Rachel I. Levy '07

Convention Services Manager,
InterContinental Chicago O’Hare

q: What do you do?

a: I've managed events for 50-600 people in this luxury hotel since its September 2008 opening. I work with clients from various companies around the country and am lucky to have 53,000 square feet of brand new meeting space that co-exists in a contemporary art gallery. Whether it’s a small one-day meeting or a large five-day conference, I work with every department in the hotel to ensure each detail is completed to perfection - Banquet Event Orders, rooming list adjustments, VIP amenities, banner rigging, working with outside vendors for décor and event customization, and so much more.

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

a: The conference! So much time and preparation goes into planning mid-size conferences that when the actual program arrives, it’s a huge pay-off. Watching the attendees have a great experience at the convention is my job satisfaction. I love setting up general sessions in 8,000 square-foot ballrooms with extensive A/V, and organizing beautiful catering banquets with elegant buffets and presentation set-ups...and then seeing it all come to life.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

a: Working with our difficult economy. Many of the clients and companies are on tighter budgets than in previous years. This challenges me to think outside the box and create 5-star events on 3-star budgets. I’m regularly working on the development of innovative menu items and presentations to adjust to our economic reality.

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

a: Some Rosen friends that that I’ve kept in touch with that still live and work in Florida are Ryan Stiner '01 and Kelli Hadd '07. Others here in the Windy City are Jenna Borregine '07 and Sean Murphy '08.

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

a: When I have the time off, you can find me relaxing at home, at the movies or out trying new restaurants and bars in Chicago. I also enjoy traveling and visiting interesting places and hotels that I’ve never seen before. I’ll be spending two weeks in January traveling though the Middle East (Israel, Jordan and Egypt). The best part is staying at InterContinental Hotels around the world!

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

a: Spending seven months living and working in Beijing, China. I had the fortunate opportunity to work overseas in the corporate hospitality industry. I spent my time managing sales and marketing projects in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics in Wyndham’s Super 8 China corporate headquarters.

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

a: When I first stepped foot on the Rosen Campus, I knew my life was going to change. Rosen filled me with the knowledge I needed to move forward in this industry. It also provided me unique opportunities to see the industry hands-on and relate with people who shared my passion.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

a: Practice with property management systems. For example, sales booking software such as Delphi Training or reservation systems such as OPERA. If students had the opportunity to learn these systems that are so widely accepted and used in our hotels and restaurants, we would have such an advantage when entering the real world.

q: A UCF memory?

a: Golden Knights Wine Society meetings that we hosted bi-weekly in the Anheuser-Busch Beer & Wine Lab. It was wonderful to learn in a technologically-advanced environment, with people who are capable of having fun and educational conversations about hospitality.

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

a: Yellow Dog Eats Restaurant in Gotha. Simply delicious!

q: On your iPod?

a: I shuffle a little bit of everything. Right now I’m listening to the new Rhianna album.

q: Little known fact about you?

a: I love golf.

Will Rogers '06

Musician

(Will is pictured on the left)

q: What do you do?

a: I play in a cover band in Chicago called Jukebox Love Affair, and also in an Orlando-based ska band called SUCKERPUNCH!, which has played at Real Radio events and opened for acts like Less Than Jake. I'm in the process of launching a new band...details coming soon. While at UCF, I minored in music. There are so many parallels between music and hospitality. Hospitality is a form of entertainment. They both depend on the end user's perception of the overall experience.

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

a: Seeing the response of the audience when we perform. The music industry rewards creativity and personality. I knew that I'd never follow a sterile corporate career path.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

a: Sitting in a room and practicing for hours and hours. Music is unlike some other professions where you can read a book and know how to do your job. It truly takes practice to get it right. Music is a labor of love.

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

a: Carolanne Vann '07, who is also living in Chicago, as well as Ryan Stiner '01, M.S. '05, Jonathan Ahus '06 and Jay Garcia '07.

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

a: Checking out some live entertainment.

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

a: Picking up and moving to Chicago. Also, nearing completion of my master's degree in Arts, Entertainment and Media Management. I only have one semester left to go. Ultimately, I'd like to combine my expertise in and passion for both hospitality and music in a position at a large entertainment venue, such as House of Blues.

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

a: It taught me how to build relationships and work with other people. No one wants to work with a jerk. Also, knowing the hospitality industry inside and out is important to success in the music industry, since the places that entertainers play are all hospitality venues. Understanding how the operations function, and respecting where the employees are coming from, makes it easy to work with the locations that host my bands.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

a: It needs more focus on entrepreneurship, and on opportunities outside Central Florida. Rosen College does a great job of preparing its graduates to become managers in big-name Orlando-based corporations, but the hospitality world is so much larger.

q: A UCF memory?

a: Co-chairing the beer club. Also, Professor Ron Logan's Entertainment Arts and Events course. In that class, we coordinated the Gameday Entertainment and promotion of special events for UCF Football.

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

a: At the Artist Point restaurant at Disney's Wilderness Lodge Resort: the grilled buffalo striploin with goat cheese polenta, ancho-cherry compote, baby golden beets, asparagus, and dark chocolate red wine reduction. I also get the side of sweet potato hazelnut gratin. I worked at Disney several semesters for my Rosen College internship requirement, and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. It sets a high standard of service and quality that is the model for many Orlando-area hotels and restaurants, but not found everywhere in the United States.

q: On your iPod?

a: Lots of ska, rock and funk.

q: Little known fact about you?

a: From birth, I've been missing one of the spongy disks that goes between two of my vertebrae.

Ryan Stiner '01

Consultant and Director of Recruitment,
F & G Hospitality

(Ryan has two UCF degrees: B.S. in Business Administration '01,
M.S. in Hospitality and Tourism Management '05)

q: What do you do?

a: Research and prepare in-depth consulting reports for hotels, analyzing their operations from top to bottom, including ways they can increase service and reduce theft. F & G Hospitality is the only firm licensed as private investigators in all 50 states. I also help recruit interns to work as mystery shoppers and compile reports. Because I upload photos and documentation from the field, the final report and findings can be e-mailed to the client within 48-72 hours.

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

a: Sightseeing and trying foods I wouldn't normally eat, like Haggis. Currently, most of our work is done internationally. I just returned from a 20-day trip in Western Europe and have also analyzed properties in Eastern Europe, Iceland and Scandinavia. I chronicle my adventures by blog and video. I need to eat and drink at the hotel properties as part of my job, but always venture beyond the resorts, to experience the real culture.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

a: Turnover is the nature of this job. Consultants endure non-stop travel for 20 days at a time, moving from property to property. Typically you have 10 days at home and then pack up and do it again, going wherever you're told to go. It can be lonely. Also the economy has hurt business, since it's difficult for hotels to justify an intangible product. We know the information in our reports can save clients large amounts of money, but we can't pinpoint exactly how much.

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

a: Other Rosen grads who have worked at F & G Hospitality include Jennifer Miranda '06 and Anthony Capparelli '03. I'm also still in contact with Jonathan Ahus '06, Dave Buckalew '05, Megan Noble '05 and Will Rogers '06.

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

a: In bed. My 10 days off are when I make up for all the jet lag. You can also find me golfing or at Mulligan's Irish Pub in Celebration.

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

a: Cultivating ideas for a book. While traveling, I've made a lot of friends along the way, who inspire terrific stories.

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

a: The graduate program at Rosen College required lots of research, writing and deadlines. I remember getting assignments like "turn in a five page paper in two days" and thinking the expectations were unrealistic. Now in the real world, we turn around detailed documents of over 100 pages in the same time. I also "minored in Muller" and absorbed all the case studies from Dr. Chris Muller's brand management courses, which I reference when evaluating real-life problems at hotel properties.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

a: I wish I had done everything backwards, getting an MBA after first studying hospitality as an undergraduate, so I could have taken basic classes like Quantity Food Preparation and completed the three semesters of required internships in the industry. At the time I was an undergraduate in the College of Business, the hospitality degree wasn't well publicized like it is today.

q: A UCF memory?

a: Nearly blowing up the $500,000 Anheuser-Busch Beer and Wine Lab. As part of the student organization called Beerz, we brewed flavors like Chocolate Cherry Stout and Pineapple Pale Ale. One day we came in for our meeting and bottles were literally exploding. It was like geysers everywhere! We had to rush to stop them from destroying the lab's high-tech equipment. We had bottled while too cold, and then stored the bottles too warm, so the yeast hadn't fermented yet and was still growing.

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

a: The Bangers and Mash and a Guinness at Raglan Road. After returning from my last 20 day trip, I went straight there after landing in Orlando. It's not just about the food, but also the ambiance.

q: On your iPod?

a: Shows taped from the Travel Channel, like Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations," which is a favorite. Also, I have playlists for countries like Poland, Russia, Iceland and Norway. In each place I visit, I watch the local version of their MTV and pick out artists I like, then go to the store and buy their CDs. It's great music that I'd never know about otherwise, living in the U.S. and only shopping on iTunes.

q. Little known fact about you?

a: My anxiety about giving back to others. For instance, recently I had a nightmare. I was in Saudi Arabia and David Hasselhoff was a Nazi, trying to throw me out of a moving plane without a parachute. All I could think was: "Where's my Flip video camera? I need to get some good footage of this!" I know my friends and family have come to depend on my blogs and YouTube videos, but in the dream it was so clear that my priority of having them share my experiences has perhaps become more important than saving my own life.