Monday, December 30, 2013

2013: A Year in Review

The past twelve months have been quite a whirlwind for me career-wise.

I started 2013 being transferred from the now defunct K-W Review and Guelph Review--where I managed the editorial operations of both newspapers' print editions and websites before both publications ceased operations in December 2012--to the Woodstock Sentinel-Review where I worked as a multimedia journalist.

Book sales for my novel, 60'6": Balls, Strikes, and Baseball Mortality have been steady (feel free to order a copy from my website), and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. My second novel is finished and I'm currently searching for a literary agent for representation.

I was only in Woodstock--commuting from my apartment in Kitchener--for three short weeks before I accepted an on-camera presenter position with The Weather Network. I moved to Toronto's west end at the end of the summer.

I can unequivocally say that my 11 months working at The Weather Network have been the most enjoyable of my career (my one-year anniversary is February 1st). The job is fun (even with some 2 a.m. wakeup calls!), the people I work with are great, and the work is extremely rewarding.

My (almost) year has absolutely flown by. Here are some of my highlights, with hopefully many more to come (clips from my first year at The Weather Network can be viewed at the 'Weekly Videos' and 'Demo Reels' links):

- my first shift, which thankfully didn't include any YouTube-worthy gaffes or mistakes

- winter storm coverage live from the Nation's capital

- 10 hours of live, in-studio coverage during the devastating May tornado in Moore, Oklahoma

- flying in a prop plane at the CNE air show

- live thunderstorm coverage in the Waterloo Region

- reporting from my hometown of Oshawa for the GTA morning show and bringing my grandparents on camera

- spending Friday the 13th at Port Dover for the motorcycle rally

- skiing at Mt. St. Louis Moonstone for the GTA morning show

I will be spending New Year's Eve and New Year's Day on-camera at The Weather Network, so be sure to tune in as we say goodbye to 2013 and hello to 2014.