There’s a new sheriff in town at the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau, but he’s not your stereotypical Wild West, take-charge-with-guns-a-blazin’ kind. Instead, he’s a cool, cordial Midwestern guy with Southern sensibilities who relishes the challenge of leading the GBCVB to new heights in the hospitality/tourism industry.
The bureau’s new “sheriff” is President & CEO Dan Williams, whose first official day on the job was June 16. He succeeds John Oros, who recently retired as CEO after a decade of service.
Williams comes to GBCVB from Experience Columbus (Ohio), where he was Chief Sales Officer. He previously served Positively Cleveland (now Destination Cleveland) in a similar capacity. Now, amidst the heat and humidity of an Alabama summer, Williams is happily settling into his new surroundings despite the discomforts of the season.
“For the short time that I’ve been here, I am absolutely loving Birmingham,” he said. “First and foremost, it’s a phenomenal opportunity to lead an amazing organization, and more than that, Birmingham is a great city.”
Williams, said Bill Murray, chairman of the GBCVB 2025 Board of Directors, is just what Birmingham needs.
“Dan is known in the hospitality/tourism industry to the extent that when he walks into a roomful of economic leaders, heads turn,” said Murray. “He’s the kind of person who makes things happen and gets things done. And even though he’s not from the South, he’s got a Southern heart. He gets our culture.”
Williams first experienced the allure of his new hometown last November when he traveled to the Magic City for the annual meeting of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of the hotels, and everyone was very nice, very welcoming. That whole Southern hospitality thing is true,” he said. “So when this opportunity came about, I was extremely interested in coming here.”
His previous experience of Alabama came through his uncle, the late Ray Greene, who coached football at Alabama State and Alabama A&M universities throughout the 1980s. As a result of that connection, Williams has visited the state many times and still has family in the Huntsville area.
The road to success
Williams came into the hospitality world at Positively Cleveland through the tech side of the business.
“I had sold advertising and technology to bureaus, but had never worked at one before, so it was a different environment for me,” he said. “Cleveland gave me the exposure and the foundation for who I am today in this industry, and working there gave me the tools I needed to be successful.”
During Williams’s time in Cleveland, his understanding of the industry deepened, along with his desire to advance in the business. But it was Columbus, the capital of Ohio, that took him to the next level.
“Columbus is a phenomenal city,” Williams said. “It’s currently the fastest growing in the US, but the things that we were able to accomplish there were rare for a city that size. We were able to bring in the American Society of Association Executives, and we followed it up with the Professional Convention Management Association, which was basically the Super Bowl of meetings.”
Those two events alone, he said, changed the trajectory of the community and how Columbus was viewed on the meetings and convention side of the business. Since then, the city has continued to break records in terms of the types and number of meetings it hosts, as well as the number of meeting-generated room nights.
“We’re going to make sure we take Birmingham to that next level,” Williams said.
Creating connections
One of the ways Williams believes he can benefit Birmingham is by bringing a different perspective to the community and setting a higher standard for the local tourism industry.
“I always say that I don’t want us to create the standard; I want us to be the standard,” he said. “My overall vision for this community is for us to prepare to be the Southeast’s destination for innovation and a creative culture with amazing cuisine. I want us to be recognized nationally from a tourism standpoint, from meetings to sporting events.”
Another item high on Williams’s to-do list is to ensure that as many people as possible are aware of the opportunities that a strong hospitality industry can offer — not just in Birmingham alone, but throughout Jefferson County and its 34 municipalities. Achieving countywide goals, however, will take more than putting ideas out for consideration to see who bites.
“We’ve got to become aligned and willing to work together,” Williams said. “That’s the kind of community thought process I come from, that spirit of collaboration. When you come together like that, you can accomplish much bigger things.”
Leading the way
As a leader, Williams prioritizes his team members’ growth and development, providing them with the resources and support to effectively fulfill their roles within the organization.
“We have amazing people in place, and my job is to help them be successful,” he said. “One of my goals in life has been to lead an organization like this one, and I couldn’t be leading better people. But it’s important to me that my team members are good – mentally and physically – so they can be at their best. The better they are, the happier they are, and the more they enjoy working here, the better they’re going to be.”
And to Williams, functioning as a leader of people, not as an ego-driven boss, is equally important.
“It’s never just about me,” he said. “It’s more about the people that I represent. I want to make sure that I showcase this staff in the best possible light.”
Family matters
On the personal side of life, Williams and his wife, Jennifer, have been married for 27 years and are the parents of four sons.
“They’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me outside of my five beautiful grandchildren,” he said. “My sons are amazing young men and contributors to society. Two of them are fathers, and they’re amazing fathers. But they’re all phenomenal young men.
“They never got into trouble, they’re fair, they’re respectful, and they’ve all carved their own way. None of them are in the hospitality business — they grew up seeing Dad in it and decided it wasn’t for them. But they’ve all done well.”
