Registration volunteers assist convention attendees with on-site registration, working under the direction of the On-Site Registration Coordinators.

• Process on-site registrations (detailed directions will be provided at the convention).
• Hand out welcome bags, convention programs, and name badges.
• Direct any questions, issues that need to be resolved, membership inquiries, etc. to the on-site registration coordinator.

Preregistration volunteers on Friday morning

• Preregistration volunteers must be physically able to stand up through their entire shift. There is not space behind the preregistration table for chairs.
• Absolutely no children behind the preregistration tables.

Workshop hosts are assigned to each general session workshop during the convention. Each workshop room will have a clipboard for the workshop host that will include a detailed checklist for you to follow. Workshop hosts should arrive at the workshop room 15 minutes before the workshop is to start.

Workshop Host duties:

• Greet attendees, help them find seats, encourage them to move in as the room fills.
• Close the doors once the session has begun and most people have made it into the room.
• About 30 minutes into the workshop, count the total number of people in the room and record attendance on the workshop host checklist.
• Be attentive and available throughout the workshop in the event the speaker needs something during their session.
• Facilitate successful recording of the workshop by kindly and thoughtfully asking parents with fussy/noisy babies/children or individuals talking on their cell phone to step out into the hall.
• Hold up time cards for the speaker during the last 10 minutes of the session to let the speaker know how much time they have left (time card signs will be provided).
• Turn in the completed workshop host checklist to the Volunteer Coordinator immediately following the workshop.
• Name badges are required for access to all areas of the convention. Workshop hosts should direct anyone without a name badge to the Registration counter in the lobby to register and obtain a name badge.
• Due to space limitations and safety issues, in the workshop rooms strollers will be limited to a few designated stroller parking spots in the back. Once those spots are filled, strollers must be parked in the hallway or at the AFHE Book Check and Stroller Parking booth just inside the exhibit hall. (Strollers are fine in the ballroom, hallways, and exhibit hall.) Wheeled carts may not block aisles.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Workshop hosts will NOT be required to give the announcements or introduce the speakers.
IMPORTANT NOTE: As a workshop host, you will get to hear some of the speaker's presentation, but you will be working most of the session. Workshop hosts will not have time to sit and take notes during the session. 

All booths in the exhibit hall must be staffed from 10:00 AM - 6:30 PM Friday and 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM Saturday. Volunteers are scheduled to staff speaker booths while they are presenting workshops and during lunch, as needed.

• Booth hosts make it possible for speakers to focus on teaching their workshops.
• Booth hosts are not responsible for selling the speaker's products,  but may receive specific instructions from the speaker or speaker's assistant regarding other duties in the booth. Booth hosts may also simply monitor the booth until the speaker returns from their workshop.
• Booth hosts are not expected to have all of the answers. The primary responsibility is to make sure the speaker's booth is not left unattended.
• Some speakers travel with their spouse or an assistant, others do not. You may or may not be staffing the speaker's booth alone. At times booth hosts may be assisting the speakers themselves when the speaker is not teaching a workshop.
• If the speaker or speaker's spouse or assistant is in the booth while you are serving, please remember that you are there to serve and assist, making it possible for them to interact with attendees who approach their booth. This is not meant to be an opportunity for you to visit with the speaker, although that opportunity may arise during a lull. Convention attendees patronizing the booth should have priority for the speaker's attention.
• Booth hosts should remain at the speaker booth they are assigned to until the next booth host has arrived and you have given them all of the instructions the speaker has left for his/her booth, or until you are released by the speaker or speaker's spouse or assistant.
• After being released from a booth where you've been serving, go directly to check in with the Volunteer Coordinator whether your scheduled shift is ending or not. This allows us to know that a service assignment has been completed and provides an opportunity for reassignment if there is time remaining on your shift.

GREETERS
Greeters are needed Friday and Saturday mornings to welcome and direct attendees as they arrive at the Convention Center. Greeters must be friendly and also confident, able to respond with grace under pressure during a very busy, hectic time of day. Greeters will be stationed in various places to welcome attendees, ask whether they pre-registered, and direct them to the appropriate spot to check in.

USHERS FOR KEYNOTES
During the keynote sessions on Friday and Saturday mornings and Friday afternoon, we will need several adults who will be stationed at key spots in the ballroom to help attendees find seats. Ushers must be friendly and also able to confidently deal with any challenges that arise in a calm, steady manner. Ushers will also assist the keynote workshop hosts as needed in addressing noisy/fussy babies/children by kindly and thoughtfully asking them to step out into the lobby until their child has quieted to assist with recording quality and also not to be a distraction to those around them.

AFHE is hosting our Buy It Here! promotion again this year. The purpose is to encourage on-site shopping from our exhibitors. Between 12:00 and 5:15 PM Saturday, we need volunteers to check and total receipts and give out tickets for the Buy It Here! promotion. 

FREE ADMISSION: SERVING FIVE HOURS* OR MORE
Volunteers that commit to working 5 hours* or more can receive free admission to the convention.
*A husband and wife may split the hours, but will be scheduled for six hours (instead of five as for an individual volunteer).

NOTE: Free convention admission does not include AFHE membership, children or teen admission, teen program fee, parking, food, etc. Free convention admission for AFHE volunteers does include free spouse admission. Free spouse admission only applies to AFHE volunteers. Those volunteering for an exhibitor are handled differently. See additional information in the Exhibitor Volunteers section above.

FREE WORKSHOP RECORDING: SERVING LESS THAN FIVE HOURS
Volunteers who work less than 5 hours will receive a voucher to receive a free workshop recording of their choice for each hour served. Recording vouchers must be redeemed onsite at the Resounding Voice counter by 5:00 PM Saturday, July 19, 2025. 

If you have signed up for 5+ volunteer hours to earn free admission, DO NOT STAND IN THE PRE-REGISTRATION LINE.

Go directly to Volunteer Check-in at the front end of the Registration counters when you arrive. 

• Check in as soon as you arrive at the Convention Center lobby to let the Volunteer Coordinator and her team know you're there. This is where you will pick up your name badge envelope, convention program, and welcome bag.
• It's worth repeating: Do not go to the pre-registration line.

Arrive at your volunteer position 10 minutes before your scheduled time to work.

• You are needed. Please do not be late. We do not have extra volunteers waiting in the wings.
• Set an alarm on your phone if needed to help you arrive on time.

Contact the Volunteer Coordinator immediately if you are going to be late or cannot make it.

• We are counting on you, but we realize that things outside your control can happen on occasion such as sickness, traffic delays, etc.
• If you are going to be late or are unable to make it, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator by cell phone right away (call or text). She will share her cell number with all registered volunteers by email.
• During the convention, we will not be able to check email Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. It is a very busy weekend for our team and we don't want to miss connecting with you, so please use the cell phone number provided for volunteer-related issues.

IMPORTANT: Please make childcare arrangements

• If you are bringing your children with you to the convention, please make arrangements with your spouse or a friend to care for them during the hours you are scheduled to volunteer. The volunteer positions we have available are not a family volunteer opportunity.

We expect all of our volunteers to dress in a professional, modest manner. You will be representing AFHE and the homeschooling community in general. For this reason, and because attendees at the conference share a wide variety of convictions about clothing, we ask that all volunteers follow a dress code. Please come dressed in business casual attire each day that you are scheduled to volunteer.

LADIES:  Slacks or a skirt with a nice top are preferred. Nice jeans, without shred/holes, or capris are acceptable.
MEN: Slacks with a button-up shirt or polo shirt are preferred. Nice jeans are acceptable.
WHAT NOT TO WEAR: Please do not wear shorts, short skirts, tank tops, blouses with cleavage or midriff showing, clothing that is too form-fitting or revealing.

No t-shirts unless serving as part of the Service Team crew. Service Team members are issued AFHE-branded blue shirts to wear during their shifts. 

We expect that all of our volunteers will conduct themselves in a polite, professional manner. It is a blessing to be able to serve one another at this event and we expect that our volunteers will be cheerful, helpful, and ready to serve, treating all attendees with care and respect.

AFHE exists to inspire parents to homeschool their children; promote parent-directed, privately funded, home-based education; preserve the freedom to homeschool; and support parents who choose a home-based education option for their children. While you are serving at the AFHE Convention, we ask that your conversation and comments focus on supporting this vision as well. If there are questions about education options, please feel free to direct people to homeschool@afhe.org or to the Mentoring Connections booth during the Convention.

The AFHE Board of Directors operates from a Christian perspective and biblical worldview and makes decisions from the ethical and moral standards established in the Bible. Convention volunteers must support this philosophy.

In addition, volunteers are not permitted to promote their own businesses or endeavors, campaign for or promote political parties or candidates, etc. at the AFHE Convention. While you are serving, your sole focus is on your role as a workshop host, booth host, registration volunteer, etc.

Volunteers must not be involved in any illegal or unethical activity and cannot ever have been convicted of a felony. If the volunteer’s situation changes and you become involved in any activity that would reflect negatively on the homeschool community or AFHE, you agree to withdraw your volunteer application or cancel your service commitment immediately. 

A number of our convention exhibitors enlist the help of homeschool moms and dads to assist with running their booths. Please note that exhibitor volunteers are not volunteering for AFHE and do not qualify for free admission through AFHE regardless of the number of hours worked. Exhibitors may offer their own incentives to parents who volunteer in their booths, but free convention admission is not available through an exhibitor company.

Each exhibitor receives a certain number of name badges with their booth space rental, and they must use those name badges for anyone working in their booth, whether employees or volunteers, purchasing additional badges per person if needed. Every person working in a booth must have an exhibitor name badge with his/her own name on it (no sharing of name badges). An exhibitor badge is not a convention admission badge.

Thus, for example, if a wife volunteers for several hours at an exhibitor's booth, the wife will receive an exhibitor name badge from the exhibitor company, but neither spouse receives free convention admission (because the wife is not volunteering for AFHE).

Contact us with questions or for clarification at convention@afhe.org.