Loyalist PR Trip to Toronto

Yesterday the Loyalist PR class went for a trip to Toronto. It was absolutely wonderful and a great experience for all students. There were a few highlighted things about the day that Id like to share.

Our day started at 630am. Thats when we had to be at the school for the bus. So that required most of us to wake up extremely early to get ready. I was in Picton for the night so I woke up at 445am. It was not fun thats for sure. I made it to the school on time but the bus ride to Toronto wasnt to fun. We got stuck in traffic and everyone seemed pretty out of it still. We arrived at about 10am at Steam Whistle Brewery. What a great company. They are enviromently friendly and also have very good morales about creating the type of beer they truely believe is of value and consumer friendly. We went for a tour and learned about the process of making the beer. It was interesting seeing a company that does one thing really, really well make there premium beer. We even got to taste of it!

Our next stop was RBC Bank. Most of us werent exactly excited for this because we werent sure what we possibilty could be learning about from a PR stand point. We all sat down and the session began. We met the PR people who created and sucessfully completed the RBC Torch Relay for the 2010 Olympic games. What an amazing thing to have been able to work on. I felt mezmorized doing there presentation. I remember watching the Torch Relay on TV and the impact it was making in Canada. I didnt get the chance to see it personally when it came through our community but I definitely saw pictures on facebook of friends with the Torch. They were happy, excited and just honored to see the actual flame. What an impact. It was a great presentation and I am so happy we got the chance to hear it.

Our third stop was CBC studios. We spent the majority of the day here for many reasons. We had lunch there and then waited for 4 oclock (I believe) to line up for George Stroumbooulopoulos. It went by extremely quickly. We got up there and all sat down. It seems so seareal that we were even there. I have never been in a studio like that before and then seeing George in the flesh was just sorta weird. I watched him at Much Music years and years ago with my step-sister. He was our favorite. We loved him. He was such a cool guy, so laid back, so relaxed, so talented. I couldnt have been more excited. He ended up interviewing Jeremy Hotz. I wasnt sure who that was at first but we learned that he is a Canadian Comedian (but lives in the U.S). He is extremely hilarious. He had the entire studio laughing their butts off. Definitely a great person to be interviewing while we were there. It was far from boring.

After the taping was over we got the chance to meet George personally and get out picture taken with him. We all got one on one pictures and then also a group photo. Attached is our group photo that turned out absolutely wonderful (Credits to our teacher Aaron Bell).

Overall the day was well worth waking up at 445am. I couldnt have had a better day planned myself. Thank you to our teachers Kerry Ramsay and Aaron Bell for putting it all together. Also thank you to my fellow students who made the trip fun and eventful. :)

Caitlin