Sean Mellis

Partner, Executive Creative Director

“I have a singular passion for distilling a client's story into its purest form ”

Sean has been in various professional creative roles for more than 20 years, starting as proprietor of his own design studio about 15 minutes out of Art College. Soon thereafter he rode the dotcom bubble to its zenith with software developer and online advertising pioneer Cybersurf Technologies. He's grown various startup ventures that have taken him from boardrooms in New York to Panamanian cloud forests. He took a hiatus halfway through art school to sail around North America in a homemade boat. In short, Sean has gotten here via a different route than most. But he subscribes to Hemingway's credo that while his various pursuits may have dulled and blunted the instrument he writes with, at least he has something to write about.

The bulk of Sean's hardcore corporate/agency experience was gleaned from his six year trial by fire as VP Communications for CyberSurf, a dotcom startup that blossomed into one of the hottest online ad agencies in Canada. Based in Calgary and Toronto, the company's advertising design teams developed rich media online advertising for clients including Procter & Gamble; Canada Post; HMV; Molson; Cadbury Beverages; Black & Decker; and CTV. Sean worked with the designers and sales reps to manage these client relationships. During this time, he also managed the company's public-facing communications assets from product launches, corporate roadshows and annual reports to trade shows and television ads.

With a degree from the Alberta College of Art and Design, a portfolio spanning two decades, and a singular passion for telling client stories that are impactful, authentic and compelling, Sean has grown adept at distinguishing good work from bad. He also knows there`s something called great work. And that is exactly what he has to offer you.

Neil Collins

Partner, Director of Business Development

“My most memorable conversations are those that lead to solving difficult problems in a novel way.”

A hardened veteran of sales and marketing for some of Canada's largest and most successful publishing, communications and new media companies, Neil excels at developing a deep understanding of each client's unique communications challenge, and marrying it with cool, killer, diabolically clever strategies that really work.

Neil has traveled the globe extensively since youth, absorbing cultures, histories, archaeology and art in a myriad of forms. His impressive collection of almae matres includes the University of Calgary, Mount Royal University, the Banff School of Business, Banff New Media Institute, the National Screen Institute, and of course, the school of life. Neil is an avowed information junkie who scours media of all species with the predatory zeal of a great white. His communications career path has taken numerous tangents, ranging from film production and magazine editing to writing and professional photography. So while his mandate is to grow your business, he also walks the creative talk; an invaluable skill when bridging the gap between the client, the concept, and the end result.

Concurrent to building the BLEED empire and making clients deliriously happy, Neil sits on advertising and marketing awards juries, writes screenplays, and takes amazing photos of remarkable people, places and things all over the world. The poster boy for overachievement, Neil finds himself in constant search for the path less traveled, spiritual enlightenment, and the perfect piece of art glass.

Brian Pleet

Marketing and Sales Strategist

“Regardless of the business model, there's really only one marketing mantra, and that is clarity.”

Since the tender age of two, Brian has been asking tough questions. His uncompromising pursuit of answers to these questions is precisely why corporate decision makers vie for face time with him. As an effective, energetic and results-oriented sales and marketing efficiency expert, he challenges executives to rethink their assumptions about their sales & marketing operations. For more than 25 years, Brian has posed the tough questions to his clients, challenging them to shift, refine and redefine their core marketing methodologies. As a result, he transforms the way business leaders think and act, and he empowers companies to thrive like never before.

Brian is an effective, energetic senior sales and marketing executive with deep expertise in maximizing the marketing and sales effectiveness of diverse organizations. He has been consistently recognized for his leadership in identifying opportunities and delivering results in dynamic, challenging, technology-intensive environments.

Though he was largely raised in the era of traditional media, Brian has embraced the web and social media, and is fluent in a variety of technologies that enable companies to hone their brands and maximize their revenue streams. When he's not building monster marketing strategies, Brian shares his marketing and sales leadership and expertise as a featured speaker and instructor at the University of Calgary.

Bailey Smith

Chief Technical Strategist

“It's always rewarding to see a client's reaction when we take thin air and make something meaningful.”

Bailey Smith excels at the amalgam of art and science that makes client ideas come to life onscreen. Anything you can imagine left clicking, Mr. Smith has coded, compiled, linked, populated and animated. His growing list of mastered programming languages - Flash, Flex, MXML, XML, HTML, DHTML, CSS, PHP, SQL - reads like the name of an Aztec god.

With a B.F.A. from the University of Lethbridge, a Masters from McGill and a Design degree from Concordia, Bailey is no stranger to the lost art of thinking. And that big, fat brain of his is exactly why we keep him on the payroll. No matter what kind of peyote-induced napkin scribble we wad up and throw at him, he never fails to deliver something that's thorough, efficient, reliable and beautiful. So thanks to Bailey, before our web clients can even ask about our zeroes and ones, we already know the answer is yes.

Bailey augments the BLEED team with his considerable expertise as a chief technical strategist combined with extensive client side experience. This powerful combination allows him to offer solutions that are both practical and progressive. And though he wears the boy genius scarlet letter of Star Trek fanaticism, he's partial to the Shatner era...which almost makes him cool.

WENDY GROSFIELD

Corporate Communications Manager

“Authentic and well-chosen words form part of any thriving organization's toolkit.”

Whether you want to shine a giant klieg light on your recent charity work for sick kids - or kick some sand over that little situation at the Motel 6 - you're not likely to get any bigger bang for your buck than mistress of "le mot juste" Wendy Grosfield. With deep expertise in organizational and succession planning, legislative and regulatory development, public consultation, policy analysis, research and writing, Wendy is adept at putting just the right words on the tongues of clients who need help articulating their positions, celebrating their victories, and telling their own stories to the world.

As a veteran communicator for private enterprise and federal, provincial and municipal levels of government, Wendy's a gal you'd want in your corner for any number of reasons. She possesses both the specialized expertise and the professional network required to proactively, strategically, and effectively manage any communications issue you could possibly lob her way. For more than 20 years and across the province of Alberta, Wendy has helped her private and public-sector clients develop a wide range of powerful and effective communications initiatives.

In business - any business - talk is far from cheap. BLEED's clients appreciate that Wendy's well-chosen words are beyond value. They have the power to unite. To excite. To calm screams to a whisper or to create a massive groundswell of public opinion.