Ryan Nilsson Email & Phone Number

MARKETING CONTENTI write engaging content in a variety of channels — blog posts, case studies, press releases and magazine articles, among others — to help a diverse range of companies build their audiences. Recently, I have partnered with a medical device startup and a cloud-based software startup to help them share their success stories. JOURNALISMI have pitched, and then written, both news and sports stories for the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune Media Group. My article about a youth hockey player who died tragically appeared near the top of the Chicago Tribune homepage. In addition, I proofread "100 Things Colorado Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" for Triumph Books.

Munster, In

I rebuilt the sports department at the second-largest newspaper in Indiana and shifted the focus to telling compelling feature stories that have wide appeal. One of my favorite projects was the high school football season preview: The Region's star players posed for photos with props as if they were in a photo booth and the end result was more than 243,000 pageviews. (To put that in perspective, the average story from the first week of the high school football season had roughly 8,800 pageviews.) I conceived, planned and edited the season preview. Plus, I devised a creative way to post the photos online using the company CMS so they appeared like photo strips. I managed a team of five.

Chicago, Il

I expanded the Pioneer Press sports department's digital reach by successfully pitching the best stories to chicagotribune.com editors, launching a Twitter account (@Pioneer_Press) that grew to more than 5,000 followers, creating a Facebook page (fb.com/SportsPioneerPress) and implementing a "web-first" attitude. While spearheading coverage of the PGA Tour's 2013 BMW Championship, I helped generate $10,000 in advertising revenue and nearly a 300 percent increase in weekly unique visitors. Under my direction, the department also wrote about consequential topics like concussions in girls soccer, concussion insurance and PED testing. I planned, assigned and oversaw sports coverage for 34 news websites in the Chicago suburbs and their corresponding weekly newspapers. I also coached and led assistant sports editors, staff reporters and 20 freelance reporters.

Odessa, Tx

I collaborated with colleagues in California and Egypt to redesign the high school sports website. I then helped drive significant year-over-year growth in pageviews by regularly posting stories to the web and updating the mobile site. I also copy edited stories, reported on high school and college athletics, and designed sports and features pages. I was the primary editor of a feature story that garnered a national Associated Press Sports Editor award. The initial draft of the story was a hastily written, 1,000-word column. I convinced my coworker to interview the subjects again and then I helped him craft a 4,000-word feature story about a football player coming back from surgery to correct a life-threatening skull malformation.

Red Wing, Mn

I co-hosted a weekly webcast, conducted on-camera interviews and produced video features. The 75 videos I created averaged more than four times the number of views on YouTube as sports videos produced by the paper in 2012. I also reported on high school sports, updated the website, wrote a blog, designed the sports section and oversaw a sports reporter.

Columbia, Mo

I served as the soccer beat reporter and covered the game at the college and high school levels. I also reported on a number of University of Missouri athletic teams, including the football, women's basketball, baseball, volleyball and track & field programs. My final assignment was one of my favorites: I traveled across the state to report on the 2008 Tour of Missouri professional cycling race.

I supervised the 40-person staff of the award-winning campus newspaper. The Tribune placed third in the Society of Professional Journalists Region 6 non-daily contest. I orchestrated the launch of a new website and oversaw the redesign of the paper. I previously served on staff as the sports editor, a sports copy editor and a sports writer.

I compiled box scores and wrote a story that previewed the high school boys volleyball season.