Conference Information

Location

Twin City Quarter (Benton Convention Center, Embassy Suites and Marriott), 301 W 5th St, Winston-Salem, NC 27101The Benton Conference Center is located in downtown Winston-Salem.

View Map in Google Maps 

Admissions

Full Conference Registration—This entitles you to attend the vendor hall, all conference and vendor workshops and keynote sessions, teen and alum activities, the talent showcase and the gatherings.

Vendor Hall Only Registration—This includes admission to the vendor hall, vendor workshops and the gatherings.

Wristbands and Nametags—Attendees registered for the full conference will wear green wristbands. Attendees registered for the vendor hall only will wear yellow wristbands. Speakers, NCHE officers and the conference team will wear green name tags. Vendors wear yellow name tags.

Tickets for Individual Events—If you are not registered for the full conference and would like to attend a workshop session, keynote, teen and alumni dance, teen and alumni games social, talent showcase, you can buy a ticket for $5 each to attend these. Purchase tickets at the registration table and then give them to a door monitor.

Conference Happenings 

All Three Days:

Conference Workshops—Conference workshops are talks by speakers who have been invited to participate in our conference. The topics are usually inspirational or instructional about homeschooling and family. Admission requires full conference registration or a $5 ticket.

Vendor Workshops—A vendor workshop is a talk by one of our vendors and usually explains their product but can also cover a variety of subjects. Admission requires full conference registration or vendor hall only registration.

Keynotes—There are 3 keynotes, Thursday 7:30 p.m., Friday 9:00 a.m., and Saturday 9:00 a.m. in Salem Ballroom. A keynote session begins with a 30 minute period of general business and then a keynote address by one of our featured speakers. Admission requires full conference registration or a $5 ticket.

 Children’s Program—The children’s program is provided by Giant Cow Ministries and available to conference attendees for an additional fee. Children should be preregistered in order to attend. Onsite registration will be taken if there is room. It is located in the Hearn Ballroom in the Marriott. It is open to children ages 3-11.

Mentoring—Experienced homeschoolers will be waiting to answer your homeschooling questions. The mentor table will be just outside the vendor hall by the main doors. The mentor table hours are 1:15-6:45 p.m. on Thursday, 9:15 a.m.-6:15 p.m. on Friday, and 9:15 a.m.-3:15 p.m. on Saturday.

Regional Gatherings—A time to meet others from your NCHE region will be scattered throughout the conference between workshop sessions. Find your region in the map and the time and room for your regional meeting in the general schedule and plan to attend the meeting for your region. Here is the link for the regional map https://www.nche.com/community/regions/.

Special Gatherings—These will be opportunities to gather with others who are in these special circumstances of homeschoolers. These gatherings will be scheduled between the workshops. The special gatherings for this year will include: Military, special needs, single parents, new homeschoolers, parents of preschoolers, parents of gifted children, homeschooling with a home business, adoptive parents, and homeschooling with a chronic illness. Just drop in and meet others!

Thursday

Leaders’ Luncheon and Workshop—NCHE hosts a special luncheon just for our homeschool leaders on Thursday 12:00-1:00 p.m. in the Pavilion. Preregistration is required. Registration for the luncheon does not include conference registration. A leaders’ workshop is from 1:15-2:15 p.m. in the Gaines Ballroom. This workshop is open to all. 

Teen and Alumni Cotillion-Style Dance—With an emphasis on instruction, NCHE offers this dance for our teens and alumni on Thursday 7:30 p.m. in the Pavilion. Admission requires full conference registration or a $5 ticket.

Alumni Coffee Social—All alumni are invited to join us for coffee and snacks in the event director’s suite in the Marriott Hotel at 9:45 p.m., Thursday, for a relaxing time to hang out with other homeschool alumni. For the room number ask at the conference help or conference registration tables.

Friday

College Fair—This is an opportunity for students to meet and talk with college recruiters who are interested in homeschooled students. This will be 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. on Friday and is located on the Garden Terrace on the second floor of the Embassy Suites.

Teen and Alumni Games Social—A games social will be held in the Pavilion, Friday night from the closing of the talent show until 10:45 p.m. NCHE will provide cards, board games and group games. Admission requires full conference registration or a $5 ticket.

Talent Showcase—Students who have been selected from an audition process showcase their talents, Friday at 7:45 p.m. in the Salem Ballroom. Admission requires full conference registration or a $5 ticket.

Saturday

Graduation—NCHE hosts a state-wide homeschool high school graduation ceremony on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. (admission not until 4:45 p.m.) in the Winston and Salem Ballrooms. All are invited to attend.

Vendor Hall Drawings—There will be 2 drawings on Saturday afternoon.
Signature Card Drawing for $250 in cash, Saturday 1:40 p.m.
Win Two—Free Conference Admission for 2020 (reimbursed) and 2021, Saturday 3:00 p.m. (Must be present to win.)

Conference Recordings

 Audio recordings—Audio recordings of conference workshops and keynotes will be reproduced in 2 ways: CDs and MP3s. The order forms may be found at registration or at the recording table located in the Winston Foyer.

Purchasing CDs—Recordings in CD format are available for sale only at the conference and must be picked up by the end of the conference. A complete set of all recordings on CDs may be purchased at the conference or online afterwards at a reduced price and will shipped. NCHE will not ship or mail individual CDs.

 Purchasing MP3s—Recordings in MP3 format will be available for a special price at the conference and for a short time afterwards. They may be ordered online at the NCHE website when they are available (within 24 hours after each session). A complete set of all recordings can be purchased on a flash drive at a reduced price and shipped.

 Graduation Video Recordings—AV Connections, Inc. will be video recording the graduation ceremonies. These recordings may be ordered onsite at the AVC table in the Salem Foyer or through their email address at avrentals@avconnectionsusa.com.

Miscellaneous

 Room Signs—We are using the Benton Convention Center’s electronic room signs to identify the workshops that will be in each room.

 Volunteering—Please consider being one of our very important volunteers! If you are willing to help out, go here https://www.nche.com/thrive/general-information/thrive-volunteer/.

Workshop Handouts—Some of the speakers prepare a handout (with notes about their talks). These can be found online at nche.com/thrive/speakers/handouts in May.

Nursing Mothers Room—We have set aside the Shober Boardroom (across from Gaines in the Embassy) for the convenience of nursing mothers.

 Conference Help Table—If you have questions about the conference, drop by the conference help table at the entrance of the Benton.

 Lost and Found—Lost and Found is located at the registration table and at the NCHE table in the vendor hall, booth 1.

Interpreting Services—NCHE will provide interpreting services if we know far enough in advance to contract for these. The deadline that allows this time is April 30. Please email Debbie Mason, events@nche.com, with a list of workshops that you desire interpreting for by this deadline.

Hotel Reservations for Marriott and Embassy Suites for the 2020 Conference—These reservations can be made beginning October 1 of each year at 9:00 a.m. Rooms, especially in the Embassy, will go very quickly, but many times there are more available before the conference as people release their reservations. Note that the dates for the 2020 conference will be May 28-30.

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