5-Minute Mentors are members of the community who have signed up to come and talk to Exhibitors about the products of their imaginations. These are homeschooling parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, homeschool teachers and tutors, and other interested members of the community.

Qualifications: The only requirement to volunteer as a 5-Minute Mentor is that you be comfortable with talking to children about their big ideas.

We are aware that Mentor is not quite the right word for this, but we couldn’t come up with a better one.

To volunteer to participate as a 5-Minute Mentor, you can either ....

1. Sign up via email
1. Send an email telling us of your interest.
2. We’ll get back to you with the details we need for the Exhibit Catalog and your “Mentor Button Sticker”
2. Sign up online
1. Sign up by completing the online form.
2. You’ll be able to come back and add to or edit your entry — up until the Exhibit Catalog goes to the printers.

• To allow time for formatting, proofing and printing, please plan to have your Exhibit Catalog information to the Volunteer Event Organizers at least 2 weeks prior to the Imagination Fair, but 5-Minute Mentor registration remains open until the Exhibit Catalog goes to the printers. It’s never too late to ask!
• The deadline for submitting image suggestions, optional logos or custom “button sticker” designs is at least 1 week prior to the Imagination Fair,

Our goal is to sign up at least half as many 5-Minute Mentors as exhibitors. Please encourage your friends, family members, neighbors, and colleagues to volunteer as well.

The Imagination Fair does not rank projects or award ribbons.

Instead, exhibitors receive a colorful button sticker on their participation certificates from every 5-Minute Mentor who talks to them.

• You are encouraged to use your own original design!
• Designs must fits on an Avery 5293 1⅔-inch round label.
• If you use a background color, make the background a bit larger to be sure there’s no white edge.
• You may use (just about) any image file format that works for you (bpg, gif, jpg, pdf, png, psd, pxm, svg, tif, etc.).
• You may also submit just an image suggestion or a logo or other image and Nic will design your button sticker for you.

The “standard” button sticker design includes:

1. Your name.

2. The phrase “I talked with … about my ideas!”

3. An image that represents YOU.

4. Your title (educator, mom, philosopher, scientist, engineer, etc.). Titles are entirely optional but well-chosen titles are a handy way to let the Exhibitors know a bit about who their 5-Minute Mentors are.

Our goal for the button stickers is to twofold: to create button stickers that are visually interesting while giving the kids a sense of who their 5-Minute Mentors are.

The Imagination Fair will provide you with a sheet of 24 button stickers to use at the Imagination Fair.

To allow time for formatting and printing, please plan to submit your original button sticker designs or images at least 1 week prior to the Imagination Fair.

5-Minute Mentor Check-In starts at 9:45 AM

The Volunteer Event Organizers recommend that you plan to arrive at 9:45 AM so that you have time to address any unexpected difficulties and are ready to start talking to Exhibitors at 10 AM.

To allow all Exhibitors time and focus to set their Exhibits up on time, we ask that 5-Minute Mentors resist the urge to engage Exhibitors until 10 AM.

5-Minute Mentor Folder

Pick up your 5-Minute Mentor Folder as soon as you arrive at the Imagination Fair.

Folders will be filed alphabetically by last name in a file box by the entrance to the Event Space and there will also be a Volunteer Event Organizer or two at the door to help you find your folder and to review the contents with you.

Inside the folder, you’ll find your Name Badge and lanyard and your “Assigned First Exhibit” number, along with a map of the Exhibit Hall so you can find your first Exhibit space, an Exhibit Catalog for you to reference and keep, and an Exhibit Bingo card for your own use.

Quick Tips Talk

There will be a short “Quick Tips” at 9:55 AM to make sure all 5-Minute Mentors have the most essential information they need to have a successful and enjoyable experience at the Imagination Fair.

If you are also the parent of an Exhibitor, you are encouraged to join the other 5-Minute Mentors at 9:55 AM. An announcement will be made in the Event Space right before the talk begins.

Button Sticker Stash

You’ll be given more “button stickers” than you can use!

Specifically, you’ll receive a sheet of 24 “button stickers,” and you’ll most likely have time to talk to between 15 and 20 Exhibitors. The Volunteer Event Organizers would prefer you have a few extra “button stickers” at the end of the Imagination Fair than to find yourself short a couple of “button sticker” or two!

In the unlikely event you do run out of “button stickers,” find Nic Rosenau for a solution! She’ll have a plan.

You may keep your extra “button stickers” and have some fun with them after the Fair!

Start here! — Your Assigned First Exhibit

Each 5-Minute Mentor will be assigned a starting Exhibit. This is to help prevent clumping and jams by spreading the Mentors out evenly around the room at the start of the Imagination Fair.

Your Assigned First Exhibit will be clearly marked on your Mentor Folder and on the Exhibit Hall map inside your Folder. If you can’t find your first Exhibit, ask a Volunteer Event Organizers for help — or just choose a likely place to start.

About Exhibits

Exhibits can be anything! The Imagination Fair was created to accommodate those creations that fall outside conventional categories of the traditional science fairs, tech fests, and art shows, including ideas that either don’t fit into the traditional art show categories or must be distorted to qualify as a traditional science fair project. Board games and video games, animations, novels, short stories and comic books, contraptions, electronics, robots, rockets and go-karts, models, architecture, dioramas and cardboard creations, clothing and costumes, LEGO® masterpieces and MINDSTORMS® marvels, and other products of the imagination. The Imagination Fair is the perfect place to showcase your “outside the box” creativity! Of course, the Imagination Fair also welcomes traditional artistic endeavors and scientific explorations!

5-Minute Talks

Most Mentors spend about 5 minutes with each Exhibitor they meet. You do not need to time your talks! Having a general sense of the time you are spending with each Exhibitor is enough.

Mentors are asked to visit as many exhibits as time allows. Based on past Imagination Fairs, most mentors can expect to visit about 20 exhibits.

Mentors are asked to be aware of which Exhibitors are in need of more visits so that no Exhibitor feels ignored.

The focus of the Imagination Fair is on the process of creation rather than the products, but you may connect with Exhibitors in any way that feels right for that particular conversation.

Common conversation starters are What did you make? How did you make it? Why did you make it? What challenges did you need to overcome in your creation process? What challenges do you still need to solve? What might you do differently next time? What will you definitely keep the same? Did you learn something surprising (or silly or fascinating or …) while creating this Exhibit? What do you think you’ll do next?

Missing Exhibitors

Sometimes an Exhibitor needs to take a short break. If you arrive at an Exhibit without an Exhibitor, simply move to the next Exhibit. You can trust that the next available Mentor will talk to any missing Exhibitors as soon as they returns to the Exhibit. You may even find that you circle back around to that Exhibit!

Busy Exhibitors

In the same vein, if you find that the next Exhibitor is already engaged in a conversation with a Mentor, simply move to the next Exhibit. You can trust that the next Mentor in line will pick up that Exhibitors when the current Mentor finishes. This keeps the Mentors moving and prevents pile ups. Again, you may find that you circle back around to that Exhibit!

Exhibit Bingo

Exhibit Bingo is an original Exhibitor idea to help younger kids get involved — but we also use it to help Mentors keep track of which Exhibits they’ve visited! Exhibitors you visit will stamp your Bingo Card in the space for their Exhibit number.

You can even show your Bingo card at the Prize table and receive a small prize for every five Exhibits you visit!

Bingo Prize Donations

If you have any small prizes to donate for Exhibit Bingo use, let the Volunteer Event Organizers know via email. You may arrange to drop the prizes off in advance or just bring them along with you to the Imagination Fair.

Internet Access

Fantasy Flight Games Center does have public WiFi (but it may get a bit slow if it gets overwhelmed).

Everyone welcome!

The Imagination Fair is serious about inclusivity and welcomes neurodiversity, all genders, LGBTQ+ attendees, people of all races and ethnicities, and recent immigrants. The Imagination Fair is a secular event and welcomes people of all faiths and people of no faith, however they choose to identify (but no proselytizing, please).

The Imagination Fair does not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability or handicap, neurodiversity, veteran status, economic status, religion, or homeschooling philosophy or style.

We do discriminate on the basis of age since exhibitors must be children (or recently minted adults still in high school or just graduated). However, mentors, guests, and parents of all ages are welcome!

Make-It-Happen: Volunteer

Mentors are not expected to participate in event organizing, but those who are interested are welcome to help out further!

The Imagination Fair is an all-volunteer zero-profit event entirely organized by Volunteer Event Organizers — homeschool parents, homeschool kids, and interested community members! Volunteering is a great way to meet other homeschoolers and build friendships within the homeschool community.

While Nic Rosenau does the bulk of the organizing work (and loves every minute of it), she does need assistance to make sure this amazing event happens year after year — especially with spreading the word about this amazing event and raising money to cover expenses.

• Invite your Facebook friends to the Facebook Event!

• Download and share an invitation via email and more!