Urbana 09!

Urbana is InterVarsity's national missions conference, held every three years. It's a time of exploring God's call for your life and encountering God in new ways. See what it's like for yourself. If you have any questions about the information below, check out the Urbana FAQs or e-mail Ben Wolf. Also, join Duke's Facebook event and the national event for Urbana to connect with other people going to Urbana and to stay updated!

Below are four easy steps to get ready for Urbana!

1. Register for the Conference
2. Register for Housing (with us)
3. Think about How to Get There
4. Pay for It!

Register for Urbana 09!

To register for the conference itself:

1. Visit the registration page. Once you have read through the page, click the "Student Registration" link at the top right.
2. Click the "New User" button.
3. Create your account. Be sure to provide accurate information so as not to mess up your registration. You'll use this account info to access your account later, allowing you to review your registration, pay your balance, etc. Click "Continue" when you finish filling out the page.
4. The next page asks you to specify if you'd like to do a specific track. Most of you will probably do the "General Participant" track, which allows you to go to all types of seminars and live in the Blue Ridge hotel. If you're interested in the other tracks, check out the track page. Note that those in a specific track live together in the same hotel. Select the track option you want, and click "Continue."
5. Fill out the "Participant Information" page, and click "Continue." Other pages will come. Fill them out, and click "Continue" as you fill them out.
6. Verify the information on the "Registration Confirmation" page, and click "Checkout."
7. Fill out the information on the "Checkout" page. Note that you only have to pay the $100 deposit now. However, while your balance isn't due until check-in, try to pay it off by Dec. 15 to speed up your check-in. People with unpaid balances will have to check in somewhere different than their hotel, so again, be sure to pay up. After filling everything out, click "Continue."
8. Be sure to print or save the confirmation page. Also, be sure to save your confirmation e-mail from Urbana09.registration@intervasity.org with the subject "Thank you! You are now registered for Urbana 09." You'll need the Participant ID from the e-mail to get housing.
9. Please fill out this form once you've registered.

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Register for Housing

Don't forget to register for housing at the conference. Housing is due by Dec. 1, so be sure to register ASAP! Housing is first come, first served, so be sure not to wait too long. Everyone in your room must register for Urbana before you can reserve a room! Click here for more info on housing.

1. First, find roommates. It's recommended to have two people per bed to cut costs, meaning that there will typically be 4 people per room.
   You can informally find three roommates at Duke. If you have already done this, continue to #2. You can let us help match you with roommates from Duke. Please fill this form out so we can facilitate roommate matching.
   A third option is to use the Urbana roommate finder.
2. Go to the lodging website.
3. Fill out the information under "Find Lodging" at the bottom right. Please note: The hotel that was reserved for our region is now full. Note: If you registered for a specific track, please use the access code provided at registration because you will be living with people from that track instead! To arrive on the day of the conference, your check-in date will be 12/27/2009, and to leave the day after the conference, your check-out date will be 01/01/2010. Again, I'd select the max number per room as at least 4.
4. One person from your room will need to go to this page, change the "0" under the hotel to "1", and click "book." Follow the instructions, and fill in the information about your roommates. You'll need each person's Participant ID (from his/her confirmation e-mail), generated after he/she registered for Urbana.
5. The person setting up the registration will need to provide his/her credit card number to process the reservation, but he/she won't be charged. When you arrive at the hotel, the first person at the hotel should check in with his/her credit card to hold the room. Be sure to alert the clerk that you'll need a folio for each person in the room (so, if there are four people in the room, you'll need four folios). When you check out, each person can pay his/her folio.
6. If you're the person who reserved your room, please fill out this form.

Some Notes About our Hotel (if you registered for it before it filled up)

• A room reservation secured by a check, money order, or cashiers check and cancelled at any time, will be charged a $25 processing fee.
• A room reservation secured by a credit card can be cancelled without penalty until December 15, 2009. A room cancellation that occurs on or after December 16, 2009 will be charged a $25 cancellation fee by your assigned hotel.
• HYATT REGENCY RIVERFRONT will start charging the credit cards the first night's room and tax ($93.55 or $110.87) on December 16, 2009.
• FAILURE TO CANCEL A ROOM RESERVATION BY 3PM (CST), THREE DAYS PRIOR TO YOUR ARRIVAL DATE, FORFEITS THE FIRST NIGHTS' ROOM AND TAX.
• MULTIPLE ROOM REQUESTS: Requests for four(4)rooms or more will need to submit rooming list along with the URBANA ID for each participant before November 15, 2009, or your room reservations may be subject to cancellation by Urbana

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Get to Urbana

Be sure to consider how you plan to get to St. Louis. You'll want to arrive in the early afternoon of December 27 and leave on the morning of January 1. There are chartered buses leaving from different places in the country. Check out our facebook group to discuss with others how to get to St. Louis.

Airline discounts

Chartered Busses

Bus or Train

There is a new Greyhound/Amtrak station located at 430 South 15th Street, St. Louis. Visit amtrak.com or greyhound.com. Enter fare code X46W-959 for the Urbana 09 discount. MegaBus drops off at Union Station. megabus.com for more information and ticket prices.

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Paying for Urbana

Costs for Urbana

Finding the Money

We realize that Urbana is an expensive investment. Yet, we also believe it's a very valuable investment, that the money spent will change you in incredible ways. Therefore, we want to be able to help as many people who need help getting to Urbana as we can.

1. Before asking for scholarships from our chapter, though, please ask your churches or other groups for help. Many will be excited to help you go to an amazing conference like this.
2. However, if you still need help after asking your churches, etc., many people have donated to the chapter because they want to help us get to Urbana. So just ask! Fill out our scholarship form ASAP. If you have any questions, just let Allison know.

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Last updated on October 27, 2009.