Law School Semester 1: Complete.

Finally back in Windsor and welcomed to 30 cm of snow! Oh, and cancelled classes which never happened at a commuter school like U of T but happens all the time when everyone is walking distance to the school! Explain that to me. And to our next door neighbour and longtime Windsorite, Jerry, and our friend Adamo, thanks for telling us that it doesn't snow in Windsor.....

The first semester of law school was a blur. Since my last blog post written on my return from the Drizzy Drake concert nothing eventful has happened yet I feel like it has been an eternity. I'm fast forwarding the month of November because, quite frankly, a blog about my study habits would be super boring. School intensified and the exam's began to approach. At first, it seemed like a running joke as everyone seemingly tried to brush off the fact that these very meaningful exams were approaching. But then the paranoia started, and its impossible to avoid it. Law school is built up to be this huge hype machine. After speaking to one of my mentors over the Christmas break, I was a little relieved to learn that nothing had changed since he had attended law school. Pressure is at an all-time high during exam season and its even more intense considering that the importance of marks is ingrained into our heads from before we enter law school. Regardless, I think that almost all of my classmates handled the period with class though I don't think any of us will ever forget how we felt leaving our first ever law school exam (Contracts, of all courses was first for us). The marks will come and go, the experience is what counts and I learned A LOT about myself in that short exam period. The Christmas break couldn't come fast enough.

I've been told that the bombardment of questions begins as soon as you go home after your first semester of law school and that was completely true. Friends and family ask for advice and the one thing that I've learned is that there is definitely still a market for legal services so I think I've chosen teh right path. I've also found myself analyzing the smallest things, not even important enough for me to mention here. Law school has definitely already altered my thought process.

The second semester of law school looks to be more eventful (and more blog worthy) than the latter half of the first semester ended up being. The Olympics will also be an appreciated escape from the hysteria that will soon begin. In addition, we will be participating in two moot competitions and there should be many interesting conferences and speaker events at our school.

Over the break I was lucky to attend the 2014 Winter Classic along with 104,999 other people. The experience was amazing. Though I'm still trying to get the feeling back in my toes, I wouldn't have changed a thing. The snowy conditions and the fact that the Leafs came out with the W made it all worth it. Definitely something I will never forget.

In the mean time, I'd like to let everyone know about the 2014 UTSB Sports Industry Conference. If you've read even 10 percent of my blog, you would know that this experience shaped me. If you get a chance to check it out, please do so. Below is something I posted last year on Facebook (and that I would like to remember on somewhere other than Facebook) after the 2013 Sports Industry Conference. Enjoy and I'll be back when I have some better stories for 2014 :)

-----

It took me a while to sit down and put this together, but thank you's are in order. 

Last week we held one of the best sports industry conferences in North America - run entirely by students. None of this would have been possible without the help of everybody along the way.

1. - Shoutout to Natan Levi for thinking only about UTSB. He was passionate about this from the day he came out of the womb and, as much as I chirp him, his hustle is why the event was such a huge success. 
2. Shoutout to Fran Turco for putting up with myself and Natan. I don't think I've ever attended or been part of an event that ran flawlessly. This is a testament to how much of Fran stepped up and made sure everyone was on the ball! 
3. Shoutout to Filip Pandovski for doing pro-bono work and designing some beautiful graphics for us along the way. - Thank you to the UTSB council. We worked on this since April of 2012 and it definitely paid off!!!! 
4. To next year's council, we've left this organization in amazing shape. Continue the success and ensure U of T (and the world!) continues to take notice!
5. Thank you to my girlfriend Harriet Renshaw for putting up with me and Natan - mainly Natan ;)
6. Thanks to all of our speakers, none of which I have on facebook. 
7. Thanks to all of my friends who came out of their way to check it out - even if you weren't interested in it. Thanks for the support!!!
8. Thanks to my Mom for coming. 
9. Thanks to the Serbian newspaper for putting me on the front page. 
10. Thanks to the ROM for pinching every possible dollar out of us but still somehow making it worth it!
11. Obv thanks to our sponsors - MIR, MBNA, Blue Jays, CMA, Sportsnet Magazine, Biosteel, and all the career fair attendees. 

 Hope you enjoyed it. University isn't about school. It's not about impressing your professor at office hours, or annoying the class by asking questions during the whole class in order to prove you did the readings. It's about connecting with people on a real and human level. This can't be faked, and its not something you get extra credit for. It is one hundred percent for yourself and your personal development. 

  

U of T Academics does a very good job at penalizing its students for the simple fact that they chose to go to the "best university in Canada". Though many of us question that decision when we get a B for a paper that could probably win a NobeL Peace prize, it is because of clubs and events like this one that make all this worth it. 

  

Best of the luck in the future for the University of Toronto Sports and Business Association at the University of Toronto.

Has it already been 2 months!?

It's been six weeks since I last wrote up on here about how things are going.

And there is a reason for that. The past 6 weeks have been a blur. I'm currently on the greyhound back to Toronto (2$ round trip - worth the sketchiness) so that I can make it in time to watch the Drake concert and then head straight back to Windsor for class tomorrow morning.

When I last wrote, I had just finished my official orientation weeks and was ready to start actual law school classes (our first year consists of Criminal, Constitutional, Property and Contract Law as well as the Legal Writing Class that we started in mid-August). Turns out, the first week of class was cancelled due to a strike by technical workers at U of Windsor - it happened to be the hottest September day in recent memory and the whole campus didn't have Air Conditioning. So after 3 weeks of hype waiting to start law school, that was a buzz kill. The strike didn't end until Thanksgiving Weekend which means the school gym was closed until then (and there's only one gym here - Windsor always finds a way to remind me that I'm not at U of T anymore). Luckily, our classes weren't affected other than the first week.

Anyhow, when classes ACTUALLY started, I was just ready to start learning. And it starts right away. Case after Case, law after law, reading after reading. The work never stops and I've found, if you find yourself with nothing to do, you need to re-evaluate because with an exam each term, there can never be enough preparation. I won't go into the content of the classes in this blog because, well, that would just be boring for anyone just not interested in law. But - I will say that I actually loved discussing a case: "Popov v. Hayashi". If you are a sports fan, this will intrigue you too. It was a property dispute about Barry Bond's record breaking 73rd Home-Run Ball and who owned the rights to it. Check out this video on the case; it was definitely super interesting and it helped spell out the concepts we were learning in a readily applicable way. 

Back to the fun stuff. Like I talked about before, getting involved in school is  a huge deal if you can manage it while maintaining decent marks. In undergrad, I found that a higher level of involvement equaled better marks, at least for me. There are tons of clubs and student societies at Windsor Law for all types of interests ranging from the Tennis Club, to Cultural Associations (Persian Club!) and more academic-ish clubs such as Community Legal Aid. In my personal statement to Windsor, I made it clear that I intended to get involved with the Sports and Entertainment Law Society (SELS) in order to continue my involvement and passion within that field (extending from my experience from UTSB). I was lucky enough to be elected as the FIrst-Year Representative for  SELS in mid-September. The SELS exec is busy planning the conferences that will be held in second semester so I will definitely have some interesting stories once that is settled.

The roomie Sal started up Windsor's first Fashion Law society and is busy planning some awesome events for students interested in Fashion Law and all the issues that come with that. 

Probably the best thing about the abundance of student groups at Windsor Law is the fact that there is ALWAYS food at these meetings. As a starving law student, Pizza/Sandwich lunches every other day is actually so helpful. And now with the gym open, I don't feel as bad. 

On the social side of things, we had the awesome experience of going to Joe Louis Arena to watch the Leafs play the Red Wings in a pre-season match-up. The Joe is an old building but honestly has a great view from anywhere you sit - and it cost us 17$ for the tickets - no complaints. It was also fun to explain to some older Red Wings fans why we were booing Daniel Alfredsson. Poor Alfie just can't escape it. 

We also had the chance to hit up the J Cole & Wale concert at the Masonic Temple in Downtown Detroit (largest Masonic Temple in the world). Getting to the stadium was an experience on its own - it was surrounded by deserted hotels and buildings - glass broken everywhere and, where there is no broken glass there are boarded up windows. Scary. But the theatre was sweet and concert was awesome.

Back on the academic side of things, we're ankle deep in our legal education with about 6 weeks until our first exams. We had our first marked assignment the day before the Thanksgiving Long Weekend and this was definitely an experience. I was recommended by my friend Ange at Western Law to read 1L by Scott Turrow before I started school. Turrow was a Harvard Law grad who wrote about his first year in law school. I distinctly remember him saying everyone goes crazy around assignment/exam time. I wouldn't say everyone went crazy but things definitely got tense in the days leading up to the assignment. Windsor is pretty collegial and nobody is super competitive or cut throat, but that still doesn't stop people from freaking out around these times - especially for your first ever mark in law school when you are told that marks are EVERYTHING. Anyway, tip for those heading into first year, just take it easy in the days before an assignment and try to be done a few days before the date to avoid the hysteria.

Anyway, other than just an abundance of legal things, the first 6 weeks haven't been all too exciting to make an amazing blog post. But, before I finish up, I did have an incredible experience this past weekend when I headed to Toronto for the 2nd Annual Hockey Arbitration Competition of Canada at U of T run by the U of T Sports & Entertainment Law Society. I had the pleasure of meeting the organisers for this years competition as I was planning the Sports Industry Conference for UTSB earlier this year. If you recall, we worked with them for the law panel. Anyhow, they reached out for help for some of the planning for their event. I was happy to help them organise and set-up the event. The concept of the competition is a play on the traditional 'moot' or mock trial that goes on in law schools across North America. Instead of a hypothetical legal situation, the focus is on a NHL hockey player. The idea is for one team to represent the player's interests and argue why he is worth above a certain salary; the other team represents the player's team and argues why he is worth less than that salary.   I also was lucky to be a bailiff for the competition. A bailiff is basically a timekeeper - but you are able to watch 2 teams of law students compete it out in front of a lawyer with experience in the Sports Industry. It was definitely an amazing experience and the University of Windsor happened to win the whole thing and beat out 31 other teams!

The BEST part of this whole experience was something that was sprung on me two days before the event. Chris, one of the organisers, let me know that a team had dropped out due to funding issues and they needed me and Sal to participate in one of the arbitration hearings representing the team's side for the NHLer Chris Stewart. First year law students are normally not allowed to participate in these competitions because we simply do not have enough experience; we have a mandatory moot at the end of our first year which helps train us. But, we pounced on the opportunity. We had two days to prepare for it, we had never participated in a moot before let alone a hockey arbitration hearing. In order to protect the integrity of the competition and the marking, we couldn't tell our opponents or the judge that we were newbies or that we had NEVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE. Sal and I prepared as hard as we could on less than 30 hours notice and we were lucky to come away with a one-point victory in our arbitration competition! It was actually awesome.

Anyway, I'll check in when some more exciting stuff happens aka after all of this school work calms down a little.

In the mean time..... Drizzy. 

What a ride - and I haven't started class yet

Wow.

My first week of law school literally came and went in a flash. As did the second and third. I totally planned to write my first blog post after my first week. But, given the nature of the program I'm in, my 'first week' was actually three consecutive weeks and no part of my brain was functioning, let alone able to process what just happened.

For those of you who don't know, I'm currently studying in the Dual J.D. program at the University of Windsor (joint with the University of Detroit Mercy, 10 minutes away). We had the honour of starting class two weeks early, and also taking part in the Academic Orientation of the University of Windsor Single JD program. If you don't get it, don't worry. Pretty much, every other law student in Ontario has their Orientation jammed into one week, I experienced three times as much over three weeks. Our program is also comparative in nature, meaning that we learn both the US and Canadian Law in comparison to the other. Double the work but also double the knowledge!

Back to how I got here, to Windsor. On the 15th of August we packed up from the comforts of our homes in one of the greatest cities in the world for a four hour trek on the 401 to Windsor, Ontario - which is apparently known as the City of Roses... the only reason I can come up with is because of Outkast's song. This city is not as awesome as roses. It also definitely does not smell like roses. Or look like roses. Strange.

Anyhow, much of the move was a blur to me. Hopefully the picture above puts it into perspective - thanks to Mr. Renshaw, I had a truck and a trailer that would let us carry all the big furniture. Thanks to the Barbieri boys for taking that thing back to Toronto!! So I went from work on the 14th, to packing at home, to waking up bright and early and eventually arriving in Windsor at 6PM on the 15th. My roommate (Sal) and I had our parents with us to help clean the place and put together IKEA things without IKEA directions. The first night in Windsor consisted of some 4.99$ PIZZA PIZZA specials (my dad's favourite)  and some sleep.

Papa's Kiss - Sweet boat!

On the morning of the 16th we had to head to the border to process our student visas and then pretty much explore Windsor. One thing about Windsor, you'll never understand this place until you're here. We had the luxury(--not really) of being here when majority of students hadn't moved in yet. It was very quiet, borderline deserted. It is a city that survives off of students. Starting this past week the students all arrived here and there are parties everywhere (and just our luck, we happen to live on a lively street). But I'd rather have that then the quiet, creepy Windsor of the first two weeks.

The next day our girlfriend's arrived so we could show off our new home for three years. Luckily for us, Sal's family friend is a very well known person in Windsor and was able to show us the better sides. We pretty much had a day on this luxury boat and went about five hours on the boat, travelling from the port in Walkerville to the edge of Lake Erie. It was an awesome day, great weather and just a sweet experience. Also, I think we impressed the girls enough that they LOVE WINDSOR!!! ;) (joking) The night ended with dinner in Little Italy (and a creepy waiter trying to make us all take tequila shots....at an Italian Restaurant....) We spent the last day with the girlfriends, luckily getting to see an awesome firework show on the waterfront and then just exploring Windsor. TIP: Windsor does not have ice cream shops near the school open late at night.... or at all. We went to McDonalds. There are tons of McDonalds'.

Detroit Skyline from our Boat Cruise (a little slanted thanks to iPhoto)

So starting on Monday, we began our first day of orientation. For the week, we would travel to UDM (in Detroit) to take part in orientation there. During Orientation week you're just thrown an assortment lectures/presentations/etc and it does become pretty overwhelming. We took part in the basic's of law school (case/statutory analysis) and discussed everything and anything about the next three years of our life in this program. We had homework, readings (tons of them) and assignments. Good start.

The end of the week consisted of a start to our Legal Writing Class. The way our program works is that our classes are split between Windsor and the University of Detroit Mercy. Our only class in Detroit this year is the Legal Writing Class, which is twice a week. The class is probably the most hands-on of a class that you can get in law school, and it happens to be the only one we will take in our first year that doesn't have one huge final exam, but rather various assignments throughout the year. Besides that, we actually haven't started any class other than this one. Our second week of orientation consisted of 4 hours of our Legal Writing Class each day.

Highlight of the week? American-style deep dish pizza. Best pizza I've had in my life. And it's probably mediocre by their standards. It was free too. Win-win for me.

This past week was orientation all over again. The Windsor Single JD program students began their orientation this week, and as students of the dual JD program, we were required to go through this orientation as well. Safe to say, a lot of it was repetitive. And, after having technically been in law school for two weeks, it was definitely a little bit of a slow down from the routine that I was getting into. Good news is that must of us Dualies (thats what we're called here at Windsor) have been together for three weeks so we're pretty friendly with each other and make time fly by. Windsor is a place where you never want to be bored because you might go crazy. So, with all of our work and some downtime hanging out with everyone, its definitely bare able.

So anyway, I want to talk about some of the questions people have already asked and will ask me about the past three weeks.

First, how scary is Detroit?
I'll be the first person to admit that I was not looking forward to travelling to Detroit two times a week for class. I've been scarred for life ever since my car died in downtown Detroit as we were on our way to see a Red Wings Game a few years ago. It was pouring rain. T.I. was about to go to jail so he had a last minute concert in Detroit. And NOBODY wanted to give us a boost. We ended up getting a boost but missing the game because going to it would probably mean the car wouldn't start again. I vowed never to go back.

Now i'm there twice a week!

Detroit is actually pretty cool. Firstly, the skyline looks amazing from Windsor. The underwater tunnel from Windsor to Detroit is 1.5 KM and gets you there in about 2 minutes. Its actually pretty cool the first few times. Then, not so much. Secondly, it's pretty much a normal city during the day. Obviously coming from the mecca that is Toronto, nothing will compare. But, Detroit definitely doesn't live up to its bad reputation. Mind you, I haven't really been there at night (and don't plan on it) but I have driven and walked around a fair bit. It is deserted (bankrupt!) and a little worn down but it looks like a city that could (and probably will) one day be thriving again.

The best experience that I had in Detroit was when we got to visit the Detroit Criminal Court. The court is nicely situated beside Ford Field (home of the Detroit Lions) and Comerica Park (home of the Detroit Tigers) and across the street from the Wayne County Jail. Great city planning. Detroit is just funny like that. Anyway, sitting in on criminal proceedings (and a semi-trial) in that court was awesome. Definitely something I won't forget. Ask me about it if you want to know what we saw.

UPDATE: THIS(http://www.freep.com/article/20130909/NEWS01/309090075/prisoner-escape) just happened at that same criminal court this morning. 

Second, how sketchy is Windsor?

Windsor is a world of its own. In the words of Sal, "Windsor is a freak show".  The Caesar's casino is awesome. The pubs on the main strip are actually surprisingly fun. But coming from Toronto, nothing will ever come close. Some positives? Cheap gas in Detroit (90 cents/litre), students EVERYWHERE you go, and one of the warmest places in Canada. Also, pretty close to some great sports in Detroit, and tons of great concerts nearby. (We're already planning to go to Kanye's concert and J Cole's concert in the D)

I've been super lucky to have some great friends already in this city and studying at Windsor in one way or another. I'm actually looking forward to finally starting law school - the learning part. All I've heard so far is that I'm not ready for the hell that is law school, or that I'm going to hate law school very soon. Pretty intense stuff. But one guy who has kept me sane is Mike Alvaro. Mike's a third year student in the Dual JD program and has an awesome career ahead of him (he's actually my hero). He's also a great friend from undergrad and SMCSU. He's gone out of his way to make sure Sal and I are comfortable and have a grasp of what we're about to get into. Safe to say, he's been a huge help and shows us that all the hard work will be worth it! He also

Anywho, tomorrow marks Week 4 in Windsor and Week 1 of school. I'll check in in the next week or two with a recap of how things are going and let you know about some of the things that I'm getting involved in.

Back in Toronto this weekend. Cold Tea on Friday!

Token first day of class photo that our parents took. Don't mind the pink curtains.

The University of Toronto Sports & Business Association

My fifth year at U of T was the most exciting and enjoyable one of them all. I didn’t work for most of the summer of 2012 – except for about 1 month, working for a sightseeing company and pretty much standing in the heat for 9 hours straight (and I love shade). But that allowed me to save up some cash to fund my summer aka a trip to NYC with my girlfriend Harriet and my friend Sal (future law school roommate) and his girlfriend Josine. 

I was anxious to start planning with Natan for the 2012-2013 UTSB line up. Even though I didn’t take part in the founding of the club, I still felt like I could play a big part in cementing its legacy at U of T. The first Conference took months of planning and the organization didn’t actually appear on anybody’s radar until halfway through the school year. Natan and I now had the benefit of a summer of planning as well as the ability to stage events throughout the whole school year. I want to just recap the experience we had from start to finish because it was TOUGH but I would never have wanted it any other way – it was well worth it. 

If you know anything about Natan, it’s that he travels the world (and he’s an only child). He is currently in Berlin …. ‘studying’ for a summer course. At this point last summer, he was planning to be in Europe for Euro 2012, then take a summer course somewhere in Europe, and then finish off his vacation with time at his family home in, you guessed it, Europe (Croatia). That left us with a few weeks before he left to put together a game plan for the coming year and then, after only knowing me for a few months, he had to trust that I could head the ship until he was back in the country. What I didn’t know what that this would result in daily Skype calls from a shirtless Natan on a beach somewhere. I think we talked about the same thing every day, just to put him at ease. Anyhow, it was funny back then and its funnier now.

Before he left, we decided to implement a structure so that, when we are long gone from U of T, UTSB can still exist and have some continuity. Taking from my experience on SMCSU, we redesigned the UTSB Council and Executive and we implemented monthly meetings. We took dozens of applications for spots on our council and finally decided on our executive and council members. Now came the hard part – how were we going to top what we did in the first year?

Chuck Swirsky, January 2013

The only thing that was set in stone was that we would be holding the 2^nd Annual Sports Industry Conference in March 2013. Yet we had about 9 months between then to fill! We wanted UTSB to be the hottest thing on campus. So, with the help of our Student Outreach team, we were present at as many orientation week events as possible. This increased our exposure on campus and also attracted more students to our group (we had over 500 members sign up during the first week of school).  I also reached out to Chuck Swirsky (who I had been in contact with from when I was organizing a charity hockey tournament in high school), former Toronto Raptors play-by-play man, to take part in a meet & greet before a Toronto Raptors vs Chicago Bulls game.

Yet, we still had to plan exactly HOW we were going to build momentum towards our marquee event in March. We wanted something that would attract students, sponsors, administration, and other sports industry executives.  I think the exact phrase we kept saying was ‘How can we put UTSB on the MAP?’ One idea was to have both Brian Burke (former Leafs GM) and Bryan Colangelo (former Raptors GM) as keynotes at our event. True story – we were in contact with both. But considering the NHL was in a lockout, Colangelo was about to get fired, and that Burke organizes a similar conference in the fall, we couldn’t set anything in stone. Anyhow, we decided on an event – the first ever U of T Sports Speaker Series which would consist of hopefully 2 keynotes and a panel that was about the Development of Sports in Canada. 

The Development of Sports in Canada Panel - (Left to Right) Michael Downey, Steve Montopoli, Rowan Barrett, Darryl Boynton and Moderator Jeff Valks

We cold-called/cold-emailed/cold-linkedin’d some people who we thought would be great to speak at the event. This was probably the most intimidating and nerve racking thing – some emails went unanswered; some resulted in straight out rejections. But some advice for anybody who has to do something similar – don’t give up. Be cordial, be straight forward and hope for the best. Many people, especially in the Sports Industry, were once in our position. They once sent out these kinds of emails and made these kinds of calls. They are very generous with their time and, if the timing is right, they are almost always willing to help out. Throughout the course of the summer and with some perseverance we eventually confirmed Michael Downey (President of Tennis Canada), Rowan Barrett (EVP of Canada Basketball), Peter Montopoli (General Secretary of the Canadian Soccer Association) and Darryl Boynton (Manager at Hockey Canada). Sticking with the “Canada” theme, we reached out to the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games Organizing Committee to request Ian Troop, their CEO, as a keynote for our event. He happily agreed.

Myself, Fran, Ian Troop and Natan

But Natan and I still felt like there was somebody we really wanted to top off the event and take it to that next level. We knew who we wanted as our headliner; we just didn’t know how to get him. The story about how we convinced Paul Beeston to speak at our event should actually be a blog post of its own. Mr. Beeston is the President & CEO of the Blue Jays & Rogers Centre; he was the first employee of the Toronto Blue Jays (back in the day) and he has had experience in the MLB head office as well. Safe to say, he is the epitome of sports & business in Canada. 

Imagine trying to get a hold of a man who doesn't communicate, at least in his business life, by cell-phone or email and doesn't use a computer. Luckily for us, the Blue Jays had generously donated $1000 to UTSB for the first conference, so we had something to lead with. Through some detective work, we got a hold of Mr. Beeston’s assistant’s email. We reached out to her and asked her for a meeting.  To our surprise, she responded! We sent her our preferred dates to meet and waited. After that, we didn't hear back from her. Over a month later, the two of us just couldn't wait any longer and didn't want to keep bombarding her with emails. I called the number that was in her email signature. I don’t think the phone rang more than once when somebody picked up and said, “Paul Beeston speaking”. I was not expecting him to pick up. Mr. Beeston has an amazing sense of humour but it’s pretty intimidating when you first talk to him on the phone. After asking him if we could meet to discuss his involvement in our event, he responded “but who am I?  People don’t want to hear from me.” I essentially begged him to meet with us, and he agreed.

Natan, Paul Beeston, Myself - Sports Speaker Series

When Natan arrived back from his Europtrip, we met with Paul Beeston in his blue suede carpet office, complete with World Series’ Trophies. Natan and I persuaded him to come out to our event and take part in a Q&A session which we offered to host. He eventually agreed (and also gave us a nice chat about how to make in the industry) and then jokingly told us that he never wanted to see us again.

In the end, the first ever U of T Sports Speaker Series was an absolute success. We booked an intimate room and sold out the event. The presentation of the event was very important to Natan and I; we knew that a solid event could pay dividends for us in terms of sponsorship and leverage for the Sports Conference. And it did. We had invited some U of T administration to our event and one of those in attendance was absolutely blown away by the event. He turned out to be the Director of Corporate Relations at the University of Toronto, Darryl Chow. After meeting with Darryl after our event, we put together an agreement that would provide UTSB sponsorship in the amount of 30,000$ over three years from MBNA Canada Bank (U of T MasterCard). For an organization that held a sports industry conference with under $3,000 in sponsorship money, we knew that we now had the means to take UTSB to the next level. 

Me, Natan, Darryl, Malcolm and Nikolas

Anybody who says that money makes problems go away is crazy. For us, the 10,000$ for the year didn't mean we could now be comfortable, it meant we had to work 10 times as hard. We had to prove our worth and we had to spend this money wisely. Planning a conference with nearly 300 guests is a logistical nightmare if you aren't organized. In comes in Francesca Turco – I talked about her earlier. I had reached out to Fran towards the end of our last year on SMCSU about possibly joining UTSB as the Director of Logistics. The position requires a crazy level of commitment and organization, and she seemed like the perfect candidate. Turns out, she wasn't .... just kidding. She really took things into the next gear once planning for the conference started. Through Fran’s dedication we were able to book the Royal Ontario Museum as the venue for our Conference. 

**NOTE: we went from a very budget auditorium at U of T in our first year, with temporary stands, to one of the largest museums in North America which is situated just steps from our school and in the heart of Toronto. Thank you MBNA.**
With the ROM, we had a huge space and, to be honest, not one of us thought that we could fill all of the empty space well enough – it just kind of came together when the conference arrived.

Natan and I then went to work trying to get an extensive speakers list. We had planned to have 3 keynote speakers, one Q and A session, and 2 panels. I want to give a quick recap of who we got and how we got them because I think it’s important to note that there are so many ways to make contacts (and this isn’t just for the sports industry!)

We had already confirmed Gerald Woodman, Director of Sporting Good at Adidas Group, who was supposed to speak out our first conference but couldn't make it. Gerald has a very entertaining and interactive keynote, and his path to his position was only a result of hustle and hard work! Over the summer I had the pleasure of meeting with Gord Kirke. I had met him at an event earlier in the year and asked if he would be willing to speak – he immediately agreed and was generous enough to meet with me just to chat as well. Mr. Kirke is regarded as one of the most successful sports lawyers in the world, and he never actually intended to work in sports. What my talk with him taught me is one thing – you need to be a great lawyer first before you can do anything further.  He also banks almost daily at my girlfriend’s branch and I hear that they gossip about me all the time, so I guess that’s flattering.

Couldn't believe Kevin Weekes was speaking at our event!

Our other keynote speaker was former NHL-er and current On-Air Personality, Kevin Weekes. We were connected with Kevin through our Creative Team, Made in Regio. Made in Regio are a group of U of T kids who have taken the sports media world by storm developing some of the best creative pieces. They had done work with Kevin and graciously reached out to him for us. For myself, having heard the name Kevin Weekes while I was growing up as a huge hockey fan, having him there was surreal.

Natan had a previous connection with Dave Krikst, who is the producer for Cabbie Presents and Off the Record on TSN. He brought his buddy Cabbie and took part in a Q&A, hosted by one of our council members, Daniel Bruno. Our Marketing/Business Panel included some past connections: Leah MacNab (NBA Canada – attended our first conference), Dave Shaw (UFC Canada – Natan met him over the summer), Josh Epstein (Newport Sports – Natan cold-emailed him), Dan Quinn (NFL Canada, another cold email).

The idea for our first panel, dedicated to Sports Law, was my brainchild. My intention with that this second year of UTSB would demonstrate that there are so many types of job opportunities in the business of sport and not just the ‘traditional’ business jobs. Our first year was geared more towards commerce/accounting/business students. This law panel would help attract a different crowd. Natan enlisted Kris Mychasiw who is a prominent agent in the Track and Field world. The problem was, there was only one other person we could actually think of to be on this panel and he happened to be probably the most famous sports agent in Canada – Don Meehan.

True story – I had emailed Mr. Meehan’s agency, Newport Sports Management Inc.(which represents over 100 NHL players) in June of 2011. I still have the email where I said that I was interested in learning more about a career as a sports agent/lawyer and whether or not they had internship openings. To my surprise, I received a response from Mr. Meehan himself, informing me that the summer intern positions were full until 2013. As disappointing as that was, the fact that he personally responded meant so much to me. Fast forward a year and a half later and I reached out to him to speak on our panel – he accepted.

Complete Law Panel

For the rest of the law panel, I reached out to my friend Nick Rossi who happened to be the President of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. He had expressed interest in collaborating and I had known Nick from his time at St. Michael’s College. Nick went to work and invited some influential lawyers to speak on the panel. He confirmed Daniel Ages (Lawyer for the NHL) and David Goldstein (Lawyer and member of the Sports Law group for Cassels Brock – the #1 Sports Law Practice in Canada). He also approached Len Glickman (Partner, Cassels Brock) to moderate the panel. Safe to say, our Law Panel was a huge hit and it wouldn't have been possible without Nick. These panelists have been very helpful to me on a personal level as I begin the law school process.

Our conference line-up was rounded out. We had 300 guests confirmed to attend. The venue was shaping up. Yet we still had one more idea we wanted to implement. Natan and I reached out to several companies, as well as the U of T Career Centre, in hopes that we could create a mini Job Fair at our conference. The response was overwhelming with over a dozen companies signing up for booths at the career fair, including Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and SDI Marketing. All in all, we knew that we had provided an unparalleled experience for our attendees and hopefully provided all of them with the tools to pursue a career in the industry. 

The team

An event of this magnitude was very stressful but rewarding to organize. It is probably one of the proudest accomplishments of my life, and I think Natan would concur. Without Fran’s hard work, it just wouldn’t have come together. There were so many little nuances that had to be dealt with and Fran came through – I actually don’t think she lost her cool once!

We passed on the UTSB torch to Malcolm Mo and Daniel Bruno who have some amazing things planned (they've told me). I can’t wait to see how much further they will go because I see in them what I saw in Natan and I last year – a feeling of wanting more, bigger, better. They will do great things. Check out UTSB, spread the word! www.sportsandbusiness.ca

Natan and I used to always joke about coming back one day and speaking at the UTSB conference. I wish I will be even half as accomplished as the people who we had at our events this year. If not, I would even appreciate a pity invite, but hopefully it’s because I’ve actually accomplished something. But I would still accept a pity invite.

Up next:
I move to Windsor next week. So hopefully before then and definitely before the start of orientation, I will talk about why I decided to go to law school and what I want to do. And then from there the fun and games begin. I hope to update this blog as frequently as possible with updates on my law school journey.

UTSB Part 1: The Beginning of the Road

During the December Exam Period of 2011 one of the best things that has ever happened to me….happened to me. I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a post from The University of Toronto Sports & Business Association. To be honest (and don’t take this the wrong way), considering that I had been involved on campus heavily for the previous three years, I was sure it wasn't a big deal since I hadn't really heard about it. Turns out, the association had just been created and had just received its club status at U of T.  Two Rotman Commerce students, Avish Sood and Natan Levi had attended several Sports Industry Conferences and realized that there was a market at U of T for something similar. They planned the first ever Sports Industry Conference at U of T for March of 2012 and were having contests on social media to raise awareness.

I immediately was interested in attending the conference. It just so happened that, around this time, I was getting anxious that I didn't have a plan for after my graduation. Granted, I had one and a half years of school left before I was released to the real world but that empty feeling of not really knowing was nagging me every day. I was also becoming more and more certain that this term on SMCSU would be my last and that I wouldn't pursue another position/Presidency/VP for my fifth year – I wanted to focus on this “figuring out my life” thing.  Enter the University of Toronto Sports and Business Association. Best. Thing. Ever.

What started as an innocent email – I remember asking how I could reserve my ticket for the conference – spiraled into one of the best chapters of my life so far. I ended the email offering help marketing the event across campus with the network of student groups/leaders I had met through SMCSU as well as the resources available to me as Double Blue Commissioner. I didn't expect much from that, other than an email back with info on how to buy the ticket. I received an immediate response asking if I was free to meet up and discuss potentially joining the executive team as Marketing Coordinator.

More about UTSB at http://www.sportsandbusiness.ca

I was pretty pumped to be on board with a new movement at U of T. Avish and Natan had a plan but were aware that the interest for their conference reached way further than just Rotman Commerce students. Rotman is fairly secluded from the rest of the University and I thought I could definitely help out with promotions and just general tasks when needed. My experience on SMCSU definitely opened an opportunity for me that otherwise would have probably never been available.  I am not a Marketing major, nor do I claim to be an expert in all that comes with marketing analysis. But I had grassroots experience connecting with students (aka talking to people) for three years through SMCSU and as a Frosh Leader. I knew the basics of promoting (and selling out) events at U of T. This experience would pay off moving forward with UTSB.

I was introduced to the other executives and given the run down on the sponsors and speakers planned for the conference. They had organized a pretty heavy line-up for the inaugural conference with sponsorship from the Toronto Blue Jays and speakers including Bob Nicholson (former Argonauts President), Ian Clarke (MLSE CFO), and panels including executives from the NBA, UFC and other sports entities. The main thing was to ensure that enough hands were on deck to help out with the execution of the event and to also spread word across campus.

So I started second semester as a member on the UTSB council and as a Commissioner on SMCSU. I was in an exciting place and was looking forward to diving into the world of sports business to see if I could make my own mark. I had always aspired to work in sports. Even back in grade 2 (yes I remember this) my teacher Ms. Kernohan would give everyone a nickname – mine was ‘Ref’ because every morning at our daily class story time or whatever it was, I would give everyone a recap of all the sports scores from the night before. People used to joke and say she called me ref because I probably wasn't good enough at actually playing the sport. So true. But I’m really good at volleyball and tennis so take that, people. Anyway, if you know me, you know I’m a huge sports fan so this was huge for me.

TRUE STORY: I actually once answered [stupidly] a job interview question about what my ideal job was by saying that I wanted to be the GM of the Leafs. Safe to say I didn’t get the job but that dream still stands.  I just hope the Leafs win the Cup before then so that the sports fans in this city become a little less dramatic about every move made by the GM. Anyway, that’s a story for another day and the chance at this dream probably won’t come to fruition for a few decades but hopefully it even has a remote chance of coming true.

Back to UTSB. Leading up to the conference, I still didn't have any idea what to expect from a sports industry conference. To be honest, I pictured hundreds of kids with resumes trying to hand them to speakers in pure chaos. I was invited by Natan to attend the Queen’s Sports Industry Conference (QSIC) in Kingston for a weekend with him and another UTSB executive. Having not spent more than a few hours getting to know them over the previous few weeks, I was curious to see how a weekend with two people …… in Kingston of all places ….. might turn out. Well if anybody knows Natan like I now know him, you know that it’s really hard to have a boring time with him.  We had an amazing time at the conference and used the experience to promote our upcoming event to students who would be interested. We also almost won the conference case competition run by the CFL as they looked for ways to enhance attendance at Toronto Argo’s games. Most importantly, I was exposed to what this sports industry (and the business world, for that matter) was all about. The whole conference is about networking – networking with students, people from the industry and sponsors. I really think networking is one of the toughest things to learn – it’s a fine line between awkward elevator conversations to genuine and engaging conversation. It looks harder than you think: some people approach a certain executive with a resume in hand or immediately asking if they’re hiring. And its definitely something that I’m still working on.

Anyhow, the experience was awesome. Natan and I have become best friends in a very short time. (definitely the closest Persian-Jewish friendship that I’ve ever heard of! Maybe we can change the world) And it all began in Kingston, weirdly enough….Don’t think many people can say that.

*Also: I only chirp Kingston because my car broke down there once after I visited John A. MacDonald’s grave-site with James and Deryn a few years ago. Otherwise it’s a beautiful area for Kingston Penitentiary*

An interview that Natan and I had about the 1st
Sports Industry Conference (February 2012)

The two of us had amazing chemistry when networking at QSIC. Natan and I both realized that being able to connect with a person and get along with them was way more important than schmoozing them or showing them how much we knew about the company they worked at. Even when speaking to other students, we were able to convince at least 40 students to attend the U of T event just by chatting with them over the weekend. I was in a new found comfort zone and was enjoying every minute of what I was doing; QSIC was a sign of good things to come.

After Kingston, we went back to work at finalizing particulars for the U of T event.  In March, the 1^st ever Sports Industry Conference was held at U of T. The conference was an absolute success with a sell-out of 150 students and over a dozen sports industry executives.

I have a funny little story about the first ever conference and this might serve as a lesson for some people who are just getting involved with an organization/group.  I was determined to help out wherever possible and even offered to take the not so desirable jobs that needed to be filled during event day. I ended up manning the Raffle Table (we had some sick prizes). Sounds fine and dandy right? Except that the table was upstairs and away from the actual goings-on of the conference.  And considering the value of some of the prizes, it couldn’t be left unattended. It looked as if I was going to miss majority of the actual speakers – remember I had intended to sign up just to attend the conference in order to gain insight. I took the spot graciously and it would help me in the future, as you are about to find out. I didn’t whine, complain or make a fuss. Funny enough, another person who didn’ t whine, complain or make a fuss was Malcolm Mo. Malcolm had to work coat check for the conference which meant he was seated in the dark, right behind a door – missing the whole conference (except I think he could at least hear some of it, unlike me). Malcolm is now the President of UTSB for 2013-14. I guess what I’m saying is – think big picture and show your worth. Most of the time it takes sacrifices to get rewarded. 

The Inaugural University of Toronto Sports and Business Association Council (2011-2012)

Towards the end the school year, things were looking up. I was determined to take on a bigger role at UTSB for the upcoming year. My time at SMCSU was winding down and I was ready for the jump. UTSB introduced a new executive format consisting of President and Vice-President who would choose  the other executive positions after they were elected. Natan, who was the VP of Corporate Relations for the first year, approached me and asked if I would be interested in running for election as Vice-President. Natan was running unopposed as President so I was pretty happy that he asked me to run with him. In hindsight, Natan asking me was probably the best decision of his life. I attended the voting meeting and gave a speech to the outgoing executives on why I was qualified as VP. Safe to say, my experiences from SMCSU took up the majority of my speech and definitely gave me the advantage over the other candidates. I had so many ideas for expanding UTSB and building off the momentum of the first year

I was voted as the Vice-President for UTSB for the 2012-2013 year – I had finally created a mini-blueprint. I was confident that I now had an idea of what the next year of my life would consist of. I had done well in classes in my 4^th year. I planned to devote the summer to planning UTSB’s upcoming year with Natan and to study for the LSAT while preparing my law school applications.

The next year was a ride and it was by far the most enjoyable of my university career.

Up Next: UTSB Part 2 - My experience as VP of the University of Toronto Sports and Business Association (while writing the LSAT/applying to schools/and taking a full course load to graduate!)

The 2012-2013 UTSB Council.... Stay Tuned. 

Year 4.

In the Spring of 2011, as the second semester of my third year was winding down, I realized that I was awfully close to graduation with not much planned after that. The advice we all get always goes like this: “You’ll figure it out.” But nobody says when or how you figure it out. I knew ever since the end of my first semester (if you recall, I bombed Chemistry) that I would not complete my degree in the traditional four years. I was also comforted knowing that almost all of my friends who had a high level of commitment to student government or other extra-curricular’s had also taken an extra year or semester and went on to do great things after graduation. So I definitely wasn’t concerned about when I was graduating but rather what I was doing afterwards.

At this point, my term as Double Blue Officer was coming to an end. I had lived downtown for the year and so I had been extremely involved given my proximity to school had changed from 50km to about 400 metres. Yet, my grades were nothing to write home about. And I still had no idea what I was going to do after I graduated. So, given that SMCSU was one of my only outlets for developing myself throughout University, I thought it was only natural to run for re-election and attempt to finally take the reigns as Double Blue Commissioner.

Safe to say, I was re-elected and chosen as the DB Commissioner. My plan for the year was simple. Increase attendance at our events. Maximize charitable donations for our yearly charity event through sponsorship. Ensure our formal was affordable yet glamorous. And maintain the same level of excitement for SMC events, which had been at an all-time high in the past two years.

NOTE: St. Mike’s is notorious as the ‘party college’ at U of T. For anybody who has doubted U of T’s ability to have a social atmosphere like that of Western or Guelph, you have NOT attended a SMC event!

The best part about my third year on SMCSU was that, because of my heavy involvement over the previous two years, I had created many great friendships that made our work on council enjoyable.  My third time on SMCSU was by far my favourite year. The people who made up this council worked tirelessly. Most of the time SMCSU members don’t get the credit that they deserve. But these people that I’m about to discuss definitely helped me develop as a leader and as a person, so they have the utmost amount of respect and credit in my mind. And there IS a reason that I’m going in depth about these people besides the fact that they’ve become great friends. Each and every one of them have faced challenges and overcame them, all the while becoming awesome people. And each of us used one common outlet for this development – involvement at our University.

The council was led by two of the most passionate people at the school as President and Vice-President, Kyle Farren and Frank Fisico. From my experience, I knew that the Pres/VP make or break the council. Both Kyle and Frank had a commitment to SMCSU like no other tandem, and they finished with one of the most successful years.

Frank in front of our life-size poster; Also Frank doesn't
look like this anymore

Frank Fisico is a gem. I tell people this all the time, and I should probably stop because I’ve repeated it so much, but Frank has been to every one of my birthday parties since the beginning of University. Doesn’t sound like a big deal but considering that I didn’t really know him well until after the first two birthday parties, it tells you a lot about the type of person he is. He started as Frank the Tank when he ran for his first SMCSU campaign and because of this he was (and still is) really popular.  He’s also incredibly committed to anything and everything he does. He was a great Commuter Life officer in his first year on SMCSU and an even better Vice President. Nothing demonstrates Frank’s commitment  more then his new fitness lifestyle. Frank shed a crazy amount of weight and has literally become a new person ….. and the HEAVY WEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!

Where to start with Kyle Farren? Kyle has received his fair share of slack from around campus and much of it is warranted. Kyle and I have talked about this a lot over the years so I don’t feel bad being candid here. When I met Kyle, he was extremely cocky, borderline rude, and very much so an intimidating figure (or at least he tried to be). But I like to observe people because we ALL have more to us than we give off and I realized that there was more to him than the hard skinned person that everybody saw.

In SMCSU meetings during my first year, Kyle was meticulous in his note taking. He was careful to note everything - all the way down to the exact start and end of the meeting and all the important notes in between. To someone like me, who definitely did not take meetings as seriously in my first year, this was weird. Regardless, what I saw from Kyle that majority of the people who know him never really got to see was somebody who was extremely passionate about something – that something being SMCSU.

Kyle is the ultimate success story. I don’t think he ever got his “first-choice” for commission on SMCSU. Sometimes he didn’t get his second or third choice either. After you are elected by the student body onto SMCSU, all the elected members democratically vote for who gets what position. Now put yourself in Kyle’s shoes: Imagine planning for a year how you wanted to run the Social Commission in the next year; running a campaign to get elected onto SMCSU, getting voted in by hundreds of students, sitting in a meeting  but not being voted into either Social Commissioner or Social Officer position. Some people would (and have) quit because they would be ‘stuck’ with a commission that they had no interest in. Kyle? He took the challenge straight on.

After three years of never really gaining the respect of his colleagues, Kyle finally got his first choice when he was elected as President of SMCSU. This is where he developed from a prick to a leader. Not many people know this but Kyle attended the most meetings that a SMCSU President has ever attended. He was involved with the St. Michael’s College Council, he had nearly bi-weekly meetings with College administration and the Dean of Students, and he chaired the cross-campus St George Roundtable. He did it all and took notes in the whole process.

I made the mistake of joining him on one of these meetings. At one point, I agreed with the Principal of SMC that the number of student seats at the College Council executive meetings should be reduced by a minimal number (I cant really remember how many but Kyle probably has it written down somewhere) Within a second, Kyle, who was sitting beside, gave me a massive kick to the leg under the table. He's a scrawny guy, super skinny, but he used to play Varsity Soccer - safe to say it bruised. Later he told me that he never wants to be responsible for students losing a voice until he had the time to ensure the decision was sensible. Safe to say I never said a word at one of those meetings again.

Me and Kyle - when I opened the ridiculous
SMCSU Secret Santa Gift he gave me. 

I don’t want this to turn into a Kyle Farren love-in.  Afterall, he did ‘accidentally’ kiss my girlfriend..... and has since offered to 'take my place' in the relationship while I'm away at Windsor. I'll leave it at that. We have also been in dozens of arguments, too. Good times. But he is one of my best friends now and I think he deserves the credit that nobody ever wanted to give him. This past May, Kyle and Frank asked me to facilitate with them at the bi-annual SMCSU leadership retreat and I finally figured out why Kyle was so meticulous in his note keeping.  This retreat was one of the most insightful in SMCSU’s history. Kyle had kept a copy of nearly every SMCSU agenda (and notes) from every meeting he attended. He incorporated all these facts and insights into the leadership activities at the retreat. He had one final send off and, if anything, he proved that he has definitely been changed by SMCSU. If you’re reading this 10 years from now in your office as a diplomat, Kyle, you owe me a flight on your private jet.

This is the leadership that I had to work under as  Double Blue Commissioner. Safe to say they were very supportive and we all worked very well together. The Finance Commissioner for that year (who essentially rounds out the Big 3 of SMSCU in addition to the President and Vice-President) was Fran Turco. Full disclosure: Fran and I didn’t get along when I met her in first year. I can’t quite remember how I met her to be honest but I know that we just didn’t mesh and its funny now to look back. At some point we became close, and again I can’t really pinpoint it. Maybe it was the carpooling from Markham to Toronto? Maybe it was the Leafs preseason games? Daniel Morad and her cousin? Regardless, I can’t really remember what moment we went from not getting along to being very good friends.

Campaign Poster - 2011

Fran is a next level workhorse. She was the first member in SMCSU history to hold a position and also be a don on residence. It was never allowed before, but somehow she pulled it off. We ran a campaign together in our first ever SMCSU election (if you recall my previous blog post). We were general Councillors together. She took over charge of Commuter Life in her second year on SMCSU when I was in DB. We both reached our desired positions in our third year. And, even though we were probably asked a hundred times by various people to run as a President/VP combo, the both of us decided to pursue other things while we still were in University. At the end of the day, we accomplished everything and more on SMCSU - and we didnt see the need to run for Pres/VP just because we could. To this day, neither of us regret that decision as it has allowed us to really figure out our other passions but safe to say that if our heart was in it, we definitely would have ran for President and VP together!

**I know Fran is refreshing this blog daily to see what I have to say, but because of the chronology of events in my life (also because Kyle took up so much damn space), this will be the second time I say that there will be more on her later**

Anyway, imagine that this was who I reported to: Fran, Kyle and Frank. Three people who I was extremely comfortable with but would motivate me to do well. My year as Double Blue Commissioner was by far my most enjoyable year on SMCSU. Much of the success of the Double Blue Commission has to be attributed to these three beauties (or 'absolute beauts' - did I do that right?) that I've mentioned. For the most part, they were with me every step of the way; be it to book venues, get sponsorship, or to be there early to set up. As a result, the Double Blue Commission experienced its highest revenues and shattered attendance records. We raised 7,000$ for the Remix Project, up from $4500 the year before – just by tuning inefficiencies in the way we ran the event. Our Formal was a success and Sold Out two weeks beforehand. SMCSU led the largest cross-campus Winterfest Social Event in U of T History. The list goes on. All thanks to the council and my friends at the top.

Given the success we had, and three long years of climbing the ladder to get the position I desired, I felt that I wanted something more. Something that would act as an outlet for what I wanted to do when I graduated. Something that would help me in the future. You see, I had the best academic year of MY LIFE in my fourth year. And not because I got smarter or anything like that. I think the reason is because I was in my comfort zone: I had a great network of friends, a supportive girlfriend (who still hadn't kissed Kyle Farren ;), and I was heavily involved with SMCSU in a position that I LOVED. I knew that if I continued to challenge myself, and remain involved, the good marks would continue – now if only I knew that 3 years EARLIER! 


Oh well. YOLO.

I could probably make this whole blog about Drake Lyrics.
But I won't.