The March NAPO-WDC chapter meeting was held on Monday, April 2, 2012, at Kena Shriners in Fairfax, VA. There were 45 members in attendance and 6 guests.
Janet Schiesl welcomed everyone. Maria White introduced our 6 guests. Susan Unger hosted the “Ask the Expert” table tonight and had 6 visitors.
Terri Fischer announced 2 guests that may become Corporate Partners: Luke Waldron from E-Haul Away and Rick Reinsch from Digital Recollections.
She then introduced CPs in attendance including Andy Reiman of Modern Image, Ron Goodes from Resale Solutions, Alonso Zamora and Dr. Dale Keenan from B-Thrifty, Alex Powers from Junk King, Linden Coyne from Junk in the Trunk, Joe Johnson from Shelf Genie, Tim from CityStash, Raea Jean Leinstee from Yuck Old Paint.
Ron Goodes from ReSale Solutions spoke about their business. In January they expanded to accepting vintage items (clothing, electronics, accessories, furniture) for resale. They have tried to improve communication to clients by using organizers on the status of their client’s items. Linden Coyne from Junk in the Trunk spoke about their pick-up/disposal process. Alonso Zamora from B-Thrifty spoke about their recycling program and that they are in expansion mode.
Pierrette Ashcroft then introduced the evening’s speaker: Brooks Duncan, Owner and Editor-in-Chief of DocumentSnap.com.
Brooks spoke about paperless documentation organization and focused on three areas: 1) How do you organize documents, 2) How do you find documents, and 3) How do you protect your documents.
Brooks noted that there are 2 main ways to store documents – in folders or in software. There are pros and cons to both and many people use both. Documents can also be stored locally on the hard drive or on the cloud. Again, there are pros and cons to both and many people use a hybrid of the two.
File names should be consistent and descriptive. Brooks recommends using a shallow folder system and then adding in subfolders as necessary as items are added. It is important to remember that many times a paperless organization problem is a workflow problem. A digital inbox can help with the workflow process, as can automation programs and apps.
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) makes PDF documents (such as receipts, notes, etc.) searchable, and it is good to learn how system searches work to make your searches more effective.
Brooks emphasized the importance of backing up your hard drive and recommends an automatic back-up system to two locations (local and external). Encryption of documents is important for protection if computer gets stolen, hacked, etc.
Brooks answered questions from the group and provided a helpful handout that included the resources he mentioned in the presentation.
Pierrette provided information on the upcoming Tribute Bash, membership survey and ballot for awards.
Susan provided information on White Elephant Sale in June.
Chapter Business Meeting
Janet provided information on new lending library borrowing time limits and Soles4Souls challenge.
Janet reviewed the calendar for the upcoming month.
Our lucky door prize winner was Tammy Laurant.
The next meeting will be the Tribute Bash at Timpano Italian Chophouse, 12021 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852 on May 7, 2012.
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