During the Conference, the young playwrights meet and work with their peers, attend daily workshops and seminars in playwriting conducted by YPI Teaching Artists and featuring talks with artists such as Alfred Uhry, Carol Hall, David Henry Hwang, Lynn Ahrens, Chay Yew, Terrence McNally, and YPI founder Stephen Sondheim. The young playwrights see the best of New York's plays and discuss what they've seen with members of the creative team. Finally, the writers work with professional directors, dramaturgs, and actors as they continue to develop their plays for their professional debuts in the Readings.

Through the Writers Conference and Readings Series, YPI provides a fulfilling and comprehensive experience for these talented writers. This program enhances YPI's mission to develop new writers for the theater by creating an opportunity to work more actively and intensively with promising playwrights. Although some of these writers will ultimately be selected for full production in the Young Playwrights Festival, the emphasis for all Conference participants is not on competition but on their individual development as writers.