Tag Archives: Toronto

Welcome! Episode #5: Andrew Jenkins

Published on: June 12, 2015

On this episode #5 of Welcome, I spoke with social media sales professional Andrew Jenkins.

During this episode we chat about:

  • The time Andrew worked with Mickey Rooney and also made a phone sex documentary called Telewhore.
  • The time Andrew worked for a menswear company selling clothes online. e-commerce – 1995
  • How Andrew discovered e-commerce and helped to create online catalogues for retailers in USA.
  • Why Andrew went to Rotman to complete his Executive MBA
  • The time Andrew worked as head of social at RBC
  • Why Andrew spends time teaching at OCAD as well as digital strategy at UofT.

You can visit the episode page on the Welcome! Girth Radio page. Or listen below!

Enjoy!

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Welcome! – Episode #5 – Andrew Jenkins by Welcome! By Karim Kanji on Mixcloud

#PitchTalks turn One – Episode #13

I don’t know if PitchTalks creator, Kevin Kennedy, know this or not but this monthly event has quickly become the must attend event for sports fans (not just baseball) across the Greater Toronto Area. For me, it’s the highlight of my month.

Alexis Brudnicki and Scott Crawford

Scott Crawford is the Director of Operations for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Mary’s, Ontario. Alexis Brudnicki is the lead writer for the Canadian Baseball Network and former statistician for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Alexis Brudnicki, Ashley Stephenson and Autumn Mills

Ashley Stephenson (a full-time teacher) has been a member of the Canadian women’s baseball team since 2004 and has already participated in five world championships. Autumn Mills (a full-time policewoman) has been with the team since 2005, primarily as a pitcher.

Kerry Morrison

Just finished taping episode #4 of Welcome! with @kmore. #podcast #Toronto #GirthRadio #PJH

A photo posted by @karimkanji on

Last week saw Kerry Morrison, of endloop, visit the Welcome! studios at Girth Radio.

Kerry was born in the Yukon, grew up mostly in Edmonton and moved to Vancouver in 1994. Most recently he’s lived in Italy ( Rome & Florence), Mexico and Montreal. Today, Kerry calls Toronto home.

During this episode we chat about:

    • Growing up in the Yukon and Edmonton.
    • His dad buying a Macintosh and then falling in love with technology.
    • The importance of traveling.
    • Why make the move from Vancouver to Toronto?
    • Why Kerry identifies as an Apple fan
    • And why Father John Misty is his favourite musical artist

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Featuring music by:
The New Pornographers – Moves
Father John Misty – Chateau Lobby #4

#NestWarming: A tour of @TwitterCanada’s new Toronto office

Last night I was invited to visit Twitter Canada’s new Toronto office: #nestwarming. It’s a great space on King Street West just east of trendy Liberty Village. and about a 45 minute walk from my office.

#nestwarming | karim kanji

#nestwarming

 

#nestwarming | karim kanji

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Brendan Canning or alt-rock band Broken Social Scene was spinning the tunes at #nestwarming

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Oh Sara!

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After capsizing last weekend during #PaddleTheDon I’m back on the saddle/paddle/canoe.

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My girlfriend. 🙂

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Me with the Captain.

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#MayTheForceBeWithYou

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This gum ball lasts for 140 chews. Seriously. 🙂

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Diversity in Toronto

Last week Amber Gero was the guest on the Toronto Mike’d podcast. In my opinion, Toronto Mike (real name Mike Boon – or is it?!) has the top amateur podcast in Toronto. And I use the term amateur to only state that Mike records his podcast from his home and not from a studio. And I’ve also yet to hear a sponsor being mentioned on the show.

Traditionally, one can hear Toronto-centric celebrities on Mike’s show: Mike Hebscher, Humble and Fred, Damain Cox, Elliotte Friedman, and David Marsden to name a few. The conversations are mostly around Toronto Radio and Sports history. It’s like a walk down memory lane from Gen X-ers. I always look forward to Mike’s show and have rarely walked away disappointed. Of the 100+ shows he’s recorded I can only remember Cox and Barb DiGiulio as guests who seemed too guarded.

The Amber Gero show, in my opinion, took Mike’s podcast to a whole new level. If you’re unaware, Amber Gero was fired last year from CFRB in Toronto. She self identifies as a black woman. She also had a few things to get off her chest:

 

Here are a few reasons why the Amber Gero show is important:

  1. Mike has always been a gracious host. He understands that his guests trust him when they come to his home to be interviewed in the basement studio. Can you imagine if Mike dug up “dirt” on all his guests and asked unfair or even fair but inappropriate questions? Nobody would come back. I remember Mike’s interview with Mike Wilner. Mike was totally respectful of his guest even though he knew that many people dislike Mike Wilner’s personality on the Jays Talk show. Mike’s desire to have entertaining conversations is commendable. Having Amber Gero on the show put not just Amber in the crosshairs of potential employers in radio but it also put Mike’s show in the radar of radio executives (and others) across Toronto. This is the first time I can remember Mike publishing a show that could potentially decrease the amount of talent available for his show. I hope I’m wrong.
  2. Although the large majority of Mike’s guests are entertaining, they are mostly men. White men. And Mike actually acknowledged this fact. It was both honest and eye opening. It was honest of Mike to question if he is also part of the problem that Amber talked about. Or if his guests are simply a reflection of the current state of Toronto radio. It’s a conversation I hope executives are having and will do something positive about.
  3. It is possible for independent content producers like Mike (and so many others) to not just produce content but to make a difference.

I hope we are challenging the status quo in Toronto. Toronto (and Canada) is home to immigrants. Everywhere we live, work and play there are people of different ethnic backgrounds, people from different parts of the world and people of different faiths and sexual orientations. We need to embrace this beautiful fact. We need to force the institutions that serve us (government, media, public companies and others) to not just provide products and services we desire but to be a reflection of the society in which they all operate.

Congrats Mike on an awesome show. I am a proud listener and supporter.

Welcome! Episode 1: Karim Awad

Don’t call it a comeback. Ok. You can call it a comeback. Back in 2010 I started a podcast called SMS on Perpetual Radio Networks. The show was mostly about social media and featured guests such as Mitch Joel and Dave Fleet.

Earlier this year I came to an agreement with Girth Radio to launch a new show on their burgeoning radio station. I’m calling the show Welcome!

Welcome! is going to be a show featuring many of Toronto’s (and anyone who visits Toronto) innovative and creative people. Expect to hear conversations with digital strategists, musicians, entrepreneurs, city builders, artists and many more.

As I re-learn my hosting and interviewing skills and learn new production skills I am inviting a number of my friends on the program. My first guest was Karim Awad.

Karim is an entrepreneur, designer, teacher, artist and award winning deejay. He’s up to some amazing things. Some he was able to reveal on the show. Others you’ll have to watch out for.

Here’s a link to the first episode of Welcome! I hope you listen and enjoy. And return for more.

Enjoy!

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McCowan and Hague Parks

Last week we hiked through the McCowan and Hague Park corridor in Scarborough. I think the ravine is the Pringdale Ravine. The Pringdale become buried and re-emerges further south in Gates Gully before emptying into Lake Ontario.

Pringdale Ravine | Scarborough - Toronto | karim kanji

To the north and east is the popular Cedarbrook Park.

The walk featured the ravine and a dense forest. It’s very accessible even during the winter.  I hope you enjoy the photos below.


Rouge Park

On a Wednesday afternoon I ventured out to the farthest ends of east Toronto. Close to the Toronto Zoo is the world-renowned Rouge Park. The Rouge Park is the only national (soon) park situated within an urban centre.

Rouge Park is over 40 km2, protecting two National Historic Sites and a variety of ecosystems joining the post-glacial Oak Ridges Moraine, roughly 50 km north of Toronto, and the City’s biggest wetland, where the Rouge River empties into Lake Ontario (Source)

map of rouge park in toronto | karim kanji

 
See my photos of Rouge Park in Toronto, below.
 

 

Skating in Morningside Park

Michael Gauthier must have been proud. This past weekend the natural ice rink that Professor Gauthier and his environmental science students built (with the help of volunteers, community members and Home Depot, among others) finally officially opened.

We first came across Gauthier and his rink in the fall during one of our weekend city hikes.

Here’s a great write up of the birth of this 100% community initiative.

And here’s some photos from this weekend’s skating festivities. Can you tell it was the coldest weekend of the year?