On Jan. 28, Randi Zuckerberg hosted a presentation on social media at the H-E-B University Center Ballroom. The event was part of the Speaker’s Series sponsored by the Air Force Reserve in partnership with the UTSA Career Center. The presentation, “10 Trends Creating Opportunities for Utilities,” was free to the public.

Zuckerberg’s speech focused on the progression of her career, taking risks and utilizing social media. She also encouraged the students in attendance to be involved in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) field.

“Not only was she able to provide valuable information in a humorous manner, but she did it with high energy.” said Otis Scott, the Assistant Director of Career Services and an attendant to the event.

Ms. Zuckerberg also focused on how she broke into the marketing field. She talked about how getting into marketing was a risk, and one she felt was going to be a dead end. However, it turned out to be a worthwhile risk with huge results after her brother’s venture on Facebook took off.

She went on to discuss the “10 Trends Creating Opportunities for Utilities,” which included: The New Customer Service, Thinking Like a Media Company, Crowd Sourcing For Change, Controlling the Mobile, The Maker Movement, Gamification for Motivation, Community Giving, Fear of Missing Out and Being Cool To Unplug.

Otis Scott believed Ms. Zuckerberg’s presence at UTSA was important because “she provided invaluable tips for those seeking to break into her field and those seeking an entrepreneurial path on their own.”

In addition, “it provided students a chance to hear from someone who has been highly successful in different industries and allowed the students to hear about opportunities that they might not have considered through the Air Force Reserve, especially in the cyberspace arena.”

Director of the UTSA Career Center, Audrey Magnuson, said that one of the parts of the discussion that stood out to her was learning about projects, “like the Giant QR codes on top of the FB building where people can scan from airplanes and find out about jobs at Facebook” and learning about how Zuckerberg created Facebook Live.

Zuckerberg concluded the event with highlights of her discussion and invited the individuals in attendance to speak with the Air Force Reserve. She also provided photo ops and autographs for her book after the presentation.

“I thought it was a great event. She was approachable, very warm and had a friendly personality,” said Magnuson.