GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Director believes
in destinyThe Hawaii Convention Center's
Mike Polovcin, a globe-trotting Ohio
native, is just happy to be hereI am the director of operations here at the Hawaii Convention Center and have been since March of 1997.
If a student asked me, "What would it take to be director of operations of a convention center?" my list of prerequisites would be at least amusing if not bizarre to hear. You need to be one part of each: theater designer, community relations specialist, engineer, facilitator, human relations manager, logistician, transportation specialist, procurement specialist, planner and just a plain good listener.
I came to Hawaii in 1993 to help with the now infamous Bill Gates wedding on Lanai. Like so many people, I fell in love with Hawaii and had to pinch myself periodically to be sure I wasn't really dreaming. I'm a native of the Midwest, growing up in Ohio where I graduated from college. I studied theater design and electrical engineering. After graduating, I left Ohio to see other parts of the world. I've done tours of duty in the northeast and southeast corridors of the mainland and even spent some time in the Caribbean. But destiny brought me here to Hawaii. I've worked in theater, construction and the hotel industry, which has taken up the lion's share of my life.
When the opportunity was presented to join the convention center, I took the challenge. I was a co-author of the center's original transportation operating plan. I also helped establish the center's recycling guidelines.
Being part of the convention center team and living in Hawaii are two of the most favorite things I've done in my life. The center turned from the controversial structure that had people arguing the pros and cons as to why Hawaii did or didn't need a convention center to becoming a necessary part of Hawaii's present and future. As the daily excitement builds with what is in store for Hawaii, the center and me, I can hardly wait to see how it will turn out.
Hawaii At Work features tells what people do for a living in their own words. Send submissions to: business@starbulletin.com
