Chris Fisher of StagersLISTWebsites.com

What is EcoJoe? The original (and only) eco-friendly home selling kit!

About six months (or more) ago I had dinner with Cindy Lin of Staged4More.com. While talking about work and other things, she shared her newest project with me. EcoJoe. I had to keep quiet about it all this time. Any guesses how easy that was?!

Cindy’s Mission:
-Change the way real estate industry uses plastic
-Reduce plastic usage
-Reduce amount of plastic being buried into landfills or your backyard!
-Promote green practices

Cindy’s Description:
The practice of burying a St. Joseph statue dates back thousands of years, when he was first called upon to help sell real estate. Today, home sellers and real estate agents continue the tradition to enlist the saint’s assistance in finding a buyer. Sadly, most of the home selling kits on the market are made of plastic and other content that are harmful to the environment. As an eco-conscious real estate home staging professional, I saw this as an opportunity to create a greener alternative. Our sourcing, production, packaging, materials and distribution support green initiatives and social responsibility.

Cindy will be bringing EcoJoe with her to the StagersLIST Expo in Dublin, California on July 15, 2009. Please register and join us at the expo, we have some great sponsors and speakers this year, it is a completely different expo from last year.

I think EcoJoe is a great idea and I'm glad I can finally spread the word about this new product. Great job Cindy Lin!

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We have some really great speakers, workshops and topics this year! Check out the agenda here.

Some Reviews of our Houston Expo this month:

"I just returned from Houston where I attended the StagersList Expo. If you haven't attended one of their expos, you need to SIGN UP for the next one! The money and time spent were well worth it. The sessions were interesting, informative, and relative to your staging business. You will definitely walk away with several "ah ha" moments that you can immediately apply to growing your business. I don't want to spoil it for you, so I won't say anything specific, but you should go!" - Nancy Robertson (an AR member)

Some other Active Rain Bloggers you may recognize in this photograph are Ashley Whittenberger, Cindy Bryant, Terrylynn Fisher and Karen Otto.

"Everyone took away something, it was jammed packed with information, and the turnout was great. I got to meet so many new people in our industry. Everyone enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to the next one." - Cindy Bryant

This year in Dublin our speakers include:
Alyx Flannery of SmartAlyx.com

Ever heard someone talk about the Internet and technology and not have a clue what they said? Alyx is not like that. He will explain his subject without making it confusing, and without making US feel like we don't know what we're doing! We believe he's a huge asset to the StagersLIST Expo series. In Dublin he will be teaching us how to us social networking, improve our SEO, and more!

Alexis Summerfield, MA, Local Feng Shui Consultant (who has been featured on HGTV's Sleep On It!)

Alexis will teach us about using the Laws of Attraction for our home staging clients, homes and work. This FREE lunch workshop is included for all attendees (Lunch is included too!).

Ashley Whittenberger, founder of The Interiority Complex

Ashley will be teaching us the importance of having multiple revenue streams for our businesses. She will help students learn how to navigate their way through the confusing and overwhelming world of custom window treatments and she'll explain how to perfectly and smoothly marry your staging and redesign services with custom window covering sales.

Christine Rae, Staging Trainer, Green Build Science Trainer, and author of Home Staging for Dummies

This year Christine will be teaching us how to us Communication Styles to overcome client objections. This presentation has been very helpful to our Expo attendees this year so far and is valuable information for any business owner.

And of course, there is more! Click here to register or read the agenda.

Some of our sponsors:

The Mirror Gallery
RESA (Real Estate Staging Association)
Bekins
The Plant Atrium
The Interiority Complex
CSP (Certified Staging Professionals)

And of course the biggest draw: Me! Haha, just kidding. Couldn't be all business, could I? (I will be there this year, though).

- offering website design, redesign, maintenance, hosting and virtual assistance
Visit www.StagersLISTWebsites.com or email me if you need any assistance

Click here to read the full article.

We were very fortunate that our Active Rain friend Karen Otto brought Karen Eubank, who writes for Examiner.com, to our Houston expo. They were both lovely to talk to and get to know, and Karen Eubank wrote a review of our event for her column! Karen Eubank has a staging column on examiner.com and other articles include Staging to Stay, Staging for Divorce and Staging for Safety.

From Karen's Article:
"The StagersLIST Expo in Houston was a great opportunity to learn from stars in our industry about ways to take my business to the next level," Dallas stager Nancy Robertson of Signature Style Staging said. "I walked away with several ‘ah ha' moments and ideas for increasing business and enhancing the service I provide to my clients."

Click here to read the full article.

Thank you Karen Eubank for reviewing our Houston Expo! Our next expo will be local for us in Dublin, California. We'd love to meet some more of our Staging and Real Estate friends!

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On a side note: While in Houston we were assured we should visit Dallas, Austin, and many other places. I liked Texas quite a bit and think someday it would be a great idea to take a vacation just to explore this lovely state!

Rhiannon and I, along with another mother and 2 graduating 5th graders, went to San Francisco to celebrate graduation on the last day of school, June 10. We had planned to visit the Museum of Modern Art, which is closed Wednesdays (obviously, we didn't plan ahead). Since we were near Yerba Buena Gardens, we started walking that way. After 2 rides on the carousel, we walked over to 'Zeum and decided to spend some time there. We were so glad we did! What a FUN place for kids and adults. You can make your own movies, clay-mation, dance videos, and so much more!

Here is the description from the 'Zeum site:

Zeum is a non-profit multimedia and technology museum with a mission to provide multimedia tools for families of all communities to think and act creatively. By providing hands-on experiences in four core creative processes (animation, sound and video production, live performance and visual arts), we encourage youth to share their stories, build their voices, and use multimedia tools for creative self-expression.

The kids played for hours and could have easily spent double the time here without getting bored. One very cool thing they played with was The Roundabout. This is a computer generated virtual reality game in which you attempt to direct a ball through a maze. As you move your body across the maze, the virtual floor image "tilts" causing the virtual marble to roll through the maze.

Upstairs in the dance studio there were computers set up with different graphics programs that I could have sat and played with all day while Rhiannon made her music videos. A season pass is only $55, which includes one adult and one child. This is definitely worth the money if you live in the area. There is no limit to what can be created here, it's a great way to keep your imagination active. I am surprised and sorry I didn't find this place sooner!

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