I've never been to the convention, but I've gone to the used curriculum sale twice. They are two separate events here. The used book/curriculum sale is at a big church in Austin and you only pay $2 to get in ($1 if you're a member), which is so worth it to me because I end up getting half to most of the kids books that they need for the year for way cheap and don't have to pay shipping or anything. It's crowded and busy and tiring, but still worth it to me. I always find old books that I loved as a kid for .25 or .50 cents and I get them for the kids, too. People sell cool educational games and stuff, too, but I usually don't get those. I go in with a list of the books I need and am on the hunt for those.

The convention is about a month later and I just can't see spending the whole day there with the kids listening to lectures (I think it's actually 2 days). It's not expensive, but they posted last years lectures online, so I assume they do the same every year, so I can just listen to them online if I want to. A few sounded good, but most of them didn't interest me. I can find out most of the stuff I need to about homeschooling online.

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Mom to Christian (13), Saphira (10), Xavier (5), and Adrian (2).

Ooh and also.. being able to actually hold the books I was considering, instead of just seeing them online or in a catalog.

The price here is really cheap....$6 per family or $3 for an individual. Seeing and holding the books and various curricula is a plus for me. I really don't go to listen to the speakers unless they are talking about a specific product. The local homeschool day/attorney always gives talks on the latest laws for both TN and GA since we are right on the state border line. The biggest plus is seeing all the other homeschoolers and spending the day with them brainstorming what they have used both successfully and not successfully. There are also vendors galore that have add'l things like activities or special art or whatever kind of classes in the area.

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Prayer should be your first response.
Not your last resort.

At ours they would have a few dozen vendors of new materials and a big used book sale. They would have sessions on different things like a math professor who had homeschooled giving advice on teaching math to kids or sessions on incorporating different elements into your homeschooling. They always had a beginner/overview track to let beginners know the basics on things like state requirements for paperwork, testing, etc.

They did it as a service to the parents but also to raise funds for the Arkansas Education Alliance (the large group that lobbies on homeschooling issues in Arkansas). They said that this year they had two people working on it most of their time for six months and that after expenses it only ended up generating $5,000 for the AEA and that it just wasn't worth the effort any more.

I personally think they missed the boat on this one - if their mission truly is to advance the cause of homeschoolers then the convention ought to be about much more than how much $ it generates for lobbying efforts, it ought to first be about educating homeschooling parents and secondarily be about generating money.

We enjoyed some of the sessions we attended and we thought others could have been done better, but that's true of any convention/symposium/whatever you attend.

The speakers I've heard have been curriculum writers. I remember Diana Waring and ... ack! Forgot the other lady. She even lives here in WA! They are INSPIRING!

What did you find "inspiring" about them? What good points did they make? What would you tell someone deciding if they wanted to go see them?

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

What companies sponsor the homeschool conventions in your area? Do some areas have more than one?

Ours is "Great Homeschool Conventions" and they don't seem to have a used book sale at all : ( I agree with many of you - that would be a big draw!

I cannot find ticket prices, but I remember last year their prices were higher than I wanted to pay. And, it doesn't help that their statement of Faith is written in such a way that many Christians will not agree with it (for instance, denying Sacraments) : (

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

We always have people from Rod & Staff, Alpha/Omega, Math U See, Teaching Textbooks, Rainbow Resource (the most popular booth), and many more. Plus, we have several vendors that sell new and used books and all sorts of materials...like different kinds of paper for drawing, plus all the art supplies, too much to list, really. Different colleges come out as well as a representative from HSLDA is always here.

http://csthea.org/ This is our homeschool organization. We will never attract "big celebrities", per say, but that is fine with me. I agree with Scott, it is not about raising funds for a certain organization, but it is to educate the parents, "old & new." CSTHEA started a new "procedure" several years ago, where the experienced help out the non-experienced. There are fake flower lapels available at the check in desk. The experienced people wear them to indicate to the new people who the "experienced" people are. So when the new person wants information or advice, they just seek out the people with the flower lapels. This is highly advertised several months before the convention, and on the convention days, themselves. The local news reporter always comes out as well and shows the crowds.

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Prayer should be your first response.
Not your last resort.