Dan Graveline, CVE, retired executive director and CEO of the Georgia World Congress Center, Duluth, who had a major impact on the Atlanta skyline and the venue industry, died Dec. 18 at his home in Georgia.
Graveline was the first executive director of the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, serving in that position for 33 years, from 1976 to 2009.
Dan Graveline was GWCCA’s first executive director; a position he held for more than 30 years. (Courtesy of GWCCA)
“Under Dan’s remarkable stewardship, the Georgia World Congress Center transformed from a single building convention center into a world-class campus that brought us the Georgia Dome and Centennial Olympic Park,” said Kevin Duvall, CEO of GWCC today. “His vision and dedication laid the foundation for an era of growth and innovation, elevating Atlanta into one of the nation’s premier destinations and welcoming millions to our city. I had the privilege of working alongside Dan for several years, witnessing firsthand his extraordinary leadership and unwavering commitment to excellence.”
In an interview with Maria Saporta of The Saporta Report when he retired in 2009, Graveline shared that Centennial Park was one of his favorite projects.
“The park to me is one of the most unique and interesting things I’ve ever done,” Graveline told Saporta. “What a great asset that has turned out to be. It doesn’t make a dime. But it has generated billions of dollars of development. It’s become the center of gravity.”
“Every time it tends to get a little monotonous, something new pops up,” Graveline added.
Frank Poe, who officially retires from his post as CEO of GWCC at the end of this month, knew Graveline both as a peer—competing for trade show business—and as a mentor when he moved to Atlanta upon Graveline’s retirement to take his place in April 2010. The Congress Center Authority wisely kept Graveline under contract for a year after his retirement in an advisory role to Poe.
“He introduced me to stakeholders I needed to know,” Poe said. “It was a mentor/mentee relationship. It was a valuable opportunity to share that time.”
Poe had always admired the campus Graveline built in Atlanta. “The Congress Center was the gold standard to the rest of us,” Poe said. “In my perspective, he was the embodiment of a businessman who had a vision of how he saw the campus should develop.”
He had the skill to sell that vision to the public and politicians.
Graveline joined IAVM in 1968. He achieved his CVE in 1978 and served as chair of the Advisory Council – IAVM Foundation from 2006 to 2011.
Dan Graveline, executive director of GWCCA for 33 years, poses with his portrait that was unveiled during GWCC’s kickoff celebration for its upcoming 50th anniversary and will be hung in a special place of honor at GWCC. (Courtesy of GWCCA)
Born on July 1, 1941, in Toronto, Daniel Anthony Graveline Jr. grew up in the Tennessee Valley area. He paid his way through college working on ships in the Merchant Marines on the Great Lakes, becoming the youngest wheelsman by the age of 19.
He graduated from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, where he was a student from 1962 to 1969, working on ships in the summer and taking winter classes when the lakes were frozen over. He also served as a drill sergeant in the Reserves while working toward his bachelor’s degree in business and his master’s in education.
His journey in the hospitality industry began as an assistant director at the Indiana Convention Center, before moving on to the LA Convention Center. He was asked to serve as the first executive director of the future Georgia World Congress Center in July of 1976. Over the next 33 years, he grew a single-building convention center into a sprawling campus, including the Georgia Dome and Centennial Olympic Park, transforming Atlanta into a world-class destination for live events, conventions, and entertainment. He was known for his servant leadership—always putting others before himself—as well as his grace under pressure, managing multiple crises from severe tornado damage at the Georgia Dome to the bombing during the 1996 Olympic Games.
Saporta reported that when making his decision to retire, Graveline said he had to ask himself the question: “If I stay a little longer, could I do one more thing? But there’s no end to that.”
There have been many more things, including a new football stadium built next door and now a master plan for an entertainment district on the GWCC campus, Poe said.
Cliff and Susan Wallace, left, met with Susan and Dan Graveline frequently, including in August of this year. He kept in touch with the industry.
However, Graveline decided that instead of waiting for that next project, whatever it might be, it was a good time to retire. “We did accomplish a few things on my watch,” Graveline told Saporta, adding it had been a satisfying and rewarding career with lots of fun. “It’s not so much what I have done for this place. It’s what this place has done for me.”
It was particularly poignant to Poe when he learned of Graveline’s death because, two months earlier, they had unveiled a portrait of Graveline that will be hung in a special niche at GWCC in the near future. The dedication was during the launch of the 50th-anniversary celebration of the first building on the GWCC campus, the one Graveline built.
“It was a moment in time that we could celebrate him and all the folks that were originally involved in the first facility that was built that launched Atlanta and the state of Georgia into the convention trade show world,” Poe said. “It was a special night. It was one I know he enjoyed and appreciated.”
To his family, he was the Christmas Day chef renowned for his signature biscuits and gravy. He was an avid storyteller, with one-liners that could pack an unexpected punch. He was never without a smile, and his biggest smiles were reserved for his house on Lake Lanier—he loved fishing, being out on the boat, and passing the day by the water.
He is survived by his wife, Susan, with whom he shared 43 beautiful years; his daughter, Alex Graveline Miller, born in 1989; son-in-law Lee Miller; and a future grandson due in March 2025. Survivors also include his sister, Martha Gaut, and her husband Charlie; niece Emily and nephew Michael; brother Jon; brother Thomas and nephew TJ; brother Matt and his wife DeeDee; niece Savannah Huddleston and her husband Nick; brother-in-law Michael Highsmith and his wife Jill; niece Lily and nephew Jackson; sister-in-law Julie Hulslander and nephew Logan; and brother-in-law Steve Jones.
