Category: Conference

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Giving

I love giving away functional and beautiful things. I love sharing companies that I value, that are local or small or Christian-based or mama-run. I love reading off numbers from blue construction paper tickets and waiting for acknowledgement from a conference attendee that she has won a book, or jewelry, or artwork, or magazines, or apparel, or coffee mugs. I finally understand Oprah, just a wee little bit. There’s just something sweet and marvelous, twinkly to the point of nearly magical, about surprising dozens of ladies with something special. For the first few years of conferences, I purchased all the giveaway items personally, not knowing that I could make cold calls or send similarly cold emails, to ask authors or artists, companies or creators, to donate things for giveaways. That certainly does help! And I love the anticipation of waiting for the mail deliveries of all these fun things. It’s a unique small networking, and I love it. And while I don’t get to keep any of the things that are donated, it sure is fun to handle and photograph and show off the items before actually giving them away to the winning women.

Take a peek at what some of these amazing sponsoring companies have provided!

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Conference Fever

I know November is still five months away, but along with spring fever comes conference fever for me this year! While last year’s planning scheme didn’t begin until the middle of summer, I have the joy of being able to do some earlier planning. (I’m also welcoming a new baby very soon, so I will be juggling all the things!) I would love pray for all the details to be smooth and sweet so that we can provide every attendee with a day of rest, refueling, fellowship, joy, and encouragement for the good (& hard) work of raising their children for the Kingdom of God!

I am still getting some contracts finalized for speakers, and look forward to releasing the details soon! It is a joy to get emails from people asking about the conference theme, who the speakers are, what the topics will be, etc. I’m chomping at the bit to share some of the news with everyone! Soon, soon. 🙂

In the meantime, make sure you are following Paideia Northwest on Facebook or Instagram, because that is the easiest way to get our information as it is released. Of course, it will also be posted right here on our website.

I heard recently from the Institute for Excellence in Writing, and the day workshops for November 7th and 8th have begun to fill up, so if you or your friends (or your school or co op) still want to get your kids signed up for those writing workshops, head over to the registration page with IEW and get that done. You don’t want to miss out!

Just a couple more months until we will begin Early Bird registration for the Paideia Northwest conference! If you have input or feedback to share as I am finalizing details for the event, please feel free to contact me with ideas. You never know when you might be the one with a creative answer to a confounding question. 🙂

God bless your spring fever (and conference fever!) and summer activities ~ there are beautiful things in the works, and our God is faithful indeed.

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Conference Sponsor Information

Are you interested in sponsoring a portion of our upcoming Paideia Northwest conference?! This is the spot to find information about that! Read on, and feel free to contact us if you would like to receive the Sponsor Packet with all this information sent directly to your inbox.

Although having a conference for the specific encouragement of Christian-educating moms/families in the Spokane area had been overdue, this did nothing but strengthen our zeal: enter Paideia Northwest LLC, now putting together an annual conference right here in Spokane to encourage, uplift, & build community among moms who are raising their children in the nurture & admonition of the Lord.

The idea for the event itself came from a hunger to see a Spokane-based conference for the encouragement, community-building, and fellowship-forming of Christian homeschooling moms, Christian day-schooling moms, and Christian moms with public schooled kids in our region. The primary audience for Paideia Northwest will likely be the Classical Christian homeschooling niche, but our desire is to break down barriers and nurture camaraderie across methods, to sharpen iron together, to lift one another up as we each endeavor to raise children for Christ and His Kingdom. Most of the opportunities for this type of event happen over on the west side – Portland, Vancouver, Bellevue… and for a lot of us on this side of the Cascades, taking the time & money to travel that far just isn’t feasible—especially when we are busy educating our children for Christ in the first place. So we stick to our pioneer roots, pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps, to get it done. We fall into individualistic, isolated practices far too easily. While we may have our kids engaged in all kinds of things like  speech club, chess club, team sports, music lessons, and weekly co op classes, the need for specific encouragement for the moms (who are in the trenches doing the daily labors of educating the intellects & fattening the souls of their children) remains. This is the gap Paideia Northwest seeks to narrow. Our vision is to provide an annual conference right here in Spokane (with the possibility of branching out eventually) which would highlight speakers, vendors, companies, and products with roots right here in the northwest region of our country—but also beyond, showcasing things that people around here love to use regardless of whether they are homegrown or not.

Our second annual event on Saturday, November 9th, 2019 will feature keynote speaker Andrew Pudewa, along with supporting speakers Mystie Winckler, Jason Farley, Missy Andrews, and ND Wilson. Our theme this year is Living Stories, how we use stories in raising children & creating culture, and how we see ourselves & our children as characters in God’s story.  Registration is now open. Each of the five conference sessions on 11.9.19 will be 45 minutes in length, with a minimum of 15 minute breaks between, and a 90 minute catered luncheon – finally, the day will wrap up wi0th a 60 minute roundtable Q&A session. The conference itself will run 9am – 5pm, but we would like vendors open by 8:30 and to remain open until 5:30. Additionally, we are able to offer two optional special events at 7pm on November 7th & 8th! These will each be a 90 minute session, followed by fellowship. Our current projection estimate is for 250+ attendees this year, but we will have a better idea of numbers once registration has continued for a while.

Costs for the event will include speaker fees, speaker lodging & food stipends, event location, event insurance, catering, janitorial service, printed materials, website domain and development, and PayPal fees, which leads us seeking to partner with a small number of Generous Sponsors to help offset the cost—especially because many of these things need to be paid for upfront before we have access to ticket registration funds.

We have multiple sponsorship levels to share with you, each with an increasing amount of exposure (on social media, in print at the event, and from the podium at the conference itself) for your company or family, if you wish it—although we are also happy to take anonymous sponsorships, if you prefer.

Would you be interested in partnering with us to prayerfully and financially support the work of Paideia Northwest LLC in this way?

While all applications for sponsorships are subject to approval from Paideia Northwest LLC, and we will contact you after your application is approved to make further arrangements, we are eager to open our hands to whatever gift the Lord has put upon your heart to share with us, to extend toward this group of women in our region. (If you are sponsoring through a company, we are seeking to keep things on a Christian/education/parenting emphasis, with missions in line with biblical principles.)
Beyond financial needs, we would love to have you partner with us in prayer for all the many details that are required to bring together this event.

Thank you for considering partnering with us in this endeavor for the furthering of God’s Kingdom!

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Sponsorship Opportunities

We have five sponsorship levels to share with you, each with an increasing amount of exposure (on social media, in print at the event, and from the podium at the conference itself) for your company or family:

Daisy • (six available) • If your company/family would donate $100 to Paideia Northwest for this event, we will be able to provide a goodie for the swag bags to bring joy to these hardworking mamas raising children for Christ.

Tulip • (four available) • If your company/family would donate $200 to Paideia Northwest for this event, you will sponsor gift tickets to six women who would otherwise not be able to attend.

Iris • (one available) • If your company/family would donate $300 to Paideia Northwest for this event, you will provide a sound technician for the event, to amplify the sessions as well as record them, for distribution after the event to those unable to attend Living Stories on November 9th, 2019.

Peony • (one available) • If your company/family would donate $400 to Paideia Northwest for this event, you will be sponsoring our coffee & snacks table to lift the bodies & hearts of these hardworking mamas raising children for Christ as they listen to sessions which challenge them to courage in their daily tasks; we will include a poster on the table giving thanks for your sponsorship & honor your contribution from the podium, as well as gladly have a stack of your business cards available on the coffee table or included in the swag bags (per your choice). We will also highlight our thanks for your sponsorship on social media. (Spoken for!)

Custom • (unlimited availability) • If you would like to tailor your sponsorship, or sponsor anonymously, we will happily discuss options with you.

And YES, if you would like to sponsor more than one area, you are welcome to combine options to suit your heart’s desires.

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Sponsorship Market Opportunities

CONFERENCE JOURNAL AD PAGE

Each attendee will receive a journal at registration.
You may apply to purchase an ad for your company in the conference journal as a form of sponsorship.

Fees & Details for Journal Ads:

  • $25 (half page ad)
    4.5 in. [wide] x 3 in. [high]
    NO BLEEDS, NO CROP MARKS. COLOR CMYK and/or grayscale files are acceptable
    All resolutions should be 300 dpi
    PDF or JPEG
    Final art 20 MB max
  • $50 (full page ad)
    4.5 in. [wide] x 7.5 in. [high]
    NO BLEEDS, NO CROP MARKS. COLOR CMYK and/or grayscale files are acceptable
    All resolutions should be 300 dpi
    PDF or JPEG
    Final art 20 MB max

All ads must be sent to Melissa at [email protected] by October 25th, 2019 to be included in the conference journal. Each ad will be subject to approval.

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ONLINE APPLICATION:

Visit this link to apply for these various sponsorship opportunities

The link will go live on Monday, August 26th, 2019, and all applications must be submitted by Friday, October 25th, 2019

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Conference Vendor Information

Are you interested in being a vendor at our upcoming Paideia Northwest conference?! This is the spot to find information about that! Read on, and feel free to contact us if you would like to receive the Vendor Packet with all this information sent directly to your inbox.

Although having a conference for the specific encouragement of Christian-educating moms/families in the Spokane area had been overdue, this did nothing but strengthen our zeal: enter Paideia Northwest LLC, now putting together an annual conference right here in Spokane to encourage, uplift, & build community among moms who are raising their children in the nurture & admonition of the Lord.

The idea for the event itself came from a hunger to see a Spokane-based conference for the encouragement, community-building, and fellowship-forming of Christian homeschooling moms, Christian day-schooling moms, and Christian moms with public schooled kids in our region. The primary audience for Paideia Northwest will likely be the Classical Christian homeschooling niche, but our desire is to break down barriers and nurture camaraderie across methods, to sharpen iron together, to lift one another up as we each endeavor to raise children for Christ and His Kingdom. Most of the opportunities for this type of event happen over on the west side – Portland, Vancouver, Bellevue… and for a lot of us on this side of the Cascades, taking the time & money to travel that far just isn’t feasible—especially when we are busy educating our children for Christ in the first place. So we stick to our pioneer roots, pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps, to get it done. We fall into individualistic, isolated practices far too easily. While we may have our kids engaged in all kinds of things like  speech club, chess club, team sports, music lessons, and weekly co op classes, the need for specific encouragement for the moms (who are in the trenches doing the daily labors of educating the intellects & fattening the souls of their children) remains. This is the gap Paideia Northwest seeks to narrow. Our vision is to provide an annual conference right here in Spokane (with the possibility of branching out eventually) which would highlight speakers, vendors, companies, and products with roots right here in the northwest region of our country—but also beyond, showcasing things that people around here love to use regardless of whether they are homegrown or not.

Our second annual event on Saturday, November 9th, 2019 will feature keynote speaker Andrew Pudewa, along with supporting speakers Mystie Winckler, Jason Farley, Missy Andrews, and ND Wilson. Our theme this year is Living Stories, how we use stories in raising children & creating culture, and how we see ourselves & our children as characters in God’s story.  Registration is now open. Each of the five conference sessions on 11.9.19 will be 45 minutes in length, with a minimum of 15 minute breaks between, and a 90 minute catered luncheon – finally, the day will wrap up with a 60 minute roundtable Q&A session. The conference itself will run 9am – 5pm, but we would like vendors open by 8:30 and to remain open until 5:30. Our current projection estimate is for 250+ attendees this year, but we will have a better idea of numbers once registration has continued for a while.

Would you be interested in setting up an exhibit to share your work, company, or products with our attendees?

We are also looking for any willing vendors to donate a favorite book, their company’s logo on an item, or other product for a drawing/giveaway—in exchange for a notable mention from the podium with our deepest gratitude.
You don’t even have to sign up as an exhibitor to donate products for a giveaway! If you would like to share something for a giveaway, in exchange for us including your business cards in swag bags for every attendee, please let us know.
We would happily include other promo items in our swag bags for each attendee as well, subject to our discretion.

We have limited space for vendors, and are seeking to carefully curate the represented companies and products for our endeavors of blessing homeschool, Christian school, and other educating families as they raise the next generation for Christ here in the Pacific Northwest.

All applications are subject to approval from Paideia Northwest LLC, and we will contact you after your application is approved to make further arrangements.

Thank you for considering partnering with us in this endeavor for the furthering of God’s Kingdom!

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Exhibitor Opportunities

The Exhibitor Area allows your information or merchandise to be displayed and purchased. Each vendor will handle all their own sale transactions.

Please indicate that you are interested in this opportunity on the application.

EXHIBIT DETAILS

  • One eight-foot table
  • Two chairs
  • Small garbage can
  • Conference registration for up to Two People
  • Catered Luncheon for up to Two People

SET-UP DETAILS
Saturday, November 9th, 8:00 am – 8:30 am at Opportunity Presbyterian Church in Spokane Valley
Conference registration & check-in opens at 8:30am
Conference runs from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

BREAK-DOWN DETAILS
Saturday, November 9th, 5:00 – 5:30.
Facility must be vacated by 6:00pm

FEES FOR EXHIBITORS

  • One table – $150
  • Additional tables – $50 each
  • Additional exhibitor registration/lunch – $30
  • Journal Ad – $25 (half page)
  • Journal Ad – $50 (full page)

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Marketing Opportunities

CONFERENCE JOURNAL AD PAGE

Each attendee will receive a journal at registration.
You may purchase an ad for your company in the conference journal.

Fees & Details for Journal Ads:

  • $25 (half page ad)
    4.5 in. [wide] x 3 in. [high]
    NO BLEEDS, NO CROP MARKS. COLOR CMYK and/or grayscale files are acceptable
    All resolutions should be 300 dpi
    PDF or JPEG
    Final art 20 MB max
  • $50 (full page ad)
    4.5 in. [wide] x 7.5 in. [high]
    NO BLEEDS, NO CROP MARKS. COLOR CMYK and/or grayscale files are acceptable
    All resolutions should be 300 dpi
    PDF or JPEG
    Final art 20 MB max

All ads must be sent to Melissa at [email protected] by October 25th, 2019 to be included in the conference journal. Each ad will be subject to approval.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ONLINE APPLICATION:

Click here to apply for these various vendor opportunities

All applications must be submitted & payments made by Friday, October 25th, 2019

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IEW Writing Workshops Coming to Spokane!!

We are delighted to sponsor Andrew Pudewa coming to Spokane in November 2019 to bring two days of IEW workshops to families in our NW region! Last summer, I traveled to the opposite corner of our state to take two of my children to IEW workshops… they enjoyed them so much, they basically begged me to find a way to bring Andrew Pudewa to our own city of Spokane. Well, here you have it!

Please don’t make the same mistake I have made in the past… assuming that registration won’t fill up right away… because it just might. There are limited seats for each workshop, and if you want to participate, please don’t delay.

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Paideia Northwest Conference, 2018 Schedule

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10th, 2018

8:30 am – 9:00 am Registration & Check-In
9:00 am – 9:15 am Welcome & Announcements
9:15 am – 10:00 am Session One, MYSTIE WINCKLER, THE COURAGE TO CONTINUE
10:00 am – 10:15 am Coffee Break
10:15 am – 11:00 am Session Two, ADAM ANDREWS, EDUCATION’S HIGHEST CALLING
11:00 am – 11:15 am Coffee Break
11:15 am – 12:00 pm Session Three, RACHEL JANKOVIC, A MOTHER’S PROGRESS
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm Fellowship Luncheon
1:30 pm – 2:15 pm Session Four, MYSTIE WINCKLER, THE COURAGE TO LEAD
2:15 pm – 2:30 pm Coffee Break
2:30 pm – 3:15 pm Session Five, ADAM ANDREWS, WITCHES, WIZARDS, & WANDS—OH MY!
3:15 pm – 4:00 pm ALL-SPEAKERS Roundtable Discussion with Q&A
4:00 pm – 4:30 pm Farewell Fellowship and Last-Call for Vendors

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Conference Details

Is anybody wondering about the details of Courage for the Daily?! There are so many wonderful things in process, and I can hardly wait to share all of the details with you.

For now, let me just fill you in on a few things that I think will really get you excited about the upcoming conference.

We have already introduced you to our three keynote speakers… I don’t know about you, but I am eager to be filled by their words to urge us on with courage in the work God has given us in the raising of children for His Kingdom. Mystie Winckler will present two sessions, Adam Andrews will present two sessions, and Rachel Jankovic will provide us with an icing-on-the-cake session as well. The lunch hour will be full of fellowship, and your luncheon will be catered by Red Rock. There will be vendor exhibits for browsing & shopping, and giveaways throughout the day to spoil some of these hardworking mamas attending the conference. We will end the day with a Roundtable Q&A with all of our speakers.

One of my main prayers was for God to provide the perfect location for the event. I wanted the venue to be as easily accessible to as many women as possible, so easy access to Interstate-90 was on my wishlist, but I also wanted to highly prioritize feeling like the parking was adequate & the location was safe. I want these wonderful women to be protected while they park and walk, and also desire for their vehicles to be in a safe place for the whole day. How did God provide?! Above and beyond. The wonderful people at Opportunity Pres are delighted to host the conference, and we will seek to be honorable guests. It is a wonderful building, in a safe location with ample parking, handicap access, and space for encouragement & fellowship for all these gathering mamas to fill their vessels and be restored for the good work of raising little ones for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Speaking of the children God has put in your care, another thing Opportunity Pres offers are great facilities for changing and nursing your infants-in-arms. We will keep the mamas well-hydrated and fed during the day, and you are welcome to bring a nursing baby with you. I don’t know about your kids, but my kids love an excuse to have a day out with Daddy or a grandparent or a favorite uncle! So if you register now, you will have plenty of time to get childcare arranged so you can come and enjoy this day of blessing.

Are you wondering what time you will arrive, how long you will stay, and when you will be home?? The conference itself will begin at 9am sharp, but check-in & registration will open at 8:30am. The conference will end at 4pm, but you will be able to leave as you are ready – we will have a team of ladies working on clean up beginning at 4:30pm. This will allow you to get home to your family for dinner if you are closeby… maybe even give you time to pick up some pizza on the way so you don’t have to cook! And if you are among the many who will be carpooling a few hours away, it will be the perfect time to let you ladies head out for dinner yourselves and get on the road.

Little questions come filtering in to my inbox one by one, so as I individually answer those via social media or email, I will also try to come back and share the FAQs here in the Paideia Northwest blog. There are still lots of little treasures in the works… and we are excited to have you come alongside us as we seek to build bridges, create camaraderie, encourage community, and facilitate fellowship.

Don’t forget to tell your friends that registration is open!! 

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Finalizing Details

Here I sit on a Lord’s Day afternoon… iced coffee at hand and my accordion file full of papers & ideas… ready to finalize website details and make sure all the pieces fit together.

Thank you for the excitement you’ve shared with us as we anticipate Paideia Northwest’s debut conference, Courage for the Daily! Registration is about to open. Drumroll, please.

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Meet Rachel Jankovic

We have a big announcement regarding registration for Courage for the Daily coming soon!! Before we get to that, however, we would love to share our final conference speaker with you.
…
Please allow me to introduce Rachel Jankovic @lizziejank
…
Rachel Jankovic is a wife, homemaker, and mother. She received her bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts & Culture from New Saint Andrews College, but mostly reads cookbooks now to avoid story grip (being highly susceptible).
.
Rachel is wife of Luke and mother of seven children. She is author of Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches, Fit to Burst, and a soon to be released book on Christian Identity. She is heavily involved with the Christ Church Ladies Bible Reading Challenge and invites you all to join in that great movement of Christian women becoming women of the word.
…
?Reading: my to-do lists!
.
?Enjoying: building a house
.
?Drinking: black coffee or La Croix
.
?Looking forward to: getting my loom warped
.
? Challenged by: Life!
…
You can find Rachel’s work at Canon Press, Desiring God, Femina Girls, & elsewhere ~ we know you’ll love getting to know her through her work! And we look forward to sharing her with you on November 10th!

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Meet Adam Andrews

As we countdown the last few days before Paideia Northwest opens conference registration for Courage for the Daily (BIG announcement coming on that shortly!!), please join us in welcoming our wonderful lineup of speakers!!
……
Today, I would like to present to you, Adam Andrews.
…
Adam Andrews is the director of the Center for Literary Education and a home schooling father of six. Since 2003, he has traveled throughout the United States and Canada presenting an innovative method for teaching the crucial skills of literary analysis. Adam’s dynamic presentations enable students to enjoy great literature as never before, while his fresh insights inspire parents and teachers with new vision for their task as educators.
…
Adam earned his B.A. from Hillsdale College in southern Michigan and his M.A. from the University of Washington in Seattle, where he is currently a candidate for the Ph.D. He is a Henry Salvatori Fellow of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and a founding board member of Westover Academy in Colville Washington. He and his wife Missy, a Hillsdale graduate and accomplished educator in her own right, teach their children at home in Rice, Washington.
…
? Currently reading — Rabbit, Run by John Updike
.
? Currently enjoying — J.S.Bach’s Orchestral Suites
.
?Currently drinking — Grande dark drip with cream and two Splendas
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?Currently looking forward to — Seahawks vs. Broncos in Week One of the NFL season
.
?Currently challenged by — the idea that my weakness, insufficiency, and sin are necessary conditions of my salvation
……
You can find Adam’s work at centerforlit.com and both meet him in person & sit under his teaching at Courage for the Daily on November 10th!!

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