Director of Operations, ESP Productions &
Partner, Circle Two Productions
q: What do you do?
a: At ESP, we produce pre-game and half-time shows for major college football games including the Capital One Bowl, Orange Bowl and some Superbowls. My own company, Circle Two Productions, focuses on audio-visual, consulting and logistics management for the meetings and special event industry.
q: What's your favorite part of the job?
a: Creating smiles on the faces of my clients, and knowing that my company played a big part in the success of their events.
q: What's the greatest challenge?
q: Do you stay in touch with any other UCF hospitality alums?a: I travel constantly throughout the U.S. and internationally, planning multiple shows at the same time. I need to keep up with regional labor and union laws, hiring local vendors, shipping and renting equipment, venue insurance requirements and special requests. It's a challenge just packing clothes and being away for weeks at a time, while still maintaining a home and sense of being an Orlando resident.
a: Scott Kaylor '93 to this day remains a great friend of mine.
q: Outside work...you're most likely to be seen?
a: Walking around Lake Eola and Downtown Orlando, with the occasional stop at an Irish Pub.
q: Your biggest accomplishment since graduating, outside your career?
a: Working with local children's charities and building homes for those in need. I try to give back as much as I can. What goes around comes around.
q: How did UCF prepare you for what you do?
a: Classes geared toward the business and financial side of the hospitality industry proved to be helpful, as well as learning industry terminology. College in itself is a place to learn about life and how to deal with people, politics, finances and relationships.
q: Your favorite class?
a: The cooking class (Quantity Food Production). We constructed a menu and then prepared it for our fellow students.
q: How could the hospitality program have been better?
a: The program had basically just started and I feel lucky to be a part of it. I had some great professors like Bill Quain and Bob Ashley. It's important to bring in guest speakers from a variety of hospitality fields for the students to interact with. There are so many ways to make a living in this industry. It's eye-opening to talk to real-live working professionals.
q: A UCF memory?
a: The first moment I stepped on the UCF campus. Right then I knew it was the school I wanted to attend.
q: Favorite meal in Orlando?
a: I love to cook and I'm rarely at home, so my favorite meal comes out of my kitchen. Here it is: seared ahi tuna with a warm spinach salad and a glass of red wine, on my balcony overlooking Downtown Orlando.
q: On your iPod?
a: All over the board including AC/DC, Jimmy Buffett, Kings of Leon, Sister Hazel and Zac Brown. Music is a great way for me to relax; it clears my head of everything. About 50% of the music on my iPod is for work though.
q: Little known fact about you?
a: I used to be a pyrotech, building and shooting off fireworks. I also spent a summer traveling, promoting and producing concerts at state and county fairs around the country. I slept in the back of a semi-tractor trailer and my boss was literally a clown.
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