very first convention we attended<\/a> was quite interesting.\u00a0 It was a bit rough (an understatement).\u00a0 Our youngest was 7 months old at the time and since she was nursing she had to go with us.\u00a0 The trip threw her off which threw us off.\u00a0 One of the nights I\u00a0think it was 5 AM before the baby (and I) finally\u00a0fell asleep.\u00a0 Despite the few bumps we did enjoy ourselves.\u00a0 Last year, it was just hubby and I that attended the convention and then in the fall we attended the Special Needs Conference for the first time.\u00a0 This year will be our third year attending the convention.\u00a0 I am looking forward to the time away with hubby!<\/p>\nThere is a vendor hall and you will meet dozens of vendors.\u00a0 Some vendors you may have heard about and others are new.\u00a0 You get to see the curriculum in person, flip through it, have any questions answered.\u00a0\u00a0 Most vendors offer some sort of convention special whether it is a percentage off, a free item, or free shipping (Some offer some sort of combination).\u00a0 If you are going to be attending multiple days, don’t plan on buying anything on the first day unless you know for 100% you need it.\u00a0 Like the next level of curriculum that is\u00a0totally working\u00a0and you have no desires of changing it.\u00a0 Collect brochures of booths that you stop at and take them back to your hotel room and look through them.\u00a0 Make a note of any booths that you want to revisit and write down any questions that you have.\u00a0 Go back and visit the booths again.<\/p>\n
Workshops!\u00a0 I absolutely love workshops!\u00a0 After the weekend I come back refreshed and renewed!\u00a0\u00a0There are 13 sessions at my local convention spread over two\u00a0days.\u00a0 Lots of hard\u00a0decisions to make on which workshops to attend and which ones to catch on\u00a0the audio recordings.\u00a0 If your convention offers the workshops on audio files, it is worth it to buy a copy to listen to workshops throughout the year.<\/p>\n
If you can swing it and\u00a0stay at the host hotel, I highly recommend it.\u00a0 The first two years we stayed off site and then for the conference this past\u00a0fall we were able to stay on site.\u00a0 It made a world of difference!\u00a0\u00a0 When you stay off site, you have to get up earlier, go eat, drive to the host hotel, wait in long lines to park (our convention has over 15,000 people attending – we have waited 30+ minutes to park) and then the time it takes to go from your car to get in.\u00a0 Once you are there you are\u00a0stuck there until you are ready to\u00a0leave for the day.\u00a0 With staying at the host hotel for the fall conference, I was able to get up and eat a quick bite and head over to the conference.\u00a0 It was nice not having to deal with parking and the conference was tiny compared to the convention!\u00a0 Hubby was able to sleep in and catch up with me later on in the morning.\u00a0 We decided this year if we were able to get a room at the host hotel we would do that again.\u00a0 The special convention rates at the hotel is only available for a very short time because it fills up quickly.\u00a0\u00a0It was only available for a few weeks before the rooms were sold out.\u00a0 If you want to stay on site plan to reserve your room early!<\/p>\n
Some tips<\/p>\n
\n- Bring your own bottled water and snacks\n