Important Announcement Regarding Changes to This Month’s AWC Annual Conference
The AWC Board of Directors recently met to discuss the viability of this year's in-person conference as it is currently planned. For what are likely a variety of reasons, our registration numbers are down relative to pre-Covid conferences. Unfortunately, projected costs for the conference are the same or higher. In the interest of fiscal responsibility, the board voted to alter our plans for this year's conference with an eye toward positioning the organization to host a well-attended and dynamic in-person event in 2023, which is our 100th Anniversary year.
Here are the changes we decided are necessary for this year:
We will no longer meet in person at the O'Neal library later this month.
We will promptly refund all conference registration fees already paid.
The annual writing contest will proceed as planned (with winners announced virtually on August 27, as enumerated in the next bullet point).
In lieu of an in-person event, we will instead host a smaller virtual event on Saturday, August 27. We'll kick off at 12 p.m. with Ashley Jones's keynote address, "Poetry as a Path to Reparations: The Role of Art in the Justice Struggle," followed by the announcement of the AWC contest winners at 1 p.m.. Then, at 2 p.m., we will hold our annual business meeting, at which time the membership will elect incoming board officers.
Admission to the virtual events on August 27 will be free and exclusively available to current AWC members and contest winners (though registration will be required -- stay tuned for details on how to register). We will proceed with the free agent pitch sessions and manuscript consultations as planned for those registrants who have already signed up for them, still on a first come, first served basis.
We are in the process of reaching out to all panelists and presenters to reschedule them, either for next year's in-person conference or as part of a series of virtual events to be scheduled in the coming months.
We will use these virtual events as a way to "nurture and engage" our membership (for free or at low cost to them) and to promote the in-person conference next year, which will double as a celebration of the organization's centennial.
We will announce the dates and location of the 2023 conference on August 27.
Thank you for your patience and understanding. Our main goal is to offer value to our members while being good stewards of the organization's limited resources. We believe this is the best way to do that. While we will miss the opportunity to see everyone in person later this month, we're excited about what's in store for the coming year.