Professional Organizers in Canada went virtual for our annual conference this year with the theme The Power of Professional Organizing. We are usually together for 2½ days, but this year’s one-day event gave us the opportunity to network, meditate, attend five sessions, and a trade show.

The entertainment lead, Clare Cluff organized an opportunity to chat with Organizers from England, across Canada and the United States. In addition, she arranged for Billi-Lynn, spiritual therapist and meditation teacher from Gaia Wellness Retreat, to lead us through yoga and a meditation after our lunch break.

Presentations

The program lead, Georgina Forrest planned a diverse program to satisfy productivity specialists, organizers and coaches.

Jan Lehman is the CEO of CTC Productivity and a productivity expert. Her superpower is her ability to understand business issues and clearly communicate how to leverage technology to solve them. In her session, Maintaining Productivity in a Virtual World, she taught us how to maintain team engagement and maximize productivity by communicating and collaborating effectively. She also shared ideas on how to fully leverage the benefits of the Microsoft 365 Suite of tools to help us be more agile in this ever-changing world.

Barry Gordon, CEO and Partner at Gordon’s Downsizing and Estate Services and founder of MaxSold, spoke about Selling Safety: Adapting to the Changes and Trends in the Post-COVID Marketplace. COVID-19 has changed the way many of us do business. People still need help, but there is a whole new set of questions and concerns before they hire an organizer to help. He helped us to learn how to adapt our business to the new normal.

Caroline Rogers, founder of Room to Think in London, England, is a member of the Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers. Her topic was What can Professional Organizers Learn from Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology. We learned the benefit of exploring personal character strengths and virtues to help us to be better Professional Organizers and how we can use positive psychology in supporting our clients’ goal setting and motivation.

Michelle Tresemer from Group Marketing Method coaches small businesses through the complex world of digital marketing tools, tactics, and strategies. In her session, Pivot to Digital: Growing Your Presence Online, she talked about how we can use each tool in our digital tool box and gave us some ideas on what we can do now to move our business forward.

Lauren Mang is the owner of Let Me Organize It LLC. She focuses on holistic organization and helps clients discover the FUN in the fundamentals of organizing. Laurie’s topic was Managing Difficult Clients with Clear Boundaries. Using case studies, she helped us to learn how to deal with difficult clients in a kind but firm manner. We talked about identifying, setting, and maintaining clear boundaries.

Thanks to all the presenters for their time and thought-provoking sessions.

Trade Show

Sponsor/Exhibitor Lead, Crystal de Nobrega, set up a trade show with the following sponsors:

• MaxSold
• A-Z Organizing
• PFU, a Fujitsu company
• Transition Squad
• Transition Realty
• TraumaCare Cleaning Services

Thanks to all the participants and sponsors, and to Communications Lead, Debbie White, for keeping us informed.

Tips for Attending a Virtual Conference

Virtual conferences are fun and educational, but they’re not easy to attend.

Make sure to get outside before the conference starts. If possible, change your location for watching each session. I was in my office, outside on the porch and used a treadmill desk.

If breaks are offered between sessions, get up and move around, go outside, get off the computer/screen, or stretch.

Use the conference time to wholly focus on your learning and business so you can serve your clients better.

Professional Organizing in Canada will be having another virtual conference in 2021. Join us!

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Photo by AllaSerebrina / DepositPhotos