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Do you want to host a house-conference--or organize a meeting at a local venue?


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I just want to mention something to those who have indicated that they think their homes would be too small or not suitable for something like this. A few weeks ago, Susan mentioned "house conferences" on another thread, and compared them to "house concerts." I think she also linked a book about house concerts. I don't know if house concerts are a trend in the States, but they are here in Canada. I went to one a few weeks ago, for a local musican who also travels all over the world.

 

It was in a much smaller home than I was expecting (I had never been to a house concert before), and the host was in the middle of "updating" the decor. But neither of those things mattered, because we were there to listen to this great musician. Heck, I didn't even know what the musician looked like, so I didn't know when he'd arrived at the house. I stepped out of the bathroom close to the concert start time, and I almost tripped over this guy who was bending down to take off his boots at the door. He looked up at me and smiled and said, "Hi!", and then I noticed his guitar case that he was trying not to fall on while taking off his boots. Others were trying not to trip on him, as they came out of the tiny room where we laid our coats. This was the man who stepped up to the microphone when the host introduced the musician.

 

Anyway, the concert was in a room that was a combined LR/DR - all one straight room with a fireplace at one end. I'm telling ya, it was small compared to the McMansions I see around here - I wish I could guesstimate the sq. footage - the house was probably built in the 1960s. The host had set up two couches, one behind the other (like benches), and then had folding chairs set up in rows. There was just room enough for the musician to have his mike stand, guitar stands, and some speaker equipment. My family and I were sitting about two feet from where he stood. :D So was everyone else who sat in the first row surrounding that area in an L-shape. And you know what? It was a lot of fun. Once everyone arrived through the door, threw their coats in that little side room, had grabbed some yummy snacks, and settled into their chairs, the room came alive. Complete strangers started talking in friendly ways, and complete strangers laughed and cried and cheered their way through this great and personal concert. It just *worked,* despite the seemingly small space. Everyone fit, and no one felt like sardines, because of what we were there for. I'm guessing there were 30-40 people there. We left that concert thinking, "Gee, *we* could host a house concert, too, even though we don't live in a McMansion!"

 

(The musician was Nova Scotia's Dave Gunning, if anyone wants to look him up)

 

Anyway, not that Susan is looking for the smallest place to cram into, but look at what she is hoping to do, and consider that maybe your home *will* work? I would imagine that some table space to spread out books to look at would be needed, but I think her idea is workable in not-so-big spaces.

 

in that case, I think we could cram 100+ into the house :tongue_smilie: stairs count as tiered seating, right? j/k ;)

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An idea popped into my head just now, and I don't know if it's already been thrown out there or not (I haven't read all of the posts on this board on the subject), but I keep thinking about how much TRAVEL this will require on the part of SWB, and how, as great as these conferences would be, there still wouldn't be very many of them, I would think, if she wanted to get anything *else* in her life done. :lol:

 

So I was wondering if video-conferencing had been considered. All of the other stuff would stay the same, but SWB wouldn't be there "in person", but rather on some sort of live video feed, where she can present one (or more) of her lectures, plus answer any questions.

 

It would eat up a LOT less of her time (I would think), and make it possible for more of these house-conferences to be held (so long as you can find people with video-conferencing capabilities in their homes or local venues)

 

Has this been considered?

 

SKype would be brilliant for this!!!! SWB could pick one place and then the rest of us could chime in with Skype. It handles mutli-calls I do believe. A laptop hooked to the projector at a church would make it large enough to be seen. Like Beth Moore Simulcasts. We can then bring in our stuff, browse and even have panles set up of homeshool moms who homeschool different ways _(working moms, back to school moms, moms with toddlers, preschoolers, etc ) to answer questions and discuss SCHOOLING!

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I haven't gone through all 16 pages of posts, but I would love to host something here in Knoxville, TN. I don't have a big enough house, yet (we're putting our current one on the market very soon) but my church has a venue that I might be able to use. It would seat several hundred.

 

Any one else in East TN, GA, VA, KY, NC willing to drive here??

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Two things...we haven't ruled any areas out (even the overseas one), so if you're interested, send an email.

 

Second, I've had a Skype-lecture offer up on my home page for a while. Not too many people have asked us about it. It can be a great way to connect--not as good as in-person, but still useful.

 

SWB

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I emailed for northern VA! I can do a fair size group at my house and have a screen on the wall for a projector if needed. I can get space at the local American Legion probably for free if needed. There are other avenues for space I can check into. Advertising through friends, the library, Facebook, and CC will get a good size group here for sure.

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I emailed for northern VA! I can do a fair size group at my house and have a screen on the wall for a projector if needed. I can get space at the local American Legion probably for free if needed. There are other avenues for space I can check into. Advertising through friends, the library, Facebook, and CC will get a good size group here for sure.

 

Awesome! I'll pm you my info. so that if you hear back and it seems to be in the works, I can help with the planning, set-up, etc. :D

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I'm at Ft. Bragg, but if we wanted to do something in the Raleigh area, I could still help. I just moved back to Bragg, but I still know several people who would participate and/or help. :) eta: AuntPol, you too!

 

When did you move? Did you post about it? Of course it is possible during one of those times I was without a computer or gone to GA.

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Not a single person in TN? I know that there are a lot of us here. I would be up for hosting an event and I am sure my hubby would help as he has experience in this dept. I could also drive as far as say anywhere in TN & Kentucky. I am frequently in GA and I know that we have a lot of people there and I would definitely try to make NC since there are so many people there.

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Well, I am in the SE corner of Nebraska. I can be in either IA or MO in 20 minutes. So, if you came to my house (which is a huge old farmhouse) we could call is a tri-state conference. Actually, KS is only about an hour south, so it could even be a quad-state conference. I'm just saying.

 

I would love to see something around the Kansas City area.

 

I'll send her my information, as well. I'm within a couple of hours of Kansas City, parts of Nebraska, and much of Kansas.

 

Have any of you contacted SWB's assistant about setting this up? I'd love to be invited and help, or I can even host.

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I don't have time to read the whole thread but I know there are a bunch of Princeton area WTM'ers that I would LOVE to see again! :D

 

I am in that area and already sent in my info :001_smile:

 

ETA: Who are these Princeton area WTM'ers?

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Can we do a list of posters who have sent their info, their general location, and the people who'd be interested in going there? My infant is fussing too much for me to figure out how to do that right now. :tongue_smilie:

 

I'm putting together something for NC. I'm in the midst of compiling those interested, so we can figure out which part(s) of the state would make good host sites.

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I'm in Northern San Diego county. We have some fairly large homeschool groups in the area. We could pull people from L.A., Orange County, San Diego and even Arizona and Nevada to come.

 

Plus, I'm really close to the beach so SWB could dip her toes into the Pacific while she's here. My husband will even offer free stand-up paddleboard lessons. :D

 

Yes!! And I have a sailboat so we could sail on the Bay. Or kayak. I could also look into pricing for meeting rooms at our yacht club for the event.

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Two things...we haven't ruled any areas out (even the overseas one), so if you're interested, send an email.

 

Second, I've had a Skype-lecture offer up on my home page for a while. Not too many people have asked us about it. It can be a great way to connect--not as good as in-person, but still useful.

 

SWB

 

Where is the home page?

Is the skipe lecture offer anything to do with the practice session Molly did towards the end of last year?

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Yes, are we talking 30 people, 100 people? If we are all well behaved, and can get a larger venue, would more be acceptable?

 

Give us a idea about this because Pugetopolis wants in on this!!

 

A couple of years ago Needleroozer and I hosted a WTM get together at Coulon Park in Renton, WA. I'd be willing to do that again this summer. We had a nice time.

 

Kalanmak and Jean, I would be happy to come up from Portland with supplies (wine, chocolate, whatever) and curriculum in hand. I could also hostess here, but that would probably be about 20 max.

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That's a brilliant idea! You could do a conference like that using Skype with facilitators in each home helping to deal with the technology. :D :D

 

I live in Southeast Missouri which is definitely one of those close-to-4-other states kinda places. However, it is also very Bible belt. Wondering how the latest controversy fits in with that dynamic...hmm.:glare: I honestly have no clue how many around here follow a classical or WTM style of homeschooling. I only follow it loosely myself. From my eavesdropping, it appears R & S and BJU are kinda popular here. Cape Girardeau is probably more progressive and they have a large co-op.

 

But if I can get 20 someodd people together, maybe someone can Skype this sucker 'cause I can't imagine SWB wanting to come to hillbilly heaven anyway!:tongue_smilie:'Course, if she did, there's no problem with that either. We have a large farm and my husband is building our log home presently. It could fit 20 people, but may not be done until 2012. But this is future plans we're talking about anyway, right?

 

Lots of historical travel ops around these parts if anyone from IL,KY, TN, AR or MO is interested.

 

Lakota

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Is someone in the Atlanta area in curve of the Atlanta bid? I'm 3 to 4 hours away and would definitely do an ATL weekend to attend this. I'd also be very willing to help but since I'm not right there, my help would be limited. Also, since I'm not actually there, I don't feel right being the one to officially present this to Susan. :) I'm in Alabama but I just don't feel there is enough homeschool representation in my area to have an attendance.

 

Atlanta anyone? Please count me in.

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Not a single person in TN? I know that there are a lot of us here. I would be up for hosting an event and I am sure my hubby would help as he has experience in this dept. I could also drive as far as say anywhere in TN & Kentucky. I am frequently in GA and I know that we have a lot of people there and I would definitely try to make NC since there are so many people there.

 

Me!! I'm in Mufreesboro. I e-mailed my name and location. ssexton (Shannon) is close to me too.

 

I asked dh if he thought we could fit20-30 in the house. He said 30 what? I said 30 homeschoolers and maybe even SWB...he looked frightened.:lol:

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Not a single person in TN? I know that there are a lot of us here. I would be up for hosting an event and I am sure my hubby would help as he has experience in this dept. I could also drive as far as say anywhere in TN & Kentucky. I am frequently in GA and I know that we have a lot of people there and I would definitely try to make NC since there are so many people there.

 

Me!! I'm in Mufreesboro. I e-mailed my name and location. ssexton (Shannon) is close to me too.

 

I asked dh if he thought we could fit20-30 in the house. He said 30 what? I said 30 homeschoolers and maybe even SWB...he looked frightened.:lol:

 

I posted earlier and also sent an email to meet in Knoxville! I thought it was pretty centrally located between NC, KY, VA, and GA (and TN, of course).

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I'm a half hour south of Carrie. I'd love to participate/attend/help plan or even organize a second gathering here. I agree that a house is going to be too small for the number of people who would be interested. I'd be glad to organize another meeting space in Albany, though.

 

I'm in Idaho but I would be willing to drive to the Salem area to attend. Or maybe the few of us in the UT, ID, WY, MT area could band together. I would be willing to organize things.

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We could probably entice some Ohioans and West Virginians to come! My Home might not fit but I can think of some areas that can! I'll get on it to see if there is a good bit of people interested to make it worth your time!

 

Am in Pitt, so would like to attend, cant host but can help plan.

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Not a single person in TN? I know that there are a lot of us here. I would be up for hosting an event and I am sure my hubby would help as he has experience in this dept. I could also drive as far as say anywhere in TN & Kentucky. I am frequently in GA and I know that we have a lot of people there and I would definitely try to make NC since there are so many people there.

 

Middle TN here....

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Me!! I'm in Mufreesboro. I e-mailed my name and location. ssexton (Shannon) is close to me too.

 

I asked dh if he thought we could fit20-30 in the house. He said 30 what? I said 30 homeschoolers and maybe even SWB...he looked frightened.:lol:

 

I'm NW of Nashville, in Clarksville.

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How about Cape Cod? Not in season though as it's crazy here and it's nearly impossible to make left-hand turns. September is lovely though. I have a venue (over-looking a harbor) that can hold up to 100 people.

 

Yep, count me in (whether or not SWB can make it, Cape Cod in September, aaahhh!!)

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Yes, I would. I hope you put that we'd have great video coverage should it come to your house. :D Maybe I could bring my ds to act as assistant, gopher, whatever.

 

Wouldn't that be fun? Although I'm pretty sure my kids would rather shoot an alien film or something instead of taping a homeschooling talk.:D

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