Books Bloom Seminars

 First of all, THANKS for considering hosting a seminar!

WHAT IS A BOOKSBLOOM SEMINAR?
Most of the time BooksBloom is at state or regional homeschool conferences, where our mini-bookstore of over 5,000 carefully selected books is a favorite booth. A BooksBloom seminar is an opportunity for booklovers to gather for a more informal time with Gary and Jan and their wonderful books. We enjoy these smaller, more intimate settings as an opportunity to teach and interact with book lovers and homeschoolers in a less busy atmosphere than that of a homeschool conference.

At a BooksBloom Seminar you will receive:

• Winning arguments that flaunt the modern ideology which esteems only electronic media.
• Affirmation for your own love of books through interaction with other bibliophiles.
• Instruction on how to develop your own cost-saving resources for procuring good books
• Encouragement to cultivate a dynamic home library that meets the needs of your family.
• Determination to rescue as many books as possible and boldness to proclaim, "any book worth reading is a book worth keeping!
• Honorary membership in the Book Rescue and Adoption Society, which legitimizes any and all booking!

HOW MUCH TIME IS NEEDED?
Our preferred time frame is a Friday evening through Saturday mid-afternoon or another weekday evening and next-day morning. However an afternoon and evening is an option. It takes us two hours to set up and two hours to tear down, so it is most comfortable to have a two day span of time, but we have condensed it into one day enough to know it is possible!

HOW MUCH SPACE IS NEEDED?
We need at least 3 10' x 10' spaces, which translates into many different configurations - a double car garage, a long, wide hallway, a classroom, or the back of a church. We are flexible though our book cases are not! Since we bring in the 38 book cases with a two-wheeled dolly, we also need access to the space WITHOUT using an elevator or stairs.

WHAT IS THE COST?
Though we would love to offer a free seminar so folks would be able to spend their hard-earned dollars on books, we have learned that we must charge a fee. It seems that if something is free, people think it has no value!

We have determined that a charge of $25 per family, with a portion of that being a credit on book sales ($15 off a purchase of $50+) is a great bargain, yet it is enough to keep a commitment. This is the only fee we charge. There is no additional speaking fee.

Pre-registration is not mandatory but it is encouraged, with special incentives like early shopping and a 25% discount on all books if there are at least 25 paid pre-registrations.

NOTE: each family counts as ONE pre-registration, regardless of how many of the family members attend the seminar.

HOW MANY ATTENDEES ARE REQUIRED?
We offer a special incentive for groups of 25 or more families: every one pre-registering gets a 25% discount on their purchase IN ADDITION to the $15 credit. We are happy to come for a group of less than 25 families, however we cannot offer this significant discount for smaller groups.

HOST BENEFITS
Host families receive free registration with all the benefits PLUS a $5 book credit on EACH pre-registration.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE
See "Conference Speaking" page for workshop descriptions

Two Day Seminar

Day 1

Noon-2   Set up

3 - 6     Preview shopping

6 -10   Shopping

6:30 - 7:30   workshop "Sailing on Living Light"

7:45-9:00     workshop"Keepers of the Books" (Jan)
                          "Gather 'Round, Children" (Gary)

10 PM     Close

Day 2

8:30 - 9   Open for shopping

8:30 - 1   Shopping

9 -10      workshop"Cradle to Grade: Giving your Child a Love for Books" (Jan)
                 "The Idiot's Guide to Building Bookcases" (Gary)
10:30-11:30   workshop"HELP! I'm Failing!" (Jan)
                             "How to REALLY Love Your Homeschooling Wife" (Gary)

1 PM   Close 

One-Day Seminar

Noon - 2   Set up

3- 9:30   Shopping

3- 4:30   workshop"Sailing on Living Light" (Jan)

5 - 6      workshop"Books for Boys" (Jan)
              "Gather 'Round, Children" (Gary)

6 - 7      Dinner break and book shopping

7 - 8:30   workshop"Help! I'm a Failure! (Jan)
                 "How to REALLY Love Your Homeschooling Wife" (Gary)

9:30   Close

HOUSING
Our housing needs vary with the temperature. We travel in a van that contains a comfortable queen sized bed, so in moderate weather we just need a level driveway and an available bathroom with a shower. In chilly weather (50 degrees or less) we don't mind an indoor bed in a home. Some groups have opted to rent a hotel room for us.

We've spent 18 years traveling in a van so we ain't scared of much!

CONTACT US
Email Jan