Overview

To take classes at PCOC 2023, you will use our class ticketing system, which has two phases:

In the online advance ticketing, you request the classes you wish to take during the week of October 15, 1:00 am–October 19, 1:00 pm EDT and arrange them in order of priority; following that, classes will be assigned in a round-robin fashion based on people's choices and availability. Teachers and volunteers receive priority.

Details are below.

Online Advance Ticketing

If you have registered for PCOC with classes, you will request the classes you want to take (on the days you have registered for). At the end of the class request period, classes will be assigned in a round-robin fashion. The key dates for class request/assignment are:

  • October 8, 1:00 pm EDT — Preliminary class schedule posted
  • October 11, 1:00 pm EDT — Final class schedule posted
  • October 14, 1:00 pm–October 19, 1:00 pm EDT — Request classes
  • October 19, 1:00 pm EDT — Class requests close
  • October 19, 5:00 pm EDT — Class assignments posted

Once the class schedules have been posted, you can start looking at the class schedule for each day and making notes of what classes you would like to take.

We’ve prepared a printable document and a tutorial video to provide advice and illustrated instructions to help you with the request selection process. The document and video concentrate on a step-by-step process to guide you through the actual request processing pages. In addition, we provide an annotated worksheet (shown in the video) for those who prefer to compile a list of classes that interest them before actually entering their requests. (These instructions are for OrigamiUSA's Annual Convention, but classes for PCOC work the same way.)

Also, during this period, there will be a special email address for any ticketing-related questions: pcoc-ticketing [at] origamiusa.org.

Class Requests Period

A six-day period, October 14, 1:00 pm–October 19, 1:00 pm EDT, will be devoted to choosing your class requests. We'll send out an email to all registered participants when class requests open.

When requests open, you can go to PCOC 2023 > My PCOC > My Classes to begin entering your requests. For each day that you are registered for classes, you will select the classes you'd like to take and arrange them in order of preference. We'll use your order of preference for class assignment. You'll order all of your requests for all days together in one list. We'll try to get everyone at least one of their top picks. (In years past, everyone received one of their top-three classes, and nearly everyone received their first-choice class.)

While you can make and reorder your requests using any type of device (phone, tablet, laptop, desktop), you may find it easiest to use a laptop or desktop computer that will allow you to have multiple windows open on the screen so that you can go back and forth between your list of classes and the possibilities on the schedule. The windows you'll likely want to keep open are:

There are two ways to request classes. On the "Request classes" page, you can choose classes by typing their name into an autocomplete field and selecting each class as it matches what you type, then add it to your request list. (This is the approach described in the PDFs above.)

Alternatively, you can browse the class schedules and when you see a class you like, go to the class page and click the "Request this class" button near the bottom of the page. If you do this, make sure you visit your "Request classes" page to double-check and/or change your priority order.

Class Assignment Period

At the end of the request period, we'll close requests and make class assignments. Classes are assigned in a round-robin fashion (like the NFL draft), with each person getting one request fulfilled per round. Note that the initial order is based on your registration date: earlier registrations come earlier in the assignment in each round. Teachers and volunteers receive additional priority (see below).

Note that class assignment will take into account the days you've registered for classes (you won't be assigned classes on a day you're not registered for), your teaching (you won't be assigned to a class that conflicts with one you are teaching), and your volunteering signups (you won't be assigned to a class that conflicts with something you've signed up to volunteer for).

If for some reason you miss the online ticketing system (or you registered really late, like at the door), don't worry; there will still be some classes available for last-minute attendees and you can use the online self-serve ticketing described next. But we expect that the vast majority of PCOC attendees will request and receive their classes via the online advance process.

Information for Students

Please read through the pages linked below on classroom etiquette and origami difficulty. Origami folks are, in general, a friendly and forgiving lot, but you can help keep things running smoothly by following the generally accepted norms of behavior (etiquette) and only signing up for classes at your folding level.

Online Self-Serve Ticketing

If you did not sign up for classes via the online advance ticketing process or you want to make changes to your online class assignments after your classes are assigned, you can do so using the Self-Serve Ticketing process, which will open after classes have been assigned and will remain open right up until classes begin. During this time, people registered for classes can add or drop classes at will (subject to time conflicts and class size limitations).

To make any changes to your classes (either adding or dropping classes), visit your "My Classes" page (which you can find in the PCOC 2023 menu at upper right). After classes have been assigned, you will see your own class schedule (and those of any other people you have registered); for each person, you will also see a box to add or remove classes, like this:

Add/Remove box

Start typing the name of the class you want to add or drop, then select the specific class from the drop-down menu that will appear. Buttons will appear to allow you to add or remove the class, if either is possible, along with an explanation of the class's current status and any conflicts.

To find classes to add, check out the daily schedule grids that are linked from the top of the "My Classes" page. Classes that have sold out are indicated by a red border on the class on the schedule grid. Refresh the class schedule page to see the latest sold-out status. There are many sources to use in preparing your class choices: the online schedule, the on-site model menu, or the printed schedules available at the Information Desk in Hospitality.

You can add or remove classes at any time, right up to the beginning of classes. If you are not going to take a class, please remove it from your schedule, so that it opens up a spot that someone else might fill. If you want to replace one class with another, remove the first class before adding the second; the system will not allow adding a class that conflicts with another class on your schedule, your own teaching, or your own volunteering.

Priority Ticketing

Priority Ticketing is designed to compensate teachers and other volunteers who have donated hours that could otherwise be used to attend classes. That means you must be volunteering or teaching:

  • During class hours (10 am–12 noon, 2 pm–5 pm), and
  • On a day when you are registered to attend classes.

As in years past, special priority will be given to teachers and volunteers who work during class time. Teacher/volunteer priority is taken into account during the online class assignment. Note that you must have registered to teach and must have signed up for specific volunteering time slots in order to receive priority ticketing consideration.

If you teach and/or volunteer one hour during class time on a day when you are attending with classes, you are eligible for priority consideration for three classes on any day on which you are attending with classes.

If you teach and/or volunteer two hours or more during class time on days you are attending with classes, you are eligible for priority consideration for six classes on any day on which you are attending with classes.

Please be aware of these important new deadlines for participation in priority ticketing:

  • Teachers must have entered their teaching forms before the closing date for teaching form entry.
  • Volunteers must have signed up for their volunteer hours before the class requests period ends.

These (and other) key dates can be seen here.

Please note that only a limited number of priority tickets for each class will be available. Teachers/volunteers requesting this priority will have their requests filled in order based on their ticketing sequence number. No class will be allowed to sell out by priority ticketing before the regular ticketing process begins, so it is important to enter many choices during online class registration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did you change the ticketing system?
The new online advance ticketing system offers several benefits over the old system:
  • No standing in line each morning of PCOC if you've preregistered.
  • You know what classes you'll be taking well in advance of PCOC.
  • You can take your time in choosing what classes you want to take. You'll have a week to decide and make your choices.
  • The new system is far more equitable than the old system.
What do you mean by "far more equitable?"
Under the old system, everyone got a priority number based on (a) when they registered, (b) luck of the draw (since the first day's registrations were lotteried together). If you got a good, low priority number, you got to pick all your classes before everyone else and pretty much got all your choices! Whereas if you happened to register late (or just ended up with a high number because of the lottery), by the time the line got to you, the pickin's could be pretty slim.

In the new system, there's still priority numbers, but now classes are assigned round-robin, like the NFL draft. Priority number 1 gets ONE class; then number 2 gets ONE class; and so on, all the way to the person with the lowest priority number. Only then does priority number 1 get their second class pick. And so on, and so forth. This makes the class assignment process far more equitable than before.
So there's still a priority number based on when I register, right?
Yes. The first day's registrations are still lotteried together; thereafter priority numbers are assigned based on the date and time of registration. But the priority number is no longer "winner-take-all"; it just determines your position in each round of class assignment.
Where do I request my classes?
If you registered yourself or someone else, all of your/their schedules will be linked from the PCOC 2023 My Classes page, accessible when you are logged in to your website account. The system will be open for class requests for one week. See here for exact dates.
How do I express my relative choices?
For each day of classes, you can choose any number of classes and drag them into preference order on the online form. You'll put all your choices for all days into a single list, so your top-choice class should be first in the list, no matter what day it's on.
Can I specify conditional choices? Like, if I get into Fuse, I want to take LaFosse, but if I don't get Fuse, then I'll take Peyton?
Sorry, no. You can put your classes into strict order of preference and that's all.
How many choices can I make for each day?
You can request as many classes as you want for each day. The assignment algorithm will try to fill your schedule until either your schedule is full or it runs out of your requests. If you want a full day, we suggest you choose at least 10–15 classes for each day. Also, try to cover each period of the day with several picks so that you will end up with as full a schedule as possible.
Does this guarantee that I'll get my first choice?
No guarantees, but you'll almost certainly get one or more of your top few choices. In past years, almost everyone received their first choice.
Who does the actual assignment? A person? A team?
It's a computer algorithm. There will probably be something like 150 classes and several thousand class requests. The website server will sort through them all and do the actual assignment based on attendees' requests, priority numbers, and class sizes.
Is there special priority for teachers and volunteers, like there was in the past?
Yes, and the good news is, there is special priority, but there's no special process. Teachers and volunteers register and make requests just like everyone else, but they get their special bump at class assignment time, based on the number of hours they teach and/or volunteer.
Does anyone else get special priority?
Yes, we try to give a little extra priority to our invited guests, first-timers and foreign guests. But remember, the nice thing about this system is that priority is no longer all-or-nothing; we dole out priority in measured doses.
What if I register after online class requests close? How do I get classes?
Once the online advance ticketing process closes and classes have been assigned, the self-serve ticketing opens, and everyone can add or drop classes as they wish, right up until class time starts (subject, of course, to class size limits). More details are here.
Can I make changes to my class schedule after getting it via the online advanced ticketing?
Yes. You can use the online self-serve ticketing system to add, drop, or replace classes in your schedule. You can use this from your computer, tablet, or smartphone, but you will need to be signed into your website account.
The class I wanted was sold out. How can I find out if a spot opens up?
There's no way to get a notification, but you can periodically check the daily class schedules and refresh the class schedule grid to see what classes are still or no longer sold out.
I won't have a computer/tablet/smartphone with me at PCOC. How can I make changes to my schedule?
You can ask the team at the ticketing Help desk to assist; make a list of the classes you are interested in, and they can assign you to the available classes. Times and locations are: * Friday Ticketing Help Desk (Cyril Magnin Foyer) 8:45 am–9:30 am * Saturday Ticketing Help Desk (Cyril Magnin Foyer) 8:30 am–9:30 am * Sunday Ticketing Help Desk (Cyril Magnin Foyer) 8:30 am–9:30 am
Can I make a pairing request, i.e., to make sure I get into the same classes with my child so I can assist them?
We do try to group family members together at assignment time; make sure you and your child request the same classes in the same order and there's a good chance you'll be assigned together (though it's not guaranteed). Once the schedules are published, it may still be possible for PCOC administrators to make changes to effect the desired pairings, either for the selected class, or another that can be agreed upon.
Sorry, I'm still confused and/or having difficulty with the online process for requesting classes. Is there any alternative?
Yes, if all else fails, you can send your class list in priority order to pcoc-teaching [at] origamiusa.org and the teaching team will input your requests for you.