We hope you enjoy this series where we meet and get to know employees from across campus. Would you like to be featured? Contact us at campusnews@csufresno.edu.

Name: Anthony Zataray
Title: Marketing and summer conference coordinator
Department: Student Housing
Academic Degree(s): Psychology and media communication, Greenville University in Greenville, Illinois.

How long have you worked at Fresno State? Five months.

What is your most notable accomplishment in your field, and why was it important?
The most notable accomplishment in my field thus far is successfully running and managing Summer Conferences for Student Housing. Summer Conferences is a program that has been running here for many years. The program is for clubs, organizations, summer camps, and everything in between to come on to campus during summer and use our housing as a temporary home as these groups host their camps. They can use our facilities and eat in our dining hall. It is an all-inclusive package here at housing during Summer Conferences. The reason why running this program was such a success for me was because it was a large task for me as a new employee. I had never had this huge of a role before, but I knew I was capable, but feeling versus actually doing it means so much more. This experience taught me a lot about managing a team, problem-solving and the importance of clear communication.

What are you most passionate about in your field and why?
I am most passionate about the marketing aspect of my position because it is what I am most well versed in. Marketing for housing is really fun because it is all about highlighting how fun and great it can be to live in housing. I was a former on-campus housing student at my university (Greenville University) and I made memories and friendships that would not have been possible without living on campus. So, it is a great connection to have when marketing for us.

What is a memorable moment you had at your job?
I have had so many memorable experiences at my job so far, but I think the most memorable moment was my first big mistake that I made during the summer. During one of the check ins this summer we were not as prepared as we thought. We had a lot of key issues resulting in a very long and chaotic check in for the group. This experience taught me a lot about leadership, importance of double checking and communication. It really humbled me and opened my eyes to what I need to work on and overall just a great learning experience for my team and I that summer.

What is the most interesting or unusual job you've ever had?
The most unusual job I have ever had was during COVID. I went from being a recreational leader for the Rec Center at the City of Clovis to a professional surface wiper. It was an unprecedented time and this was a very odd work experience. So, here is the story. When COVID got everything locked down, all of the part time staff at the Student Rec Center got laid off for a month or so until they called a handful of us back to start doing sanitization and cleaning shifts where we would go through the City of Clovis buildings and wipe down high touched surfaces like door knobs, breakrooms and countertops. Six of us broke up into teams of two, did this for three weeks all together, but then we got laid off once more. Then after some time, I was called back to do this again, but only by myself this time. I ended up wiping surfaces for the City of Clovis for about four months by myself. It was a an interesting time because I was happy to be working, but did not enjoy the work very much. It was one of the most weird working experiences that I have ever been apart of.

What do you like to do for fun in your spare time?
I love to fish on my spare time. I fish about three to four times a week.

What is something interesting about you that most people don’t know?
I was raised in Coalinga and wanted to play basketball for a university. I was highlighted as a transfer student at Greenville University in Greenville, Illinois. I became a student manager of podcasting.

That lead me to create my own podcast. I used this podcast to get my foot in the door in the marketing field. After I graduated, I moved from Illinois back to Fresno and essentially lost all of my networking connections that I had established throughout college. So getting a job after graduating with little to no experience was very difficult. After receiving so many rejections and or hearing nothing back, I decided to take things in my own hands and create my own work experience. That is why I started my podcast to practice marketing, and it worked. I got my first job in marketing at a family business and then moved here into this great establishment at Fresno State.

Is there something else you would like to share that was not asked?
There is not anything in particular that I would like to share other than that I am super thankful to be part of the University. As someone who was raised in Fresno County, I always looked up to Fresno State, and although I did not attend the college, it feels super cool to be an employee here and be apart of the Fresno State family.