THE DEBUT OF AUSTON MATTHEWS!

As most of you already know, I’m a huge Toronto Maple Leafs fan and I have been all of my life. Last season the Leafs ended up finishing the season in 30th place, right at the bottom. Finishing last brought with it good and bad things. The bad is that we didn’t make the playoffs, and ended up golfing early, while the other teams who made it, battled for the Stanley Cup. Another negative was that it was possible they would lose support from the fans. The good that became of it was that the Maple Leafs ended up winning the first overall pick in the NHL Draft which in my opinion, the Leafs definitely deserved because it has been a while since their last cup. Also considering last season they were like 3 balls away from getting the 1st overall pick which happened to be Connor McDavid; a player who’s known for his speed and ability to put the puck into the back of the net.

Heading into the 2016 NHL Draft with the first overall pick the Leafs had some decisions to make: do you pick Auston Matthews? Here’s one of his most impressive stats he put up. (He appeared in 24 games for the USHL team, scoring 20 goals and adding 28 assists for 48 points) Last season Patrik Laine, the other contender for first overall, played for Tappara Tampere a team in Finland. He appeared in 46 games and recorded 17 goals and 16 assists for a combined 33 points. Now everyone was saying it would be a tough decision for the Leafs coaching staff and management. From my perspective, I would choose Auston Matthews because of his point total, and his size.

I recently interviewed one of my friends to see who they would choose between Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine. My friend said Auston Matthews “he’s a good player, and has a lot of potential to be a good player”. Another comment was made that she also doesn’t like Patrik Laine because he is cocky and when he was first getting interviewed by TSN, he would say things like is it even a competition between Matthews and I; I’m obviously number one. I know it’s good to have a lot of self confidence and being positive, but when you say things like that it sets a bad reputation for yourself especially towards the coaching staff, management, and the fan base.

On June 24th, all of the NHL teams travelled to Buffalo for the NHL Draft, which happens every year. The Maple Leafs kicked off the Draft with the first pick of the day and with the hard decision that they had to make between Matthews and Laine. Mark Hunter made the announcement in front of the crowd. “Toronto are proud to announce from Zurich, mens league Switzerland, from the US program: Auston Matthews. At this point, everyone was freaking out, but really if you think about it we all knew that it was coming. It’s just an amazing feeling to wake up every day and realize that you have one of the best players in the NHL on your team.

In closing, Auston Matthews made his Maple Leafs debut on Wednesday night as the Leafs opened up the season on the road in Ottawa against the Senators. Auston Matthews made sure that everyone knew who he was. At the middle of the second period he scored his third goal of the game; a hat trick. Everyone thought that was amazing until he scored another goal. 4 goals in your first NHL game that is absolutely crazy. Unfortunately, the Leafs ended up losing 5-4 in Overtime, but regardless they head back to Toronto with one point.

Build My Brand Assignment

#1 My area of specialization is social media. For those who don’t really understand, I would explain it as a computer network where people can connect with each other and message back and forth. Furthermore, there’s also ways that you can video chat and see each other’s faces. In the meantime, I’m really good at helping describe how to use it to non-frequent users or people who grew up in an older generation who have trouble understanding. I believe that I have a special talent for it. Ever since I was younger, I have always been intrigued by it. I got into social media because I was intrigued by it and it really became an interest of mine. I always like tweeting about the Toronto Maple Leafs especially because over the last couple of years, I have built a fan base and I almost have 9 000 followers now.

#2. I feel like I can contribute and will stand out because I have an amazing understanding of how social media works and an incredible way of knowing how to coach others in the mechanics of it. I have created many accounts. For example, I did a co-op placement last spring at Johnny K Sports where I helped him run the Facebook account, Twitter and Instagram accounts. In doing so, I gained an interest in starting up a couple of more accounts. I usually go on Twitter at least 10 times a day. I have used many apps/websites to help grow my pages, without the need for buying any followers. I also use a few websites to help shoutout my account. For those who don’t know what it means, a shoutout is when one account posts a tweet or sends a message telling people to follow a certain account. I have a few accounts that I go on and shoutout my Leafs account on it. In addition, I have been doing promotion giveaways once in awhile to get fans involved. This also helps the account gain more followers. These efforts have led to the official Leafs account following me. I banter back and forth with their Twitter person. In saying this, that has helped me gain more of an interest in becoming a Community Manager or Sports updater for teams or even businesses that are in need of someone to help them.

#3. There are several communities in my area that I would join if I had the opportunity to run the Twitter account for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL. I would do this in a heart beat because I am a huge fan of their team and I have been since I was young. I have had the opportunity to go to a few of their games and have some connection with former players. An alternate sports team that I would be interested in helping out would be the London Knights because there are connections of former players and management from the Knights and the Maple Leafs. In fact, the Leafs have some other players on that team that they have recently drafted. Interestingly enough, there’s a kid from my hometown that just recently got signed to the Knights this season. This is huge for my hometown because we have only had a couple of players make it that far in recent memory. For all these reasons, this gives me an interest in that organization.

#4. These communities will help build my brand because being a Leafs fan and already having a fan account for the team, it shows that I already have an interest and that I am knowledgeable about the team’s organization. I would be able to contribute a lot if given the opportunity to help because I know how to properly interact with fans. Since I am experienced in photo editing, this would be another asset that I could offer. I have opted to take this course in the hope that it will provide me with more experience and opportunities to practice typing blogs. This would provide me with the experience that I know is needed by the people who run the accounts. There is a need to blog especially during the game when the team is playing or once they have finished a game. I feel like I can bring a lot to the table when it comes to running accounts.

The end of Blood, Sweat and Tears

As I walked across the stage to receive my high school diploma I had mixed emotions on my last 4 years at JDSS. To different people, high school can mean different things. Personally, I can recall good times, and bad. I would like to discuss my own personal roller coaster as I transition into a new chapter of my life.

I have always understood the need to be accepting and kind to those that needed it and I carried this belief into high school. No one should ever have to feel left out. In particular, I had one such peer; a girl who had Down’s Syndrome. Throughout high school, I made it a point to try to maintain a friendship with her, and in doing so I believe that I made her school life more special. For example, on her 18th birthday, I organized a group of friends, and hosted a surprise party during lunch. We had cake, and bought her some special gifts including a sweat shirt from her favourite Junior. C Hockey Team. We had such a great time, and it is a special memory for me.

While in high school, I attempted to make connections with the school by joining clubs and teams. In grade 9, I was a member of Athletic Council, Sound Crew and the Boys Soccer Team. In retrospect, I wish that I had continued with this involvement throughout all four years, but as it happened I only finished playing soccer. I guess that I didn’t see the benefits that I could get from participating. In reality this is how you connect to the school. High school, however, was not always an enjoyable time for me.

Although I had some close friends that I still maintain friendships with, not all were positive. I made friendships with people who I thought were true friends. In reality, they let me down when I needed them the most. I became a victim of bullying when some of these so called friends turned on me. The remainder of the group did not intervene in my defence. It took parental and staff involvement improve the situation.

School was never something that came easy to me, but I always tried to maintain positive relationships with my teachers. I was never going to be the top student academically in a class, but I did always try my best. This is what has allowed me to achieve an education and more importantly a high school diploma.

In closing, I have had many great memories and met a lot of fantastic people, but I also experienced bullying first hand. Ultimately, I believe that I came out on the other side stronger than ever. I learned who my true friends were, and in that process became a more caring and understanding individual. I realized that sometimes even the simplest gesture can mean the world to someone else. Considering all of this, my high school days were truly all about blood, sweat and tears, and I’m I do carry some relief that it is finished. I now look ahead to the future.

Shay

My Summer Vacation — Blog #3

During the summer of 2015, my family and I took a vacation to see our relatives that live in Europe. Although we visited several countries, Belgium was by far my favourite. I have been to Belgium twice now. The first time was back in 2011 when we stayed with my dad’s relatives Felix and Simone. We went to many different places, but I was just turning 13, so I honestly don’t remember much about the trip. Being 4 years older, thankfully, I remember everything about the past trip as if it was yesterday.

On this occasion, we stayed with Cindy and Steve in a town known as Willebroek. Like Felix, Steve is also related to our family as he is Felix’s son, and therefore, a close cousin to my dad, too. During this trip, we visited several different countries, including Luxembourg, Germany, Scotland, England. Of all of the countries in Europe that I visited, I like Belgium, however. The weather always seems to be beautiful, even when its raining because it doesn’t last for very long. Also, I had the opportunity to explore several trails by foot, and by bike as well. Since most of Belgium has really small “sidewalks” and roadways, we had to mostly drive everywhere that we went. In contrast, I found that England was the same, except the roadways were even smaller and it rained every single day of the week!
Despite Belgium’s population of 11 393 343, Belgium does host an event that attracts people from all around the world. The event that I speak of is an Electronic Festival known as Tomorrowland. This was my absolute favourite experience that summer!
In 2005 when Tomorrowland first started, there was only an estimated 9,000 people at the event. It has continued to grow over the years and now attracts an average of 185,000 people from over 75 countries! The images below show a contrast of what Tomorrowland looked like in 2005, and how it looked during the weekend between July 22nd and 24th during the summer of 2016.

2016 — Tomorrowland      2005 — Tomorrowland

Although they had a lot of things already taken down when I visited Tomorrowland, my family and I went in to the grounds anyway. It was a short bike ride to the host town, Boom which was the neighbouring town of Willebroek, and we figured that a quick tour of the site would be interesting. As it turned out, we were there for at least two hours. Here’s a YouTube video of Tomorrowland.

(Tomorrowland 2016 Trailer — Belgium)

Unfortunately, you have to be at least 19 years old to enter the festival, so I have already started thinking that maybe it would make sense to plan my next trip to Belgium and either go with a couple of friends, or even a few family members.
While I was in Belgium I happened to take many photos. I have recently gone and decided to add some to this blog. Here’s the top four pictures that I decided to use.

Tomorrowland Stage (Take-down in progress #1)

Part of the viewing area

More of the main stage area

WAFFLES ANYONE?

Photo #1 is the main stage of Tomorrowland, while in the process of them taking it down. That’s right! The take the entire set down every year! Crazy :O
Photo #2 is also part of the main stage area, this is where a lot of people view from while at the festival. Photo #3 is showing hills and two building’s with pink tarps on it. People from all over the word are crowded on those hills while some of the worlds most famous DJ’s play their tracks. Those two building’s are basically tents where celebrities and people who helped with the festival stayed. You could also purchase alcohol at those tents all throughout the park. FINALLY! Photo #4 is one of the best pictures ever, it make me hungry just looking at it. Waffles are quite famous over there, the photo pictured here was one I had with icing and sugar on it..one word AMAZING.

Here’s a map of all of the stages at Tomorrowland from 2014.
Please note that they usually change the stages around every year. It is a pretty incredible festival.

Inclosing here’s a receipt that I found on the ground in Tomorrowland. Can you believe that someone would actually spend 3000 Euros on alcohol? To put it in perspective, in Canadian dollars, this amounts to $4427.55!

Until next time – Shay

My New Computer – Blog #2

My New Computer — Blog #2

About one week ago, I made the decision to buy myself my first ever laptop. For the past couple of years, I have been using my mom’s laptop to DJ dances, and also for Twitter, other social media pages, and updates for my website. Since the laptop is over 5 years old, it has recently started operating slowly and frequently overheating. For these reasons, one year ago my mom went out and bought herself a new laptop.

Since I got another job during the summer at Wightman Telecom in the Technical Support Department (TV, Phone and Internet service), I was able to earn an additional wage and bonuses for good phone calls with customers. Since I would usually get between 30 and 45 hours a week. I barely had any days off (1 day a week if I was lucky). I always found that I was really exhausted and had little energy too do anything around the house. Near the end of the summer, they started giving me a bunch of midnight shifts which became pretty exhausting. One weekend, I had to work 4 midnights shifts in a row, I think I slept maybe 10 hours in 3 days if I was lucky. Even though I wasn’t a fan of them, looking back I wouldn’t have made all of this money if I didn’t go through working those shifts.

Last Tuesday, September 13th I made the decision to use some of the money I made this summer to purchase myself a brand new Mac laptop. I went onto the Apple website and was able to speak with a live agent through a chat window; she was very nice and was able to assist me in customizing the right Mac for me (colour, amount storage, etc).
Here’s a couple of images from google.ca of replica images of the laptop that I purchased.

For anyone who is looking to buy a laptop. I would definitely recommend buying a Mac laptop. All though it was expensive, I am very satisfied in the model and customizations that I got. A few things that I really like about my Mac laptop compared to a windows computer is that on mine, it has I Message so when someone sends a text to your phone you can make it that the text, and it also shows up on your computer. I also like the DJ programs that they have on a mac compared to windows. I also find that the set up on the computer itself is awesome, and very easy to use.

In closing, I left Wightman Telecom at the beginning of September, but it was worth it as I have my new computer. I’m quite happy with how my new laptop is working, i would definitely recommend it for those who type a lot of blogs or messages. In my opinion, the keyboard is a lot more easier to use then most other computers that exist.

Until next time, Shay.

Shay C Blog #1 Sept 18th, 2016.

Hello, I would like to introduce myself, I’m Shay Chittick and I am 18 years old. I love social media, and I hope you are all enjoying this course so far. I know I am. The blog that I’m posting about is my daily routine and how social media interests me. I would like to discuss some of the things that I really like about social media, and the ways that I think it impacts people’s lives.

To begin, I have had a daily routine for the past couple of years. It has become easier for me to follow since I have graduated high school in June. I now find that I have more free time. Although I am working part-time, I take time to relax as much as I can. My daily routine consists of: waking up, brushing my teeth, eating my breakfast, and checking my Facebook and Twitter accounts. After that, I usually organize my room and clean up in the kitchen and tidy around the house as well. Thankfully, most days I don’t have to work until later or somedays, not at all. Once everything looks clean and tidy, I will usually sit down for a bit and go on Twitter and Facebook again. During most afternoons, I usually write down notes on ways to make the accounts better whether that means a new avi/cover photo or something as simple as updating the bio (also known as details of what the account is about). The way that I look at it, there is always a way to make the account(s) better every single day because things are constantly changing.

Since I believe that I have OCD, I find myself having to change my avi, and cover photo at least twice a year if not three. Furthermore, it shows the customers, fans, and followers that you’re active and will reply fast to ensure that they are satisfied with what is taking place throughout the community.

Beginning when I was young, I carried an interest in Weather and a desire to promote accounts on Twitter and Facebook. During that time, I started up a few promotion accounts that I still use in my spare time (@FollowGainBRUH) & (@LeafsFansUnited). With these accounts, I follow fans and tweet live updates during games.

I’d also like to mention that a couple of years ago when there were Tornado Warning’s/Watches for my hometown and places close by, it dawned on me that most people don’t know what to do in a situation such as this so, I decided to create a couple of Weather pages on Facebook and Twitter. This provided hometown residents to remain informed about current conditions. (@HanoverTornado/@HanoverBlizzard). I couldn’t believe how fast the pages grew. Within the first week, I had over 250 likes on both pages! The number of followers has increased with the help of followers who by sharing with friends and family have increased its popularity. The pages continue to grow, and now, there are approximately 1,500 people who follow both. Given that we live in a small town, it is truly remarkable.

In addition, I also started a Leafs Fans United account in 2013. I started it off all by myself and eventually once it hit 500 followers, it became too much work for one person. I began searching for someone who I followed that was really good at tweeting and who could assist me. Eventually, I found a person named Nick who seemed capable of doing this. I messaged him asking if he would like to help with the page. He replied, “I’d love too”. I was able to talk to him on Skype and we became good friends after that. Since then, the account has increased the number of followers to 9,000. In addition, 4 more people have begun to help with the account.

In closing, I’m really looking forward to learning more about social media in this course. Perhaps I could see myself doing this as a career in the near future. This is why I’m extremely happy to be enrolled in the course at Algonquin College.