June 2025 Conference

Our June 2025 Conference will be held at Cedar Lakes in Ripley, WV, June 6 through June 8, 2025.

Pre-conference FAQ: We've developed a FAQ document that addresses a lot of questions.

Registration starts at 10:00 am on Friday, June 6, our annual business meeting will be in the Assembly Hall at 1:00 pm, and the first session begins at 2:00 pm. Friday sessions will end at 7:30 pm with breaks for lunch and dinner.

Sessions on Saturday, June 7 will start at 9:00 am and end at 5:30 pm with a break for lunch. Our awards banquet will be from 6:00 until 8:00.

Sessions on Sunday will start at 9:00 am and end at 11:45 am. Here are the schedules for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Confirmed speakers:

Colleen Anderson
Karen Salyer McElmurray
Burke Allen
Diane Tarantini
Kate Long
Tobi Doyle
Sheila Redling
Donna Kathryn Kelly
Kathleen Guire
Rhonda Browning White
Renee Nicholson
Tim Huguenin
Natalie Homer
Mike Dittman
John Burroughs

Pitch sessions will be held by Patty Thompson of Redhawk Publications. Fourteen sessions will be available, and tickets for these must be purchased in advance ($25 each), in person, at the conference starting on Friday, June 6 at 2:00pm. All purchases are first come, first served.

Our banquet keynote speaker is New York Times bestselling author Homer Hickam, author of Rocket Boys (the basis for the major motion picture October Sky), Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of a Man, his Wife, and her Alligator, and the Rocket Boys sequel, Don't Blow Yourself Up: The Further Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky.

Youth track instructors are:

Emily Patterson
Travis Vandal

Here is the full list of presenters' sessions and biographies.

Conference registration is closed, but we will accept walk-in registrations too! Lodging for Cedar Lakes is handled directly through them - here is their lodging reservation form.

Pricing info:

3-day weekend package - standard member, $150
Silver member 3-day weekend package, $140
Gold member 3-day weekend package, $135
3-day weekend package - NONMEMBER, $175
2-day weekend package (Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun) - any member level, $130
2-day weekend package (Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun) - NONMEMBER, $155
Friday only - member, $90
Saturday only - member, $115
Sunday only - member, $80
Friday only - NONMEMBER, $115
Saturday only - NONMEMBER, $140
Sunday only - NONMEMBER, $105
Saturday only - YOUTH TRACK for grades 6-12, includes lunch, $55

This FY25 Community Arts Mini Grant Project and FY25 Arts in Education Mini Grant Project are presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.