Beth and Jenny were excited to attend the inagural convention of DEMA The Domestic Estate Manager’s Association in LA the last weekend of September.

It was a testimony to the Estate Manager’s and Home Manager’s expertise in pulling off a perfectly coordinated, relevant event with exquisite attention to detail. We were able to network with vendors such as ADT, TROV, Miele, Pall Mall Art Advisors, Lugano Diamonds, Limolink and Pioneer Linens.

After a tantalizing lunch sponsored by TROV, Chicago Chapter President David Barrie and principal Chris Stephenson presented “Setting Service Level Expectations in Business and the Estate”. David Barrie then accepted the DEMA 2012 “Humanitarian of the Year Award”which was awarded to The Stephenson Family of Cancer Treatment Centers of America. CTCA has worked tirelessly to uphold the widely acclaimed “Mother Standard” of care in an effort to provide the very highest caliber of treatment and compassion to patients battling cancer.

An instructive woprkshop on “Acquiring and Caring for Fine Jewels” presented by Moti Ferder and his office manager Stuart Winston whose presentation underlined the importance of having the right company maintain and transport jewelry.

We were able to hear speakers like Charles MacPherson of Charles MacPherson Academy for Butlers and Household Managers discussing ‘Boundaries’, presentations by Chuck Horst & Doug Greenberg “Caring for Couture Wardrobes”, Avi Ben David’s “High Security Locks- eCylinders and Access Control, Alexander Dahlgren’s “How to Choose the Best Vendors & Contractors”.

Anita Heriot of Pall Mall Art Advisors presented “Art as an Asset: Protecting Your Client”. Bonnie Low Kramen provided insight into her experiences with her presentation, “For the Love of It: Game Changing Secrets from a Celebrity Assistant”. “Mastering the Arrangement of a Private Jet Flight”, was presented by Ngaire Duncan and Steve Feldman introduced members to “Recycling Luxury Kitchens”.

Session two included presenters Katie Vaughn and Mimi Brady of Westside Nannies who presented “Happy Wife, Happy Life: The Most Important Hire You Will Ever make” while Jim Henderson tackled “Why Downsizing is so BIG Today” with “Productivity Tips & Tricks”. Vickie Evans simultaneously provided members with instruction on utilizing Word and Excel in “Covering Excel & Word”.
Beth and Jenny with the representative from ADT

The last session of the day was kicked off by Teresa Leigh, of Teresa Leigh of Household Risk Management on “Conflict with the Family”.  In addition to Ms. Leigh, Shelley Whizin presented “What about You? The Balance Between Management & Personal Life”.
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Charles MacPherson, who specializes in training staff for private residences, met with Jenny Riojas and Beth Weise at the DEMA Inaugural Convention in Los Angeles this weekend. DEMA, the Domestic Estate Managers Association, has been operating for the past 5 years, and their first national convention was a great showcase of what this top notch group of organizers can accomplish!
Beth and Jenny learned and networked with top estate managers, personal assistants, premier vendors and national agencies from across the country. Caring Nannies is not just a nanny agency. We also place home managers, personal assistants, business assistants, housekeepers, housemen, couples, estate managers, chefs, and butlers.

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Caring Nannies Recently held a cutting edge one day training event in Paradise Valley with 37 nannies in attendance, greatly exceeding our expectations! We were expecting 8 but hoping for 20!  Nannies who had never experienced training geared to the private home environment were delighted and encouraged.

 Why do we need to train nannies? Doesn’t a good nanny already have the skills she needs to work successfully with children?

There is no other job as important as raising a child, your own or someone elses, and the informal home environment lends itself to parents and nannies thinking that ongoing training isn’t needed. It just comes naturally, right? However, research shows that nannies become skilled professionals when experience and a warm engaging personality is combined with knowleldge of how a child develops physically, socially, intellectually and emotionally plus creative ideas to make it happen.

The event was open to nannies throughout the community and many of the parents graciously paid the registration fee.

As in any profession, there is always more to learn, and it’s motivating to receive the appreciation for their critical impact in their unique role. The opportunity to network with  others in their field and exchange contact information is encouraging. Nannying can be isolating with no peers to talk to during the day.

With Kathy Rowe from Music Together, in a very hands on fun session, we experienced  how to incorporate music into the day–a huge brain boost to children. Jeremy King from Az Tutor and Life Coach laid out how to effectively develop responsibility and self-motivation, a seasoned Newborn Specialist explained the keys to babies and toddlers taking naps and sleeping through the night. Martha Rockwell, professional career coach and owner of A+Resumes, gave tips on how to find our dream jobs, and a panel of expert Home Managers discussed how to move from Nanny to Nanny Manager.

Breakfast and lunch were included as well as a goodie bag including a kid’s cook book. Fun prizes were raffled off including a large basket of essential safety devices from Childproofers USA, an hour of professional career and resume counseling from Martha, a make-over from Dephane Marcel from Salon Moda Fina in Scottsdale, and a Monster Repellant Spray from Fairytale Wishes. Lice Doctors generously sponsored our lunch.

The event was sponsored by Nanny Biz Reviews and was held in conjunction with National Week of the Young Child. Caring Nannies is tremendously encouraged by the success of this years training and is already at work planning our next training event this fall. At Caring Nannies, we are asking our caregivers to commit to two out of three training events per year, because we have experiencd the difference training makes.

Beth Weise
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