Ryan Thompson

A lifelong entrepreneur, Ryan Thompson began working at age 11 with a paper route in Ada, Oklahoma. At 14, he was a part-time shipping clerk at a computer technology company. That company experienced explosive growth and by age 18, he was managing a multi-million dollar event budget and traveling the world to produce conferences and tradeshows.

In 1994, Ryan managed production of the firm’s first database-driven e-commerce and product configuration website. At the infancy of the Internet and with over 2,000,000 rows of data (a big number then), this technology revolutionized the company’s approach to worldwide selling. Ryan recognized the power of technology-enabled marketing and the coming revolution of the Internet and from that moment, he began to look at the how to engage consumers in new, different and previously impossible ways.

His career enjoyed continued success as he rose to the highest marketing position in the company. Then tragedy struck. In 2000, Ryan broke his neck and was very nearly paralyzed. The injury left him unable to move; confined to a hospital bed for months. This idle time and newfound perspective on life provided an opportunity. Months later at 25, Ryan’s first company, Aria, was born.

Over 15 years, Aria became nationally known for branding and technology-enabled marketing solutions that engaged consumers in ways that paid advertising could not. The agency specialized in B2C segments including tourism, real estate as well as complex e-commerce assignments. In July 2015, Aria was acquired by The Atkins Group, a 52-year old agency in San Antonio.

Today, Ryan is a partner in The Atkins Group and responsible for growth strategic, consulting and marketing.Ryan is a nationally recognized public speaker on topics relating to strategy, consumer behavior, destination marketing and digital advertising. In early 2013, Outskirts Press published Ryan’s first book Disruption – Destination Marketing in the Post-Advertising Age available at booksellers nationwide.