OrigaMIT will be holding its second annual origami convention on Saturday, Oct. 27th, 2012 on MIT's campus!

What do you do at an origami convention?

• Take classes on how to fold specific origami models
• Browse a high quality origami exhibition
• Purchase origami paper and books
• Have fun and fold paper!

The convention is open to anyone who would like to participate! Registration cost for this convention will be $20, which is quite cheap in comparison to other origami conventions. MIT students can register at a discounted rate of $5 due to support from the MIT Undergraduate Association. In order to cover the costs of lateness and to encourage early registration, registration will raise to $30 on Oct. 27th, so register now! The registration form is located at the bottom of this page. Unfortunately, we cannot accept payment for anything online; please bring cash or Techcash to pay at convention check in!

This year, all convention activities will occur in the same building, the MIT Student Center. Registration will start at 9am on the second floor in room W20-208. This room is MIT's Lobdell Dining Hall that can comfortably hold over 300 people and will serve as the main headquarters at convention. In the morning, please check in at our registration desk in W20-208. Here you will:

• Check in
• Pay your registration fee
• Get some paper, info, map, and schedule
• Make a name tag
• Order/pay for lunch or dinner

For those coming in from out of town, there are a number of hostels and hotels in the area, but book soon; rooms in Boston book quickly! For those driving in, there is lots of free parking around MIT's campus, but there can be many events on campus during the weekend, and it may be difficult to find parking. Please refer to the guidelines on MIT's Parking Page for more information about MIT parking regulations and locations. There is also metered parking on the street that is free on the weekends.

Classes and lectures will be available to convention attendees over the course of the day. We have 28 classes and 6 lectures currently scheduled. You can find more information about these classes here. Classes range in difficulty from simple (S), to low and high intermediate (LI) (HI), to complex (C); beginners and veterans alike will find classes to satisfy their curiosity! A tentative convention schedule is shown below. Class schedule is subject to change.

There will be no ticketing for classes; admittance will be based on a first come first serve basis, so please be flexible to make sure there is space for everyone. As is customary at MIT, each class will start 5 minutes past the hour and end 5 minutes before the hour. Please arrive on time! Also, please don't get in over your head! If you've never been to an origami convention before, this OrigamiUSA document on classroom etiquette is a useful read.

Photos and descriptions of the models being taught

Some famous origami artists and designers that plan to attend this convention are:

Brian Chan * Erik Demaine * Jason Ku * Michael LaFosse * Jeannine Mosely * Wensdy Whitehead

We will host a small origami exhibition at this convention combining models from OrigaMIT's permanent collection, as well as models brought by convention attendees. If you are bringing models to exhibit, we will be accepting models in W20-208 starting at 8:30am. We will allocate exhibition space based on a first come, first serve basis. Come set up early!

Food is not included in the cost of registration. There are many dining options available in the MIT Student Center (Subway, Dunkin' Donuts, Grill, Middle Eastern, Japanese, Convenience Store), but to help accommodate convention attendees, OrigaMIT will also be placing an order for both lunch and dinner on the morning of convention for food to be delivered to the convention location. If you would be interested in joining in our order, please indicate your preference on your registration form and bring money to give us on the morning of convention. More details on cost closer to convention, but last year, we ordered lots of pizza for lunch at $6/person, and ordered Chinese food for dinner at $12/person. Of course you are free to find or bring your own food!

As is customary at origami conventions, we will be holding some post-convention closing festivities during and directly following dinner. These festivities will include fun folding competitions, some of which might be:

• Miniature Folding! ------------------------------- How small can you fold?
• Oversized Folding! ------------------------------- How large can you fold?
• Speed Folding! ------------------------------------ How fast can you fold?
• Blind Speed Folding! ---------------------------- How fast can you fold... behind your back?
• Handicapped Speed Folding! ----------------- How fast can you fold... one handed?
• Stinky Speed Folding! --------------------------- How fast can you fold... with your feet?
• Hungry Speed Folding! ------------------------- How fast can you fold... using a fork and knife?

Prizes will be given away, so come join in the fun!

At convention, there will be opportunity to purchase origami paper and books from Origamido Studios, a famous local paper making studio and origami shop. Additionally, OrigaMIT will be selling last year's convention books, new t-shirts, and other goodies. Please bring cash or Techcash if you are interested in making any purchases as we will not have access to a credit card machine.

OrigaMIT put together a small collection of origami diagrams for our first convention last year. This 2011 OrigaMIT Convention Book has been revised slightly as a second edition. It is 64 pages in length, spiral bound, and costs $10. You can find the table of contents for our convention book here. Note that we have reprinted only a limited number of copies and we will give preference to convention attendees. We may reprint the book again after this convention if there is a demand, so please let us know if you are not attending convention and are interested in purchasing one.

T-Shirts We have stylish new OrigaMIT t-shirts, as well as last year's shirts! They cost $15, but if you're a current MIT student, you can purchase one for a discounted price of $10. This year, we have opted not to purchase women's sizes, in favor of buying only unisex sizes. We have a limited supply, so let us know if you would like to purchase one at convention, and we may order more! Registration To register for the Second OrigaMIT convention, please fill out the following form: