S-drive is a non-profit organization dedicated to the personal and professional development of young professionals through networking, philanthropy and community engagement.
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Since launching in 2009, S-drive has connected over 500 driven young professionals at over 30 social, professional development and philanthropic event, while raising $20,000+ for worthy causes such as the Haiti Relief Fund, the Steve Nash Foundation, Bloorview Kids Rehab, KidSport Ontario, and Right to Play.
To kick off the S-press content here, I’m going to start a series called the ‘Top 10’, which, as you can imagine, will entail a listing and description of the top 10 of a relevant topic.
The first topic I’m going to tackle is Toronto blogs. It’s hard to imagine how one city, however large it may be, could support so many online publications, but, believe me, there are a lot of them out there. And busy young professional that you are, you probably do not have time to navigate through them and work out which are most relevant to your lifestyle.
As an influencer, you need to be ‘in the know’ about a variety of subjects covering everything from politics to food to real estate. So, get educated!
What better way to start, then to visit the Torontoist.com, which claims to be ‘about Toronto and everything that happens in it.’ And indeed it is. It covers Toronto news, events, politics, music, film, art, and just about everything else. The advantage of the Torontoist over say, a Toronto Star, is that well, one, it’s free, and second, it’s a little less dry. So, if you like your news delivered from a personal perspective, then the Torontoist is a nice alternative. I particularly enjoy the weekend planner and the ‘Photoist’ feature, showcasing elegant photographs from around the city.
With all the condos going up all around us, it’s hard to keep on top of real estate developments in this city. Luckily, UrbanToronto’s got us covered. From artist renderings to various stages of construction, this site has the lowdown on every construction project and the photos to go along with it. This will especially come in handy when we Gen Y’ers are at the point we are looking to invest, however far away that downpayment, for some us (ahem, me), may seem.
Our equivalent to New York Magazine, Toronto Life is the widely-accepted definitive guide to the GTA. Fortunately, the online counterpart is as first-rate as the print version. In fact, most of the print content eventually makes its way online as well; so, unless you’re one of those people who like a physical page in front of them, there’s little advantage to the mail subscription anymore. All of Toronto Life’s reviews, judgement day for their subjects, are online, and you can conveniently subscribe to the site’s weekly newsletters ‘The Dish’, ‘The Goods’, and ‘The Hype’, which feed from their blogs on food, fashion, and the arts, respectively.
I like to use a common business analogy to describe the Compendium Daily: there are innovators, then early adopters, and then the majority; and if you don’t read the C-Daily site, you’re probably in the latter two categories. The C-daily is the first on the scene to restaurant and bar openings, launch parties, celebratory bashes and basically any soiree unveiling the start of anything in this city. And you’ll hear about it the next day. No copywriting or editing required, just one or two sentences, some photos, albeit very nice ones, and you’re set, you’re in the know.
Vestiigo, an online career site connecting young professionals with top Toronto careers, also has a blog, ‘Career Savvy’, offering practical career advice to its reader base. Here you’ll find posts on finding, landing, and succeeding in your career, as well as a round-up of their current employment opportunities. Find something of interest, and you might even become one of the featured protagonists in their ‘Success Stories.’
Technically not a blog, BusinessCast is the number one podcast for entrepreneurs, and it just happens to be based in Toronto. However, Robert and Andrew host a throng of international talent, from Fortune 500 CEOs to networking experts, all providing sound counsel to entrepreneurs and driven young professionals, like us. Unlike traditional script-driven business podcasts, the BusinessCast is largely spontaneous and improvisational, resulting in a generally more entertaining listen.
Although the daily updates from this site could be a little less frequent, Sweetspot.ca infiltrates your inbox with the latest news on fashion, food, beauty, shops, services, restaurants and entertainment in Toronto. An insider lifestyle guide for women, it’s essentially an up-to-the-minute online magazine to the likes of other Canadian publications like Fashion or Flare, minus the editorials, and plus the swiftness.
While Sweetspot is geared more mainstream, SheDoesTheCity is a hipster’s version of a Toronto lifestyle guide. While the Sweetspotters are sipping cocktails at Brasaii on King West, SheDoesTheCity is singing impromptu karaoke at Sweaty Betty’s on Ossington. We may not live like hipsters during the day, but young professionals definitely like to party like them at night. So, visit this site to find out where the hipsters are currently partying and shopping, because they will inevitably become the next hotspots.
There are many reasons to visit BlogTO.com, the elegant photography being a big draw, but I, like many, visit it for its ‘Best of Toronto’ listings. Embracing everything from ‘The Best Bagels’ to the ‘Best Place to Buy a Suit’ to their yearly roundup of the ‘Best New Restaurants’, BlogTO’s got a list for everything.
Lately, I haven’t stepped foot anywhere in Toronto without Yelping it first. For those of you unfamiliar with the user review site, it allows us regular folk to review and rate local businesses, from restaurants to dentists. You create a profile in the line of Facebook with pictures and tidbits about yourself, to build context for your audience. Once you build up a catalogue of reviews, other users start to become familiar with your tastes and preferences, and if they align with their own. A four-star cumulative rating (out of five) is indicative of a widely held recommendation, and has led me to many great restaurants around Toronto not properly accounted for by industry critics
Now, start subscribing to some RSS feeds, and uphold your standing as a culturally-aware young professional, conversant in the comings and goings of this ever-changing city landscape!
Comments (1)
Pretty solid list, if I do say so myself. Glad to be included!