A Glimpse of Sheridan

Good Morning!

For my last post of the year, I'd like to sort of give all of you a little tour of Sheridan College. As soon as you enter campus, you are welcomed by a modern, bright and colourful environment. It is a place that really does fuel creativity. Even now as I walk the halls I am amazed by the unique architecture.

This is one of the main entrances of the school, or the "SKAET" building. I come through this entrance every day because of the close proximity to one of my classes (Media), and also Second Cup. I have become somewhat obsessed with getting my coffee there every day, because of the fact that I am not a huge fan of Tim Hortons. It helps that there is almost NEVER a line-up here so I can always grab my morning (or afternoon) coffee and make it to class on time. If you walk into this building you can pretty much have access to any classroom on campus through tunnels, which I have really enjoyed.

As you can see, the architecture really is cool. This is also inside the SKAET building, and to the right of the photo are classrooms. Many of the rooms on campus are great for group work, with what we call "puddle tables". Below is the caf, or also known as the Market Place. You will pretty much find yourself here every other day, whether it is to eat lunch or meet up with your group to finish up some extra work before class ;). The caf includes Subway, Thai Express, Pizza Pizza, Tim Horton's Express and more. 

The above photo is an outside glimpse of the J wing. I personally love this building because of its extra modern feel. The inside is open, colourful and bright. This semester the post grads had Advertising Planning Management and Integrated Marketing Communications here. The rooms are very spacious and again, great for presentations and group work. 

The Union Square, which you can kind of see at the bottom left corner of the last photo, is where the Marquee is located. This is a great place to grab some food after a long day of class, or celebrate with a beer with your classmates after a big week of work. The food is amazing, and the staff is friendly and provides great service. I strongly recommend trying it out! 

The above photo is part of the learning commons. This place is fantastic for group work, as puddle tables are everywhere! Each table also has a Sheridan computer to be used, which is great if you are in a mobile computing program. There are also study rooms located on both sides of the learning commons, where groups or individuals can work in a quite environment aside from the white noise. The library is also located nearby, so if you study best with no noise at all, I would suggest going there. Inside the library is probably one of my favourite parts about Sheridan. There are plants reaching all the way to the ceiling, actually making you feel like you are outside or in a rainforest. It has a calming effect which can be great for getting some work done. 

Last but not least, here is a little map of Sheridan College for you. If I am being honest, I had little idea where I was going and it kind of felt like a maze on the first day. But you will get used to it! My advice is to enter through the SKAET building first, to avoid confusion. A map is also located like this one as soon as you walk in. 

I hope you've enjoyed this (very) small tour of Sheridan College. There is so much more to discover when you get here, and I assure you you will be glad that you came. 

Sincerely, 

Ashleigh

Essential Tips

Hi there!

As the year is coming to an end, I’d like to take this time to give some general advice to you based on my overall experience with the program and the college itself. Through my amazing learning experience there are a few things that I'd like to share in regards to what made my experience the way it was.

So here it goes!

Coming from Sault Ste. Marie and about an 8 hour drive at the beginning of September, I was pretty nervous about starting school in a new city. But the great thing about Sheridan College is how welcoming its faculty staff and students are. A few days before school actually starts, an orientation is held for new students. For me, I honestly wasn’t sure if I was up for an orientation after such a long drive from home, however I am so happy I decided to follow through.  I strongly recommend this orientation to future students because it is an opportunity to meet not only everyone in your program,

but faculty members, and students from other programs. For Advertising Account Management, us 15 students met in a classroom with the program coordinator, Peggy Barnwell. She gave us a welcoming and enthusiastic introduction not only about the program, but the advertising industry as a whole. She helped us open our eyes into what field we were about to dive into. She also gave us our schedule and a good idea of what our goals will be throughout the entire year. Combined with honesty and knowledge, her introduction made me extremely excited to start this post graduate journey. Meeting the students was also great because we were able to get to know each other a little bit before starting our classes the next week. Please don’t miss out on this opportunity before beginning the Advertising Account Management Program in the Fall!

I would also like to talk to you about time management. Throughout the year, you will be thrown a large amount of tests, assignments and presentations that will definitely get stressful. It is important to always take a deep breathe, list your duties by priority, and ultimately take it one step at at time. I found myself going through waves of stress because I was looking at all obligations as a whole, instead of actually starting to tackle each task one at a time. However during second semester I changed my outlook on assignments and really tried to manage my time in a way that caused less stress in the future. If I could give one piece of advice it would be to stop worrying, and start doing. We cause ourselves so much anxiety and stress from just the thought of having so much due. My group and I have meshed really well together during these times of stress because despite the fact that we knew so much was due, we tried our best to get each task done well instead of quickly. 

What I also found extremely beneficial during my time at Sheridan was the availability of teachers to meet with. If any students have issues with homework, assignments, tests or just general inquiries about class or the industry in general, our teachers and faculty are available to talk at virtually any time. This is of course possible through email, but each of our teachers have extended office hours at the school that we can utilize for in person conversation. Meeting with your teachers, especially for assignments, is great because they can assure you that you are on the right track. If you're not, they will put you in the right direction which will help you achieve your goals. What I also loved was that the teachers themselves would schedule meetings with us to make sure we are doing well with our group assignments. Our group and the teacher would discuss campaign directions and ideas and eventually come to several decisions to move forward. Please take advantage of these meetings and never be afraid to ask for help in this program. 

If you take a few of these tips into consideration, I think you'll have the best possible experience here at Sheridan College! 

Sincerely,

Ashleigh

Advertising Sales

Hi Everyone!

Well, it’s that time of the year again. I truly can’t believe that there is less than a month left of the Advertising Account Management program. I have to admit that out of all my years of schooling, this is the year that has gone by the fastest. I hate to say the “time flies when you’re having fun” phrase, but it’s kind of true. This program has been extremely rewarding and has only confirmed and increased my interest in advertising.

One area of advertising that a lot of you may or may not be considering, is sales. This isn’t just retail sales, but advertising sales in particular. As you may have seen me mention in my previous posts, Professional Advertising Sales Practice is a course that we have all taken during second semester. The majority of the course has been based on learning about different client personalities and how to effectively present and sell yourselves. Additionally, we learned about what it means to create and maintain effective and meaningful relationships with potential clients. What I loved most about this course was that we were able to put this theory into real practice. In partnership with the Oakville Beaver, we had the opportunity to sell advertising to various businesses that will be contained in a Sheridan College insert at the end of this coming year.

We were all broken into groups, and assigned sales representatives that would provide us with different lists of clients that we were required to call for potential sales. With that we had to develop potential prospects (other businesses that could advertise in the insert) of our own. Not only was it pretty frightening, but realistic because we were being exposed to how sales people interact with clients, whether it is in a positive or negative way. With most of the groups including my own, some clients were indeed interested in the sale, however many were not, and this was somewhat discouraging. With that being said, you tend to learn not to take things personally. Sometimes you can even learn from those negative experiences with clients by thinking about what you can do better. Or simply accepting the experience as what it is – the business wasn’t interested for reasons that were beyond your control. Moral of the story is, continue trying your best, be friendly and always ensure that you are offering a potential client the best, and let them know what you can do for them. Eventually, and with more practice, you will experience that first sale, and I must say it feels pretty great. Incentives are also a plus, and the top 3 groups in our class with the most sales were given great prizes, such as Leaf/Raptor tickets as well as gift cards.

While sales may not be my area of choice for my career, I know that I have gained practical life skills that will help me in the future. Building relationships in the workplace is extremely important and is a skill that is useful in every day life. I encourage you all to go into an assignment like this with an open mind, be confident, and to ultimately never give up.

I hope this post was helpful :)

Sincerely, 

Ashleigh