Best Results Organizing

Each year, professional organizers and productivity specialists look forward to the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals‘ Annual Conference with glee. We come from around the world for a handful of days to learn and laugh, dine and delight. So, you can imagine that like everyone else in March 2020, we were disappointed (though, due to circumstances, also relieved) when last year’s conference in Orlando was canceled. 

The 2021 conference had been set to be in Long Beach, California, but as the COVID pandemic stretched on, it soon became obvious that those plans, too, would be cancelled, and efforts began in earnest to develop a virtual conference.

We all wondered whether a “real” conference would be possible, virtually. While Zoom and various other virtual platforms have grown in popularity, children have attended school online, and businesses have conducted work without conference rooms (or, sigh, birthday cake in break rooms), how could a virtual rendition of our conference deliver?

Very well, it seems, is the answer. Paper Doll thanks you in advance for indulging me in this post, which, like every year, I use to regale you with the true low-down on NAPO Conference. Whether you normally tune in here for organizing tips and are merely curious, or you are an organizing professional who missed this year’s experience, I hope you’ll enjoy coming along on this somewhat atypical conference recap. 

ORGANIZING THE PLATFORMS

How would the virtual experience compare to our real-world experiences, we wondered?

Well, obviously there were no airports or hotels*…and sadly, no grand, dining experiences. There were also no committee meetings, as it was wisely realized that while at home, many of us would already be tempted by distractions of families, households, clients, and anyone else whom we’d be able to avoid if we were, in actuality, several time zones away. Rather than trying to juggle committee meetings on top of everything else, NAPO wisely limited the event types and interspersed them with online networking time so that we could get more of the facsimile of what we’d most miss.

 * I should note, strictly speaking, that some professional organizers did choose to get hotel rooms. Away from the madding crowds, or at least their tiny humans, a number of wise professionals took the advice they’d have given their own clients, and carved out time and space just to focus on the conference. And a few hardy adventurers rented hotel rooms to socialize with already-vaccinated colleagues from their NAPO chapters and “attend” parts of conference together.

We also, sadly, had no Expo at which to sample the wares of various organizing, productivity, and technology companies. Over the past few years, our NAPO Expo has gotten smaller, as it’s hard for companies (especially the nifty, but tiny, startups) to shlep across the country for the bit of time we can carve out from education and networking to look at products. Hopefully, the same kind of wisdom that devised our brilliant virtual conference will find a way to satisfy our hunger for Expo displays of intriguing new products.

Wondering how it all worked? Well, we had more than one platform. We used a company called Hubb, which gave us this virtual lobby. We could click on the rooms in the video game-style layout below (or use the left-side menu) to access information about the individual sessions, the speakers, and the other attendees. Instead of a hotel help desk (wo)manned by our association management team, there was a detailed FAQ document with ways to reach out, virtually, to the team.

In lieu of inviting one another for walks in the fresh air or taking a few (way too) early yoga classes, NAPO found members willing to create “wellness” videos: a desk break, guided meditations, and yes, even a few yoga video sessions.

There was a photo booth, though we could only take selfies to display in a gallery. (Let’s hope someone figures out technology that let’s us squish our heads more closely together!) Instead of personalized badges with our stream of ribbons telling whether we hold leadership positions, to which chapters we belong, and what our “extracurriculars” might be, we had a profile section for listing all our nitty-gritty details. Some left it blank, others included their entire resumes. And some of us, relishing the opportunity to mix business with pleasure, got a little silly. 

To “attend” a particular session, there were a few steps. Instead of walking to the session room, you had to add a session from the master list to your personalized schedule ahead of time. (General sessions to which all members are invited already appeared on everyone’s individualized calendars.)

If you wanted to attend a concurrent educational session, you’d click on it in your calendar. The ensuing page would include details about the session, an embedded pre-recorded video, and a chat box. At first, I think we were all slightly dismayed to learn that all the sessions were pre-recorded, but it actually turned out to be a boon for the educational experience. 

In a live conference session, both the speaker and the attendees can feed off one another’s energy, but anyone who has lived on Zoom in the past year knows that’s not how virtual works. However, simultaneous with the video, the attendees could interact with the speaker and with one another via chat, leading to lively riffs on the content and (especially during technology sessions) a deeper understanding of the material. 

No platform is perfect, of course. You could pop out the chat box to have it run parallel to the tab with the video, but if you wanted to enlarge the video, you had to make it full-screen, eclipsing the chat screen (unless you had two monitors or wanted to use a second device). Still, we were all impressed by the ways in which this recorded+live interaction amplified the learning experience.

To attend general sessions, the experience was mostly the same, although the videos were a combination of live and pre-recorded. However, for interactive sessions, our personalized calendar event pages sent us to Zoom sessions. (In 2021, there is no avoiding Zoom!) 

Finally, for networking, our personalized calendar links would take us to our second platform (or third, if you count Zoom), Remo. Luckily, I’d used Remo last month for the Time Blocking and Task Management Virtual Summit, so I feel like I had a bit of a head start.

Basically, Remo’s platform is like the overhead view of a wedding seating chart, with “tables” designated for two, four, or six people, and with some events, there are added couches for a karaoke lounge kind of feel. Depending on the activity, tables were either themed or just numbered.

From the overhead view, you could spot a person’s profile photo, think, “Oh, I want to chat with her!” and double-click on that table to be taken there. Once “at” the table, you were added to a Zoom-like video chat. The shot below shows the stragglers as we shut down the conference.

One small click on an icon on the lower left and all of the video squares enlarged to fill the screen. Another click on someone’s photo let you send them a message. And a small “elevator button” panel on the left let you go to higher level “floors,” identical, but less sparsely crowded, during the high-traffic times when it was almost impossible to find a “seat” in the room.

(As a few of us learned, the upper floors were also a great place to hide out for a moment, get a breather, and fix our hair while looking in the camera before rejoining the crowded tables.)

Because networking is informal, it had that lovely cocktail party-esque flow of old friends and new. Conversation ranged from how to use the platform to our thoughts on the sessions we’d just attended, and at one late afternoon session, to our reaction to breaking national news. Just as with a live-and-in-person conference, virtual networking gave novices a chance to meet and chat with veterans on a level playing field.

And although this was my 20th consecutive NAPO conference, I got to completely fan-girl when Stephanie Culp, one of NAPO’s original founders (way back in 1985, the year I started college) sat down at a two-top table with me. Hers was the first organizing book I’d ever purchased, a decade before I ever became a professional organizer!

I’ll admit, I felt pretty special that although we’d never actually met, she’d chosen to chat with me..until I found out the system just plopped her down at my table when she entered Remo. But hey, she decided to stay and chat for half an hour, so I’m going to take that as a career win! 

EDUCATION

One of the main purposes of the NAPO conference is education, to help us serve our clients and to start, build, and grow our own businesses. To that end, at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, NAPO conference presented programming in five educational tracks during each of the six concurrent sessions over three days of our conference. (Yes, I know, I usually promise you that there’ll be no math in these posts. Sorry.)

Organizing & Productivity Track

These kinds of sessions are the bread-and-butter classes, where we learn techniques and strategies in a variety of specialized organizing and productivity fields.

Moving On Up: Grow and Add Value with Moving Services presented by Gayle Goddard, CPO® and Ann Zanon, CPO®
Right Sizing for Tiny Living – Connecting To What Matters Most presented by Tricia Sinon Murray
Focus Your Profits on Photo Organizing presented by Jill Yesko, CPO®, CPPO  
Grow Your Business: Expand Into Estate Clearing presented by Candi Ruppert, CPO®
Student Organizing – The What, Why and Is It For You? presented by Amanda Lecaude
Beyond Organizing, Office Design and Space Planning presented by June Carter, CPO®

Mind & Behavior Track

As I often say, professional organizing is not about the stuff, it’s about the person who owns the stuff. To that end, we are always offered classes that consider the psychological, neurological, and emotional challenges our clients face.

Managing Difficult Clients (and Situations) with Clear Boundaries presented by Lauren Mang 
This is Scary: Embracing Discomfort to Help You and Your Clients Succeed presented by Sara Skillen, CPO®
Organizing the Invisible: Women, ADHD, and Emotional Labor presented by Regina Lark, CPO®
The Hierarchy of Healing Your Home presented by Dorena Kohrs
Connecting the Dots: Organizing Clients with ADHD by Working with Executive Functions presented by Erin Morper  

Although I had not intended to follow a particular track, three of the six sessions I attended were in this Mind & Behavior track, and I was deeply impressed. I can see how much of what I learned will be fodder for discussion with my clients. 

Sara Skillen shared some profound wisdom about embracing fear as we push past our comfort zone, and her comment that “Learning to tolerate discomfort lessens its power over you” has been echoing in my head for days.

Sara’s presentation was guided by her book, Organizing and Big Scary Goals: Working With Discomfort and Doubt to Create Real Life Order.

I’ve been following the concepts of emotional labor and mental load since long before the seminal Jess Zimmerman piece, “Where’s My Cut” in The Toast in 2015, but I’d never heard anyone blend two centuries of historical significance of the issue with an analysis of how the problem is compounded for women with ADHD as Regina Lark, PhD., CPO® did. Later in 2021, she’ll be releasing a book called Emotional Labor: Why Women’s Work is Never Done, and What to Do About It, and I’ll make sure you hear more about it closer to publication!

Technology Pro Track

In the 21st century, we have both the analog (all our stuff in our homes and schedules, cars and bags) and the digital. This track covered the technological solutions for our residential clients, our business clients, and our own lives and businesses.

G-Suite Boot Camp: Running Your Business Using Free Google Tools presented by Angie & Eric Hyche 
Powerful Automation: It’s as Simple as IFTTT and Quick as a Zap presented by Jamie Steele
Mastering Shared Trello Boards for Effective Team Organizing and Client Productivity presented by Katherine Lawrence, CPO®
How Google Analytics Can Guide Better Connections with Clients and Prospects presented by Michelle Tresemer
Business Productivity Apps – Asana, Slack and Acuity Scheduling presented by Jennifer Stewart
Get Digitally Organized to Run Your Business More Efficiently presented by Stasia Steele

I have to give two thumbs up to Angie and Eric Hyche for their presentation on Google Workspace (formerly G-Suite), as Eric solved a long-standing Google Sheets problem for me via the interactive chat. (Long story, but if you want to add multiple rows in Google Sheets as easily as you can in Excel, right-click (or Control-click on a Mac) to get a contextual menu with an “add multiple rows” option. After ten+ years of grousing, I got that problem solved with one question!)

Business Operations

Obviously, we professional organizers run businesses. But just in case you’re new to reading about what we do, you should know that a LOT of our clients are business clients. Sure, depending on our practices, we may organize closets or kitchens or craft rooms (oh, my!), but we also coach our clients on time management and productivity, and help those with businesses (whether of the kitchen table or corporate variety) how to organize their operations.

Yikes! I’m 60(ish). Diversify and Continue Doing Work You Love!, a panel of Susan Kousek, CPO®, Hazel Thornton, Janet Schiesl, CPO®, and Ellen Faye, CPO®
Grow Your Company (and Revenue) by Building an Awesome Team presented by Liz Jenkins
What the Heck is EOS? presented by Sara B. Stern
Design Your ‘New Normal’ Business Model. Get the Tools to Build It. presented by Alan Brown
Leveling up: How a CRM is a Game Changer presented by Amy Payne, CPO® and Carrie Downey
Channel your inner MARY FREAKIN POPPINS! Selling Digital Products is the Key!!! presented by Lis Suppo

Marketing Connections

As hard as it is for us to believe, some people don’t even know that our industry exists! And obviously, as professionals, part of our job is to let people know that we’re out here. That means we need to gain marketing skills, whether that involves writing, speaking, public relations, social media, digital marketing via websites, and a wide variety of communication skills.

How to Make Social Media Videos Without a Camera presented by Victoria Cook
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: Media Training Secrets to Make You Shine! presented by 
Monica Ricci
Capture Hearts with Your Website: Best Practices for Engaging and Winning Clients presented by Lisa Linard
Growing Your Business Through Podcasting and Social Media presented by Laurie Palau
What’s Your Story? Using Brand-Driven Storytelling to Grow a Best-in-Class Business presented by Leslie Josel
Breaking Into Blogging presented by Seana Turner

OTHER PROGRAMMING

In addition to our concurrent educational programming, there were other sessions. Some were specialized, like the session for those who were either new to NAPO or NAPO conferences in general and the welcome session for all of the fantastic international attendees.

For our opening session, in place of our usual motivational keynote speaker, we got to see a fabulous and professionally-produced magazine-format video where our colleagues described lesser-known areas of our profession. For example, while our industry usually discusses productivity in terms of the workplace, a number of organizers spoke about productivity in the home sphere (for everything from time management to filing taxes to tackling photography). I’ve long argued that productivity is essential to all areas of our lives, so this was really meaningful.

In another segment, we saw how the tiny home movement is allowing senior citizens to age in place while still getting the support of their family members. And the highlight of this NAPO2021 opening presentation was a long, comedic story by Houston organizer Neitra Rose with a punchline, “And the DOG forgives you!” that will be repeated by NAPO members for years to come! (Wanna know the story? You’ll have to ask Neitra!)

A highlight of this NAPO2021 opening presentation was a comedic story by Houston organizer Neitra Rose with a punchline, 'And the DOG forgives you!' (Wanna know the story? Ask @olstyles!) Click To Tweet

At our annual meeting, which is usually a luncheon, we watched the swearing in of new board members, got to hear from NAPO’s Executive Director, Jennifer Pastore Monroy, and get a low-down on the state of NAPO’s finances from our treasurer, Sharon Lowenheim, CPO®. We were most excited to learn of the winners of this year’s awards:

• The Service to NAPO Award, given to a NAPO volunteer whose dedication and commitment to NAPO went to a rock star volunteer, Wendy Buglio, ,CPO®.
• The President’s Award is, as one might guess, given at the NAPO President’s discretion, to recognize a NAPO member who has made a significant contribution benefiting the NAPO membership. This year, it went to went to friend-of-the-blog, coach/speaker/author Kathy Vines. (Not only is Kathy a fabulous professional, but she was my roommate at NAPO2019, and is a grace personified!)
• Chapter of the Year 2021 went to NAPO-Houston (and I’m excited to say that my buddy Karen Baker, who actually missed the start of conference BECAUSE SHE WAS SAVING PUPPIES, is NAPO-Houston’s incoming president).
• The Founders’ Award, in the spirit of NAPO’s founders (including the aforementioned Stephanie Culp) is given for outstanding innovation, inspiration, and creativity both within, and outside of, the field of professional organizing and productivity consulting. This year, it went to Gayle Goddard!

(Photo stolen from Kathy Vines’ LinkedIn page. Shhh, don’t tell her.)

Finally, I should mention NAPO’s interactive session entitled Incorporating an Anti-racist Mindset and Practices to Build Your 21st Century Business. Tanisha Lyons-Porter and Janine Sarna-Jones, CPO®, led a compelling discussion with a panel of colleagues, including Kathy Vines, Miriam Ortiz Y Pino, Tiffany Blassingame (one of the founding members of the National Association of Black Professional Organizers), and Cindy Levitt.

The session began with a presentation on the concepts of DEI (Diversity/Equity/Inclusion), unconscious bias, and allyship by executive and coach, Barbara Polk, and ended with Zoom breakout sessions for a collaborative discussion on tangible ways for professional organizers and productivity specialists to be allies in our lives and in our businesses.

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I appreciate the indulgence of readers who are not involved in the organizing and productivity industry who have read thus far, and I thank all the volunteers, planners, speakers, and absolute geniuses in NAPO who helped make this conference not only “just as good” as an in-person conference, but in some ways better.

While a main purpose in attending is learning material that will serve our clients, of equally valid importance is the uplift and inspiration it gives each of us to stretch and grow. After the year+ we’ve all had, we really needed NAPO2021!

Next year, we are set (knock-wood) to be in-person again, in Baltimore, Maryland. Until then, this is your faithful conference recapper, signing off from another NAPO Annual Conference.