted at that those times, even if by then you’ll be busy with your client or tucked in for the night. You can even take things a step further, and create a Timely account. Choose how many posts you want to make per day (1, 2, 5 or 9) and whether or not you wish to schedule tweets on weekends. Then, instead of typing your tweet into the Twitter site or your usual app, enter it in Timely, and it will be scheduled for publication at the time when it’s likely to have the most impact. There’s even a bookmarklet available, so when you’re reading a great blog post that you want to share with your followers, you just click on the bookmarklet and it will "create a Timely" with the title and URL for the page you’re on. Simply edit it to incorporate your own words and any hashtags you want to include, and add it to your queue. For every tweet you post using Timely, you can see how many people clicked on your link, who retweeted it, and the potential reach as a result. You can even add multiple Twitter accounts and multiple users! I think it’s pretty amazing for a free service, but there’s a pro version available for $9.99 more if you’d like priority email support. I still use TweetDeck for sending replies, but am beginning to use Timely more and more for my regular tweets. My followers benefit, because they’re more likely to see the valuable content I share, and they’re not getting it all at one time, and I benefit from the increased engagement and exposure. It seems to be a win-win situation! For more tips on using Twitter to grow your business, check out my Basic Guide to Networking on Twitter.

E-Book Review: Sync or Swim: 201 Organizing Tips You Need to Survive the Currents of Change

Janet — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:37:01 +0000

I was really flattered when Allison Carter and Judith Kolberg contacted me in January with a request to review their new e-book. The fact that I am only doing so now takes me back to my corporate days, when I overheard a colleague say he was too busy to attend the time management workshop his manager had scheduled for him. Although I was definitely feeling overwhelmed with both work and reading materials earlier in the year, the ironic reality is that had I made a sincere effort to read the e-book sooner rather than later, I'd have been pleased to discover that it is a light and easy read that took only about an hour of my time. Even more importantly, it addresses the very issues that were contributing to my sense of overwhelm: information overload, multiple sources of communication, and social media. Yes, today's technology has presented us with challenges that my co-worker couldn't even have imagined back in the 80s, but at the same time, it has provided us with wonderful tools to help us to organize just about every aspect of our personal and professional lives. And this is where Sync or Swim stands apart from other organizing books you may have read. As it says in the introduction,

Sync or Swim tips are “new school”. They address problems with a ‘technology-light’ spin. We cover managing the inflow of information, storing information and syncing devices, managing social media, organizing finances, home maintenance and family management, safety and security, organizing gizmos and gadgets, and health and wellness.

Although Kolberg and Carter are recognized experts in the organizing industry, they didn't rely on their own knowledge to write this book. Instead, they supplemented their advice with selected tips from more than 50 other contributors to provide a broad range of perspectives and ideas. While looking at the list of contributors, I was pleased to see my client Julie Stobbe of Mind over Clutter as well as several Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Bloggers: Ellen Delap of Professional-Organizer.com, Julie Bestry of Best Results Organizing, Ramona Creel, and Deb Lee of D. Allison Lee LLC. One of the things I like best about Sync or Swim is the abundance of practical tools recommended throughout. There are many tools available online for managing time, money, and all types of information, and Sync or Swim is a great resource for learning what's out there and helping you find a solution that's right for your client or for yourself. Although I read through it in an hour, I plan to spend much more time exploring the links suggested by the various contributors, many of which had eluded the attention of even this admitted information junkie. You can order Sync or Swim in Kindle format through The Bookstore for Professional Organizers, or click on the image below to order it as a PDF through Squall Press. It would make a great addition to your library! What is YOUR best tip for staying afloat in our changing world?

Your Paperless Business

Janet — Tue, 24 May 2011 12:41:31 +0000

Today I'm thrilled to introduce a special guest, Lelah Baker-Rabe, who is one of our Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Bloggers. Lelah specializes in helping clients eliminate paper from their offices, and is here today to explain how you can benefit from making your organizing business paperless. As professional organizers, we work with many clients who are challenged by paper. The daily inflow of paper is constant and our expertise helps our clients manage paper effectively. As business owners, we also have paper challenges. Because we have paper-management skills, the paper might not be as overwhelming for us, but it must be managed well in order for us to run our businesses profitably. With recent tech products like smartphones, tablets and net books, professional organizers have excellent resources and excellent reasons to take their businesses paperless. What does it mean to have a paperless business? Invoicing and contracts would be sent and received electronically. Advertising and marketing materials would be electronic, too, forgoing a paper newsletter or direct mail campaign for an enewsletter or email campaign. When you do receive a piece of paper that you want to keep or a business card you want to refer to, you would employ a scanning system and then recycle the paper rather than storing it in a filing cabinet. Your calendar, address book and notebook might be available through web-based applications you can access on a smartphone, or you might use something like Apple's MobileMe to keep your data updated across multiple electronic platforms, such as an iPhone and laptop. One always has to keep some physical records for legal and tax reasons, but they can be limited to a small permanent file. Why go to all the trouble to retool your professional organizing business as a paperless one?

Mobility. You can be anywhere and access important data, making it more efficient to schedule and follow up with clients and manage your workflow. You can also share data with employees or contractors more easily.
It saves money and space. Your office space will be lighter without a lot of paper files; having all your data backed up to an external hard drive or a cloud-based backup system takes up very little room. While you might invest in new technology like a scanner or smartphone, you'll save money on supplies like printer ink and paper.
It helps you learn new skills you can transfer to your clients. A paperless business teaches tech skills that will help you work with clients on time management, office organizing and productivity.
It sets an example for your clients and can be environmentally responsible, too. Recycling is good, but not using paper in the first place is better. However, tools like phones and computers can have large eco-footprints, so if you strive for a green business, do your homework before you invest in products.

Your organized business can also be your paperless business! Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. For more information on how and why to go paperless, call her at 818.269.6671, email lelah@lelahwithanh.com or sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.

Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for December 2010: Calendars

Janet — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:47:06 +0000

As the new year approaches, many of your clients will be asking you about choosing a paper planner or an electronic calendar, selecting the one that best meets their needs, or using their calendar more effectively. This month's Professional Organizers Blog Carnival includes lots of tips from your colleagues to help you provide your clients with the guidance they need! Let's begin with Stephanie LH Calahan's post, The Great Calendar Debate - Paper or Electronic - 21 Experts Weigh In. As Stephanie explains,

One item frequently purchased at this time of year is a calendar or planner for the upcoming year. But, what is the right kind of planner to use? Some say the traditional paper planner is the best, while others swear by their smart-phone or on line tool. How do you decide what is best for you? Learn what my colleagues and friends had to say about the "Great Calendar Debate." They provide tips to help you decide as well as some recommended tools.

Clare Kumar brings us Time Management Strategies - 3 Tools to Manage Your Time. Clare says,

As we approach 2011 with alarming speed it's time to select a calendar. This requires some thought to the need for portability, number of users and the amount of information you need to capture there. It's quite possible that one is not enough.

In Your Calendar and You, Ellen Delap offers some tips on choosing a calendar and tells us which one she likes the best. One organizer who supports the electronic version is Deb Lee, who tells us why in her post, Simple Tech: 6 Benefits of Using an Online Calendar. Jeri Dansky doesn't reveal her personal preference, but tells us that One Calendar That Deserves a Post All Its Own was one of the most popular ones she's written recently. Of course, to be a useful time management tool, even a carefully chosen calendar must be used effectively, and several experts had advice in this area: In Unclog Your Calendar to Avoid Opportunity Overload, Lisa Montanaro shares an excerpt from the Time Management chapter of her new book, The Ultimate Life Organizer: An Interactive Guide to a Simpler, Less Stressful & More Organized Life, which will be published by Peter Pauper Press in February 2011. In her blog post, Michelle Panzlaff offers several Tips to use your calendar effectively, adding the following tip for readers of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival:

Manage your time. Create a schedule for yourself as you would for any project. When life gets busy or you get distracted it can be easy to let things slide so having a written schedule will help keep you on track.

Paul H. Burton reminds us to Schedule Snippets of Time Between Appointments, and Barbara Tako explains how to Simplify your calendar in 2011 Ramona Creel warns us about Overscheduling Syndrome. She says,

If your family's calendar is too full and your children are inheriting your exhaustion at having too much to do, maybe it's time to revamp your schedule and set some healthy boundaries!

We close this month's Professional Organizers Blog Carnival on a lighter note, with Julie Bestry's Lost Time, Dinner With the King of Norway and The Curse of Multiple Calendars. Since this is Julie's tenth time participating in the Carnival, she is our newest Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Blogger. Congratulations, Julie! The next Professional Organizers Blog Carnival will be published on Tuesday, January 11, 2011, and the theme will be Goal Setting. Submissions will be due by noon EST on Monday, January 10, so why don't you mark that on YOUR calendar right now! Going forward, the Carnival will always be on the second Tuesday of the month, so those of you who use electronic calendars can go ahead and create a recurring appointment. See the complete schedule of topics and dates for 2011. A big thanks to everyone who took the time to submit a post at this very busy time of year! Looking forward to seeing many of you again next month and to welcoming some new participants. In the meantime, please take a few minutes to check out this month's submissions and to network with your organizing colleagues by leaving comments and sharing your favorite posts with your social networks.

Daily Reading for Your Organizing Business

Janet — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:53:47 +0000

I love to blog, and I'd write a new blog post every single day if I could. Since I can't, I've created a daily compilation of articles, blog posts, videos, and images to help you in your organizing business, using a cool new online tool called paper.li. Your Organizing Business Today is an online "newspaper" consisting of items that have been tweeted by some of the people I follow on Twitter. Rather than other professional organizers, the selected Twitter users offer various organizing products and tools, business marketing strategies, and other information you might find helpful. Please check it out and feel free to leave a comment below to suggest other users or subjects that you'd like to see included. For a wider range of topics, you can also read The @JanetBarclay Daily, which includes posts from a much wider variety of Twitter users. Paper.li is a free tool that's easy to use, so you just might want to set up your own daily or weekly "newspaper." It's a great way to see the highlights of the people you're following, especially when you don't have time to scan your whole news feed! If you've created one, why not share it by posting a link below?

Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for September 2010: Technology

Janet — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:20:05 +0000

Welcome to the Technology issue of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival! You'll find lots of great tips here for using technology to organize today's busy lives and for organizing your (or your clients') technology. Be sure to read the posts and leave some comments – it's a fun way to network with your organizing colleagues! Five Productive Jobs for Evernote by Margaret Lukens

Over time, Evernote has proven its usefulness again and again. The more I use it to deal with those information bits on the desk and in the brain, the more I love it.

How to Manage and Organize your Social Web by Elaine Shannon Site-Saving Bookmarklets: Keeping Up With Online Reading While Reducing Paper Clutter by Julie Bestry

If you're a voracious web reader, it sometimes seems like you have only two alternatives: paper (printout) clutter or an endlessly scrolling tower of bookmarks. These nifty bookmarklets offers the chance to keep up with your reading without cluttering up your home, office or computer.

3 Firefox Add-Ons That Increase Your Productivity by Deb Lee Getting Organized in the Google Era by Jeri Dansky

This book, which was published earlier this year, talks about ways to use technology effectively. Do you organize information - or just search for it when you need it?

Technology and You! by Ellen Delap Ergonomics in the Office - Using your computer safely by Clare Kumar

Technology brings many benefits, but using it safely is critical. Set up a comfortable workstation and enjoy maximum productivity.

Cozy Up To Cozi by Janice Russell TeuxDeux (To Do - an online list maker) by Margarita Ibbott

Are you a chronic list maker? Do you feel a sense of accomplishment when you cross that item off your list? How about writing a list out electronically that you can access from any computer? Find out about a simple and easy to use on-line list maker from TeuxDeux.

Before wrapping up this month's Carnival, I'd like to welcome two new Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Bloggers, who have each contributed to 10 Blog Carnivals to date: In her post, Clutter-free gifts: Technology, Lelah Baker-Rabe tells us how to

Help the tech-savvy people in your life stay clutter-free with some thoughtful gifts of technology that won't add to their box of random cords and cables.

Digital photographers are sure to appreciate Geralin Thomas' Four Steps to Organizing Your Photos. Congratulations, Lelah and Geralin, and thank you to everyone who took part in this month's Carnival. Next month, our theme will be Bathroom Organizing – please submit your posts by noon EDT on October 12, 2010. In November, we'll celebrate Food, Glorious Food! so get ready to submit your posts about organizing refrigerators, pantries, recipes, or another related topic. Photo: joiseyshowaa

How to Streamline Your Facebook Activities

Janet — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:19:44 +0000

I know many professional organizers who are not taking advantage of Facebook to market their businesses. Their reasoning is sound: "I help my clients to make the best use of their time and space. It just doesn't make sense for me to waste time on Facebook or other social networks."

If you associate Facebook with playing games such as Farmville or Mafia Wars, poking friends, or completing quizzes like "How many kids you will have?" I can understand why you wouldn't see how a Facebook presence can be beneficial to your business. Keep in mind, however, that you can be on Facebook without ever participating in these types of activities. Although new applications are added every week, taking a moment to block these applications from your news feed will save you from spending time and energy filtering through the updates of your friends who like to use them. Here are three more ways to make sure that Facebook doesn't distract you from more important activities:

Use Networked Blogs or another application to automatically post an update when you publish something to your blog.
Use an external application such as Ping.fm, TweetDeck or HootSuite to post updates without logging into the Facebook website.
You can also pre-schedule your updates using TweetDeck or HootSuite. Take advantage of this to post helpful tips at various times throughout the day and/or week, even while you're out working with clients. This keeps your name in front of your target audience, and allows you to increase the frequency of your updates without having them all show up one after another.

Although these strategies allow you to maintain a presence on Facebook without even logging into the site, it is important that you visit the site on a regular basis in order to communicate with other users, especially those who have commented on your posts. The name of the game is social media, and if you don't engage with others, they will stop trying to engage with you. You should be able to manage this in 15 minutes or less per day. That is not a lot of time, so you'll want to use it wisely. Give priority to:

Checking your notifications, to see if anyone has responded to any of your comments, and
Visiting your business page, if you have one, because comments posted on there will not normally appear in your news feed or notifications.

In addition to blocking frivolous applications as noted above, you can organize your friends into groups. When you visit Facebook, instead of the default news feed which lists all of your friends, go directly to the feed for the group(s) that you most want to stay connected with. Once you have completed these three steps, if you haven't used up your 15 minutes, you can explore other things that may be going on. If you tend to get distracted, set a timer so you don't get off track. If you'd also like to use Facebook for sharing news and photos with family and friends, do that at a different time, not during the 15 minutes allotted to your business. Try it for a couple of weeks, then come back and share your results! While you're on Facebook, be sure to "like" Organized Assistant, if you're not already a fan. Photo credit: Beth Kanter

Book Review: Take Back Your Life!

Janet — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:49:53 +0000

For many years, I wanted to take advantage of Microsoft Outlook® as a time management tool, but was frustrated because the courses I took covered only the basics, and none of the books I read went sufficiently in depth to satisfy me. My woes ended when I discovered Sally McGhee's Take Back Your Life! Using Microsoft Outlook® to Get Organized and Stay Organized in 2005.

Take Back Your Life! outlines steps for creating a system to help you to maximize productivity, which will help you to take control of your personal and professional life, and to support your clients who struggle with time management. Some of McGhee's recommendations are similar to those found in other time management books; for example:

Implement personal boundaries to allow scheduled, uninterrupted work time.
You can't create more time; you can only make the most of the time you have by setting priorities.
Process and organize your e-mail (and paper mail) by following the four D's for decision making (Delete/Do/Delegate/Defer)

One of the parts I found especially valuable was the guidance around the use of Outlook Tasks. McGhee recommends disregarding Outlook's default categories such as "Client" and "Personal" and replacing them with your own planning categories (to keep track of objectives and supporting projects) and action categories (to keep track of the individual tasks to be completed). She also suggests placing all telephone calls in one category so you can quickly and easily make those calls when you have time between appointments, and all errands in another category, to make it easier to keep track of them and reduce the number of trips you have to make. McGhee understands that technology can only facilitate increased productivity when users know how to use its features to full advantage, and are prepared to let go of ineffective habits. Willingness to make behavior changes is a key component of her system, as some of the strategies she describes will be quite foreign to many, particularly those who struggle with structure and details. Of course, to rely fully on Outlook for time management requires the use of a smartphone or other portable device that can be synchronized with your main computer, and many people can't afford or don't wish to use these tools, or have no desire to give up their paper planners. Nonetheless, although Take Back Your Life! is primarily about using Outlook, it offers many helpful time management tips that may be adopted even by non-Outlook users. Many new enhancements were made when Outlook 2007 was released, so McGhee wrote an updated version of her book, along with John Wittry, Take Back Your Life! Using Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 to get organized and stay organized, which includes nearly 100 pages of new material. Both editions are available in the Time Management department of The Bookstore for Professional Organizers.

Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for May 2010: Organizing Tips for Busy Moms

Janet — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:32:06 +0000

This month's Blog Carnival is a belated Mothers Day gift for all the busy moms out there. Come to think of it, is there such a thing as a mom who isn't busy? I hope you'll take a few minutes to visit and comment on the posts submitted by my readers. It's a great way to network with your organizing colleagues while picking up ideas to benefit your clients or yourself!

Angela Esnouf starts us off with 7 ways to get organized in just one minute in her post, Got a Minute? Jodi Granok shares her strategy for dealing with household clutter in In a Rut? Clean it Up! In Help for moms to clear their mental clutter, Barbara Tako tells us that:

Clutter isn't always physical. Sometimes, as busy moms who lead hectic and stressful lives, we struggle with mental clutter--items we need to do, schedules we are holding in our heads, stuff we need to add to a shopping list. The mental clutter goes on and on...Try these tips to clear the mental clutter.

If mealtimes are a challenge, check out Audrey Cupo's Meal Planning For Busy Moms and Elaine Shannon's 3 Steps to Easy Meal Planning. Ellen Delap helps you prepare for summertime fun with her Six Steps to Summer Success. Unfortunately, summer fun sometimes leads to accidents, and Jacki Hollywood Brown offers a few quick tips to help busy moms to be prepared for unplanned trips to the hospital in Preparing for an Emergency. There are some really innovative products out there to help busy mothers get organized, and Krista Colvin tells us about one of her favorites, The All-in-one Schoolfolio, while Janet Baker describes The Smartest Filing System For Busy Moms. Janet says:

Happy Mother's Day! It's time to give mom a helping hand! Using smart filing system software, she can create one simple way to organize everything that needs filing and storing, no matter where it is in the house, the garage, the shed, or in storage.

Ramona Creel describes a common challenge as follows:

I have a client who is trying to simplify her life, and she would be succeeding at it beautifully, if it weren't for her family! Sometimes, it can seem like your housemates are hell-bent on making your life more complicated -- bringing in tons of unnecessary clutter, expecting you to pick up after them, and creating chaos in your schedule. For a simplicity strategy to really work, the whole team has to be on board...

Read Ramona's solution to this problem in Getting Your Housemates On Board The Simplification Train. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this month’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival! You are welcome to submit your post on Organizing for Special Events any time up until noon on Wednesday, June 9. Be sure to come back and read the June Blog Carnival, because I have a special surprise in store for you! July's theme will be Book Reviews – we'd all love to know what organizing or business book(s) you recommend! Submission for July's Carnival will not be accepted until after June 10^th, so if you haven't yet written a review, you've got plenty of time to do so! Need some ideas? Visit The Bookstore for Professional Organizers! If you've got an idea for a future Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

NAPO 2010 through the Eyes of a Seasoned Conference-Goer

Janet — Thu, 06 May 2010 13:33:19 +0000

After losing an argument with myself about whether or not I would attend this year's NAPO Conference, I needed to recruit a guest blogger to share the highlights with my readers, and the first person I thought of was Julie Bestry, who is a great writer and a constant source of support and inspiration to me. I think you'll agree that reading Julie's post is the next best thing to being there.

Innovate, Connect, Inspire...and Eat Amazing Ice Cream For me, the National Association of Professional Organizers' Annual Conference and Expo is a combination of the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards, with a dash of summer camp and a dollop of class reunion. One might imagine that after attending eight consecutive conferences, I'd be jaded going into the ninth, but even if that were remotely true, this year's conference decluttered every bit of cynicism right out of me. For those of you who were unable to attend, Janet has kindly offered me the opportunity to share the details of what you missed. Connecting Extemporaneously The theme of this year's conference was "Innovate, Connect, Inspire", but I have to say I hold a special place in my heart for the "connect" element. The excitement began when two of my NAPO-GA colleagues, the Michelles (Grey and Cooper, of whom I was tempted to say "Hi, I'm Julie. This is my organizer, Michelle, and my other organizer, Michelle") picked me up in Chattanooga for our rain-soaked road trip to Columbus, Ohio. Upon arrival at the Hyatt Regency, I was eager to get up to my room to watch Lost. Although my room immediately struck me as oddly shaped, I was so captivated by the Smoke Monster that I failed to notice that Room #1111 lacked a desk! The narrow corner room, shaped quite like an arrowhead, with two full walls of windows and a rest room that required advanced yoga experience, was apparently one of four on each floor of the Hyatt that offered "special architecture", as the front desk later pitched it. I'm of a belief that anything that doesn't kill you makes for great anecdotes, and found a flight-load of colleagues in the lobby on Wednesday morning to regale. While I warned those in need of desk space to avoid rooms ending in 11, 22, 33 or 44, friend and beloved host of NAPO's famed Ask the Organizer Panel, Monica Ricci, noted that I have strange NAPO hotel room karma. It's true. I endured a wee-hours fire drill the night prior to taking the CPO® exam in Minneapolis, and my hotel ceiling collapsed in Boston the year I opted for a "boutique" hotel. While connecting with Randi Hutton, whom Janet has picked to share a first-time attendee's tale, I sat in a prime position to see my colleagues as they arrived. Randi and I were repeatedly (but politely) interrupted by the joyous hoots of recognition and affection of colleagues, to the point that Randi must have wondered if we were more like sorority girls on the first day back at school than seasoned professionals. Unbeknownst to me, word had spread quickly of my hotel room adventures, and I ended up giving tours to the curious. I even played Pied Piper to one party of VIPs, including Clutter Diet's Lorie Marrero, Hoarders celeb Geralin Thomas, the lovely Stephanie Shalofsky and incoming NAPO-NYC president, Sharon Lowenheim. During another tour, I stated that the bed's positioning made me feel as though I were about to be shot out of a cannon. Fellow Tennessee organizer Melissa Gratias noted that the narrow point at which the two walled windows connected seemed more like the bow of a ship, and promptly acted out the "I'm the King of the World" scene from Titanic. Innovating Connections, NAPO EXPO-Style Impromptu connections notwithstanding, NAPO had something bold and innovative designed to help prompt connections, not only with our fellow professional organizers, but also with our esteemed vendors. On Wednesday night, the NAPO-Ohio chapter sponsored an Amazing Race-themed game wherein teams of ten organizers were shackled to looped ropes, a la kindergarten art museum field trips. Armed with a list of 40+ trivia questions about vendors and their wares, the Race had each team running – connected (by rope) – hither and yon, across and around the Expo floor. While the CBS version of Amazing Race might be more high profile, I'd wager that the speed (and competitive nature) of teammates and rivals made the game at least as compelling, and I'm certain that NAPO-Ohio's Andrea Sharb gave Phil Keoghan a run for his money as host. A good time was had by all, though probably not as good a time as the Scott Roewer-led team to which I was assigned...because, through Scott's tenacity and leadership, and a stroke of genius on the part of NAPO-Philadelphia's Annette Reyman, we landed in first place and won ClosetMaid canvas bins full of prizes donated by Expo vendors. Rest assured, not one prize item any of the teams received could be remotely considered clutter! (For a recap of the merchandise displayed at the Expo, I invite you to my blog.) An Army of Professional Organizers Marches (and Connects) On Its Stomach NAPOites also connected, refreshed and dined in ever-changing do-si-do configurations throughout the week. Our official lunches ranged from ad hoc, standing-room-only in the Expo for Thursday's boxed lunch to regional tables (not quite regionally-arranged, such that Pacific Northwesterners lunched a fork's throw from Mid-Atlantic organizers) at Friday's annual NAPO business meeting. For Saturday's award luncheon, we chose special interest tables so that members could chat about business organizing, or working with ADHD clients, and so on. (I lunched with one of three tables of NAPO Twitter colleagues). Dinners were decided off-campus, and ranged from formal chapter meals to spontaneous gatherings at niftily-named Columbus eateries like the Surly Girl Saloon and Sushi Rock. The long-awaited, expertly-planned (by NAPO-DC's Kim Oser) Tweetup at Bucca di Beppo was such a hot ticket that numerous late-deciders, including one former NAPO president, had to be turned away. One unofficial dining experience seems to have been partaken by many... multiple times. (Indeed, only Saturday night's downpour kept me from a third night in attendance at this local gem.) Each night, confection aficionados were found connecting and obviously inspired by the innovative ice cream at Columbus' Jeni's Ice Cream, where tantalizing flavors like Salty Caramel and Goat Cheese with Roasted Red Cherries captivated the NAPOites whom we saw coming, going, and standing in line. Innovating and Inspiring...And Learning Of course, the NAPO conference is much more than a big party. We came to learn...and be inspired! If the collective buzz, both at the conference and on Twitter and Facebook in the days since conference are any indication, our three keynote speakers were the most motivating in recent history. Tim Sanders, author of Love Is the Killer App and the new Saving the World at Work, kicked off the conference with his keynote, Innovating How We Connect. Tim shared the lesson of his mentor, that we can "Accomplish more in two months, developing a sincere interest in two people, than in two years trying to develop their interest in you." Sanders talked about turning our customers into friends, but in a genuine and constructive way. First, he reviewed how we should not merely add, but multiply, the value we provide others, by recommending (and giving) books, because giving away knowledge establishes trust, and by sharing our networks, matchmaking to improve others' professional and personal lives. Next, Sanders spoke about empathy and the importance of listening "powerlessly", without judgment or agenda, to help others feel truly heard. He captivated a room of 700+ professional organizers with the theory of "emotional leakage" propagated by Paul Ekman (upon whose research the Fox show Lie to Me is based). Finally, Sanders spoke about elevating the purpose of a task to find the joy inherent within it. His anecdote about Timberland executives literally giving the boots off their feet to Hurricane Katrina recovery workers was awe-inspiring and left quite a few organizers decluttering their tears. And this was just on the first day! Gina Schreck's Friday keynote, Connecting Via Technology, delighted inveterate tweeters and technophobes alike. Schreck humorously brought home the lesson that good social networking is part of a solid professional image, and that even if we haven't changed, our clients have, and it's expected that professionals will connect, collaborate and build communities. As part of that, Schreck highlighted some best practices for using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and talked about the importance of using links to blogs, articles and video, not only to spotlight our expertise, but also to get indexed by Google. I was enthralled by Gina Schreck's entertaining combination of philosophical, practical and technical advice with regard to selecting whom to follow, befriend or link. Her best pointer, however, was one that, while referencing Twitter, should apply to all of us, each time we talk or type: "Be interesting, be helpful, or be quiet!" Quite a few of our colleagues must have been inspired to innovate and connect (see, there's that theme again!), as we veterans have seen a huge influx of NAPO members joining Twitter in the past few days. Our closing keynote speaker, Monica Wofford, sent us home with a lesson on Inspiring Contagious Confidence. She began with the precept that "confidence is a belief that you can do something", and the notion that confidence is not the same as self-esteem ("the belief that you are worth the effort"). Wofford dazzled the room with a high-energy invocation to clearly identify what we want from our businesses and our lives, and learn to articulate those desires with authenticity, through changed thoughts, perceptions, beliefs and actions. And these were only the keynotes! In between, we soaked up knowledge about the skills of organizing, everything from "power offices" to health data, from project management to Six Sigma. Other breakout sessions focused on specific client populations, including seniors, clients with ADD/ADHD, and hoarders. Along with such conference stalwarts, NAPO speakers also presented new topics designed to make us better at running our businesses, from Porter Knight's "Knowing Your Numbers" to Lisa Montanaro's "It Takes a Village to Run a Successful Biz", in addition to sessions on transitioning from hands-on organizing to coaching, working with independent contractors, and writing effective business proposals. Innovating NAPO Session Structure NAPO also innovated this year with mega sessions, including two back-to-back classes from Canadian professional organizer and marketing expert Krista Green. She charmed novices and veterans alike, with her practical advice on running, branding and marketing a successful organizing business. Another mega-session offered in-depth discussion on serving, as well as marketing to, the aging senior market. No matter where you stood on the technology spectrum, from Luddite to webmaster, there was something for everyone at this year's conference. Scott Roewer and Lauren Halagarda, NAPO's own "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" dynamic duo) each went a few steps beyond their 2009 offerings, inspiring attendees to venture into technological productivity solutions for themselves and their clients. In many cases, the Roewer/Halagarda team seemed to have inspired purchases of software and hardware (on an equal opportunity basis) for both PC and Mac platforms...and for all those gadgets. Another session offered a veritable college-level survey course on the various "Organizing Tools on the Web". My own conference highlight was attending a session presented by the two most innovative professional organizers I know, Brandie Kajino and Allison Carter, whose "How to Make Money With Virtual Classes" walked attendees through every step of the teleclass and webinar development experience. The NAPO 2010 Annual Conference and Expo innovated its own practices and taught us how to innovate our businesses, our marketing methods, and our ways of thinking and interacting. We explored new ways of connecting, at the conference and beyond, with one another and with our clients and prospects. And we were inspired, not only by our keynote speakers and presenters, but by our colleagues. I never fail to be amazed that I get to rub shoulders and tweets with so many jaw-droppingly fantastic colleagues. I hope to see many more of you, again or for the first time, at NAPO's next conference, April 6-9, 2011, in San Diego. Julie Bestry is a Certified Professional Organizer, speaker and author, who helps individuals and businesses save time and money, reduce stress and increase productivity through new organizational skills and systems. Although a generalist, Julie specializes in paper organizing, blogging as the Paper Doll, and publishes Best Results for Busy People: Organizing Your Modern World. For more information, visit Best Results Organizing at http://www.juliebestry.com.