Best Results Organizing

In the last few posts, I explained that this year’s NAPO2018 was billed as a retreat instead of a conference and expo, and without an expo, I feared that I’d have no bounty of new products to share with you. However, thanks to our sponsors, even without an expo, I still have some goodies to present.

MEORI

At our welcome event, all conference attendees received a Meori foldable box absolutely filled to the brim with goodies. Mine was this Lava-Black-with-White-Flowers version, but Meori (a product I’d planned to profile this spring anyway), comes in a variety of gorgeous patterns and colors. That said, I couldn’t convince any of my colleagues to trade me this one for a Paper Doll-themed Midnight Magenta Meori box.

The Meori foldable boxes are made from high-grade, tear-proof, dirt-resistant polyester that you can wipe clean with a damp sponge. Did you know that the German word for “dirt-resistant” is schmutzabweisend? Boy, Meori’s packaging is educational!

All varieties fold or unfold in three easy steps to become a completely stable (but decorative) storage box secured with a wide elastic band. With the exception of the Mini, all styles hold up to 65 pounds! (Paper Doll does not advise having so much stuff in your Meori box that it turns into clutter you must cart around, but it’s nice to know that Meori is sturdy!)

The Classic Meori comes in four sizes and all have elastic mesh interior pockets.

Mini – The mini measures 5″ L x 6 1/2″ W x 5″ D, and is perfect for organizing teeny things in a bathroom, dorm room, school locker or car. The Minis come in Hibiscus Red (pictured below), Azure Blue, Marine Blue, Pink Berry, and Spring Green. ($12.99)

You can also purchase a shiny silver-finish wall mount for the Mini ($5.99) to keep things accessible on the back of a door or on a wall near where you’re heading out of the house. There’s also a collapsible Meori Mini Hanger in Marine Blue that lets you store three Minis vertically, hung from a velcro loop on the bar of your closet.

Small – I was a little shocked to learn that my own Meori (pictured up top) is considered the Classic Small, because it’s fairly mighty. It measures 12 3/5″ L by 10 5/6″ W by 10 3/7″ D, and holds 4 gallons of whatever stuff you throw into it. (If those measurements seem odd, recognize Meori, a Japanese-themed German company, like most of the world, uses the metric system, and 32 x 27.5 x 26.5 cm sounds a bit less unwieldy.) The Small comes in 31 different color/pattern combinations in solids, polka dots, and flowers. ($25)

Medium – The Meori Medium comes in ten color/pattern combinations, with solids or star patterns, and measures 12 3/5″ W x 10 5/6″ H x 14 4/7″ D (again, it makes more sense in the metric system). It’s perfect for carting groceries or other shopping items (up to 6.5 gallons of goods) from cart to car to house and back out again. ($30)

Large – The Classic Large should probably be called the Double-Duty. It comes in 34 different color/pattern combinations, measures 19 3/4″ L x 12 3/4″ W x 10 3/4″ D, and has two interior compartments. It will hold 8 gallons of whatever you’ve got! ($35)

All of the Meori foldable boxes collapse down to between one and two inches thick, making them easy to ship or store when not in use.

Other Meori foldable boxes include:

Office – Measuring 12″ W x 13″ H x 12″ D, suitable for standard letter-sized folders, and able to hold up to 65 pounds, the Office Meori has built-in plastic file rails and a rewritable label. It’s ideal for mobile offices and workers who shuttle between locations, and folds down to 1 1/9″ when not in use. (For European readers, there’s also an Office A4 style.) Unfortunately, it only comes in Lava Black or Solid Grey, which is a shame given the rest of Meori’s bold color palette. ($40)

Outdoor – This outdoorsy version of the Meori has the same measurements as the Classic Large, but is made of water-repellent rip-stop fabric. Suitable for camping, sailing, picnics, and other outdoor adventures, it includes snap buttons and 4 metal grommets so you can secure it to a truck bed or tie it up to a boat. The Outdoor can be adjusted to use as two small boxes or one large one. ($42)

Meori has developed a line of accessories, including a 26″ padded, nylon carrying handle with metal hooks for use with the Small, Medium, and Large Classic foldable boxes, and a 56″ adjustable, nylon shoulder strap for use with the Small, Medium and Large Classic foldable boxes as well as the Office and Outdoor boxes. There are also covers for the Classic and Outdoor versions to protect your contents from rain, sleet, snow, dust – and, if you live in the southeastern US as I do – pollen!

If you’re looking for something to keep up with your snacking habits, Meori has a foldable cooling bag with a zipper that will fit in the Classic Small, Medium, and Large versions, and a tailgate carrier set with the Classic Large and the cooler, combined. The Picnicker fits in the Classic Small, Medium, and Large, and will secure four sets of (nesting) plates, cutlery, drinkware, and a cutting board. If you plan on taking some beverages along, Meori has 9- and 16-compartment expandable, padded bottle inserts.

Intrigued? Check out Meori’s site to find other attractive, durable, collapsible/foldable options, including 2-, 6-, and 12-bottle wine totes/carriers, insulated lunchbox cooler, hobby box, and more.

THE OTHER GOODIES

Our sponsors didn’t leave those Meori boxes empty. Inside, we had a bounty of useful items including:

Time Timer 3″

Last year, I wrote Paper Doll’s NAPO 2017 Recap: New Twists on Time Timer and I’ve repeatedly shared all the reasons to love all of the incarnations of Time Timer. My old (circa 2002) Time Timer has certainly been put through its paces over the years, so I’m excited to add this tiny 3-inch powerhouse to my procrastination-fighting arsenal.

Container Store Zippered Pouch

Our friends at Container Store gifted all NAPO2018 attendees a large, zippered pouch. Made of nylon mesh embedded in clear vinyl for reinforcement, it’s weather- and puncture-resistant, and perfect for keeping travel or other documents sorted, clean, and dry. The pretty aqua detailing and zipper add some panache, and I’ve just noticed that it all matches the Time Timer version I got! How very organized!

Others of our sponsors made sure we stayed hydrated and healthy. Brother quenched our thirsts by supplying these nifty water bottles we could hang from our pinkies while schlepping across the “campus” between sessions.

Meanwhile, RXBar, a company that makes “whole food protein bars” in 15 different flavors (using egg whites, dried fruits, nuts, and dates, and just one or two other natural ingredients, provided bars for munching. (I got Blueberry!) And our own Denslow Brown of the Coach Approach for Organizers made sure we had some Emergen-C, just to make sure we didn’t get run down!

BUT WAIT, NO PAPER ORGANIZING PRODUCTS?

Although we did not have an expo this year, our friends at Smead (one of our two major NAPO2018 conference sponsors, along with Brother) knew that I couldn’t survive a NAPO conference without getting to hold organizing supplies in my hand. So, with great foresight, Smead brought our favorite people and some (new) favorite products. Coming up soon, we’ll delve into the newest and niftiest of what Smead had to show us.