Touring Titan

Traveler: Wit Ostrenko, president and CEO of Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry, the largest science center in the Southeast.

Itinerary: Ostrenko travels the world searching for exhibitions to bring to Tampa Bay.
Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry (referred to as MOSI) boasts more than $10 million in annual revenues. With 90% in earned income, 6% in contributions and 4% in government support, Ostrenko's job is to keep visitors streaming in the doors, while continuing to wow his supporters. He travels at least once a month out of state, but spends a lot of time providing tours around Florida, “raising resources and friends for the science center,” he says.

Mixing business and pleasure: Ostrenko says he tries to make a trip out of his business travels, but inevitably, his vacations always turn into business trips as well. “This travel, it's all business and pleasure — the perfect combination.” When Ostrenko went to Berlin and Paris for a vacation, he ended up visiting with German exhibitors from the Max Planck institute, which resulted in a business deal that brought one of its exhibits to Tampa in 2012. “It's a businessman's holiday,” Ostrenko says. Most people like to visit museums and see the best of culture when they travel, Ostrenko says. “I do too, but I get to write off my visits,” he says.