Columbia Scholastic Press Association

Convention Registration: What to know

EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE postmark deadline is February 15, 2013.

Delegates include all persons attending any part of the CSPA Convention. Advisers are included as delegates and must pay full registration fees.

Only registered delegates are admitted to meetings and other convention activities. None of these activities are open to the public. Registration is complete when all the necessary forms are submitted with full payment of fees.

Persons attempting to enter any Convention function without a valid identification badge may be asked to leave the campus. Please be sure to register all of your delegates to avoid this embarrassment.

Early registration by mail is encouraged. The fee for early registration for student and adviser delegates is $105. All early registrations must be postmarked by February 15, 2013.

No purchase orders will be accepted for early fee registrations. ALL purchase orders will be billed at the late fee of $119 per person.

All registrants must first check-in at the Roone Arledege Auditorium, located inside the Alfred Lerner Hall Student Center, located at the corner of West 115th Street and Broadway in upper Manhattan. This is where pre-registered delegates will pick-up their materials and those registering on-site will register their delegates and pay their fees.

Upon arriving at the Lerner Hall Registration Center, the adviser or group leader must pick-up badges and program guides before continuing to the Convention sessions. Late registration, including on-site registration, is $119 per delegate.

While the Thursday and Friday Advisers Luncheons are free to attend, each person must reserve their seat in advance. We can only accommodate the first 180 people who reserve for each luncheon. Please reserve your luncheon seat only if you are sure you will be able to attend.

Badges admit delegates to all Convention sessions. All delegates must wear their badges during the convention. CSPA provides each delegate with a plastic badge holder to keep their name badge visible.

Meals are not included in the Convention registration fee. CSPA will provide each delegation with a list of neighborhood eating establishments for their convenience.

All payments must accompany your registration form before or at the Convention. Only authorized school purchase orders will be billed, and only at the higher rate of $119 per person.

Program guides (the printed schedule of events and meetings) will be distributed on campus during the Convention. Because of the complexity of scheduling so many events, CSPA does not receive printed copies of the program until 24 hours prior to the opening of the Convention.

Check our official Web site (http://cspa.columbia.edu) for frequent program updates.

Refunds can only be requested, in writing, before February 15, 2013. Plan to bring substitutes to replace delegates who are unable to attend.

Registration commitments and payments

Once a registration form or purchase order is received, CSPA treats it as a committed reservation.

Just as a hotel takes reservations and makes certain financial commitments based on your reservation, CSPA purchases various goods and services from vendors both on- and off-campus in preparation for your arrival at the University.

For this reason, all registrations not canceled before February 15, 2013 will be held liable for all fees listed on their registration form.

No purchase orders will be accepted for early fee registrations. ALL purchase orders will be billed at the late fee of $119 per person.

About Adobe Acrobat

Most of our documents and brochures are available on this Web site for download in Adobe's Portable Document Format, or PDF. 

To download and view these files, you must have installed either the full version of the Acrobat software or the freely-distributed Acrobat Reader on your computer.

Adobe Acrobat Reader is free, universal software that lets you open, view, search, and print Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files with built-in security features. Reader is a free, downloadable, stand-alone program; it does not require the full Acrobat software to work properly.

Acrobat Reader is available for free download at Adobe's Web site, located at: http://get.adobe.com/reader/ or by clicking the "Get Reader" button to the right. Follow their instructions to download and install Acrobat Reader on your computer.

Download Forms

Click on the icon to download the official Registration Form.

Click on this icon to download the Additional Delegate Form.

Click this icon to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software.

PLEASE NOTE: These downloadable forms will make it easier for you to complete the Registration and Additional Delegate forms by allowing you to complete most fields on the screen using Adobe's Acrobat Reader software (free download).

However, you must still print the form and submit the form via fax, postal mail or e-mail in order for CSPA to have your information. Completing the information on the screen DOES NOT automatically send the information to CSPA.

If at all in doubt about the procedure, please contact us at (212) 854-9400 or [email protected]. Thank you.