Ryan Jones Email & Phone Number

San Francisco, Ca, Us

Seattle, Wa, Us

Established Amazon’s gaming communications department, setting team vision, strategies and execution mechanisms, hiring and developing all staff, earning unanimously positive executive feedback. Built network of global agency partners to scale execution.Developed brand narrative for Amazon as a growing games publisher, driving strategic cadence of publishing announcements.Established corporate reputation and executive communications programs for gaming at Amazon. Defining our narrative, raising visibility for our publishing/development strategy, and securing coverage with leading mainstream and endemic media, including exclusives with The New Yok Times and inclusions in the Variety Entertainment Gaming Leaders list. Built Amazon’s first-ever video game cross-department working group and strategic messaging platform, enabling pan-Amazon reputational storytelling across business divisions and executive stakeholders, and elevating our industry profile. Successfully managed multiple high-priority communications crises with senior executives, mitigating impact of false narratives from internal leaks/layoffs. Led external and internal communications strategy for multiple challenging, large-scale reduction-in-force actions. Successfully maintained neutral coverage tonality, and secured strong key message pull-through, with minimal reputational impact. Secured Amazon's commitment to game development with New World launch campaign; exceeded all measurable KPI's by 3-5x, and led New World in becoming one of the most visible and widely discussed games of 2021. Increased average Prime Gaming coverage volume per announcement 230% by shifting strategies and introducing a consolidated monthly communications mechanisms. Led transmedia PR for Amazon Prime Gaming and Luna offerings in support of the Amazon Originals streaming series Fallout, achieving record month-over-month increases in global coverage and helping Fallout 76 to an all-time high player count.

New York, Ny, Us

Member of 2K executive leadership team, steering label strategy and direction.Established 2K’s holistic Communications department, integrating brand and corporate PR, Influencer management, Community engagement and Social Media Content creation in a single team, guided by unified product communications strategies.Developed 2K’s first earned media measurement and analytics program, providing executive intelligence and counsel through tracked press and social media conversation volume, engagement and sentiment for 2K brands against competitor products. Created and deployed proprietary system benchmarking global social media conversation and engagement levels for competitive products.Developed and managed Social Content team, delivering bespoke digital content for owned brand social channels including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. Established content standards, and reporting and publishing cadence, thereby increasing average organic reach and engagement per post by more than 3x-4x per brand. Instituted 2Ks first Global Communications system among all worldwide PR/community staff; established unified standards of execution, reporting and KPI tracking.Led corporate and executive speaking programs, securing critical press interviews as well as panel and keynote address opportunities. Established 2K’s English Communications Group, uniting culturally/linguistically connected global territories of US, UK, Canada, ANZ in execution of press and Influencer outreach, increasing execution efficiency and driving substantial increases in all tracked social media and PR KPIs.Led global strategy and execution for Mafia III, helping the title achieve the highest first week sell-in of any title in 2K’s history, selling-in over 4.5 million units. Led global strategy for Civilization VI, securing a 90 Metacritic score at launch and assisting the title in becoming the fastest-selling release in the then 21 year history of the series.

New York, Ny, Us

Established 2K’s LATAM and Canadian PR/Influencer relations program, taking media relations in-house, cutting external costs while increasing volume and quality of coverage, and improving review scores YOY.Expanded 2K’s Influencer program by executing effective activations with YouTube/Twitch creators for full product lineup, and implemented measurement standards and tracking via weekly earned media coverage reporting system for competitive insights. Guided Evolve to more than 50 editorial honors and awards at E3 2014, including the coveted E3 Game Critic’s Best of Show award and Gamescom Best of Show.Successful title launches include new franchise Civ Beyond Earth achieving 80+ Metacritic score (winning E3 Critic’s Award for Best Strategy Game), and assisting NBA 2K15 and WWE 2K15 growing YOY sales.

New York, Ny, Us

Formed new PR department from ground up, hiring all staff, establishing new vision, standards, procedures and objectives. Instituted new managerial systems and measurable KPIs for collaboration between Community, Research and Marketing teams. Established 2K’s Influencer management program partnering with YouTube broadcasters and Twitch streamers across all products.Improved internal/external developer relations, earning unanimously positive executive-level developer feedback for new PR department organization, strategic planning, and improved measurable campaign results within first year helming 2K PR department.Developed the campaign strategies and tactical executions behind six NBA 2K series entries (2K9-2K14), contributing to a 400%+ increase in series sales YOY from NBA 2K10 to NBA 2K14, and becoming the #1 selling sports game of 2013 on next-gen consoles.Developed PR strategies behind groundbreaking 2K marketing campaign for Borderlands 2, resulting in more than 8.5 million copies sold, becoming the best-selling 2K game to date. Led PR team in supporting a year's worth of continually profitable DLC content.Led PR strategy and planning for the successful revitalization of the XCOM franchise; coordinated the XCOM: Enemy Unknown Game Informer cover story announcement and all subsequent PR activity, resulting in more than 15 Game of the Year Awards.Led the PR team in releasing three 90+ rated games within three months in 2012, leading 2K to its most profitable year on record.

New York City, New York, Us

Served as the director to the Irrational Games, 2K Games, and 2K Sports teams at Access Communications, and managed the Access Gaming Practice. Client experience includes: GameTap, Pandemic/BioWare, SEGA, Disney Interactive Studios, Intel, Sony Playstation and Trion Worlds.Led media outreach for MLB 2K10’s Million Dollar Challenge competition, leading to a 20% YOY increase in sales and more than 80 broadcast media hits – winner of 2011 PR Week Award Honorable Mention, Arts & Entertainment Campaign of the Year.Planned and led execution of global announcement event for BioShock Infinite and Game Informer cover story; subsequently garnered a then-record setting 75+ editorial awards for BioShock Infinite at E3 2011 trade show. Provided PR strategy and support for 70+ video games, including AAA hits such as BioShock (series), NBA 2K and MLB 2K series, Civilization V, XCOM, Disney Epic Mickey, Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics and Carnival Games.Oversaw all day-to-day account activity, serving as primary contact for client communication and media outreach.Conceptualized, planned and developed a unified Access Gaming Practice to train all staff, share industry knowledge and improve media relations. Served as practice lead and director.Effectively managed and coached junior staff in PR practices and account procedures to enhance individual professional development.Provided staffing and one-on-one training for key executives on successful media tours, including Ken Levine (Irrational Games), Warren Spector (Junction Point Studios) and Sid Meier (Friaxis Games).Served as key member of new business pitching teams, successfully securing new accounts of all sizes, including Sony PlayStation and SEGA. Maintained proven relationships with all enthusiast and consumer media relevant to client business and consistently secured placements with platinum media outlets, including cover stories.

Berkeley, Ca, Us

Assisted with execution of client communications campaigns and facilitated new business development efforts. Created press release materials and custom written content contributing to the successful passage of client supported ballot measures. Contributed to new business development for client accounts from public agencies of Ross, Kentfield and Larkspur.

Needham, Ma, Us

Pitched, wrote and edited print and online editorial content while pursuing a postgraduate degree in London and through my return to the US. Wrote/edited on-time editorial coverage for major product releases including Shadow of the Colossus and Zelda: Twilight Princess.Researched and wrote multi-page GamePro features, including an examination the gaming habits of Division I collegiate athletes.

Needham, Ma, Us

Wrote and edited preview/review stories for GamePro Magazine for print and online coverage. Worked with internal/external public relations agencies and developers to cover products through the entire lifecycle. Represented GamePro by traveling nationally to cover press tours, conduct developer interviews and attend large-scale media events.Served as company spokesman and on-air personality for nationally televised MTV segments for promotion of anticipated titles.Assisted in development and execution of special editorial projects, including BestBuy custom issues and multipage advertorials

Ba, Double Major: English Literature & Religious Studies

Ma, English Literature & Language