Presentation on the LYO Convention

Feel free to download this PowerPoint presentation to share in your synod youth ministry networks.
 

TRANSPORTATION information
 

Hattiesburg, Mississippi is 2 hours north of New Orleans. Most of the participants will be at the Gathering in New Orleans. Participants are encouraged to keep the New Orleans airport as their airport destination.

LYO Convention participants will be invited to:

• Bring their luggage to the Superdome for the Gathering closing worship on Sunday morning, July 26. There will be a special luggage room for LYO Convention participants that will be watched by volunteers during worship.
   
• At the conclusion of worship, participants can pick up their luggage and a complimentary boxed lunch. They will then be directed to buses that will be waiting outside the Superdome.
   
• The LYO Convention buses will head straight to the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg with an estimated arrival time of 3:00pm (when LYO Convention registration opens). During the ride participants can relax, eat their provided lunch, and will receive a 15-minute “welcome and starter orientation” for the LYO Convention. These buses are free for LYO Convention participants only.
   
• On Thursday, July 30, at the conclusion of LYO Convention closing worship, participants will load buses and grab a complimentary boxed lunch to eat during their ride back to New Orleans. Buses will be departing from the USM campus in Hattiesburg from 12:00 noon to 12:30pm. This means that buses will be arriving into the New Orleans airport between 2:00 and 2:30pm. In order to allow enough time for checking luggage at the airport, it is encouraged that LYO Convention participants arrange flight departures to be after 4:30pm on July 30. Again, these buses are free for LYO Convention participants only.

Flying into other airports

If flights into New Orleans are too expensive, and you are not planning to attend the ELCA Youth Gathering, there are several other airports into which you can fly for the LYO Convention:

1. Laurel / Hattiesburg (PBI) airport
   This is the “local” regional airport, but there are only two flights in and out daily. Please send your itinerary along with your contact information to pamela.evans@elca.org, as participants flying into this airport will be picked up (via minivan) by a Convention volunteer on a case-by-case basis.
    
2. Gulfport, Mississippi airport
   This airport is about an hour and a half south of Hattiesburg, but it has a substantial number of airlines and flights daily and is recommended by ELCA Southeastern Synod staff. Please understand that if you fly into this airport, it will be YOUR responsibility to get yourself to Hattiesburg (e.g., rental car). You can network with other LYO Convention participants in the Facebook group if you want to coordinate sharing a rental car with others who are using this airport option.
    
3. Jackson, Mississippi airport
   Similar to Gulfport, this airport is about an hour and a half away, but northwest of Hattiesburg. It also has a substantial number of airlines and flights daily. Jackson is also served by AMTRAK from Chicago if you’re interested in taking the train instead. (***Please read the note below about train travel.) As with the Gulfport option, if you fly into Jackson, it will be YOUR responsibility to get yourself to Hattiesburg (e.g., rental car). You can network with other LYO Convention participants in the Facebook group if you want to coordinate sharing a rental car with others who are using this airport option.

Driving to Hattiesburg

Some participants may wish to drive to the LYO Convention. The LYO will not be able to reimburse mileage for participants who will prefer to travel this way. The USM campus will provide LYO Convention participants with free parking.

Do you have questions?

Please contact pamela.evans@elca.org in the ELCA Youth Ministry office or call 1-800-638-3522 ext. 2936.

To learn more about Hattiesburg, Mississippi, visit http://www.hattiesburg.org/.

*** Note about train travel:
Hattiesburg does have an Amtrak train station, but it is only served to/from New Orleans. Trains depart daily from New Orleans at 7:10am and arrive into Hattiesburg at 9:37am. Trains also depart daily from Hattiesburg at 4:29pm and arrive into New Orleans at 7:33pm. Go to www.amtrak.com to make reservations if you wish to make reservations, but it is not recommended that LYO Convention participants use this Amtrak service because the train schedule does not work well with the LYO Convention schedule.