Philofaxy at 10 - Van der Spek

Today we are continuing our posts to celebrate 10 years of Philofaxy.

We haven't known about Van der Spek that long (2 years I guess), although the company has been around a long time, over 80 years.

However, I think the Philofaxy community has been very quick to catch on to the sort of products and the quality and the excellent customer service offered by this small but well established family company based in the Netherlands.

Never a week goes by without Petra sharing a photograph or two in the Facebook group... 'We have just made this..' which nearly always leaves everyone gasping or reaching for their credit cards.

You quickly learn that the words 'No we can't make one of those' isn't in their vocabulary! If it is made in leather and it is within certain size considerations they can make it... in any colour... or colour combination, well almost I suppose!!

So this last week, I managed to get some time on Skype chatting with Petra and I asked her some questions and I made some notes for this post.

Petra Van der Spek

What products does Van der Spek make in their own workshop as well as organisers and TN covers? 

• Writing cases in A5 and A4 sizes.
• Pen cases for 1,2,3, and 4 pens. And for some customers we have made custom pen cases for 6 or 8 pens.
• The very old classic desk sets (some people still use them) iPad covers, iPhone covers. 
• Some bags in the past, maybe we should start these again? 

I'm sure our readers will be delving back through your website and catalogues looking for these attractive sounding items.

A very small selection of the products made in house at Puttershoek 

How many people work at Van der Spek? 

Eight people including my parents and myself.

Andrea, Petra, Rene Van der Spek

Not all the employees work in the factory, because they are a staying at home mom as well.

We vary in age and experience, but we all work great together and everybody has their own specialty.

The youngest is 31 years old (Petra) and the oldest is our well known cutter JP, who is a very happy guy, with great dress sense!

JP, Photo care of Janet Carr

We have a new worker who started only 3 months ago.

Petra's father has been working in the family company since 1962 and he became the owner in 1972!! He coordinates most of the work in the factory and the overall leather specialist.  He knows all the product forms from A to Z and makes all the prototypes.

Petra's mother is the best organiser of them all and she is therefore responsible for picking all the orders and despatching them all over the world.

As most of you in the  community will know, Petra spends a lot of my time in answering questions from the community and helping all the customers in ordering their binder. (Besides that she is also busy with all kinds of other orders, like writing cases in larger numbers, menu's for restaurants, etc)

What have the highlights been of the last couple of years since you discovered Philofaxy?

Where to start ☺

The amount of emails, haha joking, no the interest in organizers for sure!

In the Netherlands we don’t sell the same amount of organisers anymore like we did in the past. These days with a lot of people using their phone as a calendar, but because of Philofaxy, people outside of the Netherlands have discovered or have got to know about Van der Spek!

We never knew there was still so much interest in using organisers. We had a website with a little bit of information about the company and now we have a webshop were you can actually buy the organisers and accessories and leather samples.

But what Petra likes the most is the contact with the end users. In all the years before they were only focusing in business to business. With stepping into the business to consumer world, Petra has got so many positive reactions.

Petra went on to say 'I don't know if our roots from Indonesia are one of the causes of this, but it is in our nature to help out customers in every way that we can. And since we're talking to the end users, this is becoming a real unique selling point for the company.'  I think we will all agree with that.

What also amazes and fascinates Petra is how the community works. People just want to share experiences and common interests. Petra was surprised about the time all these VdS fans spend together and all the movies and review material they create is amazing. The fact that there are even users that are so active and willing to spend even more time and energy as a group admin makes Petra so happy and gives her an extra reason to go to work.

What has your experience been of the Philofaxy community?

Well, that it is really nice to talk to everyone that contacts me ☺

They’re so enthusiastic about everything, very interested and I even got the chance to meet some of them at Puttershoek and in the USA this year.

I get so many positive reactions about the communication and effort I put into VDS and I can just be myself with all these amazing people.

What has surprised you most since being discovered by Philofaxy? 

The interest in our organizers. I thought that market was done, but there are still so many people who love to use organisers!

The size of the community, the Facebook group has over 2000 keen members in it now! (Thank you Janet, Susan and Steve)

The knowledge about all the different organisers aspects: mechanism, leather, refills, etc

For some it is not just a hobby, but almost a way of life. So much fun and energy from working with Philofaxy

Tell us if you can about any changes to your product line. 

We changed the design of our organisers. Things we didn’t know before.

• Changing the stiffener in our binder. We always used carton and now we have added two different types of stiffener as well, so the binder can be supple!
• The bigger the rings, the better.
• Junior size rings 16mm we also added 20mm rings
• Senior 20mm rings, we also added 25mm rings
• Standard 25mm rings, we also added 30mm rings
• Extra pen loops
• Secretarial pockets
• Accessories like the flyleaves and a zipper case
• Full width back pocket
• A complete new product: The NOMAD. A cover for your Midori notebooks. Also customisable from only the cover to completely with pockets and pen loop
• Two additional colours added to our 'Touch Me' range of organisers, and also making the senior size compatible with true A6 size inserts with 25mm rings

Where can we find you on the Web (Website, Instagram, Facebook)
Web Shop: www.vdsshop.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/VanderSpekLederwaren/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vdsshop/

Thank you Petra for a delightful hour or so talking about the company and your experiences of the last couple of years.

The interview didn't finished there though... Petra has kindly offered some of their products as quiz prizes.

Prizes: Writing case, Nomad TN, Address book, Organiser, Pen case

Questions:

1. How many different colour leathers do Van der Spek have in their range?

2. What is the biggest pen case have they ever made, for how many pens?

3. How many pieces of leather do you need for a Standard size 25mm without any additional options? Difficult one I know, but go back to the post about how they are made here on Philofaxy...

4. How many additional options can you take on your basic NOMAD?

5. How many different rings sizes are available in the webshop across all sizes of organisers?

Prizes: Writing case, Nomad TN, Address book, Organiser, Pen case

How to enter:

1. Please email your answers to steve@philofaxy.com  please put Van der Spek in the title/subject of your email.
2. Please enter before 23:00 CET on Monday 14th December 2015. Emails received after that will not be counted.
3. Winning entries will be picked randomly from all the correct answers, and five winners will be assigned one of the prizes (Writing case, Nomad TN, Address book, Organiser, Pen case).
4. No cash alternatives are available
5. Steve will need your permission to pass the winners email address and/or mailing address to Van der Spek, you will be contacted by email if you are a winner on Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest.
6. We can't guarantee that you will receive your prizes by Christmas, but I'm sure Van der Spek will do their best to get them despatched as quickly as possible.
7. This competition is open to everyone, world wide.  
8. One prize per household. 
9. The judges decision will be final.
10. Please do not post the answers in the comments. 

Thank you to Petra and everyone at Van der Spek. 

The story of Gillio and Philofaxy

First of all: thank you, the team at Philofaxy, to allow us to contribute to your wonderful blog at this time!

The year was 2013, and our little company was selling leather goods (amongst which handmade leather organisers, our best-selling product since the early 90s) in our two flagship stores in Belgium and at several dealershops across Europe. We’d almost given up on producing organisers, because with the smartphone-age, people had lost interest in ringbound planners - or so we thought!

Fast forward to 2015, and our handmade, Italian leather organisers are without a doubt our number one selling product, we sell our products globally and interact with people from over 50 countries.

Somewhere between those two paragraphs, we met Mella, an organiser-adept and Philofaxy-fan from Belgium, who introduced our brand to the Philofaxy-audience through a YouTube video. We were stunned: people DO still use planners, in fact, there’s a whole community of planner-afficionados out there! This was the beginning on the 'revival' of our company: through collaborations with Mella (who is now part of the Gillio team at our headquarters!) and with Steve Morton of Philofaxy, we didn’t just gain new clientèle, but we have discovered a great well of wisdom in the readers and contributors to Philofaxy, who have helped us expand, grow and improve - and we’ve made a lot of new friends along the way.

Through Gillio Meet-Ups both in Belgium and abroad, like the Gillio ThinkTank of 2014, we met some of the readers of Philofaxy and designed new models based on their input. We’ve expanded our product range to new sizes and models, such as the A6 Compagna and the Giramondo, with many more to come.

Participating in and contributing to the Philofaxy community has inspired us tremendously, by gaining insight into how organiser-owners in 2015 use their organiser, and what needs they have. Things have changed quite a lot from our earlier glory years in the 80s and 90s!

We’d like to thank Steve Morton for the wonderful reviews and much appreciated insights, and would also like to thank him, Kariné Tovmassian and Christina McGann, who manage and admin both the Gillio Facebook-groups! They are in constant contact with us to make sure we know what our customers are talking about, and what their needs are. Their input is of great value to us as a company!

In celebration on the 10th anniversary of Philofaxy, and to thank everyone that has helped spread the word about Gillio through blogs, YouTube and participation in the discussions on Facebook, we’d like to offer everyone a flash 10% discount for 48 hours: use code PHILOFAXY10 (in all caps!) for 10% off any purchase made between 06:00 CET Wednesday, November 18th until 06:00 CET Friday, November 20th 2015!

Thank you Team Gillio. 

Here are some posts we have done about Gillio in the last couple of years. This is just a selection.. you can find them all here: 

• Another Gillio Compagna - Review
• Gillio release new range of contrasting pastel colours for their Compagna model range.
• Gillio Meet Up - March 2015
• Gillio launch new pastel colours for Spring/Summer 2015
• Guest Post: Visit to the Gillio Boutique in Brussels - Lewis
• Gillio Pocket and Personal Size Mia Cara - Review
• Gillio Medium Campagna Review
• PRESS RELEASE ::: Gillio leathers awarded with ’Certificato di Garanzia’
• Gillio Think Tank 14 June 2014
• The Gillio Bellezza are cleared for take-off
• Gillio A5 Mia Cara - Review
• The Italian Job.... A Mini Adventure....
• Antwerp Gillio Meet Up - November 29/30 2013
• Review - Gillio Amica

Looking back through these posts we really have done a lot in the last two years together, lots of fun times too. I've enjoyed springing the posts on people! 

When I started..... by Steve

I was a little stuck for a post for today, so I thought I would replay my first post! It isn't a master piece, but I have fond memories of that first post from June 2009. 

Filofax on eBay, it pays to be patient 

Well it took me a few attempts to get the right bargain for a Filofax Finsbury on eBay, but it was worth the wait. Some were selling for more than you could buy them for on normal mail order from a variety of UK office suppliers. So I limited my maximum bid each time. Wise advice from my son... it's easy to get carried away close to the auction deadline.

So I have added a new Finsbury to my collection, I paid £26 for it, this compares to £44 on the Filofax UK site.

Another bargain I bagged on the way was a Filofax pocket metal punch and pocket storage binder for a total price of £5.19 for the two items. The storage binder on the Filofax site is £8.50, the punch £26, so I was very pleased with those two.

So I now have a nice new black Finsbury with 2009 fill. I will be moving some of my pages from my old Winchester personal across in to the Finsbury, but at the moment I'm just enjoying it's newness!! I don't want to snap the cellophane wrapper on the pages just yet... well not until I've taken some photographs of it tomorrow when my camera will be back from having a sensor and mirror box clean.

So take a look at eBay for Filofax binders and accessories, but don't get carried away.

What bargains have you managed to bag on line?

I later sold the Finsbury, but I still have the pocket punch, I mainly use it to punch my Philofaxy business cards! 

Looking Back

Do you ever look back through old emails? The other day I was looking for something else (which I did find eventually!) when I came across the first few email exchanges between Nan and me in June 2009. It was just after I had joined Philofaxy. The emails were mainly about my first couple of posts.

I smile now but at the time I was terrified that anything I wrote was not going to be up to 'the standard' but Nan didn't seem concerned, she basically told me to 'get on with it'.... so I did!

May be if she had known about my failures in English Language at school she might have had second thoughts! I eventually did pass my English Language O level, but then I was in a job for about 10 years until 1985 that didn't require me to write anything other than fault dockets, not very conducive to writing sentences and paragraphs. Add to this I occasionally suffer word blindness or I spell the first few letters of a word wrong and any spell checker doesn't stand much of a chance really.

That said I do find writing a bit easier now, although I would guess I am by no means 100% perfect. I get caught out typing things with French spellings sometimes and then wondering why the English spell checker has put a red line under it!

Also in the last few weeks in the run up to our 10th anniversary I have been looking back at previous posts looking for favourites of my own. As you might have guessed I love writing the detailed semi-technical posts about rings and ring spacing that sort of thing. But they can be a little bit dull I suppose. The fun ones though always stick in my mind the most though.

So I would like to pick out a one of my favourites.

One of the funniest posts I've enjoyed writing and the reaction from it was about the news of the Filofax 2012 range. I had drafted out the text as I wanted it to appear and I passed it to Alison to put her authors touch to it. She got to the end of where I had got to and then asked me 'So what are you going to say next?'

Then the punch line came in to my head with the sting in the tail of not saying any more!! She said that it was cruel to finish on such a high note, but funny!

So I published the post, I didn't quite expect the reaction it got. But you caught me by surprise because originally I had intended to publish the next part the following day... it wasn't even written!! So whilst the comments came flooding in I had to quickly start writing the next part with the actual details before the lynch mobs descended on our house!

Fun times!

What posts have been your favourites of the last ten years? And they don't have to be ones written by me....

Free For All Friday No 364 by Laurie

Ah, 10 years of Philofaxy! How time flies. I can't say I've been reading it since the very beginning, but nearly: as I wrote in my Philofaxy journey post yesterday, I first discovered this wonderful blog in 2007. Back then there weren't many other planner/ planning blogs, unlike the glut that exists today. I was desperately searching for tips on how to use my Filofax when I stumbled across the blog. And my life has never been the same (in a good way!) ever since!

When and how did you discover Philofaxy? How has it changed the way you use your Filofax/ plan/ live your life?

And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything ring-binder related!

My Philofaxy journey

I haven't been reading Philofaxy for all of its 10 years, but nearly. I first discovered Philofaxy in the spring of 2007, when my son was a baby and my daughter was a toddler. We were expats at the time (and still are, but in a different country now) and I was barely clinging to sanity adjusting to overseas life with two under two with no babysitter or outside help of any kind. It was, shall we say, not an easy time of my life.

I had already been using a ring binder planner for many years. I used a non-Filofax ring binder for about six years before I upgraded to my first real Filofax, a personal size Buckingham that I got at TJ Maxx for $25 in 2001. That Filofax did a lot of hard traveling with me, and I have great memories with it. It got me through graduate school, work, the births of my children and moving overseas beautifully.

Then as my life got more complicated, so did my planning needs. So I went online in search of Filofax usage tips and ideas. Let me tell you, back in 2007 there was not a lot out there. Nothing like the flood of planner blogs, videos, images and printables that exist online now. It was slim pickin's back in the old days.

Luckily, I found Philofaxy. Back then it wasn't the fully fleshed out, daily-publishing blog machine it is today. New posts came sporadically. I refreshed it several times per day, hoping for a new blog post. I scoured the previous posts, gleaning every bit of information I could. I pored over readers' comments and followed every link I could find. I was desperate for ideas. I made lengthy (and, frankly, embarrassing to read now) angst-filled comments of my own.

Fast forward to 2009, when Nan very generously asked me to join the team along with Steve, and later Anita. Around that time I also started my own blog Plannerisms.com, for even more of a planner outlet.

Over the years my Philofaxy participation has waxed and waned as my life got busy (with an international move), settled down a bit, then got busy again (with yet another move, work, kids, and life in general). My Filofax use has waxed and waned over the years too, from frantic multi-Filofax full-on usage, to none at all (gasp!). I've grown quite a collection of Filofax binders over the years. Some I've bought and sold on, most I've kept.

Currently I'm happy in my A5 Boston Filofax with my own printed pages. It has been quite a journey, both online and in the physical world, personally and Filofax-ually.

My favorite part has been all the people I've met online and in person who love Filofax as much as, or dare I say even more than, I do. We have a wonderful, world wide community. I even got to go to the Filofax headquarters which was a huge thrill for me!

Just for sentimentality's sake, here is a photo of my first Filofax, my personal Buckingham complete with battle scars from its hard life (it's not the years, it's the mileage) with my A5 Boston. Where I started, and where I am now. Full Filofax circle.

Web Finds.... how did we get started?

Looking back through the history of my time on Philofaxy, we sort of get a bit laid back about seeing a Web Finds post every Saturday morning, it is now the norm... but how did they start?

When I joined the team I started collecting stats on the number of our visitors. Occasionally I would share the odd link to other sites, although there were not many around back in 2009 to share, well compared to now.

What sparked the idea of doing Web Finds posts?

The idea for Web Finds as a more regular post came to me one day in July 2010 when I was checking the visitor stats and the new visitors had gone off the chart almost.

Naturally I wanted to know where all these visitors had suddenly come from because not only had they boosted our figures for that day and for a few days afterwards but our figures started to grow afterwards as well.

So I traced the source back to this post: A FILOFAX LOVE AFFAIR! by Gala Darling

I looked through the post and then I spotted it at the end of the post....

Naturally that brought a smile to my face, but that link was the reason for our number of visitors to blip.

This got me thinking, if that sort of thing can be caused to us... wouldn't it be great if we could do the same to other blog sites too. The idea being if Philofaxy was considered to be a 'One Stop Shop' for everything Filofax and ring bound planners then we would have a crowd of people we could 'send out' to visit other blogs, and like had happened to us they might also stop by to look at other posts too.

The idea being that not everyone blogs 100% of the time about organisers, but there might be other topics that appeal to you in the blogs we have links to. This helps them to grow an audience as well.

So the idea of doing this sort of post on a regular basis came about.

The first one I can track down was this one: Filofax blog posts from July 2010, then a few days later I did another Filofax Blog Posts which you will see is a more familiar format. They would appear in a sort of random nature. By this time I had retired and we had moved to France so I had more time to go looking for posts. By September they had become Friday Web Finds and the format was starting to settle in to what you are used to seeing now. By 2011 things had started to settle in to a pattern.

So how are these posts created? Read on if you want a behind the scenes look.

It was about this time that I started to notice that Google wasn't very good at finding new blog posts, or ones that had only been out a few days. Older ones would eventually appear. So I started to rely less and less on Google to find posts to be included in Webfinds.

I now have a monitoring system I affectionately call it Gromit, the system looks at pages of RSS feeds (Rich Site Summary) these come from each of the blog/websites we are monitoring. It shows me the title of new posts as they pop up every few hours. I can transfer the posts of interest in to the blog posts using a simple action with in the web browser.

Here is one page of 'Gromit'

This is a snapshot of the system on Tuesday evening. I normally start the gathering process on a Tuesday or Wednesday. By the time we get to late Friday night you would see only the blog titles and no post titles.

The other two pages are just as busy as this one. The blogs are roughly in the order they were added to the system. There are 15 columns in total at the moment, but each one expands and contracts a little over time. If a blog becomes private or goes permanently off line it is removed from the system. But others will remain on the system even if the blog hasn't been active for 12 months or more, it might come live again and we will be there to capture any posts of interest.

You might have noticed in the tabs one labelled FiloYT, we do the same thing with Filofax You Tube videos too. Although I do have a special search set up for different You Tube categories which get used to complete the videos section of each post.

Also on the system is the equivalent for Travellers Notebook Times which also has a web finds post every Tuesday. By Friday night it isn't uncommon for me to have both web find posts open at the same time and I'm dropping posts in to either as I work through all the new posts, this is because some people blog about both kinds of planner.

Do you read every single post and video flagged up by the system? 

No there isn't enough hours in the day to do that! I trust my judgement and past experience with the details included in the title to spot the obvious Filofax (generic) posts in my first pass through the system. Each post gets looked at before it is included in the list. But it is a skim read rather than a detailed read. Likewise with the videos, when there wasn't so many I used to watch say the first couple of minutes of each one, now I sample them randomly to make sure they haven't veered off in to make up and nails!

I do read quite a few posts for my own enjoyment too, although I don't use my own taste to bias what does and doesn't get included in the lists. I react to requests from you the readers and include what you want to read about.

How do new sites get added to the monitoring system?

Each week I ask for people to let me know about their blogs so that we can add them to the system. I get a few emails requesting to be added. But I also discover new sites via a variety of sources on the Internet and on Facebook etc. So we are always looking for new sites to include. When we add a new site it captures recent posts and then all future ones like other sites.

Your blog must have an RSS feed address though to get included, without one it is very difficult to monitor.

The other thing I love looking out for is new blogs we have discovered and included in Web Finds without them knowing. Then a few days later they too look at their stats and suddenly realise all of you have been 'trampling over their backyard (grass)' and they then track the traffic back to Philofaxy and come and thank us for including them! That always makes me chuckle when we sneak in under their radar and give them a nice surprise!.

What happens to posts that don't get included in either of the Web Finds?

Well some find their way in to one of my Flipboard magazines for example something about Fountain Pens would end up in my Pens and Pencils Focus magazine. And there are quite a few others too. That process is a simple click a link in the bookmark bar at the top of the browser '+Flip It' so it only takes a few seconds.

What happens when you have finished the Web Finds post? 

Well the monitoring system runs 24/7, it never stops looking for new posts. The cut off point is late on Friday night when I need to call it a day and get some sleep! The post is then scheduled for a few hours later. Any post that comes along after I have shut down for the night will be considered for the next post. So after a few days break the whole process starts again. Although in the break I'm doing the other blog web finds and other stuff too.... like life in general!

If you have any questions, please pop them in to the comments.

Finding Philofaxy

To help celebrate Philofaxy's 10 year anniversary, I thought I'd write about how I got into Filofaxes and came across Philofaxy.

After purchasing David Allen's book Getting Things Done in 2009, I spent some time working out which system would work best for me and finally settled on using pen and paper. I started searching online for 'refillable notebook' and after some more thought, this became 'leather refillable notebook'. Unsurprisingly, Filofax started showing in the results and I eventually found my way to Philofaxy. To be honest, I didn't read very much of the blog to begin with and I think I was a bit surprised at that point that so much could be written about the subject...

I was going to buy a black Metropol, but still had some money left over from my birthday, so I finally chose a cherry personal Classic and eagerly awaited its arrival. I had only vaguely heard of Filofax before as they were something that the Yuppies used to use, and I have a suspicion that the relatively high price (compared with your average notebook) would have put me off previously. However, it made sense for me to set up my GTD system in something that was:

1. Refillable
2. Durable
3. Something nice to help encourage me to use it.  

After initially setting up my Classic, I actually didn't visit Philofaxy very often as I was just using my Filofax and getting on with stuff. However, after about 13 months of gentle use my Classic started to show some strange bubbling/cracking near the spine and searching for the issue brought me back to here for advice. I hadn't purchased my filo from Filofax and it was over a year old, so I was pretty disappointed and figured I was stuck with it. However, on reader advice I contacted Filofax UK and they requested that I return it and was delighted when they offered to replace it free of charge. The replacement arrived and sadly the ring mechanism had become detached, so it was returned. In the meantime, I had kinda fallen in love with the Maldens (from reading posts here), so I figured it was worth asking if I could have one as my replacement instead as they were of a similar value. I felt very lucky as the answer was yes and I was then the proud owner of a new crimson Malden.

I think that it was around that time that I finally 'got' Philofaxy. What a revelation that there was a product that suited my needs so well, and that there was a community of like-minded people out there. I have always loved stationery, but it's generally been something people have made fun of, so it was wonderful to find others like me. In 2012, I contacted Steve to ask if they were interested in having another contributor join the team and was thrilled when the answer came back with a 'yes'. I don't contribute as often as I'd like to (life seems to get in the way sometimes), but I love writing posts for the site and feel very grateful for being part of such a friendly and supportive online community. 

In the beginning - 10 years on

On this day at this time ten years ago Philofaxer launched his first post on the world of the internet.

If you have been a reader since day one then I think you would be in a very exclusive club. Remember the social media platforms back then were very different to now. Twitter was 9 months from being launched, Facebook was still in its infancy and only available to schools and university pupils. Google+ was over 5 years away, so was Instagram. So quite how you discovered Philofaxy apart from a Google search I don't know! I discovered it myself almost by accident one day back in about 2007 when I typed in something like 'Filofax blog' in to Google.

Over 3,000 posts later and over 36,000 comments later we have reached our tenth anniversary.  What can I say? It has certainly been an awesome few years for me since I joined the team. I've loved every minute of it.

After Philofaxer, Nan joined him and kept things ticking over for a couple of years on her own. It was in 2009 that Nan reached out to Laurie and me to join her. A couple of years later on Anita joined the team.

On behalf of the team I would like to thank you all for being such a great bunch of readers, whether you have been reading the blog for 10 years or 10 days. You are all part of a very special group of people.

We would also like to thank all our other supporters, there are a lot of them!

• Ray Blake, for all his help and support with our Diary Inserts, which wouldn't have been possible without his expertise. 
• To the team at Filofax which until this year gave us regular updates on new products and set us photo challenges. 
• To all the team at Gillio who continue to share news and review samples with us. We continue to work together, as Gillio have expanded their range. Mella deserves a special mention for sharing her discovery of the company with us. 
• In a similar way to all the Van der Spek family who I've enjoyed working with over the last couple of years to publicise their products and expand the range of products they make. I would also like to say a big thank you to Janet Carr, not only for all the work she does on her blog, but also the help she gives behind the scenes on the Van der Spek groups. 

We would like to also thank all our Guest Post contributors who over the years have contributed some excellent posts on using organisers and other tips and tricks. We should also include all of the Readers Under the Spotlight who have appeared over the years.

The number of blogs and bloggers writing about organisers over the last 10 years has certainly exploded. We enjoy sharing their work in our Web Finds posts. To try and mention any of them individually would leave out several hundred others! 

There are however some exceptions, people that have done so much though their blogs, You Tube channels and activities on Facebook and Twitter to help our community grow and grow around the world. I'm sure we all have our favourites.

One of the first You Tube stars to catch our attention was of course Imy, she created her own following quite quickly on her channel and a lot of people have followed her examples.

I would also like to mention Jennifer Reyes (My Purpely Life) who was one of the many who used You Tube to share their likes and loves of organisers and decorating, but Jennifer hasn't stopped there, she has also been organising events on the West Coast with increasing numbers of people attending them. They are well organised and everyone is super friendly.

I could keep thinking of people to mention, I'm sure you could as well.... but let's all celebrate together.

So what of the future? More of the same? Well I'm continuing, there is still plenty of things to do. Yes I know there are things on the blog that need updating such as the links page. I'm also working on some new projects too which I hope to share with you soon.

Thank you everyone, here is to the next 10 years.

Guest Post - 10 Years of Planner Bliss! - Susan

Today we continue our 10th anniversary celebrations with the a by Susan. I thought I would dig out the previous header picture for a bit of a 'retro' feel!

Happy birthday Philofaxy!!! I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since this blog started. Since finding it, Philofaxy and the planner community that surrounds it, has been a huge part of my life. Never in a million years did I think I would find so many like-minded people as crazy about planners and time management as I am, much less make life-long friends from such a community.

But let’s start at the beginning…

Since high school, I have used a planner. It started with the spiral-bound notebook-types that students are given. It started as a practical tool, one to keep track of my assignments, nothing more. In college, my use of planners grew, keeping track not only of my assignments, but also my work schedule and social events. By the time I graduated and moved into the adult, grown-up world of jobs and housekeeping, I was dependent on them to keep me sane.

I had always stayed with the spiral-bound planners, as they worked well for me. I also thought of the ringed binders as too big and bulky. I looked at them in awe of their use, but never did I buy one. However, around 2007, a friend turned me on to Filofax, pointing out how great they are, how flexible. I did a Google search for Filofax, found an array of options just for the binder alone. And then…

And then.

And then I found Philofaxy.

Needless to say, I have never turned back. Not only did I find a product I liked, with many options of sizes and colors and textures and inserts, but I also found an entire blog devoted to the brand’s use. I mean, my gosh, there are planner people out there! I felt like I had found my home.

In the beginning, I spent hours (and I do mean hours) reading all of the back posts. It took precedence over anything else I read. I had to know about this Philofaxer person, this blog that was full of juicy planner, time management, and task management goodness.

Once I caught up on all of the back posts, I waited oh so impatiently for new posts to appear, gasping and getting that flutter of excitement in my stomach when one did. A new Philofaxy post absolutely made my day!

At the time, the Philofaxy Flickr pool was at the top of its game. It’s still active today, but Instagram has overshadowed the wonder of this planner photo collection, and today there are only a few additions every few days. Back then, there were several contributions a day, and I would spend hours looking at all of the hot planner porn. I especially loved (and still love) the early photos. Some of my favorites are this, this, this, this, and especially this. I really could go on and on, but I won’t bore you. If you have never looked at the Philofaxy Flickr pool, I urge you to head over and start at the beginning. You won’t find much in the way of sticker- or washi tape-decorated or themed pages way one sees today, but I promise, you will not be disappointed. Looking back at the original photos today, I feel that same sense of sophistication that I felt when I first viewed the photos—everyone’s planner(s) looked so beautiful and so classy, I could not wait to get one of my own.

Finally, I did—it was a brown Personal Domino, given to me as a gift by the friend who first mentioned Filofax to me. I still have it and use it for storing extra inserts. The band is stretched and dirty and the inside isn’t great, but I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of it, for nostalgic reasons.

I can remember when Nan first came on the scene, followed by Laurie and Steve. (You can read about each of them, as well as Anita here.) It was shortly after Laurie started Plannerisms that I started my own blog, Well Planned Life. (Actually, it started out as Life Well Planned, which I loved, but which I changed after finding out that an American company used it as their tagline/slogan. I probably didn’t have to but just in case, I did. PS. The company no longer uses it. Oh well.) In any event, I started my blog in 2009, and most of my readers found me via Philofaxy. The major (blog) players of the time were (and some still are) Crazy Life of J, Crazy Suburban Mom, Oni, Zoe (though she was something else in the beginning), Imy, and Kyla, among others.

Since then, numerous planner blogs have popped up, as well as YouTube Channels, Instagram accounts, and Facebook pages. Who knew how it would take off? Nan and Steve and Laurie and Anita have all made that happen, all with meet-ups and Skype chats and Facebook groups (oh, the Facebook groups—too many to keep track of!). I remember when the first meet-up happened in London—I was so jealous! I wanted one here in the US. Never did I think I’d be the one to organize the first New York City meet-up. Never did I think that I’d put my planner into strange and amusing situations. Never did I think that my planner would be banned from New York City for trysting in a public park (read the other side of the story here).

And now, Philofaxy isn’t just about Filofaxes. Other planner and notebook and general office supply products are covered as well.

But what really sets this blog apart from any other I have followed (and I follow a lot) is the community that surrounds it. I have met so many wonderful, supportive, and friendly people from this community. Some friendships I’m sure will last a lifetime, and it’s Philofaxy that I have to thank for that. Back in 2012, I wrote a Philofaxy Culture Tribute post, but it still holds true today, though perhaps a few more practices and traditions can be added to the list.

So, thank you, Philofaxy for all you have done for the planner community at large and for me specifically. Without you I never would have met some amazing people, nor would I have been writing for the last (almost) 6 six years.

Happy 10th birthday! Here’s to another 10—and beyond!

Thank you Susan for a lovely trip down memory lane.  Now before you all rush to comment on this post... you will won't you... Susan has been very generous to offer a free Filofax iPad Air case, as pictured below. 

We will pick a person at random from the comments on this post on the blog to receive this gift. The closing date/time will be 12:35 on 31st October 2015... blog time (East Coast USA) this was the time of the very first post 10 years ago on that day. 

This is open to anyone world-wide as long as you have a postal address. 

Usual rules will apply... No cash alternative, Judges decision will be final, etc. 

Thank you everyone for all your support. 

Philofaxy at 10 years old - Chimwemwe - Amanda

Coming up at the end of next week is the 10th anniversary of Philofaxy, on 31st October 2005 the first posts appeared on-line starting with 'In the beginning'

As you know since that day the blog has grown beyond everyones expectations in to a worldwide community.

To help us celebrate this milestone we have asked and invited people to submit posts, the first of them is published today. Please read how your small donations all help such a wonderful charity.

Philofaxy and Chimwemwe

Philofaxy has been a great supporter of Chimwemwe for many years. You may have seen the logo on the sidebar and the request to make a donation if you are advertising items for sale on the Philofaxy adspot pages, but who or what is Chimwemwe?

Who are we?

Chimwemwe is short for Chimwemwe Children’s Centre, which is a Community Based Organisation (CBO), registered in Malawi. Our goal is to help homeless and poverty-afflicted children to get off the streets and back into a safe, supportive community and to be able to go to school and enjoy a childhood.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world (over 60% of the population live below the poverty line of $1 per day) and it has one of the lowest rates of adult literacy, with less than 15% of adults having completed secondary education. The country is also affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, with an estimated 25% of the urban population affected.

Chimwemwe works with some of the street children of Blantyre, the second largest city in Malawi. Children arrive on to the streets for a variety of reasons, but most of them have lost one or both of their parents to HIV/AIDS. There is an extended family system in Malawi where many orphaned children move into the care of their relatives. Whilst this can work out, it can also put an enormous burden on to the family, who may have been struggling to manage even before the arrival of more children. Many of them cannot manage the extra costs of sending the children to school, and some cannot manage the extra costs of feeding them. Instead of sending the children to school, they are sent onto the streets to beg. In some instances, the girls have been sent onto the streets as prostitutes.

I helped to set up Chimwemwe in 2009 after a chance meeting with Mac Nkhutabasa, the project manager, in Johannesburg airport, while on my way to Malawi. We got chatting in the airport and on a subsequent visit, I met the street-kids with Mac and then worked with Mac to help Chimwemwe Children’s Centre to become a reality.

What do we do?
Chimwemwe has four main projects:

• To ensure children have a safe and secure place to live
• To assist children back into education
• To help the children to enjoy a childhood
• To support the communities to try and stem the flow of children on to the streets

A safe and secure place to live:
The best place for a child is in a safe, loving, supportive environment and we work with the families and local communities to house the child with them wherever possible. For those children for which this is not possible (abuse in the family; no family remaining etc.) we work with local orphanages and ‘foster families’ to accommodate the children. We also ensure that each child has at least one good meal a day.

Education:
Schooling in Malawi can be haphazard. Primary schooling is compulsory but not enforced, and secondary schooling is neither compulsory nor free. To go to school, children need to have a uniform, even for primary schools. If their family can’t afford to buy uniforms the children don’t go to school. Orphans don’t have a hope of being able to buy a uniform, far less of finding fees for secondary school. Chimwemwe works with families and communities to help support the children to return to school. Often, just providing the uniforms is enough to allow an extended family to cope with extra children.

Nicholas has made the new uniforms for Prisca and Agnes

Since gaining CBO status in 2009, we have bought hundreds of uniforms, we are paying the secondary school fees for the older children and we are providing educational materials to the schools and to the children to support their learning – exercise books, textbooks, stationery etc.

We also work with the older children who are about to leave school, to help them to gain vocational training. The oldest boy in the project, Nicholas, has completed training to become a tailor (a thriving business in Malawi where most people do not buy ‘off the peg’ clothes in stores, but have tailors make their clothes for them). Chimwemwe will also help Nicholas with a start-up grant which will help him to pay rent on a shop, buy material, threads, buttons etc. and provide him with a sewing machine so that he is set up with a business and can become independent.

Nicholas and his sewing machine

Having a Childhood:
For many street children, the idea of a childhood where you can play is just an idea, not reality. From the start, we have given the children a safe environment in which to play, whether it is football mini-leagues, space to play bao (a very popular local board game), for them to run around playing ‘tag’ or any number of other games. Often all that is needed is some space and some adults present to ensure the children are safe, and maybe some water and snacks for afterwards.

Supporting the Communities:
We have provided money to families and communities to help them to start income-generating activities (including buying a father a sewing machine so that he could start his own tailoring business to support his family) and we have helped to set up community gardens for growing vegetables. We also work with the communities to raise awareness of the rights of the child and to provide education about health (including HIV awareness).

Saidi with the sewing machine which allowed him to set up his own business    

Our most recent big project has been to build a community centre where the children can go for life-lessons, play, homework clubs and vocational training. It is also a safe place that the children can call theirs – which may sound very simple, but for a street-kid who owns very little, can be hugely important.

How has Philofaxy helped?
Philofaxy has been a huge supporter of Chimwemwe for many years, helping us to raise money for these projects and awareness of the life of these children. The money raised through Philofaxy has allowed us to buy uniforms, provide the children with food and education, build the centre and buy them toys at Christmas, but perhaps almost as importantly, it has let the children know that lots of people care about them. Living on the streets is a lonely, scary life. You can’t trust anyone. You will get robbed, beaten, abused, ignored... for these kids, knowing that people right across the world are concerned about their plight and willing to help means an enormous amount. It has given them hope and support in their darkest times. There is a huge difference between feeling alone and with no-one and nothing for support, to feeling that there are people out there who care and who will try to help. I cannot thank Philofaxy and its readers enough, for the kindness and support that they have shown over the years.

Thank you Amanda for the update on the work you have been doing with Chimwemwe. 

In addition to the donations you make direct, when you purchase via links on Philofaxy to Amazon and other stores we make an annual donation equal to the commission we earn from those purchases via Philofaxy. Thank you for your continued support.