Practicalities

Wear comfortable walking shoes.

Bring a calculator.

Grab your preprinted address labels; they're perfect for catalog requests.

Keep all money in your pocket or a fanny pack and leave your purse in the trunk of your car. (Yes, sad as it is, there are even thieves wandering homeschool conferences.)

Backpacks or canvas bags are great for carrying purchases. Rolling luggage bags can be good, but can also be in everyone else's way

Don't lay purses, packages, etc. on vendor tables. They tend to get in other customers' way, they're more easily forgotten when you leave, and they are more easily stolen. I tend to place my packages on the floor between my feet. That way they're in no one's way, harder to leave behind (I'll trip over them), and harder to steal.

Warnings

Watch out for brain fry and exhaustion. Do not underestimate how much a homeschool conference, or even just a visit to an exhibit hall, can take out of you. Conserve your resources! Take periodic breaks; even sitting on the floor in a wide hallway helps. If brain fry sets in, stop - sit down in the quietest spot available, nibble on a snack (or real food) and drink some water, "Check out" for at least a few minutes.

Your biggest potential enemies are low blood sugar (from lack of food), dehydration, exhaustion and frustration. Frustration may not seem like a real enemy, but it can lead to strife between us and our neighbors and the Bible says that "Where there is strife there is every evil thing". Evil things do not make for good exhibit hall experiences.

Beware of impulse purchases. Consider these questions...

Also ask yourself these questions...

Don't let an enthusiastic exhibitor/workshop speaker sell you on something (either a teaching method or product) you don't need. The speaker and what they're sharing may be wonderful and their curriculum or methods still not work in your home. Again, know your needs before you shop.

Thoughts From the Exhibitor's Side of the Table

Let me preface these thoughts with this. I began homeschooling in 1990 and have been working around homeschoolers and homeschool conferences ever since. Until recent years, I ran a booth for my publisher at least once a year and worked in friends' booths at other conferences just because it's a thing I love doing. In all my years of working conferences, I have seen that certain things happen all too often, things that make life harder on everyone. If you will, seriously consider the following notes and suggestions.

Please remember that you are not the only one needing attention. Yes, this sounds simple, but when you're frustrated or in a hurry it is very easy to forget.

Wait patiently; no, he may not know you've been waiting longer than the woman who just grabbed him.

If he leaves to get an item and doesn't return quickly, he probably got nailed by another customer and is doing his best to get back to you. If he has forgotten you, a polite reminder is usually sufficient.

Save your life story for later. The exhibitor is there specifically to help you and he can do this more efficiently if you stick to telling him what you need and why, rather than going into extra details like how you got into homeschooling, the long route of reasoning you took before you chose your homeschooling method, or how frustrating it is that your Aunt Jane just doesn't understand. Exhibitors really do care, but they are also well aware that both you and they are short on time.

"The worker (exhibitor) is worthy of his hire." If an exhibitor sells you on a product, buy it from him; it's only right. You may save a dollar or two at a different booth or by ordering from a discount catalog, but isn't his time worth at least that much? Frankly, exhibiting costs a small fortune and product markup isn't as much as you might think. Where the exhibitor is concerned, time really is money.

Returns are bogus. Conferences are where many exhibitors make their living and having product returned hurts. Also, checkout lines tend to be long enough already; returns make them longer. Most importantly, if you obey Rule #1, "Think before you buy," you will almost never find yourself having to make returns.

Regarding "I'll take it now," vs. "Ship it please," many vendors offer free shipping on items ordered at the book fair and this is an excellent offer to take advantage of. If they have an item at the show, however, you need to take it with you unless they ask you to let them ship it. This sounds obvious, but every time I ran a booth for my publisher I had several people who asked us to ship everything they wanted instead of taking what we had in stock and leaving us to ship only the out-of-stock items. This makes sense to the customer because they don't need it today and will avoiding having to carry the product around, but if those in-stock items don't sell before the end of the show the vendor is then stuck having to get everything back to the home office and then back to the customer. Since my publisher always shipped books to me at the fairs I worked, that meant them paying shipping three times - to the fair, back from the fair, and then to the customer. As I mentioned earlier, the profit on books is not what most people think it is (even if you are the publisher); this type of multiplied shipping can literally consume every penny of profit, especially if you are not the publisher.

Open drink containers don't belong in booths. How many times have sodas spilt and harassed exhibitors tried to be nice about it? I couldn't even begin to count that high. It can be hard to smile and stay gracious when you're watching your product's value drop like a rock due to soda, or even water, damage.

Final Notes

Courtesy rules in all situations - "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Put that book back where you found it. Keeping everything in its place makes for much less mess. It also ensures that the exhibitor doesn't think he's sold out, leaving him to disappoint someone else and possibly experience bodily harm. I type those words with a smile on my face, but I'm actually serious. I worked a fair one year where the end-of-fair story was about the exhibitor who had to tell a customer that they'd sold out of a book (because there were no copies where the book was supposed to be), only to have another worker stumble across a copy while she and the customer were speaking. When the other worker called out that she had found a copy, the customer hit the exhibitor. In fact, the customer hit her so hard that the bruises were big, ugly, and stayed for days on end. Yes, the customer was seriously in the wrong, but taken back to the beginning of the problem, we're talking a potential assault case (No, the exhibitor did  file charges) that would never have come about if someone hadn't carelessly buried that one book.

Look out for the other guy. If you bump into someone, apologize (right, most people don't), and don't fight over the last item; it's not worth it.

The exhibitor is your friend. Ask the questions you need answers to. Listen to the answers. Ask and listen more if necessary. The exhibitor really is there specifically to serve you and is more than willing to give you everything he can.

Your fellow homeschooler is your friend. Talk to the homeschoolers around you and listen to what they have to say. Lunch and break fellowships can also be invaluable. Be open to striking up conversations; you never know where they will lead.

I love exhibit halls, both shopping and selling, and meeting all the wonderful homeschoolers who fill them. I sincerely hope that your exhibit hall experience is a great one!