National Association of Professional Organizers
Washington, DC

Monday, May 6, 2013 @ 7pm – The Tribute Bash: A Salute to NAPO DC Volunteers 2013

$20 per member

Please direct questions to Pierrette Ashcroft at development@dcorganizers.org.

The April NAPO-WDC chapter meeting was held on Monday, April 1, 2013 in Fairfax, VA.  There were 30 members and 5 guests in attendance.

The meeting started with active networking. Members visited the Corporate Partner Meet and Greet tables hosted by Closet Factory and 1 to 1 Discovery and the Ask the Experts table.

Janet Schiesl welcomed everyone.  Maria White (in for Kimberly Gleason) introduced our 5 guests. Terri Fischer introduced our Corporate Partners in attendance:

Alonso Zamora from B-Thrifty spoke about his background and his company. B-Thrifty is more than a thrift store; they connect people in the community to distribute large amounts of donations. They are for profit, but 40% of what they make goes back into the community.

Educational Program

Pierrette Ashcroft introduced the educational program: Universal Design – Planning Ahead. Mindy Mitchell from Sun Design is a professional organizer and a certified aging in place specialist, which go hand in hand. Universal Design is about flow and function, much like organizing. The whole point behind aging in place is people’s bodies are constantly changing. This applies to the whole family – babies growing up all the way to adults retiring and getting older.

There are 7 Universal Design principles:

1. Equitable Use – useful to all abilities
2. Flexibility In Use – choice in use
3. Simple & Intuitive Use – no language barriers
4. Perceptible Information – visual, audio, tactile
5. Tolerance For Error – minimize hazards of intended use
6. Low Physical Effort – efficient with minimum fatigue
7. Size & Space For Approach & Use – regardless of body size, posture or mobility

There are 4 Universal Design concepts:

1. Barrier Free
2. Adaptable Design
3. Accessible Design
4. Visitability

Aging in place is good for multi-generational living, increases average life expectancy and can be more cost effective than a retirement community.

More information about getting certified as an aging in place specialist can be found on NAHB.org and AARP.org is a comprehensive resource with universal design checklists and more.

Chapter Business Meeting

Janet congratulated the new Board of Directors for the 2013-2014 year.

Andrea Hancock announced that all MARCPO chair positions have been filled, but she is always looking for committee volunteers.

For all those going to conference, download the NAPO app. It’s very handy!

Our door prize winner was Alisa Levy.

The night ended with lively networking.

The next meeting will be the Awards Bash held in Rockville, Maryland on May 6, 2013.

Monday, April 1, 2013 @ 6:30pm

Kena Shriners

9001 Arlington Boulevard

Fairfax, VA 22031

Universal Design – Planning Ahead

When organizing for senior clients are you incorporating elements of Universal Design? Aging in Place reflects the notion of multi-generational living to support every family member, no matter what their age or ability.

Mindy Mitchell will discuss what is Universal Design and how it came about. We’ll learn what we should look for when a client is ready to adapt their home so they can age-in-place.

Mindy is a Design Consultant with Sun Design. She has more than 25 years experience as a professional organizer and uses her unique talents to see and create solutions to her client’s challenges.

Mindy has been awarded the Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) certification through the National Association of Home Builders. She speaks, writes and lives the concepts of unique design and solution-based living and has been recognized for numerous award winning projects.

In addition to being an avid traveler, Mindy enjoys writing, holistic health and looking forward to her next great adventure.

The March 2013 NAPO-WDC chapter meeting was held on Monday, March 3, 2013, in Bethesda, MD.  There were 34 members and 3 guests in attendance.

The meeting started with active networking.  Members visited the Corporate Partner Meet and Greet tables hosted by B-Thrifty and Book Bliss Online.

Janet Schiesl welcomed everyone. Kimberly Gleason introduced our guests. Mary Malmberg introduced our Corporate Partners in attendance:

Alex Powers spoke about Junk King.  After much of the initial donating and purging has been done at a home, Junk King clears out all the remaining items. When clients use Junk King, they save money and time because they don’t have to clear out the junk themselves.  Junk King is fully insured and veteran owned.

Educational Program

Pierrette Ashcroft introduced the educational program: Dinnertime. Unscrambled. By Aviva Goldfarb, founder of Six O’Clock Scramble.

Aviva spoke about how to take the scramble out of dinner time.  Meal planning, dinner time, and grocery shopping can be a source of stress for many families.

Studies have shown the benefits family dinners give children, but the planning and decision-making around this time of day can cause stress for parents.

Aviva provided seven steps on how to go from scramble to sanity at dinnertime:

1. Keep a grocery list in a prominent place in the kitchen.
2. Look at your calendar for the upcoming week to see when the family will be home for dinner.
3. Take stock of what you currently have in your fridge and see what needs to be used before it goes bad.
4. Select the recipes for the week.  It’s good to plan for dinner every night of the week except for one.  Try to include variety to avoid boredom!
5. Update your grocery list.
6. Keep the freezer stocked.
7. Do ahead or delegate.  See what you can do in the morning or if someone else can do some of the prep.  Enlist everyone in your house to help with prep, shopping, and planning!

Aviva took questions from members on how to handle challenging dinnertime issues, such as picky eaters and getting kids to eat healthy food.  Members provided techniques that have worked from them as well.

Chapter Business Meeting

Board elections are coming up, so each nominee participated in a round table discussion to share why they want to be on the board and to take questions from members.

Are you going to NAPO National – register now!  Early bird ends March 15th!

Our door prize winner was Stephen Bok.

The next meeting will be April 1, 2013, in Fairfax, VA.

Monday, March 4, 2013 @ 6:30pm

Rock Creek Mansion

5417 West Cedar Lane

Bethesda, MD 20814

Dinnertime.  Unscrambled.

Is 6:00 pm the hour of greatest stress for your clients?  Are they overwhelmed with planning meals, getting dinners on the table, and organizing their grocery shopping without wasting a lot of food and money (the average American throws away 25 – 40 percent of the food they buy!).

As their coach, confidant, stress doctor do you often get asked for ways to help organize meals, the kitchen and restore family harmony?

Aviva Goldfarb has come up with a system for families for getting healthy meals on the table without a lot of stress, saving hours and dollars each week for tens of thousands of families. She will share simple but powerful techniques for taking the thinking out of dinnertime.  You will leave with tips and organizing tools that will help you help your clients take control of that 6:00pm hour and restore health and sanity.

Aviva Goldfarb is a Family Dinner Expert, author of two top-selling cookbooks and a fellow successful entrepreneur with her online business, the Six O’Clock Scramble.  She is a weekly contributor to PBS Parents’ Kitchen Explorer and is frequently featured in national parenting, lifestyle and health magazines and shows. Her foolproof meal planning system has helped thousands of families eat healthier with less stress and waste. Aviva has also worked with many organizers including through her partnerships with Unclutterer and the Clutter Diet.

Connect with her on Twitter @thescramble and on Facebook.

Ask the Expert” Focus Group

If you are new to organizing, attend the “Ask the Expert” session. It is an informal gathering where new organizers can receive free advice on owning an organizing business from members of the Golden Circle, a prestigious designation within NAPO for experienced organizers.

The February NAPO-WDC chapter meeting was held on Monday, February 4, 2013, in Fairfax, VA.  There were 30 members and 7 guests in attendance.

The meeting started with active networking.  Members visited the Corporate Partner Meet and Greet tables hosted by Shelf Genie and 123 Junk and the Ask the Experts table.

Janet Schiesl welcomed everyone.  Kimberly Gleason introduced our 7 guests.

Terri Fischer introduced our Corporate Partners in attendance:

Helen Long from Partners Estate Sales spoke about their full-service estate sale services.  They offer custom solutions to meet clients estate sale needs.  Partners Estate Sales offers complimentary consultations and consignment services.  Contact Helen today to get started!

Educational Program

Pierrette Ashcroft introduced the educational program: Organizing Your Estate for Your Incapacity and Beyond  by Christopher Guest.

Christopher talked about the legs of the estate planning tri-pod: Last Will and Testament, Advanced Medical Directive, and Power of Attorney.  With planning, directions are given to your loved ones and assets are distributed according to your desires.  Without planning, it generally increases the cost to your estate and assets may not go to who you want to receive them.

Important items to consider in estate planning are:

• Keep the documents updated as your life changes.
• Talk with an attorney to determine if a will or trust is the the best option for you and your family.
• Talk with your fiduciary about his/her responsibilities and if they want to fulfill the role.
• Communicate where documents are stored with your fiduciary.
• Your fiduciary should know how to log-in to your on-line accounts for bill pay, photos, music, movies, etc.

Chapter Business Meeting

Current and past chapter board members participated in a leadership forum to discuss the benefits of being a leader in NAPO-WDC

There’s a new book club forming in Virginia, and the first meeting is February 21st.  Contact Amy Mykityshyn for more information.

MARCPO planning is starting soon, and we still need Marketing and Expo chairs.  Contact Andrea Hancock if you are interested in volunteering for a chair position or to be on a committee.

Our door prize winner was Keri Myers.

The next meeting will be March 4, 2013, in Bethesda, MD.

Monday, February 4, 2013 @ 6:30pm

Kena Shriners

9001 Arlington Boulevard

Fairfax, VA 22031

Organizing Your Estate for Your Incapacity and Beyond: Making It Easy for your Love One’s

The January NAPO-WDC chapter meeting was held on Monday, January 7, 2013, in Bethesda, MD.  There were 35 members and 2 guests in attendance.

The meeting started with active networking.  Members visited the Corporate Partner Meet and Greet tables hosted by Four Sales, LTD. and Junk in the Trunk.

Janet Schiesl welcomed everyone. Kimberly Gleason introduced our newest member and our 2 guests. Terri Fischer introduced our Corporate Partners in attendance:

Andy Reiman from Modern Image spoke about his photo and document scanning services.  Modern Image offers document scanning for individuals and businesses.  They hand scan photos for the highest quality and offer restoration, photo montages, and upload services.

Educational Program

Pierrette Ashcroft introduced the educational program: Shattering the C-Myth: 5 Simple Steps to Landing Lucrative Corporate Clients™ by Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR – “The Corporate Agent”™

Angelique spoke about how corporate clients can significantly add to your bottom line.  Many organizers spend most of their time and money on marketing, so it is important to go for the biggest payoff.

Corporate clients want to work with small businesses.  They are interested in training, consulting, workshops, retreats, coaching, speaking, and done-for-you services.  Angelique provided five steps to use when trying to get corporate clients:

1. Get in the databases – Add your profile to Supplier Connection and the NYSE Big StartUP/Startup America Partnership.  You can also go to individual corporation’s website to get on their supplier list.
2. Speak – Speaking builds your visibility and credibility.  You can collect contact information, get market feedback, and build relationships.  A good resource to find places to speak is the National Trade & Professional Associations Directory.
3. Build relationships – Corporate people are busy, so bring value to them first.
4. Use e-mail – Again, people are busy so you need to be persistent; it might take twelve e-mails when you are reaching out to a company.  The e-mail should be about them, not you.
5. Pick up the phone – Don’t be afraid!  Do your homework and tell them why you are calling: an action and a result.

Chapter Business Meeting

It’s GO Month!  We are giving 4 presentations to the Building Better Futures Program and T.C. Williams in Alexandria.

The door prize winner was Jackie Kelly; she won two free passes to the Home and Garden Show provided by Shelf Genie.

The next meeting will be February 4, 2013, in Fairfax, VA.

The December NAPO-WDC chapter meeting was held on Monday, December 3, 2012, in Fairfax, VA.  There were 42 members and 8 guests in attendance.

The meeting started with very active networking.  Members visited the “Ask The Expert” table and the Corporate Partner tables: NoVAGold, LLC and Modern Image.

Janet Schiesl welcomed everyone. Kimberly Gleason introduced our 4 new members. C. Lee Cawley introduced our Corporate Partners in attendance:

Guests: David Swan, My Truck Buddy and Jimmy Foster, Rent Our Boxes

Joe Johnson from Shelf Genie spoke about their service area and their custom made shelf glide-out options that can be installed into any existing cabinet.  He also explained the process they use when working with clients.

Educational Program

Nealey Stapleton introduced the educational program: The 4 Step Formula to Organizing That Lasts! by Julie Gray, COC®, Profound Impact Holistic Coaching and Organizing

Julie started the presentation with the thought that our clients are NCRW: Naturally Creative Resourceful Whole.  Professional Organizers can use four steps to help clients realize this and create lasting organizing solutions.

Step 1 – Tap into clients intuition by helping them recognize they are the expert organizer of their own life, and they have the answers to create organizing solutions.  When Professional Organizers trust clients to co-create organizing systems, the client starts to trust themselves.  Julie gave several ways to create trust in clients.

Step 2 – Leverage science based behavior change research with clients. Developing action triggers is very helpful when helping clients create new habits.  If all the decisions around a task have already been made, clients can achieve goals in the moment.

Step 3 – Use a holistic approach so space systems are connected to client’s time and energy.  Help clients discover:

What do they need to do?

When are they going to do it?

Where are they going to find the items?

How do they have the energy to maintain it?

Is there a ritual they can create around the system (an action trigger)?

Because the answers come from the client, it is their system.  The client’s energy is a key part of their organization.  It’s important to help clients fully understand how everything impacts their organizational level.

Step 4 – Offer programs that build in accountability.  If client is responsible for getting results in desired amount of time, it will help them maintain their system.

The session ended with many great questions

Chapter Business Meeting

Karen Gardiner explained our GO Month Project with Building Better Futures at T.C. Williams High School.  Let Karen know by December 14th if you are interested in helping.  She’s looking for at least ten organizers to help out!

Our door prize winner was Tamara Laurent and Heather Cocozza.  They each won an oven mitt and a $100 Shelf Genie gift certificate.

The next meeting will be January 7, 2013, in Bethesda, MD.