WCNA 38 Launch Announcement
We are delighted at last to announce our 38th World Convention, The Power of Love! The convention will be held 29 August through 1 September 2024, at the Walter Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Registration opens soon! Details below. There will be more announcements with special events, tours, and more coming soon!
Schedule
WCNA 38 will go on sale before the end of 2023 with an email announcement sent out several days before. Pre-registration and hotel blocks open at the same time. Watch this space! We strongly encourage you to register and reserve early! Events and hotels will sell out. All links will be posted on www.na.org/wcna.
Onsite registration and other activities will be planned for Wednesday, 28 August, and the convention officially begins on Thursday the 29th. The Unity Day meeting on Sunday is something we hope you can experience and will end early in the afternoon on Sunday. Because there is so much to see and do in DC, our hotels have agreed to accept our convention rates for three days before and after the event.
Registration & Seating
Registration pick-up and onsite registration will be at several of the hotels surrounding the convention center. This is a registration-required event. A registration badge is necessary to enter the Convention Center.
This will be our largest World Convention to date! Conventions this large and complex require a lot of planning and are expensive to produce. This year more than ever, we are depending on early registration to allow us to make preparations and reserve the facilities so that WCNA 38 can be fun, festive, safe, and smooth.
The Walter Washington Convention Center can hold us, but the main meeting room is long and narrow. There will be screens, so everyone can see from everywhere in the room. In an effort to make the crowded main events safe and manageable, seating in the main meeting rooms and special events will be color coded by section. Individual seats will NOT be reserved, but your color-coded section of the room will be determined by when you register. The earlier you register, the better your seats will be. If you want to sit with your friends at the main meetings, make sure you all register around the same time.
The same applies for the ticketed Special Events as well: the earlier you register, the better your seats will be. You will be able to add events and pre-registration merchandise after your pre-register, as long as the events are still available. For some events, you will be able to buy a table rather than just a seat, and your friends will be able to join you there.
Lodging
We have contracted with over 25 hotels for this event, and have negotiated some great rates for members. While we realize some people are accustomed to booking on their own, it really helps WCNA when you book rooms in our room block. A map of the convention site and hotels, and information about each hotel will be available on our website when registration is opened. Again, all links will be posted on www.na.org/wcna.
Travel
As the nation’s capital, Washington DC is a big, crowded city. There are many ways to get there, but parking can be limited and expensive. Washington is served by three major airports: Reagan National (DCA), Dulles International Airport (IAD), and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI). All three have easy transportation options downtown. In addition, Amtrak trains link DC to most major cities and is particularly convenient up and down the eastern seaboard. DC has a Metro system of trains and buses that directly serve the Walter Washington Convention Center and make it easy to navigate within the city. If you are driving, you may want to consider parking near a suburban Metro station or at DCA airport.
About your WCNA registration
Registration for WCNA 38 begins at $175 US. We know it’s more than other conventions. WCNA costs a lot to produce—and more this year than ever before. We expect this to be the largest convention we’ve ever held, and the facilities required to hold us—the security required for a large event in a capital city— translations, ADA accommodations, equipment and labor—the technology to make the meetings visible and available in the convention center and around the world—the costs will exceed revenue from registration. We count on merchandise sales to make up the remainder, and meeting our hotel room blocks helps defray some facilities expenses. The WCNA workgroup and more than 1500 volunteers make this event possible. Each of us demonstrates the Power of Love in our actions and goodwill as we bring an event this big and complex into reality.
Being of Service
Interested in being considered as a WCNA workshop speaker or want to participate in the speaker evaluation process? That information is available on the website: www.na.org/wcna. We’ll have more information in the spring about other ways you can help before and at the Convention.
Visas
Need help or information about a visa to enter the US? Please contact elaine@na.org for more information.
More to come!
Keep an eye on your inbox and our website for more information about the amazing array of entertainment and other details as the event gets closer! We plan to add a baseball game on Wednesday; other free and ticketed events including music, comedy and more to follow soon! We are so excited and can’t wait to see you in DC!
Issue Discussion Topics
One more thing unrelated to WCNA: We have posted workshop materials and a survey form for a third Issue Discussion Topic, Drug Replacement Therapy / Medication-Assisted Treatment as it Relates to NA: www.na.org/idt The other two topics posted are Gender-Neutral and Inclusive Language in NA Literature and Dealing with Disruptive and Predatory Behavior.
In service,
World Board
