More than 3,000 Italian Americans from across the country converged at the Hilton Washington and Towers in Washington, D.C., October 15-16, 2004 to celebrate their heritage at the NIAF Annual Convention. The convention weekend featured numerous conferences, a celebrity auction, and the 5th-annual Salute to the Martini.

Once again, the convention weekend was capped-off by the Anniversary Gala, at which legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti was inducted into the NIAF Italian American Hall of Fame. Grammy Award-winning country music star Tim McGraw, accompanied by his wife Faith Hill, received a NIAF Special Achievement Award in Music. Joseph Plumeri, executive chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings, was honored with a NIAF Special Achievement Award in Business, and Carmella LaSpada, founder of No Greater Love and executive director of The White House Commission on Remembrance, received the NIAF Special Achievement Award in Humanitarian Service.