In the perfect storm that was Melbourne, mid-July both 8OSME and Folding Australia happened, one after the other…in the same place.

Folding Australia was a weekend filled with model galleries, folding lessons, special presentations, games (like giant folding and other collaborative challenges), wonderfully talented people and fold-enthusiasts I was privileged to be among.

I had never been to an origami conference prior to this adventure, and therefore had no idea what to expect, I had previously been to loads of educational tech conferences (my now retired teacher speciality), so was open to be surrounded by like-minded people.

I was so not prepared to be surrounded by so many people who loved to fold – for me the real-world reality of this hobby has been pretty isolated. It was wonderfully overwhelming, honestly. I am not a naturally social person, and am not really social forward in the real world, but being among like-minded people is like a warm hug – like i have found my people.

I have relatively recently become friends with one Brisbane folder (and wondered if there were more), and have met with him (shout out to @aboy) a few times which continues to be fun, but … To my delight I was approached from another person from Brisbane who is also a folder … we need to build a network and resource share space.

Folding and posting on my blog/socials/discord … you sort of connect to seemingly random strangers on the internet who also seem to be interested in paper folding. I fold because I like it, blog so I can remember what I did so it is nice when others connect with your online content – real-world connection is something else.

Having the opportunity to meet folders from all over Australia was pretty cool, meeting design legends from all over the world is also hella cool.

The program details for the conference seemed to arrive fairly late in the piece (like the night before), and the session timetable was something I was sweating on because I offered a class, to find out I was following a plenary lecture by Tomoko Fuse … in the same lecture theatre was not intimidating … at all … but it ended up being my favourite anecdote:

Being able to attend hands-on workshops by Gen Hagiwara, Steven Casey, Jun Maekawa, Tomoko Fuse, Madonna Yoder, to be able to sit alongside these legends while they learn new folds is also a wonderful thing – we are all learners.

It was wonderful to connect to member of OrigamiDan discord, discuss model design with Robert Lang, see up close Steven Casey’s Echidna, marvel at the intricacies of Madonna Yoder’s no-precreasing tessellations, discuss emotion expressed in paper with Joseph Wu … just wow!

I _wish_ I had known it was self-catered. The first day I got massively dehydrated but also my brain was sooo full of origami, and pretty tired because this was on the back of 8OSME … a good sort of tired however.

The conference was fairly close to some good food outlets, and had some good lunches with really interesting people – the between sessions were where the real networking happened. Next time I must spend more time in the free-folding area (think of a project, get more involved), but there was a bit on, and I had trains to catch, wife to meet up with etc.

The takeaway – I must look for more opportunities to connect with folders, it is just so interesting being able to talk technique, paper, models, fuckups with someone who has the same sorts of experiences. Meeting your legends is also a wonderful and grounding thing.