Event Overview
The Florida Tropical Weavers Guild (FTWG) invites you to teach at our annual conference which will be held April 16-19, 2026. In 2026, we will return to the same venue we have been at since 2023. Just before our 2025 Conference, the venue changed its name and it is now Holiday Inn Resort Kissimmee by the Parks.
We are thrilled about the new opportunities for attendees and day trippers that this location offers. Conveniently located off Hwy. 192 in Kissimmee near Walt Disney World, the property will be undergoing a refresh over the next year under new ownership, so should be looking brand new when we arrive for our 2026 Conference. The hotel features several dining outlets including a lobby Starbucks, full-service bar, and a Pizza Hut Express. FTWG has been granted exclusive use of the entire Conference Center which features its own entrance and ample parking.
As in years past, the conference runs Thursday after lunch through Sunday noon. Evening events include the annual membership meeting, fiber exhibit, fashion show, and awards. The participants with interests in fiber related arts – weaving, spinning, dyeing, knitting, basketry, beading, polymer clay, woodworking, etc. – represent 15 guilds from all over Florida and include a number of attendees from other states. You can visit our Workshop Archive to see what we’ve offered since 2019.
Class Lengths
For 2025, we offered classes varying in length from 3 to 15 hours of instruction. This was popular with our attendees and the logistics worked well, so we are looking to do the same for 2026. All classes, regardless of length, will use the application form on this page.
Proposal Process
Proposals must be submitted on the form at the bottom of this web page. Please note that as part of the application, you are required to submit a headshot and 3-5 images that represent the work which will be completed in your class. FTWG has published Media Submission Guidelines, which may help you in preparing your images for submission. If you have questions about or problems with submitting images, please complete our Contact Form and FTWG’s Technology Chair will help you with that part of the process.
Class Proposals will be accepted until 11:59pm on April 18, 2025.
You are welcome to submit multiple proposals. Each proposal must be submitted separately. If you are submitting multiple proposals, you will not need to resubmit duplicative information, like your contact info, headshot, and bio. There’s a box to check, indicating that you’ve already submitted a proposal, which will allow you to skip those duplicate fields.
When you submit a proposal, it is automatically emailed to FTWG’s VP Programs as the content of an email and as a PDF attachment. You will also receive a copy of this confirmation email.
After the submission deadline, the VP for Programs will present all the class proposals to the FTWG Board, which will select a slate of classes for 2026. After the Board meeting, the VP for Programs will send a Memorandum of Understanding to the selected instructors.
At the January 2026 Board meeting, the Board will make go/no go decisions on all classes, based on individual and overall enrollment. After this Board Meeting, the VP for Programs sends final contracts to all classes which are a go.
Timelines
Class Proposals are accepted during defined times, announced annually, and only for the next upcoming Conference.
Class Proposals will be accepted until 11:59pm on April 18, 2025.
May 2025 – FTWG selects slate of classes from the submitted proposals, then issues memorandums of understanding
June 2025 – FTWG announces slate of classes via newsletter
August 2025 – The 2026 Class information goes live on the FTWG website
October / November 2025 – Member registration opens (exact date TBD)
November 2025 – General registration opens (exact date TBD)
January 2026 – FTWG Board makes final go / no go decisions for classes, based on enrollment, then issues teaching contracts
Mid-February 2026 – Registration closes
April 16-19, 2026 – FTWG Conference is held
Class Expectations
The class schedule is based on instructional blocks, which may be either 3 hours long or 4 hours long. Generally, basketweaving classes are scheduled in 4 hour blocks and all other classes are scheduled in 3 hour blocks. However, please let us know what you think would work best for your class.
Instructional Block Schedule
3 hour blocks
Thursday 1 pm – 4 pm
Friday 9 am – 12 pm
Friday 2 pm – 5 pm
Saturday 9 am – 12 pm
Saturday 2 pm – 5 pm
Sunday 9 am – 12 pm
4 hour blocks
Thursday 1 pm – 5 pm
Friday 8 am -12 pm
Friday 1:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Saturday 8 am – 12 pm
Saturday 1:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Sunday 8 am – 12 pm
- Total class length for classes scheduled in 3 hour blocks is either 3, 6, 9, 12, or 15 hours.
- Total class length for classes scheduled in 4 hour blocks is either 4, 8, 12, 16, or 20 hours.
- When presented to attendees for registration:
- ‘Half Day’ classes are 1 instructional block, either 3 or 4 hours of instruction
- ‘Full Day’ classes are 2 instructional blocks, either 6 or 8 hours of instruction
- ‘One and a Half Day’ classes are 3 instructional blocks, either 9 or 12 hours of instruction
- ‘Two Day’ classes are 4 instructional blocks, either 12 or 16 hours of instruction
- ‘Two and a Half Day’ classes are 5 instructional blocks, either 15 or 20 hours of instruction
- Full Day classes consist of two instructional blocks on the same day.
- One and a Half Day, Two Day classes, and Two and a Half Day classes are scheduled so that all instruction happens on consecutive days.
- On Thursday afternoon, we only offer Half Day classes. Longer classes do not start on Thursday afternoon.
- Teaching schedules for three (3) and six (6) hour classes will be set in consultation with the instructor, and the application form does include a place to indicate preferred days and times for teaching, as well as a comment box to add any additional information that impacts the scheduling of the class.
Click here to view the 2025 FTWG Conference as an example of the overall flow of the event. The 2026 schedule is not yet set and may differ from the 2025 schedule.
FTWG will consider accepting multiple shorter classes from a single instructor, up to the maximum 24 hours of teaching time available during the Conference. The Application includes questions for an instructor to indicate the minimum and maximum number of hours they are willing to teach during the FTWG Conference.
On Saturday evening, FTWG holds a classroom Open House. Attendees visit the various classrooms to see the work happening there. Instructors teaching a total of twelve (12) instructional hours or more are expected to be present in their classrooms for at least one hour during the Open House.
Class instructors may be interviewed by an FTWG volunteer. The interviews will be short, roughly 10 minutes in length, and take place via Zoom, sometime in the second half of 2025. FTWG will edit these videos, producing several videos of varying lengths. These videos will be used for promotional purposes, according to FTWG’s discretion, including, but not limited to, use on FTWG’s website, social media pages, YouTube Channel, Ravelry group.
Instructors are responsible for:
- Protecting the workshop area and furniture from damage.
- Bringing all supplies and equipment required for teaching their workshops.
Compensation and Payment
Instructors are paid by check in USD. A W-9 form must be submitted to FTWG at the time of contract, as we report all income/reimbursements to the IRS as required by law. FTWG will not pay an instructor until we have received a W-9 form.
Compensation rates
Instructors are paid $85 / hour of instruction.
Additional compensation is based on instructional blocks. For each instructional block, FTWG will:
- Reimburse 20% of travel costs, up to a maximum of $550;
- Cover 20% of the cost of a 3-night single occupancy room and board package, the value of which can be applied to any of the room and board packages offered at the 2026 FTWG Conference.
- Pay $12.50 per diem for breakfast, as breakfast is not included in our room and board packages.
- Please note that our registration process may change for 2026. FTWG will cover 20% of room rate and 20% of meals offered for each instructional block, regardless of how we manage registration for our event.
In addition to compensation from FTWG, Instructors generally charge a Materials Fee to cover the costs of materials they bring for students to use. On the application to teach, there is a place to enter the materials fee. This fee is paid by the students directly to the instructor at the beginning of the class.
Vending Information
In the Vendor Hall
The FTWG Conference offers a limited number of booth spaces in our vendor hall. Instructors may choose to pay a fee to procure a booth, on a space available basis. Doing so is a separate arrangement, not covered under the terms of the teaching contract. More information is available on our Vending Information page. Please note that this page contains 2025 Conference information and some details may change for 2026.
In the classroom
Instructors have the express right to make available for sale to their students any materials, tools, books, or supplies, either as part of the materials fee or in addition to the materials fee, with the following caveats:
- Instructors will not spend instruction time promoting or advertising these items, beyond a simple statement that the items are available for sale;
- Instructors will not spend instruction time making sales to people who are not students in the class;
- During the Saturday evening Open House, Instructors may set up in their classroom a display of materials, tools, books, or supplies for sale to those attending the Open House;
- All items available for sale must be related to the subject matter of the class or other fiber arts classes the Instructor teaches. Instructors will not sell items unrelated to the fiber arts. (FTWG includes basketry in its definition of fiber arts).
FTWG does not charge a fee or commission on sales made in the classroom.