Your thoughts on the Great Homeschool Conventions...

[gardening momma]

Well, kind of.

 

Of all the workshops, only two or three of them were workshops on actual homeschooling (one by Cathy Duffy, who discussed the different philosophies such as Classical or Charlotte Mason; one by a new statewide Texas group, in which an award was given to Jessica Hulcey, and the legalities of homeschooling in Texas was discussed). The rest were all parenting or family workshops, all presented by people who had written books of some kind. None of the workshop presenters were local, experienced homeschoolers, the ones who could give practical, useful advice on actual homeschool issues (you see my bias showing through).

 

The exhibit hall seemed to be pretty decent; Rainbow Resource wasn't there, so no Saxon or Easy Grammar or Writing Strands or all those other products that are ever popular.

 

I was annoyed with the GHC website; finding the actual street address of the convention center was difficult (I finally found it on the exhibitor page), and an actual grid-like schedule.

Dh and I have gone to the GHC convention in Cinci for several years. We both love it. 

 

Regarding the part about the workshops being presented by people who have written books of some kind...I've come to the conclusion that generally, if a convention speaker has a substantial amount of information to impart, then they've usually written a book about it. (and I'm OK with that) From what I understand, the speakers pay to speak at the convention. So if they don't have anything to sell, they don't have a way to recoup the cost of the speaker fee, gas/flight, hotel, and food.

 

As far as a grid-like schedule, I think that would take up a lot more paper for printing. The convention in Cincinnati usually has at least 10-15 15-20 (edited) speakers per hour. I always copy & paste the schedule into a Word document and reformat it to take up less space. You could make it into a grid format if you wanted to.

[gardening momma]

Haven't finished reading the thread yet....

 

Just have to add that I have found that, with the exception of the smaller, sometimes lesser-known companies/publishers, the speakers who are talking about academics/homeschooling/specific subjects have useful information that I can use even if I don't use or plan to use the curriculum or other books that they sell. It seems that the more well-known they or their materials are, the more broadly useful their information is. For example, a few years ago I attended a notebooking session by um...I think the author or publisher of Galloping the Globe...can't remember her name off hand. She had a ton of information & examples of how to notebook, and it didn't require purchase of her materials.

 

On the other hand, several years ago I attended one about teaching a child to read, and while the speaker had some neat game suggestions, her talk was mostly about what she sells. She was also very new to speaking publicly, and it showed. I feel that I got much less out of her talk because of that (not that I blame her...I felt for her). But if she were more experienced, she'd probably be able to share more useful information.

[gardening momma]

I don't think it matters if your local/state group wants to invite GHC or not. If you can rent a convention center, you can have a convention (no matter what city). GHC can have a convention whether they're invited or not. It's not about being allowed, invited, or uninvited.

[Ellie]

I don't think it matters if your local/state group wants to invite GHC or not. If you can rent a convention center, you can have a convention (no matter what city). GHC can have a convention whether they're invited or not. It's not about being allowed, invited, or uninvited.

 

This is true. :-) It is only that some people here are talking with them about it and encouraging them to come to this area, one which does not currently have any sort of large event.

[Professormom]

I didn't read through all posts yet, but one point on the speakers promoting products. I have been to Cincy a number of times and haven't noticed an overt sell in any of the author/publisher talks I have been to. I think the organizers stress that, if you are speaking, you need to bring value, not an infomercial. I have been to many conferences in my professional life BC (before children lol) and the speakers are often sponsors or providers. That is how the price stays low:-) In any case, the GHC seems to discourage the "sell hard" type of talk. Hope that helps:-)

[PeacefulChaos]

I've never been to a GHC, but I'm just reading through the thread out of curiosity and I wouldn't consider any workshop that is 'sponsored' by a certain curriculum company to fall under the general homeschooling category.  I consider those to be more 'selling our curriculum' or 'how to use our curriculum'.  (Which takes the list above down to only about 2)

 

 

 

GHC is really religious, right?  Our state one can be, too, but I'm sticking with it because I'm hoping that through the years of going and remaining involved, I can bring another perspective onto their radar.  Kind of a 'change from the inside' type thing, even though I can't say I'm trying to 'change' it - just open up their thinking a little more, beyond just the uber-conservative set.  (There's still plenty at our state convention for the non-religious homeschooler, though, too, IMO.)

 

I just wanted to expound on my first paragraph.

Sometimes, people who *represent* or *work for* a certain company are not necessarily selling curriculum.  I know that.  I think that in the list in the post above my original one, I was looking at the list and thought that they were being listed as 'so and so with such and such company' which usually *is* more about the stuff they sell.  

For example, my state convention has speakers listed with their workshops, but then it also has workshops that are done by the actual company.  I expect those by the company to be very much about their product; however, if I see a speaker's name and have to go to their bio to figure out who they work for, chances are they won't be.

Just wanted to clear that up. :)

[gardening momma]

...

For example, my state convention has speakers listed with their workshops, but then it also has workshops that are done by the actual company.  I expect those by the company to be very much about their product; however, if I see a speaker's name and have to go to their bio to figure out who they work for, chances are they won't be.

Just wanted to clear that up. :)

At the Cincinnati convention, you can often tell which ones are more about the product--they will be further down the list for the time slot, they will have a smaller room, often the name of the product is in the name of the talk, sometimes the company name will be given instead of a speaker name, and the talk description will indicate the talk is about the product.