Venue
We’re back at St. John's University in Queens, New York, which is easily accessed from public transportation and easily navigable. The venue is handicapped-accessible and can be reached from handicap-accessible public transportation. The terrain is primarily flat, with a few inclined areas and minimal stairs to climb along the walking paths. For those who prefer not to walk, we will be providing three 5-seater golf carts traveling regularly between bus stops, parking and convention areas. To ensure that the carts are available when you need them—especially at off-hours when they may not be making a full circuit—you can request one by calling the Convention Hotline: 646-770-4907.
These are the primary convention areas:
- St. Louise de Marillac Hall (Marillac): Hospitality and all classes.
- D'Angelo Center (DAC): Sales, Exhibition, Public Access and Teaching
- Montgoris Dining Hall: Meals for those who elect to dine at the school—must be pre-arranged during registration.
- Sun Yat-Sen Gallery: Exhibition.
- O'Connor Hall: Housing.
See the Travel page for more information about location and access. There you will see several versions of the campus maps, showing MTA bus stops, major walking paths between the primary convention areas, and the routes assigned to the golf carts.
Website Menu Changes
The left-side menu for the convention website has been reorganized this year. We’ve grouped related entries for selected categories under a single heading. If you click on one of those entries (marked with an arrow) it will expand and you can see all the sub-categories. For example, if you click on Classes, its sub-categories will appear: Taking Classes, Teaching Classes, Remote Classes, Suggest a Class, Class Ticketing, and Priority Ticketing.
Accommodations
This year we have been assigned a new dorm (O’Connor Hall), directly across the way from the dining hall. The room configurations differ from last year’s.
Another significant change is that you will have the option on the housing registration form to request the bed height to be lower than the standard 33.5 inches.
If you’re planning on staying at St. John’s, please read the Accommodations page very carefully.
Parking
There will be free parking on campus for both overnight and day attendees. More detailed information is here.
Meals
We will have information available about restaurants that you can reach with a long walk, a car or taxi ride or a short bus ride. We highly recommend, however, that you preorder meals from the St. John's University dining hall. Note that you cannot order meals on site. If you are not staying overnight but elect to have your meals at Montgoris, you will receive a meal card (with no photo). There is no fee for this card (a change from last year’s $10 fee).
We will have coffee, decaf and tea available in the Hospitality Area before classes. See the Food page for more information.
Monday Night Banquet
Monday Night Dinner is a wonderful opportunity to meet your favorite origami creators and authors, and your new and old friends, in an intimate and relaxed atmosphere. See here for menu details and prices. In order to keep the prices reasonable, we've opted for a more casual atmosphere, replacing formal china and linens with less formal place settings — but the food will be good and the camaraderie as rich as ever.
Dining Hall Access
If you are staying at St. John's, your "Storm Card" will allow you access to the Montgoris Dining Hall for meals.
Convention Access Summary
Current members who are not registered for Origami Convention 2017 are welcome to visit the Sales Areas or the Exhibition at any time Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Please stop at the D’Angelo Center (DAC) first to obtain a temporary nametag for access to those areas only. Free parking is available. Remember that you must be registered as an Attendee to enter the Hospitality Area.
Parents or guardians who require access to the site to pick-up or deliver members must be listed as a Guardian on the Attendee's registration form. Only one Guardian badge per underage attendee will be issued.
Non-members, including family and friends of members, may visit the public areas (Sales and Exhibition) on Saturday or Sunday from 10:00 am to 4:45 pm. Admission is free.
Reference Library Request
This feature replaces the former Mobile Library. The OrigamiUSA reference library contains mostly hard-to-find or out-of-print books. You can request a specific book to be held for you at the Information Desk in Hospitality. More details are here.
Ride Sharing Board
This new page provides a method for prospective ride sharers and carpoolers from all over the greater NY area who are planning to commute to St. John’s to connect with each other.
Credit Cards Accepted
In addition to the usual Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal, Discover Card may now be used pre-convention for registration and during convention for Source purchases.
Sweatshirts
This year we are offering unisex pullover sweatshirts for sale on the registration form. They are available for preorder only and because of the lead time needed to order them, they will only be available until June 10.
Unisex pullover sweatshirt with hood. Designed by Patty Grodner and Talo Kawasaki.