Before entering my fourth year at the Paul J. Hill School of Business I made a commitment to myself. I would become as active and involved as possible, in order to fully realize the enjoyment that university life has to provide. After joining the Business Students’ Society and the JDC West team I realized there was one last thing to experience: a conference. After closely examining the many conferences available to me, I decided that the Ted Roger’s Management Conference would best suit my interests and prepare me for future endeavors.

The theme of the conference, “What is your I.D.?”, held two meanings. The literal interpretation was “What is your inner drive?”. Inner Drive was the main focus of the speaker series. Most delegates, myself included, left the conference with increased motivation to achieve great things throughout our careers. This theme was also relevant to the unveiling of a new form of technology at Ryerson. All delegate tags were outfitted with radio frequency identification tags and integrated into a system where delegates, upon meeting one another, could “Connect” at a Ryerson terminal. This would then allow the delegates to connect on popular social media sites. These elements made the atmosphere of the conference and the overall experience tremendous and truly memorable.

The first day of the conference began with registration at the beautiful downtown Eaton Marriot Center. Upon arrival, some wonderful students from Ryerson University greeted us. To increase networking potential, external delegates were paired with local Ryerson students for rooming. My roommates were absolutely amazing and we forged relationships that will last a lifetime. The evening festivities consisted of a networking session hosted by CMA, followed by an outline of the weekend and a keynote speaker. The keynote speaker that evening, Bruce Poon Tip, is a visionary whom I found incredibly inspiring. His ability to think outside the box when creating a business model has revolutionized the travel industry. His outstanding business practices go against the grain and create sustainable operations in remote locations. He focuses on giving back to the communities in which G Adventures operates. The last event for the night was a “Geeks Unite” event at a local pub. The costumes were amazing. The event: even better.

The second day was largely filled with speakers. One of which stood out from the rest. All of the speakers had something to say that was inspiring and motivating but above all Paul Godfrey blew me away. His demeanor and presence in the room was powerful and his experiences and achievements are awe-inspiring. He is currently President and CEO of Postmedia Network. In the past he has had numerous dealings in politics and was instrumental in bringing the Toronto Blue Jays to Toronto. His philanthropic initiatives are also incredible. He and his wife Gina are responsible for the creation of The Herbie Fund at The Hospital for Sick Children. Following the afternoon of speakers we had supper and the theme was “Taste of Ryerson”. It was an assortment of food highlighting the diversity of the attending delegates’ backgrounds. Following supper there was an entertaining multicultural show before once again going out for a night on the town.

The final day was the case competition at Ryerson University. Teams of ten delegates had a few hours to create presentations focusing on a potential project that Ryerson SIFE could undertake. Their SIFE group, which is connected with a community in Dago, Kenya, is interested in creating a sustainable project that focuses on people, planet and profit. Through the competition some useful ideas were generated for their SIFE group to utilize. That evening was the closing gala, which was fantastic. The food was unreal and the atmosphere was amazing. There were more speakers and it was a motivating experience hearing some of the speakers prime the delegates to leave the conference and be the best we can be. There were also presentations on philanthropic initiatives that some of the speakers have taken and it was inspiring, to say the least. That evening we had our last opportunity to bond together as delegates before heading back home that Sunday.

My experience at TRMC truly cannot be fully described in a blog as short as this. I learnt a great deal and was inspired to go out and chase my dreams. I met great people and had a ton of fun. I encourage all business students to seek the opportunity to attend a conference and enjoy this opportunity that the Business Students’ Society provides.