Human Interest: Delegates Do a Lot of Walking Between Facilities in San Antonio

By Dennis Hokama, July 3, 2015:   One of the annoying things about the San Antonio GC Session is the long walk between the Grand Hyatt where the North American Division delegates are staying, the Convention Center where the exhibits are and the Alamodome where the meetings are being held. Even when one stays in the Convention Center exhibit area, the distance between Hall C and Hall B, where various Adventist related ministries and enterprises display and promote their product and services, is surprisingly long. It seems like a good city block, which one would not expect, since they are both under the same roof.

But it is the distance between the Grand Hyatt and the Alamodome that is the killer. We were told by the Hyatt staff that the distance was a “15-minute walk.” After walking that distance round trip three times on Thursday, plus walking around the exhibit hall, looking for various organizations, I admit I was beat by the end of the day.

Early on Friday morning, I asked a helpful employee working at the Grand Hyatt front desk how far it actually was between the Hyatt and the Alamodome. At first, he merely repeated the company line that it was “a 15-minute walk.” But when I persisted in asking what the actual distance was, he went back to his computer and eventually came up with a figure of 8/10 of a mile, and seemed surprised.

Then he had some good news to share. Due to complaints from our group, he said, the hotel had just started a shuttle bus to the Convention Center and the Alamodome that would run from 7 am to 8:30 pm, every 15 minutes at the cost of $1.20 a trip. That is sure to be welcome news to Adventists who did not come to San Antonio with their running shoes even if they believe in healthy lifestyles!

Dennis Hokama is a veteran Adventist Today writer who is part of the seven-person team of journalists covering the GC Session for AT. His wife is a delegate from the denomination’s Pacific Union Conference.