Photos | Overview | Hotel | Agenda

We’d love to share any photo(s) you took during the conference. Use the button below to drag and drop your images to our MWSA Dropbox account. Thanks!

WYNDHAM SAN DIEGO BAYSIDE

Note:

1. The special hotel rate expired on September 3, and our conference registration window is now closed.

Click for map

MWSA conferences are a great opportunity for members to network and hone their writing skills. In addition, we have routinely gotten very favorable feedback on our conferences from past attendees. We have planned some very good seminars, and the Awards Banquet is always a hit. Our selected locations normally provide outstanding opportunities to visit popular tourist attractions along with top military related historical settings: the Alamo in San Antonio, the WWII museum in New Orleans, etc. This one is no exception as we are right next to the USS Midway and not far from a large Marine training center -- in case any of you want to enlist. :-)

San Diego is a great place to take the family on holiday. We encourage you to attend. As they say, "The more, the merrier."

You can use our Event Contact Form or email Bob directly at Events@mwsa.co if you have any questions.

See you in San Diego!

Photos & Videos | Overview & Comments | Hotel | Agenda
Past Conferences

If you took photos or videos during the conference and are willing to share them, please let us know.

A special thanks to Kathleen Rodgers for steering us to the photos she posted to her blog.

The Holiday Inn North

35 Governor Winthrop Blvd., New London, CT 06320

Google Maps | Hotel Website

The total room price is $263.35 (including taxes & fees) and covers a room with either one or two king-sized beds). This price is valid until the room block is full or August 26, 2023, whichever comes first.

To book your room, use: 1-860-443-7000; please do not use booking sites. When registering at the hotel, tell them the room is for the "MWS Block of Rooms" (yes, without the A)

Original Conference Overview

Help create a memorable time filled with solid educational events that will inspire and motivate you to write.

Volunteer to help at the registration desk. Become a Book Reviewer.

Undecided? Talk to those who attended the 2022 Conference in New Orleans, you know the one you missed out on, don’t let this opportunity to learn and have fun slip by.

A great organization is only made great by its members willing to volunteer to do the work needed to do more. It takes a lot of work to run an organization – volunteers are our lifeblood.

Comments & Critiques

If you’d like to comment or critique your experiences during this year’s conference, please let us know using our Event Contact Form or emailing our events staff at Events@mwsa.co

New Orleans, Louisiana
25-28 August 2022

Photos & Videos| Overview | Hotel | Agenda

A special thanks to our photographer, Joe Epley!

Videos

• Click here for President Bob Doerr’s “State of MWSA” briefing

• Awards Banquet Video

  • Part 1

  • Part 2

Higgins Hotel
1000 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70130

As usual, our conference was preceded by a Veterans Writing Workshop, which we hosted on Thursday before the conference began.

We then hosted two days of presentations, and capped off the conference with our awards banquet on Saturday evening. For more details about the conference, scroll down to the agenda section below.

Most of us also took advantage of our location next to the World War Two Museum (right next door to the hotel) and enjoyed spending a few hours in this spectacular place.

Of course, we also took the opportunity to get together with the wonderful members of our organization. We recognized and celebrated our writing endeavors and promised to stay in touch.

Agenda | Presenters

For the moment, we are only sure that we will have an online presentation of the 2020 Award Season’s medal winners on or about September 19, 2020. We’re in the process of setting up other online presentations.

Please check back often, as we make changes and updates to our virtual conference agenda.

Volunteer Form

Please use the form below to volunteer to do a presentation, mentor a fellow MWSA author, or help out during the conference.

Details TBD

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Register | Hotel | Overview
Agenda | Presenters | Menu
Facebook Live-Stream Video of Awards Ceremony

Registration Closed

Notes:

• Click here for attendee checklist.

See you in Albuquerque!

Rooms have been set aside at the Hotel Albuquerque on September 11, 2019 to September 15, 2019 at the rate of $139.00 plus taxes per night (single/double occupancy).

https://www.hotelabq.com/

To make your own reservations, contact the hotel by calling 866-505-7829 and ask to be connected to reservations.

To receive the group rate, guests must state that they would like to be placed within the “MWSA General Membership Conference” block of rooms, or they may refer to the Block Code 1909MWSA.

The following link will work if you prefer to do your own online bookings – the Block Code comes up automatically.

https://gc.synxis.com/rez.aspx?Hotel=63151&Chain=17123&arrive=9/12/2019&depart=9/15/2019&adult=1&child=0&group=1909MWSA

Please note, the link will only work over the actual room block dates and the date of arrival and departure should be selected.

Important Note: Amenities Fee

Hotel Albuquerque has as of 1 June 2019 instituted an additional $20 + tax per day amenities fee which will not affect conference attendees who stay at the hotel. The notice of this fee will appear on all confirmation emails sent. The hotel cannot change their software to stop automatically generating this notice when you make a reservation. We were just notified of this on 19 June 2019 but our room rates were guaranteed by a contract that was signed last year. We are grandfathered in with the rates seen on this page. Please ignore the confirmation notification. The fee will appear on your room bill but then be removed at checkout. Bottom line is you will not pay this fee. If anyone has any problem with this at the time of checkout, contact Jim Tritten [cell (505) 453-6795] who will be staying at the hotel through noon on Sunday. If you are staying beyond Sunday and have a problem after Jim has departed, the Regional Director of Sales is Jacob Quintana who can straighten things out at the front desk. He can be reached at (505) 222-8744 or Cell (505) 501-0940. Jacob’s office is directly behind the front desk

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The Military Writers Society of America (MWSA) and SouthWest Writers (SWW) will co-host a joint writing conference at the Hotel Albuquerque, Albuquerque, New Mexico, from Thursday September 12th through Sunday September 15th 2019. Program details are still being developed but the concept will be to share the strengths of both organizations in a series of classes and workshops designed to help writers learn from specialists they would not normally encounter.

Albuquerque, New Mexico, is known for the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, chile [red or green is the state question], Native Americans living in close proximity, Breaking Bad, and its extraordinary Spanish culture. New Mexico is known officially as the “Land of Enchantment,” but locals refer to the state as the “Land of Entrapment” – many who come to visit stay. Here are some links to what to do while in Albuquerque.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g60933-Activities-Albuquerque_New_Mexico.html

https://www.visitalbuquerque.org/things-to-do/

https://www.thecrazytourist.com/top-25-things-to-do-in-albuquerque-nm/

MWSA is a nation-wide association of some 279 authors, poets, and artists, drawn together by the common bond of military service. Most of its members are active duty military, retirees, or military veterans. A few are lifelong civilians who have chosen to honor our military through their writings or their art. Others have only a tangential relationship to the military. MWSA will take the lead on teaching a free day-long writing class at the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque on Thursday, September 12th, 2019.

SWW brings a wealth of expertise to the conference. This would include memoir, southwest setting, mystery/thriller, poetry, short stories, romance, sci-fi, westerns, non-fiction, fantasy, action, history, humor, etc. SWW is devoted to helping both published and unpublished writers improve their craft and further their careers. SWW serves its 329 members and all writers of all skill levels in every fiction and nonfiction genre.

SWW knows a bit about MWSA. Last year, nine SWW members were finalists in the annual published book contest and were then awarded medals in Charleston, SC. In the past, the MWSA director of education, Jack Woodville London, spoke and taught classes at SWW. Similarly, members of SWW have spoken and taught classes at MWSA conferences. Jim Tritten, Larry Greenly, Jack London, Joe Badal, Brinn Colenda, Pat Walkow, and Tom Neiman are all members of both organizations and have volunteered their services to develop a program that is sure to inspire everyone.

This year’s joint conference in Albuquerque will also include an awards ceremony where both organizations will recognize highly talented authors who have published a book.

Anyone with specific recommendations for the program are welcome to contact the Conference Coordinator, Jim Tritten, at jimtritten@comcast.net. Of course, Jim welcomes hearing from anyone interested in helping at any level.

Things to do in Albuquerque

Looking for more to do while in Albuquerque? Try this website: https://www.newmexico.org/

Larry Greenly has provided a short list of further suggested activities while you’re in the city of Albuquerque. Click here to read Larry’s suggestions (PDF).

Book Sales

Registered attendees for the joint SWW/MWSA writing conference can sell their books during the conference via a routine process for SWW  – a table on which the authors put their books with a price marked, and someone manages the sale of those books – in this case SWW will manage the sales at tables that will be provided. For those who want SWW to manage all sales, there will be a 10% cost to defray credit card charges to SWW for the transaction. There will also be a separate table where authors can simply display their books. If another attendee wishes to buy a book from that table, the author is free to work out the sale with the purchaser. 

NOTE: SWW is a pass through entity, therefore we will not collect nor pay any tax on the sale of the books. We are a service which will sell the book for the amount the author wants us to sell it for.  We will collect 10% to cover our expenses only.  Knowing this, the author must decide how much they want SWW to sell the book for.   The author should handle any sales tax according to the laws of the state they live in as they would for any sale.

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Please check back often, as we makes changes and updates to our agenda.

Courtesy of SWW’s website. Click the link below for the most current information.

Click here for short bios of all presenters (opens SWW website in new window).

Click here to see more details about our mentoring program (opens a PDF document in a new window).

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Thursday 9/12

Reception

• Green Chile Quesadillas

• Mini Beef Wellington

• Jalapeno Chicken skewers

• Tomato Basil Bruschetta

 Friday 9/13

AM break

• Bagels

• Coffee

• Tea

Lunch

• The New Mexican Buffet

  Saturday 9/14

AM break

• Bagels

• Coffee

• Tea

 Lunch

• The NY Deli Buffet

PM Break

• Cheese board

• Hand-crafted trail mix

• Soda

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Charleston, South Carolina
8-11 November 2018

Photos | Hotel | Overview | Agenda | Presentations

Conference Critique & Suggestions

Hotel: 
Hilton Garden Inn
300 Wingo Way
Mount Pleasant, SC 29464

The hotel cost will be $125 per night. Call the hotel at 843-606-4600 and mention you are with the Military Society of America when you make your reservation.

Hotel Website

All members of MWSA should try to attend this year’s conference. It’s a great opportunity to network, learn from others, and be involved with the future of the Society. We have decided to hold the conference at the Hilton Garden Inn in Mount Pleasant, SC, and as with last year’s conference, we have kept costs low without taking away from the quality of the location or the presentations. In fact, this year we hope to have a couple of key players in the publishing industry talk to us.

Charleston is an exciting town. The hotel is just across the Cooper River and a stone's throw from Patriot's Point and the USS Yorktown. Here is also home to the Viet Nam Experience museum and the museum of the Medal of Honor. One of the earliest victors of revolution took place on nearby Sullivan Island and the civil war started at Fort Sumter.

The Awards Banquet will be held the evening of November 10. Your conference fee will cover your attendance at the Banquet. Guests are welcome, but please note if you bring a guest there will be an additional charge.

There will be no increase in conference fees over last year with an early bird special of $195. After June first, the fees will be $215. The hotel cost will be $125 per night. Call the hotel at 843-606-4600 and mention you are with the Military Society of America when you make your reservation..

We plan on putting on a free, one day writing course at the VA clinic in Charleston on the 8th . Any members in the area on the 8th are invited to attend. Additional specifics will be made available in the future.

As a reminder, we will honor cancellation refund requests until the last minute possible; however, once we have to lock in meals, etc. with the hotel, refunds will not be possible. This usually happens around a week before the start of the conference.

If you want to participate in a panel or would like to make a presentation, please let Bob Doerr know. You can use our Event Contact Form or email him directly at rddoerr@cs.com

Please check back often, as our conference agenda is still evolving/changing over time.

• Joint Base Charleston Mission Brief

• Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) Brief

• US Army Heritage and Education Center

• Editing Presentation by Barbara Evenson

Please give us your feedback!

Basic Info | Photos | Agenda

Date:  September 7-10, 2017
Location: Menger Hotel, San Antonio,TX

Overview & Agenda
All members of MWSA are encouraged to attend our annual conferences.  In addition to a general membership meeting that will enable you to learn more about what’s going on in MWSA and you'll have the opportunity to voice your suggestions for the future of MWSA.  The agenda included seminars to improve your skills as a writer and presentations that will entertain and educate you on the military history of San Antonio.  For more details, see our conference agenda below.

The Menger Hotel is the oldest, continuously operating hotel west of the Mississippi.  Teddy Roosevelt recruited his Rough Riders here in the bar that looks much the same today as it did way back then.  The Alamo is across the street, the River Walk is two blocks away, and a large shopping mall is a five minute walk from the hotel.  
Check out the hotel’s website:  http://www.mengerhotel.com.  

San Antonio is rated as one of the top places to visit in the country.  If you’ve never been here, plan on spending an extra day or two.  Some of you may have gone through Basic Training here with the Air Force, or maybe you spent time at Fort Sam Houston.   If so, come see how the city has changed since the “old days.”  
Click here for a short article on San Antonio's military history.

Many thanks to Sarah Koller and Sandi Linhart for taking so many wonderful photos!

2014 Award Winners

2013 Award Winners

Conference Dispatches Magazine

2012 Season Page