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Competency 5 Post Test

Competency 5 Post Test – Part B

Brenda Gonzalez

OPMG-4312-KV1-Resource Management-CBE
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Competency 5 Post Test

Introduction

The recent epidemic has impacted the narrow segment of the hospitality industry that is

the convention business. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit globally in early 2020 the global

population was forced to limit its interactions with other human beings for a considerable amount

of time. Lockdowns and shutdowns were in place with differing degrees of severity and

enforcement with distinctions made from county to county, state to state, and even country to

country. More densely populated areas like urban metropolises were impacted the most in the

sense that they had the most instances of transmission of COVID-19 due to so many people

being in such close proximity to one another. On account of the fact that COVID-19 was so

easily transmitted and that in some instances people who were carrying the virus displayed no

symptoms of having the virus most governments, from local to state to federal, enacted some sort

of lockdown protocols in an attempt to stop the transmission of the virus as frequent and as

widespread as it was up to that point (Oxford, 2023).

The effectiveness of these lockdowns is still under debate and will likely continue to be

so for the foreseeable future. That aside there were several industries and even lifestyles that had

to adapt to the lockdowns and the pandemic in some way or another. From an academic

perspective most schools, from elementary to even colleges, moved towards online educational

sessions with many students tuning into their classes virtually through some sort of media app on

their computers. Most storefronts and grocery stores either had limited access to their wares

either by allowing customers to enter in small numbers while masked or offered curbside pickup

where a customer ordered their groceries online and had their purchases delivered to them while

they were parked in designated pickup areas in order to limit the amount of human interaction.
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Competency 5 Post Test

For a considerable amount of time, depending on where residents were staying, populations were

limited in their in person interactions with other human beings beyond those who resided with

them at home.

There were some positive and unintended results on account of the lockdowns. Generally

speaking air quality improved in most instances due to the reduced amount of vehicles on the

road. Noise pollution was significantly reduced. Animals being killed on roadways due to

vehicular traffic and even marine life casualties of ships transporting items through shipping

lanes and even due to cruise ships were reduced (Bates, 2020).

There were many more negative consequences as a result of the lockdowns, which are

likewise a sensitive and an ongoing source of debates now and for the foreseeable future. In

many instances some of these actions and their results may be utilized as a sort of a roadmap or a

blueprint for any potential future pandemics or global crises but there are still issues that remain.

The social aspect of limited human interaction is still a subject of much debate and

consternation. Particularly in instances of adolescents and younger children who might have lost

some aspect of their developmental socialization during their periods of limited human

interaction in public institutions like school and church or even parks.

An aspect of social and even economic interaction that was limited yet rarely discussed is

that of conventions. Anything from professional business assemblies to social ones by ways of

comic cons or other similar events to even banquet style settings for elaborate and regal

convention like gatherings be they formal banquets or even weddings.

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Competency 5 Post Test

Analysis

The hospitality industry includes everything from your local restaurants, to motel and

hotel services, to even taxi, Uber or Lyft drivers. Also included in the hospitality industry are

convention halls. Large rooms or buildings or outdoor parks where a group of people can gather

for a multiplicity of reasons. It an be a food tasting convention, or even one dedicated to wine, or

a large concert, or a movie showing. It can also be a comic convention or an anime convention

becoming more and more popular since the early 2000’s. They can include weddings or family

reunions or any other kind of social gathering where generally speaking humans come together

to enjoy one another’s company for an extended period of time all the while consuming food and

drink.

All these instances and more are only a small factor of what convention halls are able to

offer. From large city made convention centers to the small VFW hall available at a significantly

more reduced rate for various gatherings.

Findings

In an example of Anime Conventions surveys were conducted to see how typical

participants in these conventions responded to the lockdowns, to virtual conventions, and to their

likelihood of attending future conventions. Anime Conventions are typically conventions geared

toward anime enthusiasts. Where fans of the Japanese style of entertainment assemble to enjoy

the company of like-minded individuals who share a similar affinity for said form of

entertainment. They are typically peppered with guest panels of writers, creators, voice actors,

and animators who all produce anime cartoons. They typically also feature vendor booths and

some sort of substance for their attendees to purchase collectible items and sustenance.
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Competency 5 Post Test

The economic losses for these conventions in and of themselves is an issue worth

exploring itself. The food vendor who lost untold hundreds of dollars of sales on account of their

inability to sell their products to a very nearly captive audience. The leasers of small booths who

sell their small crafts and artwork, all made with careful handmade care and consideration,

unable to sell their wares in an effort to perhaps offset their rent, car notes, or cell phone bills.

The lost revenue that the large hosts of such conventions lost due to their inability to lease the

space to quite popular and quite lucrative business propositions. All the while having to maintain

the space necessary to host conventions in the future all while dealing with the uncertainty if that

was ever going to be a viable proposition at some future date in the first place anyway.

In terms of participation and especially repeat participation the study found that 23% of

respondents typically attended at least one convention per year. The only prerequisite of this

survey was that the survey taker be over the age of 18 and have attended at least one anime

convention per year. Of the same survey, 28% attended two conventions per year. 34% three or

four conventions per year and finally 13% attended five or more conventions per year (Alberto &

Tringali, 2022). With 1,191 participants in the survey, we can get a picture of the losses in

revenue. Ticket sales for attending the conventions for one. Most tickets average anywhere

between twenty and fifty dollars per ticket. Then the money losses for the food and beverages

offered at these conventions. Then the losses to the vendors at the small booths themselves who

lease as small table an hope to turn some sort of small profit with their offerings of collectables,

comic books, action figures, and the like.

This of course is to say nothing of the social interactions and the meeting of individuals

who were formerly strangers but might be able to strike up a newfound friendship with someone

who happens to share an interest with them due to their affinity for the same anime.
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Competency 5 Post Test

Anime conventions or comic conventions weren’t the only sectors of the economy and

social interaction lost during the lockdowns. Weddings were also heavily affected. Typically a

time of celebration with a close gathering of family and friends weddings are normally instances

of pleasure and enjoyment.

Additionally, the economics of having a wedding are also something to be considering.

From the bakers who lost revenue due to their inability to make massive and expensive cakes for

weddings as there was no longer a need to produce such an item for such a large quantity of

people. To caterers who likewise enjoy a considerable paycheck due to their handling of sizable

wedding guest lists. To banquet and convention halls themselves who lost revenue due to their

mandated lockdowns and inability to host large assemblies in excess of X amount of people

dependent on where they were physically located and what restricted were enacted in their place

of business.

“The restrictions on weddings taking place also revealed the extent to which couples

valued getting married as opposed to having a wedding. There is, of course, a vast body of

scholarship on why and how couples get married, as well as on what couples do if they have no

way of formalizing their relationship, and on how not all options for getting married are available

to all couples. But in practice most couples have not previously had to choose between marriage

as a change of legal (and potentially social) status, as a public declaration by a couple of their

love for each other, and as a celebration with family, friends, and the wider community, marked

by the religious rites or social rituals o their choosing” (Probert & Pywell, 2021).

The inability of most couples able to have their dream wedding is an aspect that needs to

be taken into consideration not only from an economic standpoint but socially and
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Competency 5 Post Test

psychologically from a personal standpoint. Which no effort will be made to address in any

significant detail in this particular paper though it is worth thinking about.

Not only weddings but high school seniors who were unable to attend their Prom’s. The

final social event of their public school lives that they’ve spent twelve years looking forward to

hoping to attend one day as a small reward or capstone for their years of public service. One last

opportunity to enjoy the friends they’ve made before everyone splits off and goes down their

respective life roads perhaps never to see one another ever again except perhaps at a high school

reunion.

Conclusion

There are many factors to take into consideration when discussing this matter. We’ve

addressed some of the economic aspects of the lockdowns and the pandemic on the gatherings of

people over a certain number and the negative impact that they’ve had on all facets of life up to

an including banquet and convention halls. Seemingly, at the moment now that the pandemic and

its severity have been decreased, for the moment anyway, there seems to be a more than healthy

resurgence in the large assemblies of people once again.

Kids are able to attend their schools in person without having to login to their computer at

home day after day and are able to see their friends and classmates with them. Chase after them

at recess and eat a grilled cheese sandwich with them at lunch. Teenagers are able to say

goodbye to their friends at Prom and wish them well in their future endeavors. People are able to

go to their conventions and find other like minded people who share their interests and are able

to form relationships. Couples are able to declare their love for one another and celebrate the

beginning of their new lives with lavish weddings in front of their families and friends once
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Competency 5 Post Test

again. Families are able to reunite for their reunions and able to appreciate being able to

assemble in a large gathering to hang out with one another in person once again.

The impact of the pandemic and the lockdowns may be over for now but it is critically

important to not only factor in the economic value of such establishments and their offerings but

to take their social essentialness into massive consideration. Perhaps most importantly it is hoped

that these assembly halls are not taken for granted either now nor at any time in the future when

we might lose their accessibility once again.

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Competency 5 Post Test

References

Alberto, M., & Tringali, B. (2022, December 1). Directory of open access journals. Journal of

Anime and Manga Studies. Retrieved March 1, 2023, from

https://doaj.org/article/722d8e6edeef44c3897b4e42fa4788ac

Amanda E. Bates a, a, b, c, d, Highlights•4.5 billion humans have been confined to control the

COVID-19 epidemic, & AbstractEfforts to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus

(SARS-CoV2) have led to the unprecedented concurrent confinement of nearly two-thirds

of the global population. The large human lockdown and its eventual relaxation can be

viewed as a Global H. (2020, June 10). Covid-19 pandemic and Associated Lockdown as a

"Global human confinement experiment" to investigate Biodiversity Conservation.

Biological Conservation. Retrieved March 1, 2023, from

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320720307230

Covid-19 government response tracker. Homepage. (2023, February 16). Retrieved March 1,

2023, from https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/research/covid-19-government-response-tracker

Probert, R., & Pywell, S. (2021, May 27). Love in the time of covid-19: A case-study of the

complex laws governing weddings: Legal studies. Cambridge Core. Retrieved March 1,

2023, from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/legal-studies/article/love-in-the-time-

of-covid19-a-casestudy-of-the-complex-laws-governing-

weddings/A0D90F08579979F6A89AE67F9F455BEE