Maui Writers Conference moves from Wailea to Waikiki

Seeking a boost in attendance, the Maui Writers Conference is moving to Oahu after 15 years on the Valley Isle. 

It will also sport a new moniker—the “Maui Writers Conference on the Road.”

The relocation will take the annual event from the Wailea Marriott Resort on Maui to several Waikiki locations, including the Outrigger Reef and Embassy Suites, Ala Moana Hotel and the Hawaii Convention Center. The conference and its writers retreat are scheduled to run from Aug. 22 to Sept. 1, 2008.

In a Maui News story today, organizers of the popular writers event said they hoped the Oahu move would double attendance. In recent years, the conference has attracted about 1,000 people annually. 

“We’re sad to leave Maui, but it’s going to be a great opportunity for even more people in Hawaii,” conference director/co-founder John Tullius told the Maui News. “There are many more opportunities (on Oahu), a lot more sponsorships, more writers and local publishers; so I think from that point of view there are a lot of advantages to moving it.” 

The Maui Writers Conference launched at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua in 1993, before moving to the Grand Wailea Resort & Spa and Wailea Marriott Resort. Its schedule regularly includes writer workshops, panel presentations and keynote lectures by agents, editors, publishers and well-known authors and screenwriters. Among the conference’s biggest lures for writers are its private consultations with these publishing industry professionals. 

Organizers have not decided whether the conference’s Oahu move will be permanent.