This post is part of the KonMari Series in which I document my journey to becoming a certified KonMari organizing consultant. Start from the beginning here and/or see all posts of the series here.
Today, I’m writing about my attendance at the Los Angeles KonMari seminar in July 2017.
Seminar Location
After the seminar location was revealed (W Hotel in West Beverly Hills), I started looking for flights and accommodation nearby. I ended up booking an AirBnb that was within 10 minutes walking distance from the hotel.
Los Angeles is huge, very spread out and thus a driving city. The reason why I wanted to stay as close to the hotel as possible was that I didn’t want to be subject to traffic or public transportation delays that would come with an accommodation further away from the seminar location. Also, my primary focus was the seminar and connecting with my fellow seminar attendees and not exploring LA (as I had visited several times in the past already).
FB Group & First Connections
After signing up for the seminar, all attendees were given the option to join a Facebook group specifically for the LA seminar attendees. We could introduce ourselves and talk about anything seminar-related. One attendee also proposed a meet-up for those arriving one day prior to the seminar. Around 10 people showed interest (including myself) and we arranged dinner at a restaurant not far from the seminar.
The seminar was from Friday, July, 14th until Sunday, July, 16th . So our dinner group met up on Thursday, July 13th at the W hotel. Then we walked together to the Italian restaurant we had made a reservation before. We spent a lovely evening chatting about all things KonMari, our own lives and journeys that brought us together on this date and place. We were all strangers but had so much in common.
I ended up getting to know many more people at the seminar. But I remain closest with most of the people I met that evening.
First KonMari Seminar Day
Next day we had our first seminar day. The seminar was held from 10am to 5pm on each day of the 3 days. The seminar content is proprietary to KonMari Media Inc., thus I won’t share any details of the material covered at the seminar itself. But I can share a few things surrounding the seminar.
People from 9 different countries attended the seminar. I’m not sure about the exact number of seminar attendees but I think we were around 65 people.
On the first day, Marie Kondo spoke for the first 1-2 hours before the actual seminar began. The seminar itself was led by Mitsugu, who is also the Manager of the KonMari Consultants in Japan. The entire seminar was interpreted from Japanese into English as both Marie and Mitsugu don’t speak English.
More KonMari Seminar Details
Every day, we had to sign in prior to starting time and then take a seat at one of the round tables in the room. There were no assigned seats, but we were encouraged to sit at a different table each day.
The seminar consisted mostly of lectures (by Mitsugu) and group discussions among the people sitting on one table. On the last day, we also had two guest speakers – two already certified KonMari Consultants from the Los Angeles area.
In the morning, tea and coffee were provided. Also, we had water carafes on the tables that were refilled throughout the day. At noon, we had a 1-hour lunch break. Lunch was a buffet with many options – also for those with dietary restrictions.
Throughout the seminar, there was a photographer who took pictures of us during the lectures as well as during lunch breaks. He also took pictures of us with our new friend(s) upon request. All the pictures were shared in our Facebook group and we were allowed to use them and share on our own social media channels.
Last KonMari Seminar Day
On the third and last day of the seminar, we received a certificate showing that we attended the seminar. Marie Kondo also made an appearance again, spoke some closing words and then was available to sign books and we could take a picture with her. After that, we took a group picture with all seminar attendees, Marie, Mitsugu and the KonMari team.
Closing Thoughts
It was an incredible experience being surrounded by people who share the same passion. I realized that there are people who are as excited as I am about removing clutter, getting organized and helping people along that very journey.
It was interesting to hear about other people’s background and what brought them to sign up for the seminar. Some had already been helping other people and some had not had any experience yet. Others were professional organizers or executive consultants. I met quite a few teachers, musicians, administrative professionals as well as stay-at-home moms.
If you plan on attending a KonMari seminar, my suggestion is simple: make the most of it by taking advantage of asking all the questions at the seminar. Also, connect with your fellow seminar attendees. You’ll stay connected throughout your journey to becoming a certified consultant (if that’s what you choose to do) and beyond. Having people who share the same experience, passion and journey will be invaluable along your way.
But most importantly, have fun and enjoy it to the fullest!
In my next post of this series, I will talk about the next steps I took after the seminar in pursuit of certification. Stay tuned!
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