Ryan Blais is a former Canadian Freestyle Ski Team Aerialist who, at the 2010 Olympics caught the attention of the Media as one of the 'Top 3 Athletes to Follow on Social Media'.  Although Ryan's Olympic experience was one of heartbreak; it was also the catalyst that affirmed his entrepreneurial direction as he prepared to retire from the sport. Following Zuckerberg's advice at the Games that "you should start a Social Media Consultancy and teach businesses how to Brand themselves online and leverage Social Media, just like you have done as an athlete". 

With good advice in hand, Ryan founded GoSocial, which was nominated as the Best New Business in its first year. With a strong start, Ryan leaned into collaborations with two agencies - Nine10 & ImageDESIGN - and merged GoSocial & Nine10 brands in 2012. Fast forward 10 years and Ryan has recently completed the circle by merging Nine10 & ImageDESIGN; bringing together the Peace Regions' two leading Digital Brand & Marketing Agencies. 

In the first year of the merger, the new Nine10 was named a finalist for 'Greatest Impact', 'Leading Edge', and 'Legacy Business' and, was awarded Winner of the Small Business of the Year 10+ Employees. 

Additionally, Ryan and the Nine10 team launched the Digital Marketing Training Academy with the Global Digital Marketing Institute, and along with program endorsements from the Alberta Chambers of Commerce and Community Futures Alberta; Nine10 now empowers Small & Medium Businesses to manage their own Branded Digital Marketing Strategies. As you'll learn in Ryan's presentation; it all starts with Branding. Branding with a Capital ‘B'...