Diocesan Convention Information for All Attendees
The 2011 Diocesan Convention will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 12th and Arch Streets, Philadelphia, Saturday, November 5, 2011. Registration will begin 7:30 a.m., Eucharist will be 8:30, and Convention business will begin 9:45. If you did not pre-register online by October 24, you may register the morning of Convention beginning 7:30; registration will close at 11:00 a.m.
Parking
We encourage you to consider using public transportation, especially Regional Rail, which stops at Market Street East (right below the Convention Center). Parking lots surround the Convention Center, and we have arranged for discounted parking in the Parkway garage at 12th & Filbert Streets (entrances on 12th & Cuthbert Streets and 12th & Arch Streets). Be sure to pick up your ticket entitling the bearer to the discounted parking (called “chasers”), which will be handed out on Convention day.
The Convention Center
Please enter the Convention Center at the 12th & Arch West Concourse (noted above the doorway), the same location as last year. Delegates, alternates, youth delegates, clergy and lay leaders will be asked to check in so they can receive their Convention packets. Staff will be posted throughout the first floor to assist you.
Seating for Delegates
Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis, not by Deanery. To facilitate voting, delegates are encouraged to arrange with other delegates of their parishes to sit together, and the first delegate to arrive from your parish should save seats sufficient for all attendees. Ushers will be available for assistance.
Orientation for New Delegates
If you have never been to Convention, it will be to your benefit to attend Orientation for New and Youth Delegates , which begins 7:45 in Room 112AB the morning of Convention.
Refreshments are provided for Convention attendees.
Continental Breakfast will be in the concourse area beginning 7:30, cold and hot beverages will be available mid-morning, and lunch will be provided for registered attendees.
Registration volunteers will distribute packets with ballots when you sign in.
Resident clergy who have pre-registered will receive a ballot and name badge in his/her packet. The first lay delegate from each congregation that has pre-registered will receive an envelope containing the parish’s voting ballot and nametags for all delegates, alternates and youth delegates from that parish; additional delegates, alternates and youth from that parish who arrive at a later time will receive a similar envelope without ballot or name badges. Pre-registered licensed clergy and lay leaders will receive individualized packets.
Be sure to visit exhibit tables.
You are invited to visit exhibits of diocesan and national organizations that will be on display in the concourse area and Exhibit Room 111AB.
Avail yourself of quiet time.
The Daughters of the King will have chapel space in Room 110B. You are invited to stop by for prayer or quiet time during Convention.
Please do not litter. We ask that you refrain from leaving any brochures or flyers on parish events on chairs. Be sure to place all trash and litter in the proper receptacles so we can leave the Convention Center in the same condition we found it. If you lose an item, check at the registration area Lost and Found the day of Convention, or contact Karen Bach (see below) after Convention to see if the Church House staff retrieved the item.
Distribution of flyers inside the meeting room is forbidden without the permission of Secretary of Convention.
If you have questions about Convention, please check the website or contact Karen Bach by email at karenb@diopa.org or by phone at (215) 627-6434 x111 before Friday, November 4th.
