About the Conference
PLACES is Washington’s annual statewide conference focused on the continued care of place through historic preservation, placemaking, and economic development, brought to you by the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation and the Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation. PLACES allows preservationists, planners, downtown development professionals, and anyone who cares about place to dive deep into creative ideas, build their network, and inspire new solutions.
Alongside our local partners at the Ellensburg Downtown Association, we are thrilled to host PLACES 2026 in Ellensburg on October 6-8, 2026.
This place-based learning event is a different experience each year in large part because we allow the host community and region to inspire the learning content. This year, that means that the central theme of PLACES is Ellensburg and its regional communities and landscapes.
As always, we invite proposals that explore our evergreen topics: Historic Preservation Principles and Practice, Placemaking, Cultural Heritage, and Economic Vitality. Proposals that highlight our host city, Ellensburg, and the diverse communities and landscapes of central Washington are encouraged. Looking for inspiration? Here are some suggestions to consider:
- Challenges and opportunities unique to central WA
- Identification and preservation of tangible and intangible heritage in central WA
- Architecture, archaeology, and rural landscapes in central WA
- Best practices for engaging widespread community vision for the future
- Historic downtown districts as places for increasing sense of belonging and representation
We’re excited to hear your ideas!
Submission Process
We are accepting proposals for conference sessions from through April 13. The proposal form guides you through developing your idea with questions that will give our reviewers a strong understanding of what you envision.
Please take a moment to read about the session types, as well as our tips and tricks for crafting your proposal, below in Preparing Your Proposal. Then, jump into Propose a Session below. We recommend drafting your responses in a separate document (rather than directly into the form) and copying your answers into the form when you’re ready.
Looking for inspiration? Explore last year’s program here!
Timeline
- March 6: Session proposal portal opens
- April 13: Proposals due
- Mid-May: Notification of selections
- June: Registration opens
Preparing Your Proposal
Session Types
All sessions are categorized into one of the following session types. Be prepared to identify and select which kind of session type best describes your proposal when you submit. Note that the conference team may change a proposed session’s type as needed or appropriate.
- Tactical Solution Sessions: One concept or idea in a clear, quick format. This could be a case study, product demo, or project overview. (30 min)
- Crash Courses: Topic- or skill-specific courses that help attendees develop skills or content knowledge in a specific area. (30-60 min)
- Workshops: Structured and interactive sessions that encourage participants to learn from each other, consider their own solutions, and apply the gained knowledge both inside the workshop and in the wider world. (60 min)
- Discussion-based panels: Involve a moderator who facilitates a discussion between a group of three to four experts, with the goal of being informative and entertaining. (60 min)
- Presentation-based panels: Feature three to four experts who deliver short presentations on a related topic or theme, followed by a Q&A session moderated by the experts themselves. (60 min)
- Mobile tours/field sessions: Educational walking tours or workshops that take attendees through specific projects and/or sites in the area. (2-3 hours)
Tips and Tricks
In keeping with our guiding questions and ideas, we’re hoping to see the following in every session. We’ll work with each presenter on developing or enhancing these once your session is accepted, but we welcome you to strengthen your proposal with the following:
- Practical advice and how-tos: When attendees leave your session, they know how to apply the principles or what next steps they can take to enact a similar project/program. This includes sharing specifics about partnerships and funding (e.g., defining partnership in the context of your presentation and sharing what your funding sources were). Don’t just tell us what you did — tell us how!
- Audience engagement: Attendees are involved in your presentation throughout, whether with opportunities to reflect, invitations to ask questions or share their perspective, or even just with beautiful photographs.
- Place-specific content: This is a place-based conference after all! Tell us what about your project, program, or process is unique to your place and what’s transferrable to other places.
- Success: What did/does success look like for you in this project or program? How did you measure it? Would you use the same metrics if you did it again?
Propose a Session
We recommend drafting your responses in a separate document (rather than directly into the form) and copying your answers into the form when you’re ready.
Contact Us
Thinking about an idea (or a few ideas!) and need help refining? Have questions about the form or process? Email our team at !
Banner photos by Casey Evans Media.