This year, Adore Ministries is super excited to add a new partner for your 3 month – 2 year old children. Ascension Episcopal School specializes in education for 3 months – 5th grade, and over half of their students are 3 years or younger. AES is bringing their Early Learners Program to the Marriott for Encounter this year! Get your kids excited about a full day of interactive games and activities.
All posts by Andrea Perry
Information
Please bring your children to the 3rd floor. You will be able to check-in all ages in one place. Liability forms will need to be signed upon arrival. Please keep your cell phone on you at all times in case we need to get ahold of you. In order to take advantage of childcare at Encounter Houston, you must have registered and paid for your kids in advance. No day of registrations will be available.
Childcare is provided on Saturday only:
8:30am – 10:30am
12:15pm – 5pm
7pm – 10pm
*You must pick up your child for meals.
Uber/Lyft
Getting Around Downtown
Getting around downtown may seem difficult and expensive, but you’d be surprised the easy options you have. We recommend some options:
1 – Walk! Even within a concrete jungle, there is beauty and charm. You may even stumble upon your new favorite dive bar or city park.
2 – Greenlink Orange Route (MAP / Info)
With routes along Avenida that head into Downtown, Greenlink is a FREE bus service that has easy, hop-on-hop-off locations. During #EncounterHOU, use the Orange Route at the Bus Stop near the Convention Center to get to Main Street, Market Square Park, Bayou Place and more. Ask the Valet for more info.
HOURS
Monday-Friday — 6:30 pm to Midnight
Saturday — 9 am to Midnight
Sunday — 9 am to 6 pm
Every 10 minutes
3 – Rideshare – Uber/Lyft can help you save money if you carpool!
4 – METRORail – The Marriott is on the Convention District Station on the Green and Purple Line. The closest stop on the Red Line is Central Station which is a ~10 minute walk from the hotel. Head east to the Greater East End/EADo near BBVA Compass Stadium, street art and delicious food. Head north to Historic Market Square Park and Main Street, or south to Midtown and the Museum District.
If this all sounds confusing, click here.
5 – Taxi Cab – Six in the City
A cab ride to anywhere in Downtown is $6 per ride, no matter how many riders. Ask Valet to call you a cab or use ZTrip and get the taxi to come to you.
6 – Bcycle (Rent-a-bike)
Visit the Bcycle station right outside the Marriott near Discovery Green and rent a Bcycle to explore Downtown on two wheels. With a location at Crawford and Lamar, Crawford and Rusk, and many other locations around the city, you can borrow a bike for a few hours or the whole day. Explore the rest of downtown, Buffalo Bayou and more! Download the app to get started.
Visit Houston APP
Looking for things to do?
Download the visit Houston APP
The VisitHouston AR Browser exposes the leisure traveler to the quintessential Houston experience through an augmented layer of reality. Explore curated experiences in Houston from “Restaurants” and “Things to do” to “Nightlife” and “Hotels” all through the lens of your phone.
Parking
We recommend parking in the Avenida North Garage on the northwest corner of Rusk and Avenida de las Americas. It has a skybridge to the second floor of the Marriott Marquis. If you are staying overnight, parking is $27/night with in and out privileges. If you are commuting, we were able to get a special rate of $13/day, but you must get your ticket validated by our conference staff. On Friday, you can validate your parking ticket with our registration volunteers in the hotel lobby. On Saturday and Sunday, you can validate with our volunteers at the information desk on the 4th floor.
If you want to to save money on parking, we recommend carpooling with friends or ubering to the hotel. Because our beloved Astros are playing at home this weekend, parking at surrounding surface lots are likely going to be more expensive.
Arrival Information
Overnight Registration
Hotel check-in begins at 4 pm on Friday.
- Make your way to the First Floor lobby and check into your hotel at the Front Desk. You should only need to tell them your name, no confirmation number needed.Have an ID handy could be helpful just in case. Don’t know your roommates? No worries, you can find their names on the room reservation. The first person to check in will need to put a card on file for incidentals.
If you have any trouble with your reservation or rooming requests, our conference staff will be on hand to assist.
- Find the #EncounterHOU Volunteers with iPads and orange lanyards in the lobby. They’ll check you in and get you your conference wristband and help you with anything else you might need. Arriving after 6 pm? Check into your hotel room and then head across the street to Discovery Green. Look for our check -in volunteers near the food entrance and join in on the Family Festival!
Commuter Registration
Feel free to arrive as early as 4pm and check in near the hotel front desk.The Family Festival will begin at 6pm on Discovery Green across the street from the hotel. If you arrive after 6pm, you can check in at the Family Festival near the stage. If you don’t plan on arriving until Saturday morning, please check-in on the 4th floor at the information desk.
Andrew laubacher
Andrew Laubacher, aka ALOB, was raised in Ventura, California, where he attended Mass, played many sports, hung at the beach and was always into music. He attended Catholic school before switching to a public school because he was “tired of the Catholic rules.” In high school, he partied hard. After a serious wake-up call, he decided to attend a Steubenville Youth Conference where he found God. That changed ALOB’s life. ALOB received degrees in theology and philosophy from Franciscan University. Today, his mission is to introduce the freedom and love of Christ through worship music and preaching to modern culture.
Houston Vocations
PROCESS OF DISCERNMENT
Every process of discernment is unique but here are some basic steps for your consideration:
Foundation Staff
Father Larry Richards – Founder
A gifted and captivating speaker, preacher, retreat master and author, Father Larry Richards holds the answer to some of life’s most profound questions. He speaks from experience as a pastor of an inner city parish, a high school chaplain, a counselor and evangelist. Fr. Larry Richards has directed hundreds of Retreats, Parish Missions and Conferences for young and old alike. His inspirational talks and presentations, always authentic and enthusiastic, have changed the hearts, minds, and lives of millions of listeners worldwide. He continues to accept invitations for speaking engagements all over the United States and in Canada and has recently traveled abroad to continue his mission of evangelization.
Mary Therese Craig – Executive Director
Mary Therese Craig is the Executive Director of The Reason For Our Hope Foundation. She is happy to be able to share her faith every day through her work at the Foundation.
Sara Snidarich – Executive Assistant
Sara is a very valuable part of the team at The Reason For Our Hope Foundation. She handles all of the day-to-day operations and is quick to answer the telephone and assist in any way possible. She handles all of the orders, and promptly ships everything.
Nancy Murray – Finance Director
Nancy Murray is the Finance Director for the Reason For Our Hope Foundation. She currently works part-time but has been with the Foundation since its inception in 2004. Her primary function is to “keep the books” and oversee all financial functions.
Caitlin Rydberg – Marketing/Operations Coordinator
Caitlin Rydberg (nee Ryan) was born and raised in Clearfield, Pa. She graduated from Gannon University in Erie, Pa with a Bachelor of Art in Journalism Communications. After living at home and working in a locally owned store, she was hired as the Youth Ministry Leader in Warren, Pa. She lived and worked in Warren for three years before getting hired by The Reason for Our Hope Foundation.
Amy McEntee
Kimberly Kay Cox
Mark Mogilka
Armando Cervantes
Anna Betancourt
Andrea Chavez-Kopp