All posts by karimkanji

Baseball, Toronto

#PitchTalks: The Winter Meetings Edition

If you are a hardcore baseball fan living in the Greater Toronto Area then you were probably in attendance last night at the latest Pitch Talks event. Hosted by Kevin Kennedy at the Culture, Art, Media & Education Centre in Toronto, last night’s event featured a short Blue Jays film by Cashew Mirman Videos as well as the Canadian premiere of the Dock Ellis story: No No: A Dockumentary.

Kicking off the festivities was a round table panel discussing the latest Blue Jays move this winter featuring: Megan Robinson (Sportsnet Fan590), Ben Nicholson-Smith (Sportsnet), Shi Davidi (Sportsnet) and Drew Fairservice (NOT Sportsnet – Fangraphs).

Below is a Storify’d summary of the event:

Toronto

Today is a brand new day

I thought I’d never see the day that I would be so excited to see December 2 2014. You see, I’m not a huge fan of winter. I love the summer and the warmth of the sun on my face. Snow, cold and short days are not my cup of tea.

But today is not a great day because of of winter. It’s great because today is Day 1 of a new Toronto. John Tory is now officially the Mayor of the city of Toronto.

And that’s a good thing. No. That’s a great thing. His predecessor was nothing short of a huge disappointment. He may have had good intentions. He may have been a great councillor and returned everyone’s calls. But Rob Ford is not mayor material. He is not a leader. Nor a builder. And not someone who cared about creating a city that everyone could be proud to live in. He was, in my opinion, divisive and interested in cutting everything from the budget to public services that we all rely on.

Toronto Mayor John Tory speaking with Karim Kanji at 2014 Taste of Lawrence
Toronto Mayor John Tory speaking with Karim Kanji at 2014 Taste of Lawrence

John Tory has an opportunity to not just reverse the mess that Ford left Toronto in but he also has this opportunity to help build a great city. A city whose transportation system is once again the envy of the world. A city with a waterfront that we can all be proud of. A city we can not be ashamed of. A city that the late night comedians once again ignore.

Today is a brand new day. #fingercrossed

Toronto, Toronto Is Awesome

Hiking the Doris McCarthy Trail

Yesterday afternoon Minaz and I walked the Doris McCarthy Trail in the southeast part of Scarborough. It’s not a long trail but it’s a fun walk along the Bellamy Ravine as it empties into Lake Ontario at the foot of the Scarborough Bluffs.

Yes. Scarborough is most likely the most scenic part of the city of Toronto.

Here are some photos we took. I hope you enjoy.

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wearables

Connected Life survey | We Are Wearables

The hottest start-ups and technology can be found every month at the We Are Wearables meetup in Toronto. At this past week’s meet-up, attendees were also treated to a presentation by Nielsen Canada on their soon to be released report: Connected Life.

Following is a summary of comments and photos from this presentation.

For more information on the Connected Life survey and the future of wearables and smartwatches in Canada visit Mobile Syrup’s post on this presentation.

social media, Toronto

My new home on the web

Many of you have noticed that I haven’t really blogged here since mid-summer. That’s because in what little time I do have I’ve been figuring out what to do with this little real estate of mine that I own on the Web.

For many years I’ve been creating content on the internet. Not as long as some people I know, but longer than most. I started with a Blogger site and soon moved over to WordPress.com. I’ve tried using Tumblr when I visited Africa and even had an active Flickr account for some time. I had a popular podcast called SMS for a few months which then morphed into a YouTube show. And during these crazy days I also had a hand in building a social media agency called THIRDOCEAN. Not to mention my earlier gig with Techvibes and my current experience with itbusiness. (Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, I’m currently “making waves” at Canada’s largest Search Marketing Agency, Catalyst, as their Digital Content Manager.)

Well, times have changed. And during that time my interests have changed. I have opinions outside the world of social media and Toronto’s tech start-up scene. I’m more interested in the wearables explosion that is currently happening (especially in Toronto). I’m also interested in telling you what I think about the Blue Jays off season pursuits of free agents and Neil Young’s latest musical experiment.

Toronto Mayor John Tory with Karim Kanji in Scarborough

So what does future hold? I’ve no freaking clue. Honest. But we have to start moving. So, starting with this post you can now find me here at karimkanji.com (no more karimkanji.wordpress.com). The new website is not yet fully complete. and it may never be. and when it is done, don’t expect to be wowed. However, expect there to be content. Good content. About everything from living just inside Scarborough to what I think about Toronto’s current mayor.

You can also follow me on Twitter here -> @karimkanji. And please remember to bookmark this site.