PINNACLE - Q1 2022
WHERE AT THE TOP? THE VERY TOP!
FIELD BOOSTS & STORIES There is something odd about the phrase, “back to normal”. Isolated 2500 miles off the west coast of the continental United States, one would think that Hawaii would be one of the last places affected by the global pandemic... the reality; however, this was quite the contrary. By April of 2020, the unemployment rate in Hawaii had reached nearly 25%. 1.4 million people live in the state of Hawaii, 2/3 of which reside on the island of Oahu. Which has a land mass half the size of Rhode Island. The Hawaii Convention Center became a full facility extension to critical state agencies, such as the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Department of Health and Department of Housing, 400 additional workstations were deployed to buffer the efforts of these agencies. This became “normal”. Nearly two years later, 71% of the state has been fully vaccinated, proof of vaccination is required for dine in restaurants, gyms, movie theatres and many other venues throughout the state. As of March 25th, the mask and vaccination mandate would be lifted, a day many of us wondered would ever come. Breath is beginning to return to the event industry. We welcomed the International Dairy Queen Expo in January, our first large scale event since the beginning of the pandemic. This marked a hopeful change after a long journey. Two years of distancing, mandates, masks, variants, missing loved ones, loss of jobs, loss of livelihoods, loss of loved ones. Rooms were set, registration was prepped, fresh carpet was lain... the pipe and drape was positioned. There, quietly yet vigilantly through it all; the lifeblood that forded us across uncharted waters for the past two years... the internet, was working. Things were beginning to look... back to normal. David Bachler General Manger Hawaii Convention Center
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