Michael Fisch '04

Front Office Manager,

Hyatt Regency Newport Beach

q: What do you do?

a: Oversee the front desk and guest services for a 403-room bayside resort in Southern California. My six-year career with Hyatt has also included positions at the Hyatt Grand Cypress, Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay, Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Chicago, and the Hyatt Regency-San Francisco.

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

a: Working with my employees; I love my team and watching them get promoted. I also enjoy interacting with the guests. We have many frequent business travelers who come here every week, so I get to know them personally.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

a: Service scores. We've done well and had a 5% increase since I started here. However, that means we need to think outside the box and get to the next level. We're always brainstorming ways to make our service even better. 

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

a: Yes, Dave Buckalew '05, Erica Acquavita Buckalew '04 and Anne Cecil Fischer '04.

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

a: Traveling. I've been to 70 Dave Matthews Band concerts. Next week I'll be in London and see two of his shows.

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

a: Meeting my girlfriend. I met her through Hyatt and we've been dating five years.

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

a: It set the right expectations. I work 12 hours a day. By going to UCF, I knew that these kind of hours would be involved. It gave me the right attitude to succeed.

q: Your favorite class?

a: All my classes with Dr. Peter Ricci.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

a: While at UCF I didn't enjoy group work at all, but looking back, we should have had even more. It prepared me for working with other departments, like sales and catering.

q: A UCF memory?

a: Our trip to New York, and being president of our chapter of the Club Managers Association of America (CMAA).

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

a: The honey mustard and BBQ wings at the Ale House. I go there at least three times on each trip to Orlando.

q: On your iPod?

a: Dave Matthews Band, Jason Miraz and Guster.

q: Little known fact about you?

a: My long-term goal is to teach at Rosen College.

Anne Fischer '04

Senior Manager,

Lifestyle and Digital Marketing,
Busch Entertainment Corporation

(Maiden name: Anne Cecil)

q: What do you do?

a: Help integrate Busch Entertainment's brands into your daily life. Using social media, we're able to interact with you even when you're not physically visiting one of our parks. You can follow Shamu's adventures throughout the day on Twitter or use a Facebook application to play Sea World's Photo Adventure game -- all allowing us to stay top of mind. My office sets the strategies for all 10 theme parks.

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

a: I can dive in and learn something new all the time, and do things that have never been done before. Because the Manta ride opened a month earlier than planned, we literally announced it to the world within 24 hours using Twitter. It's all so enjoyable that I have difficulty telling where my professional life ends and personal life begins; it's all intertwined.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

a: You can never be fast enough to keep up with social media. Our reaction time needs to be very quick. If a consumer requests something, like a photo of an otter, we may have to scramble to locate one. The positive side of this is that we're in control of messages going right to our customer without any delay time; in the past, we were at the mercy of journalists who would decide whether or not they wanted to publish a story. If they did, it could take a long time to get published and from a certain angle to meet the writer's objectives. We have the power of proxy now.

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

a: Dave Buckalew '05, Erica (Acquavita) Buckalew '04, and Michael Fisch '04.

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

a: At the Dr. Phillips dog park with my silky terrier Nate.

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

a: Getting married, and also running the Disney Marathon. While at Rosen College, I ran the Gold Coast Marathon along the ocean in Australia. I was studying abroad at Griffith University, one of Rosen's sister schools.

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

a: It introduced me to the tourism industry. Most importantly, it gave me the confidence and tools to continue learning. Tourism is continually evolving and so is marketing. I'm able to evolve with them.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

a: The new campus opened up my last semester. The students now have it so good. I would have loved to have been here all four years.

q: A UCF memory?

a: Football games, tailgating parties and all the fanfare that goes along with rooting for your team.

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

a: Yellow Dog's 'Famous' Pulled Pork sandwich at Yellow Dog Eats in Gotha.

q: On your iPod?

a: The Zac Brown Band (I went to the concert in Jacksonville) and being from Kentucky, lots of country music.

q: Little known fact about you?

a: Although the Manta flying roller coaster has only been open three weeks, I've been on it 19 times.