2024 PNW Annual Conference Session
Frequently Asked Qustions

If you are planning to attend annual conference in person, please consider testing the first day you arrive. Masking will be optional but it is recommended for those with pre-existing health conditions that may compromise your immunity.

Please stay home or isolate if you are exhibiting or experiencing any cold or flu-like symptoms, even if you test negative. In most things, sharing is caring, but sharing an illness is not most things.

There are several expenses that are directly related to an in-person meeting that are not present for online participation, just as there are some benefits to attending in person that translate poorly into virtual space. Our registration costs were estimated to help our gathering account for some of the in-person expenses without passing them along to those participating remotely.

During our 2023 annual conference session, members affirmed the decision to hold our 2024 annual conference session in the Seven Rivers Missional District. The PNW Conference has held sessions on the east side of the conference before, including the Tri-Cities, and used to do so more frequently. It is one way to balance the travel requirements of members who live in different areas.

Central United Protestant Church was chosen because it has a large, well-kept, accessible facility with the capacity to host our conference. Hosting in a local church also allows the conference to better steward the budgetary resources it has access to while keeping costs reasonable for members who attend in-person.

In-person registration costs for our 2024 annual conference session are $175 per person. This price is inclusive of a required meal package. For reference, in 2019, registration cost $185 for a similar number of days meeting at the Fairgrounds in Puyallup. The Western Jurisdictional Conference, meeting in a hotel in Spokane in July, is charging $450 for registration including 2 additional meals (hotel reservations are separate).

We certainly hope not. Over the past several years, we have embraced online meetings and voting as a necessity, at times, an option for those who can’t easily travel for varied reasons, and as a matter of efficiency. While technology can bring challenges, balloting generally much faster than older paper-based methods, and used well, online queues can provide equal access to members wishing to speak, regardless of their location.

Deadlines for registration to annual conference are earlier this year to give the annual conference sessions planning team and staff adequate time to prepare for and welcome members in person and online properly.

We are exploring options for childcare. In the registration process for those choosing to attend in person, there is space to share the needs members have. Conference staff will contact parents needing childcare with more information, including childcare registration after our initial registration closes. We expect childcare may cost approximately $75 per child.

All members, including those attending in person, will need a cell phone or internet-capable device to vote and be recognized to speak during the annual conference. While we are working with our venue hosts to be able to provide some internet to those who need it, it is the recommendation of our voting provider that in-person attendees use their cell phones and existing carrier plans as much as possible. Using the same tools will help all conference members, those joining online or in person, to participate equally.

In-person members should plan to download (to a tablet or laptop) or bring a printed version of the PCH materials they would like to have ready and be prepared to use them with limited personal space.