Thank you for your interest in speaking at PLACES 2025!

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.
PLACES 2025 will be held on October 8-10, 2025! As we bring PLACES to Gig Harbor for the first time ever in collaboration with the Gig Harbor Downtown Waterfront Alliance, we’re excited to feature the Maritime Washington National Heritage Area throughout the conference.


We’re excited to hear your ideas!
The session proposals application is open from February 5 to March 28. Find tips and tricks for submitting a strong proposal and other key proposal guidance in our Session Proposal Guide. Find inspiration from previous sessions by exploring Last Year’s Program. If you’re ready to submit a proposal, jump into Propose a Session.

Guiding Questions
Every year, we focus the PLACES conference on three central themes or guiding questions. These questions help shape our sessions, educational offerings, and additional programming. This year, our guiding questions are:
Question 1: Maker economy. How can we empower local makers, tradespeople, and cultural industries to both strengthen our local economies and ensure the preservation of cultural heritage for future generations?
Question 2: Place-based belonging. How can we continue to expand the reach of our work to foster a greater sense of belonging in the preservation fields, our communities, and our downtowns?
Question 3: Resiliency and livability. Given ongoing challenges our state is facing, what practices can we adopt to ensure the resiliency and livability of our historic neighborhoods?
Question 4: Evergreen ideas for the Evergreen State. What are our tried-and-true preservation practices, community organizing principles, and place governance models?
Timeline
February 5, 2025
Call for Session Proposals opens
March 28, 2025
Call for Session Proposals ends
Mid-April 2025
All proposed sessions will be notified of their acceptance or rejection
June 2025
Registration opens
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 with your question or to sign up for office hours.
Banner photos by Casey Evans Media.