Contract work or permanent, which would you take? - what worked for you?

I got a contract offer for 18 months as a project coordinator and I am unsure whether to accept. It has been weighing on me all week. I would gain recent experience. Did a contract become permanent?

I took a contract and it converted after four months. The time also kept my skills current.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 5 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.