Ryan O'Brien from CTV

Our guest speaker today was a very interesting man who is the creative director at CTV, Ryan O’Brien. Ryan is the creative director at CTV’s digital media group.  He deals with over 51 radio stations, 31 television networks and all the web and future platforms related to CTV. He deals with a lot of brand management, web usability, interactive media, traditional display and so forth. He’s been in the creative industry for quite some time. His team deals with 110 websites and there are only 70 employees in his department.



Ryan grew up in Niagara. He attended highschool there and was very interested with theatrical staging. After highschool he took on a theatrical stage internship and learned more about technical staging.  After saving up enough money, he attended Humber College for Technical Theatre. But because money wasn’t enough, he couldn’t finish his course. He then learned how to make jewellery and was an apprentice at a piercing and tattoo parlor. During those years he shot breakfast television with a friend and was a bouncer for muchmusic. It was then he an artist and started a clothing line with him. Eventually that didn’t work out and moved back to Toronto and was offered a position at CHUM FM radio station.

Just a few months ago, CTV was bought by Bell Canada, so there has been a lot more teamwork and a lot more work. Ryan believes that in order to survive in this creative industry you have to be able to work with others. Teamwork is a very important aspect. He says that it’s almost impossible or not likely that anyone can single handedly create a competitive website or an interactive experience by themselves. The latest site him and his team launched was the BNN website.

 

   
“...make users happy by the end of the day.”
Ryan says that the most important part of his job is to “make users happy by the end of the day.” He spends a lot of the time talking to his boss and client about what he sees for the future. It’s hard to make them believe him, but that is his job. He’s also in charge of giving people what they want, but legally and coming up with new ways to get into people’s face without annoying them. He understands that technology is always changing so it is important to stay relevant. He is always learning.

When it comes to hiring people, Ryan is always looking for

• Team players
• Web designers that doesn’t just count on WYSIWYG websites but also understands the text coding of it.
• Designers who have a solid foundation with design.
• People that understand the emerging technological era and is up to date on the latest technology.
• Someone who is a communicator.