Peace of Mind Organizing

Highlight reel: NAPO 2009 conference

4 May 2009

I don’t know what made me think I’d find time to blog while in Orlando for the 2009 conference of the National Association of Professional Organizers. You’d think by now I’d know that I spend little time in my room there and when I am in my room I’m either chatting or sleeping.

I had a tremendous time there. I thought I’d share a few of the highlights.

• The Tweet Up. At a gathering of conference attendees who tweet, I got to meet in person so many of the organizers I follow on Twitter. Such a great way to kick off the conference. And it really well organized by Scott Roewer of Solutions by Scott.

• The Macintosh session. Speaking of Scott Roewer, he taught my favorite session, “An Apple a Day Keeps Disorganization Away.” I learned so much about being more productive with my Mac. Fabulous.

• Hanging out with my peeps. So much of what is great about the NAPO conference for me takes place outside of the educational sessions. I got to spend some quality time in our suite with my roomie, Geralin Thomas. So wonderful. In addition, I sipped some wine in the suite with Mary Ann Pate, Kathy Waddill, Margaret Lukens, Wendy Davie, Lauren Halagarda, and Scott Roewer. Geralin and I were also fortunate enough to get some quality hanging-out time with outgoing NAPO president, Standolyn Robertson and her charming husband, Jamie, who were staying in the suite next to ours.

• The Expo. I love a good trade show. And a trade show full of organizing tools is about as good as it gets. Favorite booths included those from Office Max, Rubbermaid, Container Store, List Plan It, Ikea, and Xambox.

• Florida! Amazingly enough, I’d never stepped foot into the state of Florida before this conference. Now I get what the fuss is about. While I did nothing remotely touristy (the only time I was outside the hotel/resort was when I went to the Tweet Up and when I was traveling from or to the airport), I enjoyed the sun, the warmth, the palm trees and the screened-in porch outside my room.

If there’s a professional association in your field and you don’t attend its annual conference, I’d encourage you to look into it. The enthusiasm, synergy, and good feelings you can get from hanging out with people who care about what you do is absolutely invaluable.

I was so glad to see eight other members of NAPO St. Louis there. Making the investment in attending conference, in my opinion, shows such a commitment to our businesses. And it makes us better organizers.

Tagged with: geralin thomas, kathy waddill, lauren halagarda, margaret lukens, mary ann pate, napo, scott roewer, standolyn robertson, twitter, wendy davie

Comments