About Barb Shelton speaking at her own conference

About

bringing Barb Shelton

(and an assistant)

to come and speak at

her own one-day

(and evening-before)

seminar

THE EVENT: This would be *just me* speaking the entire time. So you would have to first decide if you can handle that! (I smile, but I'm also actually totally serious.) Click on this link for the Seminar I did in Arizona in March of 2002.

As for the specifics of what I would teach, there are several "basic staples" I do at every seminar, and then there are a few options that you would get to choose. (I do more workshops than I have vocal chord endurance and time to present.) Click here: Barb Shelton's Workshops for a list of ALL the workshops I present; see the page above for how we put several (most) of those together for an all-day (and evening-before) seminar.

COST: I handle this differently from other speakers, so I hope this makes sense and you can follow it okay. (Let me know if there's a better way to explain it.)

I do not have one set fee. Since the operating costs vary greatly according to how close you live to me ~ in Washington State ~ we need to be more flexible. There are two aspects to consider: "Operating Costs" and "Speaker Remuneration." Let's take them one at a time:

~ OPERATING COSTS: In putting on a seminar, there are always many costs involved. Unless you have been part of coordinating such an event, you will probably be surprised at what all is involved; things you may not have ever thought of. Transportation for the speaker and one assistant (either my husband or a friend who's familiar with my message and has been trained to do this), lodging and food for both of us, handouts, table signs, etc. ... These costs are not considered part of compensating the speaker for her (my) time; this is just getting us there, housing and feeding us, and taking care of all the business end of things.

Because these costs vary greatly, according to how far we live from you, how much individuals in the hosting group want to contribute to the cause, we can't just set a certain blanket amount for all seminars; we have to figure each one individually. So if you read through this whole page and all my workshop titles and feel that this is a "right fit," then we will work on figuring out the money/cost end of things together!

SPEAKER REMUNERATION: My husband and I have finally decided that it is needful and appropriate to charge a set fee for presenting an all-day seminar. I actually would have preferred the idea of having a love offering at the seminar. It would feel more "grace based" to handle the entire matter with just a love offering and let that cover ALL the expenses and the gift to the speaker for giving four days of her life to your group (there's much more to it than merely the time spent speaking, but we have found that this does not always work.

If you want to know why, here's what's behind this... At one seminar we did which had about 100 people, we received a $900 love offering. That sounds like a lot of money at first, and is, but take a look at the costs involved in putting on one of these, (further down on this page) and you will quickly see that, had we had to pay all the costs normally involved in putting it on, we would actually have gone in the hole. Doing a little math, we see that the average donation per person was $9! I think what was most disturbing to me personally was what this means... For one thing, there were several who gave much more than the average: we received several checks for $25 and $35. So this means that there had to be many who gave much less than the $9 average; maybe $1 or $2 ~ or nothing! We realize that some people don't have money to spare, but could they really not have prayed in something that would have said "I value your time and your message and all that you have given me and gone through to get here enough to have sacrificed something that would have expressed my heart."? I can't imagine feeling good about receiving so much from a person, and not blessing them back. And this group of gals even knew that on Saturday I was operating with a horrible migraine headache, and was doing this in the midst of our family vacation. And it was still worth only that much (little) to them. If money is an issue, we have a God who supplies all our needs. "The servant is worthy of her hire."

At another informal, but several-hour gathering I did with about 20 homeschool moms, they took a love offering that totaled around $15!!!

So all that to say... Much as we would LIKE to, we simply cannot count on our attendees' good will to fund this. And we cannot *pay* to do it either. So we have decided on $300 to $400 for my fee. (If you have not checked speaker prices lately, you may want to know that this is extremely cheap ~ or "inexpensive.") $300 is my "local" fee ~ for traveling within 2 hours of our home. Beyond that it goes to $400 to compensate for the extra day that will be taken up by travel. Specifics are below for the expenses involved.

Here's what the registration

fee needs to cover:

1) TRANSPORTATION (there, and while I'm there) Depending on how far away from me you are, "getting me there" would be either car mileage (at 29 cents per mile) or airfare for two: myself and one other helper.

Another small detail to remember about getting us there is the idea of getting us ALL the way there! We would need transportation to and from the airport, which we greatly prefer to be a PERSON who will help us carry all our STUFF.

If we come by jet, the host makes all arrangements for the flight, gets the tickets, and then sends them to me. Perhaps someone in your group has transferable "frequent flyer miles" available?

      As for the transportation whilst we're there... This could just be anyone ~ with a good-size vehicle ~ who would like to be our escort! (We have a LOT of stuff!) Another option is to get us a rental car, but we don't really need one if someone is willing to do this for us! (Good way to get to TALK one on one!!!)

2) LODGING & FOOD: It usually works best for us to stay at a hotel, and if that's the option we choose, it doesn't need to be snazzy. We have found that staying at a home often does not usually work for a couple of reasons: Part of it is that I need to be completely free to prepare mentally, emotionally and spiritually for my upcoming workshops. Also, after a day of teaching, I need to just "crash" (as in "drop dead") in privacy and quiet. Many times when staying at homes, I found myself feeling the need to be a "good guest" and having to talk late into the evening ~ after already having talked all day ~ and, in essence, give my hostess more than I have in me at the time to give. It has often ended up being a full-fledged private consultation, and this at a time when I was running on "less than empty" ~ totally wiped out. Even just regular conversation is overwhelming at such a time. (If you have ever given an all-day seminar, perhaps you can identify; if not, you'll just have to take my word for it! ) This would be fun in a different situation, but it invariably results in me having a migraine for the next couple of days... even *more* time away from my family and business.

As for food, we enjoy home-made food and sack lunches if anyone has those to offer, but, if not, we would need for the host group to pay for our meals.

3) HANDOUTS: We have two ways of handling handouts: One is that I can send you my originals; you copy, collate, and staple the handouts for the number of attendees you have coming. (Most machines do this for you now!) OR I can do the copying and we can add that to the price of the seminar. (coming right up!)

4) BOOK TABLE: Actually, this shouldn't cost you anything; just any ol' sturdy tables will do! We need two 8-foot tables ~ or three 6-foot tables ~ for displaying our books. My assistant (husband or a helper) who comes with me will handle this, so I won't need a volunteer to "man" ("woman") the table while I am speaking. The only time I'd need a volunteer at our booth would be for if my helper and I are speaking at the same time, or if one of us needs to take a quick break. (And we are quite happy to compensate the helper for their time!)

How to figure out

the cost per person for the

registration fee...

This is going to depend on what the actual costs are, how many people attend, how far away from us you live (airfare varies greatly whether you're in California or Florida). So we will work together on this to come up with a fee that is appropriate for your event.

BALL PARK FIGURE? Let's just say that airfare for two is $600, hotel is $75/night for two nights ($150), handouts are $50, advertising (flyers mostly) is $100, and refreshment supplies are $100. (I'm sure there's more that I'm not thinking of right now, but this is a good place to start.) That's a total of $1,000. That seems like a lot of money, and IS, but let's break it down... Let's say that 50 people come (which is the minimum, by the way); that's only $20 a person! This is not just VERY reasonable for an all-day seminar (and a session the evening before too!); it's dirt cheap! Or if 100 people come, that's $10/person. If 25 people come, it's $40/person, and that's still extremely inexpensive.

LOVE OFFERING: The love offering that a person (couple) would give would be totally up to them; we don't even give suggestions. We encourage each couple to pray about it and give that amount at the end of the seminar, in a box designated for that purpose. (We don't even pass around for it. The box will have a sign on it, so they can't miss it.) All we ask is that people really give it some thought and prayer. If God is truly saying "Give $1" then we are fine with that.

Details, Details, Details..

TIMING: I would need to arrive there the day before the seminar, set up the room and table that evening, and stay the night before to be ready to go in the morning. ... If driving, we'd possibly return home in the evening, after the conference is over, depending on how far away we are ~ so we're looking at one or two nights lodging.

SEMINAR CONTENT: Click here to see the specific workshop titles I offer. However, I have already gathered everything into a good presentation order for a whole-day seminar with an evening session the night before. Click here to see the entire write-up on this. About a third of the way down the page is the Agenda. For a variety of reasons, this is a very good way to organize all the material I have to offer.

GROUP SIZE: I ask for you to make an effort to get as many there as possible. 50 should really be the minimum. We need to have a good-size group for a couple of reasons:

~ The main one is because I do so few in-person seminars, I want to connect with as many people as possible. To do this there needs to first be a very "open door," meaning hearts that are already open to my message and receptive to it.

~ And the other reason (we need at least 50) is that there needs to be enough admission fees contributed to cover all the expenses. It costs pretty much the same to get me (us) there for 50 as it does for 500. (There'd just be more for handouts.)

PREPARED HEARTS: It's really not the best use of your time for me to come and just "break ground." My books will do that. So urge your attendees to read whatever they can of mine (see Books by Barb Shelton) long (months, if possible) before the seminar. It's actually a much more valuable, enjoyable and profitable use of everyone's time ~ of our time together in person ~ for me to do some good "planting, pruning, fertilizing, and harvesting." If my books have been read, then hearts will be more prepared to go much deeper and get much more out of this seminar!

FACILITY: It's up to the host (you) to provide a room that's big enough for the group you'll be hosting, and make all arrangements that way. (If you're having me for an all-day event, it's nice, and, I hate to say it, but pretty much expected by the guests, to have coffee and tea for breaks.) It's obviously best if it can be free-of-charge, but if they do need to charge, we will need to add that into the admission fee.

GETTING WORD OUT! I will personalize a webpage, similar to the Arizona Seminar one above, just for your event! This will be tremendously helpful to you in getting information out as you will be able to give just a brief intro in an email and then give them the link! There are, of course, some homeschoolers who do not have computers ~ or at least Mom is too busy being a Mom to know how to use it! ~ therefore I have provided write-ups for your newsletter or newspaper, right on that page!

Okay, so,

all that said, where do we

go from here?

Because traveling and on-site speaking is such a tremendous drain for me and my family, at this point I do as much of my "speaking" as possible by audio tape, doing just a few "in person" speaking engagements each year. And those I want to be "God ordained." In other words, I'm not seeking to speak; I am delighted to answer the call of God if it's a "divine appointment" ~ in which case I believe you and I will both know that it's God's timing.

So that's where I'm coming from, and where we need to start ~ praying to see if this is a "match made in Heaven." This will become clear as we see if there is an "open door" for my message. meaning enough hearts that are already open to my message and receptive to it, willing to share their "treasure" with others and help usher them to the full freedom God has for them.

It's really not the best use of my time and yours for me to come and just "break ground." My books will do that. When I come, it's the best use of everyone's time for me to do some good "planting, pruning, fertilizing, and harvesting." It's a much more valuable, enjoyable and profitable use of everyone's time this way! If it is, God will open all the doors that need to open. We will need to do some "knocking," but in the process we'll trust His leading and timing.

If, after reading "all the above" and praying about and discussing it with your spouse and a few other homeschoolers, you are interested in having me come and speak, please contact me and we'll discuss it further!

~~~~