Schedule
Schedule subject to change
8:30 - 9:30am
Breakfast
9:30 - 9:45am
Opening Remarks
10:00 - 11:00am
Why I’m More Optimistic Than Ever
We live in an age of ruthless disruption. Robots are encroaching. Clients are trying to do our job. New publishers sidestep us. The media we once leaned on is losing its gravity. The physical space of the creative department — once sacred — is evaporating. And consumers now hold the same power and tools we once thought were ours alone. Yet, I think our industry will be ok. Let me tell you why.
Everything has changed. Nothing has changed
We're in a time of big change, with new tools and a lot of noise. This talk is about using these tools to make work that feels human and real. We'll focus on what's truly helpful (not just hype), how to have fun, and how to make work that actually matters. Most importantly, we'll talk about how to keep ourselves and our teams inspired.
More Sessions Coming Soon
11:15 - 12:15pm
From learning under legends to leading on my own.
Few have the opportunity to have their career shaped by the same agency. Fewer still will closely work under the best leaders in the industry for the entirety of their career. But for Hanna Wittmark, rising from intern to creative director under Rich Silverstein, Jeff Goodby and Margaret Johnson, her path to leadership at GS&P has been molded by lessons learned from them. And then completely made her own.
Destroy the fu@&ing hurdles
How to successfully remove the typical hurdles that interfere with great work getting out into the world
There are dozens of reasons why a great idea dies or becomes ugly. Aaron Starkman from Rethink is going to give you tips and tricks to get good ideas out of your teams and out into the world while successfully tackling all the hiccups along the away.
More Sessions Coming Soon
12:15 - 1:15pm
Lunch
1:30 - 2:30pm
Steering Into the Crash
Chaos is the new canvas
Standing at the edge of AI’s arrival, this isn’t a time for evasion — it’s a time for reckoning. Steering Into the Crash is a call to confront the beautiful, terrifying truth that the creative world we built is being rewritten — not by machines, but by how we choose to meet them. This session challenges us to lead through the impact, not around it — to transform fear into invention, confusion into clarity, and collision into creation.
Systems Waste Talent. Workflows Free It
If the work feels heavy, it’s not you, it’s the system. Tim Rodgers (Ace Workflow) shows how to swap tracker chaos for one clean flow using no-code & AI inside tools you already use. See live examples that cut approvals to the same day, turn reporting into 15 seconds, and free creatives to do the work they were hired to do.
More Sessions Coming Soon
2:45 - 4:00pm
2026 | The Talent Paradox
Do We Need Fewer or Different Creatives?
AI is reshaping the creative process and the agency model as a whole, raising uncomfortable questions for agency leaders: Do we need fewer human creatives, or do we need a different kind of talent altogether? This roundtable confronts the paradox of talent in a world where execution can be automated, but strategy, intuition, judgment, and insight remain human. Leaders will debate how to hire, structure, and retain teams that thrive in an environment where the rules of creativity are being rewritten.
Culture Fallout
How to Avoid Employee Breakups
Empowered teams make great work but what happens if morale starts to slip? How do you rebuild trust? This roundtable conversation will show attendees how to build fundamental systems for a healthy company culture and provides space to share and discuss creative solutions.
The Pan – Creative
Choose to live many agency models or die in just one
Diego Bertagni, the 'Pan-Creative,' invites you to a candid discussion on navigating a career across diverse models. From in-house CPG and tech to global creative & PR agencies, and independent shops across three countries, Diego has lived many creative lives. He'll unpack the unique advantages and challenges of each, offering invaluable insights into whether to 'die' in one specialized role or embrace the richness of a multi-faceted journey. Join him to explore the pros and cons of each creative ecosystem and redefine your professional trajectory.
4:00 - 5:00pm
Cocktails
