Virtual Conference Events
AWP is excited to continue to offer a virtual conference element at the upcoming conference and bookfair. The 2025 AWP Conference & Bookfair will feature hundreds of in-person conference events and a select number of prerecorded virtual conference events.
Please note that the prerecorded virtual events for #AWP25 will be available for in-person and virtual-only attendees to watch on demand at any time throughout the conference and for one month afterward.
If you’re interested in proposing an event to be held virtually, please carefully read the guidelines below before proposing your event.
Please note that the following guidelines are subject to change and may be altered by AWP without notice.
All 2025 virtual AWP events must meet the following criteria:
- include between two and five participants, including the moderator, who are able to participate in the virtual prerecording of the event
- be sixty minutes long
- be correctly categorized
- include a title, description, and statement of value
Virtual conference event proposals can be submitted the same way in-person event proposals are submitted, which is through the My Events page of your AWP account. If you are proposing a virtual event, be sure to select the option that states “I prefer that this session be prerecorded and made available on demand online” when completing your proposal.
The deadline for event organizers to submit their event proposal is 11:59 p.m. ET on May 23, 2024.
If your event is accepted, you and your panelists will be contacted to schedule a recording session with an AWP staff member. All virtual conference events will be recorded in fall 2024 to ensure there is enough time for AWP staff to complete the postrecording process. Once each event is recorded, the postrecording process includes adding title slides, making any necessary edits, adding captions, and preparing the video file to be posted.
#AWP25 Virtual Conference Event Timeline
- May 23, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. ET: Deadline to submit 2025 conference proposals
- May 30, 2024: Deadline for all participants to link to event proposals and add their short biographies
- June–July 2024: Conference subcommittee evaluates proposals.
- August 2024: AWP announces accepted events.
- August 23, 2024: Deadline for organizers to confirm accepted events
- September 2024: AWP reaches out to organizers of accepted virtual events to schedule recording session.
- Fall 2024: Full schedule is announced.
- Fall 2024: Virtual conference events are prerecorded.
- March 2025: Virtual events are made available for #AWP25 attendees to watch on demand online.
Virtual Event Roles & Responsibilities
Organizer: The event organizer is the person who submits the event to AWP. This person will be the main point of contact for AWP staff and acts as the liaison between AWP and the participants. The organizer of the event doesn’t necessarily need to be a participant. Additionally, the event organizer is responsible for scheduling the recording session and ensuring that each presenter, including the moderator, is prepared to participate in the virtual prerecording of the event.
Moderator: The moderator oversees event proceedings during the recording session and must ensure that presentation, discussion, and/or reading time is managed appropriately within the event’s allotted time. The moderator is considered an event participant and is expected to adhere to AWP’s participation guidelines, policies, and limitations. The moderator’s biographical note will be included in the online conference schedule. Please note: While the moderator is responsible for managing the content of the conference event, the event organizer is responsible for submitting all relevant paperwork to AWP and for serving as the liaison between AWP and the event participants.
Participant: Also commonly called presenters, participants in events are those who have been added by the organizer and have linked their AWP user account to the proposal.
Notification
All event organizers will be notified of submission results in August. AWP will reach out to organizers of virtual events following their acceptance notification to confirm their virtual event and schedule their prerecording session.
Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
If your event has been accepted and you have scheduled your prerecording session, you and your panelists should begin to prepare to hold your conference event virtually. For tips on preparing your materials, setting up your space, and practicing for your recording, please check out AWP’s Virtual Presentation Guide (coming soon) . If you have any questions about preparing for your virtual event recording or if you foresee any barriers to your group’s participation, please email events@awpwriter.org for assistance.
Engage the Audience
All virtual events will be prerecorded. If you would like to answer questions from AWP attendees or other writers as a part of your event, we recommend soliciting or collecting those questions before your scheduled recording. Those questions can then be answered by presenters during the sixty-minute recording.
Please note that the prerecorded virtual events for #AWP25 will be available for in-person and virtual-only attendees to watch on demand at any time throughout the conference and for one month afterwards. Any specific features for connecting with attendees are dependent on the virtual platform, and more information will be available later in the conference cycle as that platform is developed.
While we wish we could hold these virtual conference events live and include live Q and As during the conference, we unfortunately do not have the staff or resources to make that happen alongside the in-person conference.
Event Outline Upload
If your event is accepted, you will be asked to upload an event outline by February 26, 2025. An outline can include any written remarks you have prepared, reading material you plan to share, or a list of moderator questions. This document can be uploaded only by the organizer or the moderator.
This event outline will be available for attendees to download from the online schedule when it goes live in the fall. You may replace this document with a more updated version at any time as your plans come into better focus closer to the recording. You can also update your event outline once you have completed your event recording.
For the 2025 conference cycle, event outlines will be mandatory, and events without outlines uploaded by February 26, 2025 will be removed from the schedule.
This feature was added to the proposal system to encourage event participants to start preparing for the event well beforehand. Additionally, these copies are essential for holding an accessible event. Consider members of your audience who have disabilities and may wish or need to follow along with a written text. It is also helpful for ASL and CART interpreters to see event information beforehand.
For more information on preparing accessible event outlines, please review the AWP Conference & Bookfair Event Outline Guide (PDF). A plain-text version of this guide is also available.
Accessibility Services
AWP is committed to making all reasonable arrangements that will allow conference attendees to participate in conference events. All virtual conference events will be prerecorded in order to allow for captioning to be included.
Many accessibility services require advanced planning and reservations for a conference as large as AWP’s. To help us better prepare, all requests for accessibility services, equipment, or accommodations, should be submitted in advance. AWP can best meet accessibility needs when requests are sent to ADA@awpwriter.org by Friday, March 7, 2025. AWP will make every effort to accommodate requests that arrive after March 7.
If you or one of your presenters requires accessibility services to take part in the recording of your virtual conference event, please email ADA@awpwriter.org before the scheduled recording session to request any accessibility services.
Please see the Accessibility Services page for more information.
Registration Policies
To attend the in-person conference and/or access the virtual conference events, all presenters must register for the conference and can do so at our reduced presenter rate. The rate will be made available to all presenters, who will be notified via email about how and when to register.
Virtual-only presenters who do not plan to attend the in-person conference will be able to register at a virtual-only rate when events are accepted.
If a virtual-only presenter only wishes to participate in the recording of the event and does not plan to access any virtual conference event (including their own event) on the virtual conference platform, they are not required to register.
Attendee Terms & Conditions
Please visit the Attendee Terms & Conditions page for an explanation of these policies, which are automatically agreed upon by anyone who attends the conference.
