Dan Holm '08

Assistant Brand Manager,

Outback Steakhouse

Also: Blog Writer, greeneggsmarketing.com

q: What do you do?

a: I help brainstorm and execute national marketing promotions for Outback Steakhouse. This includes special offers and discounts. I've worked at Outback since 2003, first at a restaurant and then commuting back and forth to Rosen from the corporate office in Tampa. They hired me full-time after graduation. I also write a blog about restaurant marketing including new products and food trends.

q: What's your favorite part of the job?

a: At Outback, it's exciting to see ideas from conception to implementation in restaurants across the country. I like that my blog influences people to think about restaurants in a new light. You don't realize how much power you hold as a customer. Dining out is more than just a meal; it's an experience which can be positive or negative.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

a: At Outback, we're always looking for new ways to connect with our customers. Coming up with new interesting topics for my blog is a fun challenge.

q: Do you stay in touch with any other UCF hospitality alums?

a: Quite a few including Kai Armstrong '08, Ryan Bauer '07, Sandi Bednarz '08. Karla Elliott Armstrong '07, Kimberly Greth '06, Robert Heilman '07, Blair Keller '08, Nate Nakamura '06 and Amanda Smythe '08.

q: Outside work...you're most likely to be seen?

a: At Chipotle or Target.

q: Your biggest accomplishment since graduating, outside your career?

a: Having a wife and child.

q: How did UCF prepare you for what you do?

a: Dr. Chris Muller's courses were very influential. I took three of his classes: Restaurant Brand Management; Foodservice Marketing, Advertising and Promotion Management; and Hospitality Facilities, Planning and Design.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

a: There needs to be coursework on entrepreneurship incorporated into the curriculum. I would have liked less focus on event management and operations. Not everyone wants to run a hotel or restaurant; there are other career paths, like mine in marketing. Also I think the school needs to reposition its branding with a larger outlook than just Orlando. Outside Orlando, people aren't as familar with the Rosen name.

q: A UCF memory?

a: Helping open the brand new student housing at Rosen College. I was one of the very first resident advisors.

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

a: The burrito bowl at Chipotle. I order it with half pork and half chicken, rice, medium salsa, corn salsa, sour cream and lots of cheese.

q: On your iPod?

a: At least 80% of the songs are by the Dave Matthews Band. I just saw him for the 14th time at the University of Virginia, and the 15th time will be in Tampa this August. In 2007, I saw him four times in one week: once in Gainesville, once in Tampa and twice in West Palm.

q: Little known fact about you?

a: I can clap with one hand.