Ray Collins is uniquely qualified to help you or your business get to the next level. He can get your message out and get you the attention you deserve.
Ray has been fortunate enough to have witnessed some of the biggest stories of a generation. From Presidential politics to Super Bowls to more hurricanes than he cares to count. Ray was nominated for an Emmy award, and won the Associated Press award ”Individual Achievement for Overall Excellence.” Now he’s using that experience to help tell your story. 
(2004-2009) Ray was the co-host of ”Good Day Tampa Bay Weekends” and Sarasota Bureau Chief for Fox 13 News. He covered the biggest stories each night from a 5-county region south of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. He usually reported “live” and his stories were often picked up on the Fox News Channel and on affiliates nationwide.
(1999-2004) Ray was the Main Anchor of the 5, 6, and 11pm news at the CBS affiliate in Richmond, Virginia. He interviewed then-Governor George W. Bush, covered a Presidential debate in North Carolina, and provided live updates from the 2000 Inauguration on Capitol Hill. He also appeared nationwide on C*SPAN as a panelist for Gubernatorial and U.S. Senate debates. Ray went to New York to cover Ground Zero, to Northern Virginia to cover the Sniper Shooting Spree and to New Orleans to cover the Virginia Tech Hokies in the Sugar Bowl. He also got exclusive access to a Richmond-based case in the US Supreme Court. Ray wrote and uploaded a daily email previewing the evening news to thousands of viewers who subscribed off the station website. He was also a guest talk show host on WMAL-AM in Washington, DC and WRVA-AM in Richmond.
(1994-1999) Ray returned to his hometown of Buffalo to anchor the news on the CBS affiliate where he had interned as a teenager. Ray co-hosted a 3-hour morning show that was nominated for an Emmy award. He also anchored the top-rated Noon broadcast. Ray launched a feature, “Rays of Hope,” honoring unsung heroes in the community…flew with the Niagara Falls Air Force Reserve to deliver relief supplies to survivors of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras…and covered the making of a movie in Toronto.
(1989-1994) Ray was News Director and Main Anchor of a start-up newscast in Naples/Ft. Myers, Florida. Ray had the unique opportunity of hiring an entire staff of anchors, reporters and photographers and literally shaping a newscast and a news department from scratch. In 1993, the Florida Associated Press honored Ray with its award, “Individual Achievement for Overall Excellence.”
Ray began his television career anchoring the morning news for the NBC affiliate in Ft. Myers/Naples where he was also used as the promotional “Voice” of the station.
During this time, Ray appeared regularly on national TV as the Florida correspondent for a weekly tennis show on the Prime Network. He covered pro tournaments, interviewed all the players– and did feature stories on rising stars, including a pair of 12-year old twins who went on to be the best doubles team in tennis history, Bob and Mike Bryan. Ray also wrote for several regional magazines and was a regular guest-host on three different radio stations in Southwest Florida.
(1985-1989) Before breaking into TV, Ray anchored the evening news and sports for Newsradio 970 WFLA in Tampa. He covered all the home games of the Tampa Buccaneers, watching from the press box or on the field and interviewing the players afterwards. Ray also regularly filled-in as traffic reporter, circling Tampa Bay in a small plane during the morning and afternoon commute and broadcasting live updates for several radio stations and WFLA-TV.
Ray began his career in New Jersey where he was a disc jockey, news anchor and hosted a weekly talk show. (This is where a favorite memory occured, when Ray was able to save and organize an annual Halloween Parade for kids that an area civic group was dropping.)
(1981-1985) Ray is from Buffalo and graduated from St. Bonaventure University in upstate New York. He spent a semester interning on Capitol Hill. covering the White House, Pentagon and State Department on a regular basis. He played NCAA Tennis in the Atlantic Ten Conference. In 2012, Ray was inducted into the St. Bonaventure radio station’s ‘Hall of Fame.’
Ray is now helping a wide variety of clients tell their stories–either through marketing videos, handling press/publicity or by teaching media skills. He also writes a travel column for a tennis magazine, and teaches media skills to politicians and executives.
http://realallthingsrealestate.com/2011/09/ray-collins-ray-collins-media/
Ray is training Members of Congress, state lawmakers and private-sector leaders. He co-authored a workbook on media skills, “The Image Consultant Training Manual.” (See a photo of the book under the “Pictures” tab.)
Ray produces marketing videos for companies and individuals looking to promote themselves on their websites or through links within their email signature.
Ray serves on the Board of Directors of the “Loveland Center” (for adults with developmental disabilities), the Board of Directors of “Care 2 Tri” (supporting a local athlete who carries handicapped individuals in triathlons), and is a member of the Gulfcoast Leadership Institute Class of 2011. Ray was also a featured speaker at the 2011 Florida Government Communicators Association annual conference, a media trainer for the 2011 Florida State Health Association annual conference and a two-time speaker for the Sarasota Civic League’s “Candidate’s Boot Camp.”
Ray also serves as a host, master of ceremonies or honorary chairman for dozens of local events–and often models in fashion shows for charities.
Here is a brief sample of Ray anchoring on Fox 13 News:
Email: Ray@RayCollinsMedia.com Phone: 941-228-0091