Although registration for Columbus set no records, nearly 8,000 Mennonites will be in attendance, surpassing the convention in San Jose by over 1,500 people.

As of 6 p.m. on Tuesday, registration totaled 2,935 adults; 4,284 youth and sponsors; 286 junior youth and sponsors; 314 infants, preschoolers and children K-5; and 250 volunteers.  That adds up to 7,819 people.

The turnout compares favorably with the number of registrants for past conventions: 6,247 people registered for San Jose in 2007; 8,541 for Charlotte (a joint convention with 7,720 Americans and 821 Canadians) in 2005; and 7,867 for Atlanta in 2003.  The convention in 1999 in St. Louis set an attendance record, with more than 9,000 people.

Scott Hartman, the registrar for Convention 2009, said the slight drop in attendance may be due to the nation’s economic recession, the most severe in decades.

Despite that economic cloud, many people were quick to register.  It took only three minutes for Sandra Lapp, a pastor at College Mennonite Church in Goshen, to register for this convention of Mennonite Church USA.

Online registration opened at 8 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 1, and by 8:05 a.m., 100 people had completed registration.   By the end of the day on Monday, 2,600 people had registered online.

It took a month for registration numbers to reach this same amount for the last convention in San Jose in 2007.

Lapp signed up 31 youth and sponsors as soon as registration opened the first morning.  Lapp held the position of interim youth pastor until January and will be attending the convention with the youth group as a sponsor.

“It was my goal to register early, but I didn’t think I would be first!” said Lapp.

Lapp’s top priority was to book a hotel that was close to the convention site and provided free breakfast.  Although her first choice of hotels was already full when she was ready to book rooms, she was still able to get reservations at the Hyatt Regency, which is connected to the convention center.

According to Hartman, the main reason people register early is to ensure getting the hotel of their choice.  Executive Leadership’s Convention Planning staff have 13 hotels on hold for convention use (11 downtown and two in the Dublin area).

Jorge Vallejos, director of convention planning for Mennonite Church USA, said, “I think there is a level of excitement surrounding conventions and people just want to be a part of it.  Plus, it’s obvious people have done their homework and know which hotels offer free breakfast or free Internet.”

Hartman said that usually 90 percent of people who register do so by the early registration deadline.  This year, the early registration deadline was in April.

Online registration became an option in 1999 and is now the most popular method of registering for Mennonite Church USA conventions.  Only 15 registration forms were mailed in by the end of January.

Although people registered at a rapid pace during the first days of early registration, it didn’t take long for things to slow down.  By Dec. 31, 3,459 people were registered.  At the end of January, Hartman estimated receiving an average of around 20 forms per day.

Online registration closed on June 24, and meal plans are no longer available for purchase.  Any new registrations must be made on-site either on Tuesday, June 30, in the Grand Ballroom Concourse, or during the rest of the week in Show Office No. 2.