Hosted by Becky Antkowiak

Not getting connected personally
is one of the few drawbacks to a virtual conference,
but we have a solution!

Come to any (or all) of our three Social Hour Breakout networking sessions. You do NOT want to miss this incredible time. You might find a new writing buddy, a beta reader, a fun critique partner, or someone to be your “Dory” who will encourage you to just keep writing, just keep writing!

Check out this short video with Deena Adams
to learn more about our Social Hours.

Tips for Breakout Rooms

  • When Becky “grabs you” to assign you to a breakout room, your screen will go dark and a few seconds later, you’ll appear in your assigned breakout room. This is normal. Please do not refresh your screen or exit the social hour link. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. It’s like a sneak peek at the rapture.
  • Don’t be shy. Other than Genre and Faculty Breakouts, there are no specific breakout room leaders. So, be bold, jump in, and get chatting.

Faculty Breakouts*

Hosted by Becky Antkowiak

At an in-person conference, you’d have a chance to get to know faculty—and we’re bringing that experience to ACFW Virginia. Some of our faculty members will be available during this session. Bring your questions and get to know some of the coolest people on the planet.

*Please note: due to the number of people participating, you will not be able to request a specific faculty member’s breakout room. However, you may leave your assigned room and then ask Becky to join a different faculty member’s breakout room.

Friday, November 1, 2024
1:00 – 1:50pm EDT

No Longer
Available

*Please scroll further down for Saturday’s Link

If the join link does not work for you, you can enter the Meeting ID and Password into Zoom manually.

Speed Networking Breakout

Hosted by Becky Antkowiak

Imagine all the in-the-hallway and the “hey, while-we’re-washing-our-hands” conversations at your favorite conference. With only a few minutes to your next session, you exchange info and promise to follow up on social media, right? Speed-networking, one of our most-loved (particularly by introverts) sessions allows you to meet people in very small groups for a short amount of time. You’ll have time to introduce yourself and trade contact information (and you might finally get a chance to share that 30-second elevator pitch you’ve been practicing all year). Then, we’ll shuffle groups and go again. It’s a LOT of fun.

Friday, November 1, 2024
5:00 – 5:50pm EDT

No Longer
Available

*Please scroll further down for Saturday’s Link

If the join link does not work for you, you can enter the Meeting ID and Password into Zoom manually.

Genre Breakouts

Hosted by Becky Antkowiak

Network with others in your writing genre. Based on the information attendees supplied on their registration forms, we are pleased to offer the following breakout rooms:

Contemporary
Contemporary Romance
Historical (includes romance & suspense)
Mystery/Suspense/Thriller (includes romance)
Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Speculative
YA/MiddleGrade/Children’s

Not sure? Ambi-genre-ous? If you’d like to visit more than one breakout, just pop back to the main session and we’ll get you where you’d like to be.

Saturday, November 2, 2024
1:00 – 1:50pm EDT

No Longer
Available

If the join link does not work for you, you can enter the Meeting ID and Password into Zoom manually.

About Becky Antkowiak

Becky Antkowiak (ant-KO-vee-ack) is a writer, speaker, editor, adoptive homeschooling mom, Compassion sponsor and enthusiastic Grammar Floozy. A lifelong serial extrovert, Becky believes every stranger is a friend she hasn’t met. (Fair warning: if you make eye contact, you may be friends for life.) She runs the 540 Writers Community, an encouraging, educational, accessible–and free–group for writers. When she’s not writing or finding ways to connect people, you can find her demolishing, rebuilding, and creating alongside Patrick (her best friend and husband of 21 years). In her spare moments, she binge-listens to audiobooks while eating salted caramel anything. You can connect with her at 540Writers.com or via @beckyantkowiak on social media. 

Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the
LORD your God has blessed you.
~Deuteronomy 16:17