Bulletin board
Director's blog -- "You have no idea what it’s like to work with a group of youth in a congregation." (blogs.elca.org/youthgathering)
"You have no idea what it’s like to work with a group of youth in a congregation." The woman on the other end of the phone was frustrated for sure, and on the verge of anger. She had checked her congregation’s online account, and wasn’t happy with the number and type of hotel rooms to which her group was assigned. We started to make hotel assignments, but didn’t disable that part of the online account while the puzzle pieces of the complex housing assignment process were being moved around.
You can’t imagine how complex this process is, made more difficult by our commitment to house congregational groups by synod. It will take some time to fit the various pieces together, and until the puzzle is fully put together, registered congregations won’t be able to access that part of their online account. Housing assignments will be distributed as promised by the time of the ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s annual Extravaganza in early February. | Read more »
Some tidbits from Safety and Security:
As you prepare for the Gathering, here are some helpful tidbits to keep in mind for your time in New Orleans from the good folks on the Gathering's Safety and Security Team.
- Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate. A majority of the health incidents at the dome were related to dehydration.
Next Adult Training Webinar
Topic: "Your Role as a Leader"
Leader: Dr. Terri Elton
Date: Sunday, March 4, 2012
Time: 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Central time)
Description: Have you ever wondered what it means to be a "leader" in ministry? Then this workshop is for you. Centered on the idea of servant leadership, this session will note the necessary dance of leading -- a dance between joining God's work in the world and the importance of using our gifts and skills. In addition to outlining three important aspects of servant leaders, participants will learn about three clusters of skills needed in ministry and have the opportunity to evaluate their own abilities in each area.
This webinar will be facilitated by Dawn Trautman.
Space is limited to 500 participants. Please register early!
Connecting to the congregation
A website that is guaranteed to save you money
Remember This site will knock $13-15 per person off what you'd otherwise pay. It's not Groupon or some other Deal of the Day website. It doesn't have a fancy name at all, but just a cryptic URL which is posted below. But if you're going to the ELCA Youth Gathering -- citizens with the saints -- and you're flying, you need to know about this site.
Normally a trip from the New Orleans airport to any of the downtown hotels is $20 each way. If you prepay for your round-trip ticket when you buy it, they knock $2 off the price of two one-way tickets. But, thanks to the fine work of the Gathering's Transportation Team, there is a special rate of $25 round-trip available to us.
Visit the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering Special Discounted Airport Shuttle page to sign up for a shuttle for yourself or your group. There are a few simple rules that you must follow to get this discounted rate:
- In order to book your discounted airport/hotel shuttle reservations online, you must book no later than 24 hours prior to your flight arrival time.
- Changes to an existing reservation can be made by phone (866-596-2699) only if you made your original reservation online.
- The round trip ticket discount is only for tickets bought through this web page.
There you have it, a website absolutely guaranteed to save you money -- http://airportshuttleneworleans.hudsonltd.net/res?USERIDENTRY=ELCAYG0712&LOGON=GO.