Updated with information regarding the Gary C. Sain Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund at UCF.
Gary Sain, CEO of Visit Orlando, died Friday evening after falling ill while attending a charity fundraiser at the Orlando Marriott World Center. He was 61. Under Sain’s leadership, Orlando became one of the world’s top tourist destinations. And last year the area topped 51 million visitors, more than New York City, a number due in no small part to the continued growth of Central Florida’s convention business.
Sain tirelessly pursued big meetings and shows that defaulted to other markets, such as Chicago, Las Vegas and New York. He saw it as his job to convince the meeting planners that Orlando and the Central Florida region — he always referred to it collectively as “the destination” — took a back seat to none of the other big convention cities.
He also understood that restaurants played a big role in the decision making process when meeting planners considered where to hold their conventions. And, he understood that this particular destination had a negative reputation, and thus a disadvantage, in that category.
It was Gary who called me in 2009 to ask me to go with him to Washington, D.C., where board members of NPE, the plastics organization, were meeting to determine whether to keep their convention in Chicago, where it had been since the early ‘70s, or move it. Orlando was one of the cities under consideration. But one of the board members in particular raised a question about the area’s restaurants. “What are we supposed to do,” he supposedly asked, “entertain our clients at Golden Corral?”
Gary arranged to host a dinner at the Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City, complete with entertainment by the Capitol Steps comedy troupe, and took several area dignitaries with him, including Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty. And he asked me to come along so that I could present a case for the quality of the area’s restaurants. In particular, I was to seek out the “Golden Corral” board member and tell him that we have so much more than that.
When I was introduced to the member, I suddenly knew how to get the conversation going. His name was Petrakis, the same as the owners of The Ravenous Pig, which is decidedly not Golden Corral.
The evening went well, though no decision was made. Some members of the plastics board later made a trip to Orlando to tour the convention halls and hotels and to generally assess the infrastructure to see if it could handle the massive logistics of the NPE. As part of that tour, Gary arranged for a special dinner at an area restaurant. He sent cars to pick up the board members, including Steve Petrakis and the organization’s president, Bill Carteaux, and deliver them to the restaurant: a Golden Corral on International Drive.
As you probably know by now, Orlando was awarded the NPE convention for 2012 and 2015 (it meets every three years). The convention took place in early April, bringing 55,000 attendees to the area. On the second to last evening of the convention, Gary invited me to have dinner with him, Carteaux, Petrakis and their wives to celebrate the success of the show and to give a wink to the original hurdle about the quality of our restaurants.
This time the dinner was at the Ravenous Pig.
The success of the NPE show is being called a game-changer for Orlando. No one disputes that it happened because of Sain’s efforts and determination.
He hadn’t stopped with plastics. As we said good night that evening, he whispered to me that he had another big convention he was going after, and its members, too, had reservations about our restaurants. He said he would contact me soon to get me involved.
Gary was a great champion for the area and especially of our restaurants. It won’t be easy to find a replacement with as much passion and determination to continue what he started and to keep the destination on its soaring path of growth.
Gary’s family, including his wife, Pamela, has asked the University of Central Florida to establish the Gary C. Sain Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund in his memory.
To facilitate giving:
Checks should be made out to UCFF (Univ. of Central FL Foundation) and in the memo line, write Gary C. Sain Memorial Endowed Scholarship and mail to:
Lori Shuff Cosmides
Development Officer
UCF Foundation
Rosen College of Hospitality Management, UCF
9907 Universal Boulevard
Orlando, FL 32819
To donate using a credit card, visit this link to the UCF Foundation Rosen College of Hospitality Management.
In the first section – Donation Information – input the amount of the gift and then in same section under Designation please choose option Other in drop down menu and then type in Other box: Gary C. Sain Memorial Endowed Scholarship
Please Complete the rest of the form and hit Donate Now button
The UCF Foundation
A 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organization: EIN # 59-6211832
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