MAP speaker series highlights how media professionals achieve success

The first installment of the MAP speaker series, scheduled for Nov. 5, will feature esteemed professionals who will share their real-world experiences in the fields of media and video.

The featured speakers are Ram Kapoor, chief marketing officer at UC Berkeley, and Beth Davies, director of corporate learning and development at Tesla. Both will give talks  followed by a question and answer session at the McAfee Center from 6-7:30 p.m.

Kapoor and Davies have traveled a long way to be the people that they are today. According to Media Arts Program Boosters co-chair Sheetal Seth, the goal for this year’s speaker series is to invite professionals like Kapoor and Ram to give students insight into the media world and advice on how to approach the future.

“We are looking for individuals to address the students, sharing with them about how they got to where they are,” Seth said. “Students want to know how they ‘did it.’”

Seth and the rest of MAP Boosters chose these two speakers to showcase to students that media can be used in an innovative company such as Tesla as well as at an educational institution like UC Berkeley.

Another reason Kapoor and Davies were asked to speak was that they followed their passions and continue to pursue what they love.

Kapoor first realized his passion for marketing and advertising after attending IIT Kharagpur in West Bengal, and IIM Bangalore. Prior to accepting his current and former dream job at Berkeley in November 2011, Kapoor was an award-winning advertising director and CEO and also held senior management roles at leading global Ad Agency networks, which include Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, Young and Rubicam, Euro RSCG and Wunderman.

Kapoor’s hard work was rewarded with awards from Cannes Lions, New York Fests, London International awards and Asia Pacific awards, making him more than suitable for his current occupation of chief marketing officer.

As the new chief marketing officer, Kapoor launched the first brand platform for UC Berkeley in 2013, and presented a re-designed website for the school in 2015. His team, designated to help marketing and communications among students of the entire campus, is also in charge of the main social media channels the school uses, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

Like Kapoor, Davies also followed her instinct, quitting her job as a lawyer and pursuing her passion of helping people learn and grow. At Tesla, she creates interesting and engaging learning experiences for workers across the organization. Central to this mission is the use of high-quality media, especially videos.

Davies will share how her team produces high-impact training using video, as well as detailing some of her work experiences at Tesla and possibly from her past employers, which include Microsoft, GAP and Apple.