In the fall of 1992, Dr. Jo Ann C. McDowell called on past acquaintances and friends—Edward Albee and Marshall W. Mason—to participate in the first Valdez Theatre Conference, produced by Prince William Sound Community College in August of 1993. Dr. McDowell had been associated with the William Inge Festival in Independence, Kansas, for over a decade while serving as Vice President and President of Independence Community College and brought her experiences and connections to bear in creating this new event.

For the next twelve years, the Conference yearly honored a major American playwright and director. Past honorees include Arthur Miller, August Wilson, Terence McNally, and many other household names. The authors were in attendance for the event, teaching classes and talking about their careers, while evening performances focused on presenting their work to participants.

In 2005, Dr. McDowell moved on to a new college and started the Great Plains Theatre Conference. Dawson Moore remained in the role of Coordinator that he had filled for two years after participating for eight years as a director and actor. New PWSC Campus Director Doug Desorcie, a founding member of the event’s staff, worked with Moore on revising the Conference’s mission to create a weeklong craft immersion in a non-competitive environment, a vision he’d had for the event before he’d joined the staff.