MAP guest speakers present their ‘Pathways to Success’

About 100 students got relevant advice from three media and technology professionals during a MAP speaker series event held in the McAfee Center on Nov. 5.

This year’s theme was “Pathways to Success,” and guest speakers included Ram Kapoor (executive director of marketing and digital communications at UC Berkeley), Beth Davies (director of learning and development at Tesla) and Odom Kramer (manager of the learning studio at Tesla).

“The goal [was] to inform people about what it’s like working in those fields, and how to get [a career] if they’re interested,” said junior Ryan Westman, who was one of the emcees of the event.

As opposed to past years where the student hosts guided the presentations, this year, the speakers led their own 30-minute presentations.

In Kapoor's presentation, he explained his background and experiences in the field of media.

In addition, Kramar displayed his techniques for creating videos, while Davies talked more about the technicalities and logistics of the learner studio at Tesla.

“Both the Tesla speakers heavily relied on audience input and questions, so that was a nice change and was a great way to get everyone involved,” said senior Saro Acharya, who was also an emcee.

Acharya was especially impressed with Kapoor, who talked about his childhood, as he moved from place to place. After immigrating from India, Kapoor worked at many small Indian advertising firms before landing a job at UC Berkeley. Acharya said Kapoor’s journey to success wasn’t easy, but it proved to the audience that no matter where people come from, they have the ability to reach success.