Conference date: Saturday 19 September

Windsor Park Centre, 550 East Coast Road, Mairangi Bay, North
Shore

The conference was a great success; we had over 200 delegates, 18 workshop leaders, 12 workshops, many vendors and an inspiring keynote speaker.

Diana Waring gave wonderful, encouraging talks and inspired everyone with her friendly manner, her openness and her wisdom.

Some comments we received from delegates were:

• I just want to say a HUGE thank you to all the organisers of this amazing conference. I left feeling very encouraged and fired up again. Kind regards, Elizabeth.

• It was really fantastic, thank you for organising it! I can also put some faces to names now. Regards, Bronwyn.

• Hi all of the wonderful organisers of the conference,  thank you so much for the conference!  It was wonderful to be refreshed, encouraged and inspired by Diana and the other speakers, and great to have a day catching up with others in the home school community. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped make the day run smoothly. Great venue (even though it was a long trip for us southerners, lol).  Lovely food,  wonderfully organised conference. I know the countless hours involved in organising an event like this, and just wanted to express my thanks to all involved.  Kind regards and God bless,  Cassandra.

• I just wanted to congratulate [the] team for such a wonderful and successful day yesterday.  I was so inspired and encouraged by all that I saw and heard, and enjoyed it thoroughly.  You had all put in so much work to make sure things ran smoothly and that we all felt comfortable.  I particularly liked the photo displays on the screen, the classical music, the water readily available on the tables in each room, the helpful volunteers – there when we needed them, and the nursery for feeding and relaxing with our [babies].  That room was a sanctuary for mothers of [babies] where we could enjoy some space and privacy without missing the sessions, thanks to the live video feed.  The venue was wonderful in so many respects.There was a great choice of sessions – something for everyone, and I never tired of listening to Diana talk – she was so entertaining.  Please pass on my thanks and congratulations to your team.   Anneke.

• Please pass on to your organising [team] how much we enjoyed and were encouraged by the conference. It was very well organised and very inspiring. So thank you very much for organising it. All the best. Gladys.

• Just wanted to pass on to you and the AHE organisers what a fantastic day we had – it all ran so smoothly and easily, and Diana was just as terrific as I thought she would be – heaps of encouragement, good ideas and humour. I had some time reflecting on what she said yesterday, and certainly have some changes and ideas to implement. Many, many thanks to you guys for the hours you put in to make it happen.  Angie.

• From a first time conference attendee and a new homeschooling mum THANK YOU.  The content, workshops and organisation were all superb.  Many thanks for all the hard work to the conference organisers – it’s not an easy job, I know!  Kind regards, Sharyn

• I want to say a huge thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be a part of [the conference] I was so impressed with the good organisation – it really shone through how much everyone on the committee really thought through every aspect of the day. I was blown away when I arrived and was given a [speaker's] bag of goodies – I never expected that at all and I was blown away. Thank you so much to everyone on the organising team - you guys made speaking at an event so easy. Rachel

• We wanted to say what an honour and privilege it was to address such a switched on bunch of people.  We were delighted to be part of such a well organised, professionally run conference.  Kind regards Elaine and Adriana

If you would like to add your comment please do.  We would love to hear from you.

Also, we would really like it if you could report on any specific session that you attended and enjoyed, or if you have any photos that we could include here.  Please fill in the comment form below, or email your article or photos to stephanie@ahe.org.nz