StevenBochenek.ca – Inventor/Provider of Surprising Ideas, Perennially Inquisitive Creative Director, Fussily Precise Wordsmith

Inventor/Provider of Surprising Ideas, Perennially Inquisitive Creative Director, Fussily Precise Wordsmith

Hi, I’m Steven Bochenek, a writer for hire by the contract, project or hour in marketing, automotive and some feature journalism. I’ve been writing professionally since 1989, freelance since 2004, and teaching advertising at Toronto colleges part-time since 2010. Read some of my work here. It’s usually interesting and often (all modesty aside) funny.

Losing Yourself in Milan — Literally

48 Hours in Helsinki

Dipping Your Toes: Istanbul’s Greatest Hits in a Single Day

The Great, the Grand and the Grotesque: Welcome to Istanbul

Two Canadians Ponder the Living History of Normandy

Edinburgh’s Winter (Scottish Burr)

Edinburgh’s Eternal Spring and Eternally Relevant City Planning

A 50km Bike Ride Through Edinburgh History

7 Things to Do Sober in Nicaragua, and 3 Others Just to Do

SHARP Travels: A Guide to Crete

Richmond Till We Die: The Ted Lasso Pilgrimage from Central London

100km Cycle Across Scotland, Traffic-Free?

48 Hours in Amsterdam

From SHARP Travels: 4½ Ways To Explore Manchester, UK

The Yukon in the Yukon: Parts 1 & 2

Steven’s Top 10 Travel Memories of 2018 (Written Xmas Eve)

5 Unforgettable Experiences in the Tequila Region (And 1 That’s Fuzzy but Still Recommended)

Mexico City: A Diletante’s Paradise

The Local Edinburgh Experience (“Oh! People LIVE Here”)

Keep Your Pants On: It’s Cold at Porsche’s Camp 4 Driver Training

Fun & Games at BMW’s Winter Driving Training

Venice’s Biennale Art Exhibition

History, Hills, Elbow Room & Pants: Superb Southern Sub-ins for Scotland’s Busy Highlands

Beyond the Beautiful Beach: What Else to Do on Grand Cayman Island

Yes, a 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Beats a 1950 Hillman Minx. But … Context!

Road Trip: Sicily in a Fiat 500L (Apologies for Waiting a Decade to Post)

A little something for the 1%

Now that it's 2023, this story from September 2022 is relevant. At least, that is, for our multi-millionaire friends. It's...

Would This One Be The Greenestest?

In October 2021, Steven’s work won a third AJAC Award for Environmental Journalism. The idea? A blast of reality for...

Lonely madness of the long distance runner

This is the mid-run musings of a marathon I ran in probably 2007, maybe 2008. My friend Jonathan’s family hadn’t...

Another “New” and New Normal Post

10 Things You May Not Know About American Whiskey: A Conversation with Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller.

Sea to Sky ‘Adventure’? OK, but in Sensory Stimulation

It's Day 114 of the month-long lockdown that Ontario's been under and I've decided, finally, to amass many of the...

The Genre (sic) Bending Genius of David Mitchell’s ‘The Bone Clocks’

I've had shingles for the past month and, in this busy AF AngstaGram world, have found time to reflect on some...

Because We’re Not in McCansis Anymore

Introducing my podcast, SB AND ... The letters stand for Steven Bochenek’s Advertising Nowadays Discussions.

Portfolio ‘Update’, 15 Years Late

Recently Terry O'Reilly (spelled correctly) lamented how the Canadian advertising industry doesn't document its work, much less have a museum...

Educating Steven: An Essay from My Master’s Degree

Every year when I'm being asked why I want a job teaching college students, I say that it scratches a...

Of Portland, Bridges & Eternal Damnation

March 11, PDX Airport — Portland’s like Montreal. What, with the hilly dead-end roads, similar size and rotting ‘60s federal...

Being Careful For What You Wish For

05/04/16: It’s nearly midnight, I’m half drunk and touching — with my fingers — the master recording that Gregg Allman made...

6 Surefire Cures For Insomnia

Among the only things more annoying than listicle headlines, like the above, is the word listicle itself. Having just turned...

Oh, sure. NOW You Give Me the Award!

Welcome back. It’s been months since my last update, so I hope you didn’t wait up. I left beer in...

American Hustle: Oscar Ads in 90210

Fact: Each year, just before Oscar voting, film distributors lobby very hard for their nominees, spending heaps on B2B advertising...

Who’s the Greenest of Them All?

It’s been nearly 7 months, but I’m still pleased to ‘announce’ my latest auto journalism award. In case you can’t...

Writing Money Porn

Congratulate me. The piece I wrote for YYZ Living (it's a magazine, not those campers living at TO's airport since...

“Hey, this marketing stuff works.”

Apologies. The last blog update, about a well received Canadian Cancer Society brochure I wrote, was 5 weeks ago. I...

Using Our Decluttering Powers For Good

Ever notice how all advertising workers call all others’ work ‘clutter’? Indeed, this industry jargon’s become so entrenched,

Babies, weddings, puppies, celebrities and … pardon?

David Ogilvy loved research. He also loved a tipple. Dave knew that when you create work reflecting people's interests, they'll...

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Inventor/Provider of Surprising Ideas, Perennially Inquisitive Creative Director, Fussily Precise Wordsmith​