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HWA Annual Conference
& Stoker Banquet
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Updated April 6, 2004
The 2004 HWA Annual Conference
and Stoker Banquet
will be held in New York, June 3-6
at the Park Central Hotel.
Toastmaster, Don D'Auria.
Lifetime Achievement Award Winners
will be announced soon!

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What is the HWA Annual Conference & Stoker Banquet?
Once a year, HWA hosts a long weekend of programming tailored to horror writers and other horror professionals. Attended by a wide variety of authors, publishers, editors, and agents, the conference is devoted to the professional development of our members. Activities include panel discussions, workshops, seminars and guest speaker presentations.

The culmination of the conference is the Bram Stoker Awards Banquet. This black-tie-optional dinner and awards presentation honors those writers whose work of the past year has been recognized as superior by the membership. Award categories include the novel, first novel, screenplay, anthology, short fiction and more.

It's a great opportunity to further a writing career and have fun at the same time.



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Details about This Year's Gathering
This year's Annual Conference will be held June 3-6 at The Park Central Hotel at 870 Seventh Avenue at 56th Street, New York, NY 10019-4038. The Bram Stoker Awards, as well as our awards for specialty publisher of the year and HWA service, will be presented on the evening of Saturday, June 5th.



WHO MAY ATTEND? Please note that you do not have to be a member of HWA to attend the HWA Annual Conference and Stoker Banquet. Except for the HWA business meeting, all of the weekend's many exciting programs and events are open to anyone with an interest in professional horror writing. All you need to do is purchase a ticket.


LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNERS This year's Lifetime Achievement Stoker Award winners will be announced very soon.


THE STOKER AWARD FINALISTS Many of this year's Bram Stoker Award finalists will attend. To find out who they are, click here. (Note that the awards presented this year will be for works published during 2003.)


TOASTMASTER, DON D'AURIA This year's Toastmaster for the awards ceremony will be Don D'Auria, editor of the Leisure Books line at Dorchester Publishing, one of the fastest-growing horror publishers in the nation.


PROGRAMMING The programming is still being finalized, but it will definitely include panel discussions, workshops, seminars and guest speaker presentations. Formal programming will be held throughout the day on Friday and Saturday, with less formal activities taking place Thursday and possibly Sunday morning. For those arriving Thursday, there will be organized sight-seeing and tours of particular interest to the horror crowd. The Stoker Awards banquet will be held on Saturday, June 5th. The pre-banquet cocktail party usually begins around 6:00 p.m.


ORDER TICKETS IN ADVANCE The deadline for ordering is May 31, 2004. Banquet seating is limited, so please place your order as early as possible. Tickets for the full-weekend are $90. Your ticket includes all parties and programming as well as the Stoker Awards banquet. Sorry, partial tickets (for parties/panels only, or for the banquet only) are not available this year. The menu for the banquet is still being finalized, but it will tie in with this year's banquet theme, "Mardi Gras."


TO ORDER TICKETS, CLICK HERE.



SPECIAL OFFERS FOR PUBLISHERS AND AGENTS Publishers and agents may purchase tickets in full-table lots at discounted prices. For details, please contact the HWA Treasurer.


ADS AND GOODY BAG INCLUSION To have promotional material placed in attendees' goody bags, or to purchase advertising in the program booklet, please contact Monica O'Rourke, our conference organizer.


THE HOTEL This year's HWA Conference and Stoker Awards Banquet will be held again at the beautiful Park Central Hotel in New York City, located on 56th Street at Seventh Avenue -- two blocks from Central Park, across the street from Carnegie Hall, walking distance to Tiffany's, Rockefeller Center, and Radio City Music Hall, and across the street from the world-famous Carnegie Deli. For further details, visit the Park Central's website at http://www.parkcentralny.com.

To reserve a room at the Park Central, call 1-800-346-1359 or 212-247-8000. Be sure to tell the reservations clerk you're with the Horror Writers Association. Our negotiated room rate is $145 per night. If anyone tries to charge you more, or they tell you they're sold out of rooms in that block, contact Monica O'Rourke.


GETTING THERE There are three airports in the New York City area: LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark (which is actually in New Jersey). All offer public transportation into Manhattan for a reasonable cost (under $20 round trip). There are also taxi and car services that will take you right to the hotel, but you should expect to pay around $50 one way, including fare, tolls, and tip. Further details are available from the phone staff at the Park Central.


VOLUNTEER! Many hands make light work. We're always looking for people to help out with large and small tasks during the gathering. There's no better way to get to know the movers and shakers in Horror. If you'll be attending and would like to lend a hand, contact our conference organizer, Monica O'Rourke.


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Contact Annual Conference Organizer Monica O'Rourke if you have specific questions or concerns about the 2004 Stoker Weekend.

*bump*

Somebody asked me about it in another thread.

Damn, I sure would like ot be there. Maybe one day.