The Field's End Conference was excellent. To read the official summary, please see http://www.fieldsend.org/Conference.html.

Highlights for me:

• Gloria Burgess' key note opening speech on the influences of her life. I was particularly struck by Ms. Burgess' generosity, for herself, for her fellow writers, and most of all for her proud father who developed a friendship with William Faulkner.
• Bruce Barcott's lunch time key note speech on the 10 things a writer can and should remember when you feel like you cannot go on. My favorite: "Embrace the Zen of the crappy 200 word work day because it leads to something else."
• Seeing other writers I know from classes and conferences that I would never otherwise see.
• Sample break out sessions were: On the Many Endings of a Novel (Wayne Ude): Knowing When to Stop Revising (Anjali Banerjee); and What If? What then? (David Patneaude).
• Especially useful to me was the Wayne Ude's talk for his analysis and his diagram all of the subplots in Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. My favorite tidbits were: "You are allowed one whopping coincidence per book" and "Bring your (story) to the 'inner most core' which is the place where it is as bad as it can get" and "The main plot can simmer as long as this is the time when things are revealed to the main character as subplots move along."
  

Plus you get eat salmon lunch in a beautiful setting, surrounded by fellow writers of all ages and backgrounds, with pertinent breakout sessions. I recommend the Field’s End annual conference.