Applied for the Wrong Job (and Won): Showed up for a creative role with writing samples and a band demo - turned out it was media and required math - got the job anyway and worked up to leading Kellogg, Airbnb, Disney, and McDonald's 🎯 Hyper-Local Genius: At Novus, bringing the lens of location to everything - "birds of a feather flock together" reveals clustering patterns that drive better client results 📍 AI Across the Board: Using AI in bidding algorithms, "synthetic society" as a giant focus group, and helping clients adapt to zero-click search as behaviors shift to ChatGPT answers 🤖 Controversial Take: "There's no such thing as national media" - consumers consume locally wherever they are, and Novus has the math to prove it 💡 Mic Off Moment: Rehearsed backup vocals for weeks with band Prime Target, performed at a gig, then learned the singer had turned off his mic after the first rehearsal 🎤

From Finance to Creative Fusion: Economics major who wanted business with creativity, started at Ogilvy and BBDO before Google called in 2011 to bring a creative agency mindset to their team 🎨  AI Everything, Everywhere: The entire company is focused on AI - from Gemini for consumers to Gemini Enterprise for businesses, making lives easier whether you're searching, streaming, or shopping 🤖  The Four S's Framework: Consumer behavior has evolved beyond the traditional funnel - people are streaming, scrolling, searching, or shopping, and AI helps marketers keep up with the speed 📱  Take More Vacation: Would tell her younger self to prioritize recovery time - "Do your yoga, get out to the beach, just relax" to maintain energy and appreciate slowing down 🌊  Bunny Math Curriculum: On a mission to turn her 9-year-old into a "mathlete" using Gemini to create a custom curriculum around bunnies and carrots 🐰

From Bedroom Newspapers to Business Insider: Started as an only child making comic book stories in her bedroom, turned that nosiness into a career covering the advertising industry 📰  Geek Beat Gold: Being the youngest at Marketing Week meant getting assigned Facebook and Google pre-IPO - the "geeky beats" that positioned her to cover the biggest companies 🚀  Advertising Covers Everything: Covering advertising means covering every sector from government to CPG - because it ladders out into the wider economy and world 🌍  Play the Long Game: Would tell younger self that not every meeting needs an immediate story - people from random parties 15 years ago can become the puzzle piece that unlocks the story you need 🎯  Mean Yo-Yoer Alert: Hidden talent from being an only child with hours to kill - she's got serious yo-yo skills and can still pull off several tricks 🪀

Career Convergence Point: From .com bubble through agencies and corporate America to the Ad Council - the perfect nexus where tech, agency, brand, and purpose all come together 🎯  Beyond Commoditized Advertising: As advertising gets commoditized, partners are craving what matters - deeper content partnerships and longer-form storytelling that actually connects 📖  80-Year Force Multiplier: The advertising industry built the Ad Council 80 years ago and continues to convene it, creating shared partnerships where people believe in the message and collaborate 🤝  AI Productivity Revolution: ChatGPT freed up hours for strategic thinking by eliminating busy work - "if I could make ChatGPT a person, which probably will happen soon enough, that truly is having an amazing impact" 🤖  Grace Over Everything: Would tell her younger self: "Be kind to yourself, don't beat yourself up" - give yourself the grace you give others and surround yourself with people who build you up 💫

Velocity of Change Reality: The pace will never feel slower than it does right now - the key to moving forward is coming together as an ecosystem to support and navigate that constant acceleration 🚀  Cut the Jargon: The industry loves overcomplicating things with acronyms and buzzwords that leave people afraid to ask what they actually mean - "if we focused on making sure everyone had an understanding, we'd go faster together" 💡  Open Ecosystem Wins: Built Disney's data collaboration layer so clients can measure their way - whether in their own clean room, through agency tools, or via DSPs - flexibility is the foundation of partnership 📊  Beyond Yes or No: The biggest measurement opportunity is moving past basic "it worked" or "it didn't" answers to pull insights in almost real-time and optimize every dollar to work harder 📈  Partnership Forward: Direct integrations with Amazon, Google, and Trade Desk aren't just tech connections - they're putting shared customers first and proving "the future is built on shared partnerships" 🤝

Megan Graham - Bridesmaids Brilliance: Recreated the iconic scene as Cousin Megan, complete with bowling shirt, hat, neck pillow, and carrying golden retrievers around all night - "it's Megan, obviously, and I love Golden Retrievers" 🐕 J. Brooks - Gaga Glory: Went full Lady Gaga for the craziest, most fun costume ever - "I can't think of anything better than that" 🎤 Mike Shields - Choose Life Energy: Dressed as a very specific George Michael from the "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" video with a custom-made shirt and strategic no-shave commitment 🎸 Laura O'Reilly - Wayne's World Zombies: Went as zombie Wayne and Garth with her boyfriend, complete with red shoelace candy, dropping "game on" and "we are not worthy" all night - they were very popular 🧟 Joe Plummer - Pirate Prodigy: Dressed as Smee, Captain Hook's second in command from Peter Pan at just 3.5 years old - "I killed it. It's a great costume" 🏴‍☠️

Jennifer Kattula - 80s Cube Cool: Mom turned a box into the ultimate Rubik's Cube costume with her head popping out the top and arms out the sides - "it was awesome" 🎲  Lauren Austin - Bjorn Bjork Brilliance: Created the ultimate mashup by hand-sewing Bjork's elaborate swan dress and layering it with Bjorn Borg's vintage tennis gear, complete with headband, wooden racket, and wristbands 🦢🎾  Matthew Van Houten - Family Costume King: Goes all-in every year with coordinated group costumes, including his wife and three boys - from Sonic characters to Dr. Evil to Minecraft - "you gotta lean in" 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦  Charlstie Veith - Chipmunk Chain Reaction: Rocked Alvin and the Chipmunks with her two best friends (plus Dave!), introduced her kids to the old school TV show, and now her daughter and friends are recreating the trio this year 🐿️  Jay Altschuler - Posh Spice Pride: Got "tucked into" being a Spice Girl with college buddies in NYC, but made it work as Posh Spice 💅  Sadie Thoma - Saran Wrap Struggle: Went as a Dexter victim wrapped head-to-toe in Saran wrap over a tan dress - strategically cut for mobility and ready to share pro tips with anyone brave enough to try it 🔪  Louise DiIulio - Pink Ranger Forever: Wore a hand-stitched Pink Ranger costume made by her aunt's mom two years in a row as a kid because of her Kimberly obsession, then brought it back in college 💖

NYSE’s Joe Benarroch - Wicked Witch Wins: Best friend chose Dorothy, thinking it was the better costume, but Joe had the superior choice as the Wicked Witch because "we all know that Elphaba is the one who's doing good in the world" 🎃 Disney Advertising’s Jamie Power - Maleficent Mystery: Last year went as Maleficent and thought it was amazing, but won't reveal this year's costume - "you don't know what I have up my sleeve" 🦹 Legacy Trust Sports Group’s CJ Mosley - Pirates Walk-In: Went as a Pirates of the Caribbean character as a walk-in for one of the games, had the dress down and scarf - "I was really feeling myself for that one" 🏴‍☠️ TelevisaUnivision’s Claribel Herrera Estevez - Esmeralda Vibes: Dressed as Esmeralda from Hunchback of Notre Dame for Halloween 💃 Magnite’s Greg Sherrill - The Facebook (2004): Most memorable advertising-themed costume was dressing as "the Facebook" in 2004 when it was still called that 💻 Axios’s Eleanor Hawkins - Star Wars Family: Never prepared, once threw together a loofah costume last minute, but now her 5-year-old has been planning their Star Wars family theme - she's Padme, son is Darth Vader, husband is Yoda 🌟

From Leo Burnett to NYSE: Career path from advertising internship through major holding companies, Facebook, NBC Universal, X, to leading media partnerships and content at the New York Stock Exchange 💼  NYSE Beyond Finance: The 233-year-old institution represents more than capital - it's innovation, community, and storytelling, riding every technology wave from telegraph to AI 📈  Building Media Partnerships: Serves listed companies, VCs, and PE firms by partnering with every media platform to create maximum options and scale for customers 🤝  Listen First, Speak Second: Rashad Tabaka Walla's advice - "You don't need to be the loudest person in the room. You need to be the most informed" 🎧  Hard Conversations Matter: Sheryl Sandberg taught the importance of seeking feedback from all perspectives across the company and regularly having difficult conversations to challenge your thinking and change your perspective 💬

Marketing's Most Important Moment: ANA Masters finds itself at the most critical time for the industry - a transformative moment where nobody has mastered new technology yet, making it exciting for marketers learning daily 🎯 Industry Leaders Share Insights: Marketing experts and brand leaders gathered to discuss how marketing delivers measurable results and see where it's heading, covering AI redefining talent to CTV full-funnel impact plus so much more 🎤 Experiential Connection Strategy: Sports, entertainment, and experiential events capture captivated audiences and build authentic connections with fans beyond traditional advertising 🏟️ Solutions Over Problems: Industry shift is noticeable - people talking about solutions now instead of just identifying challenges, showing proactive approach to marketing's evolution 💡 Reinvigorated Industry Energy: Feeling excited despite uncertainty, with new technology creating innovation opportunities that nobody's figured out yet ⚡

Ruth Mortimer started her career digging up history as an archeologist in the Middle East, loved storytelling while piecing together the past, retrained as a journalist because I didn't want tent life with bad hair and zero makeup 🏺 Education Meets Entertainment: Attracted to Advertising Week's marriage of education and entertainment - excited people pay her to create the stories in her head and make them real across all formats 🎭 Sports Programming Pioneer: Launched Playmaker Awards as sports open to more brands, including beauty, women's sports becoming huge, creating a moment where audience, commerce, and field play come together 🏆 Global Cross-Pollination Strategy: Events in Mexico City, Tokyo, and Europe in early 2026 focused on cross-pollinating learning territory to territory to supercharge knowledge across continents 🌍 Leadership Philosophy: "Be brilliant at something, not everything" - lean into what you're brilliant at and forget what you're not good at (like working the photocopier) 💡

Jennifer Kattula started coding websites in the web 1.0 era but loved communication more - business school led to marketing at American Express, Microsoft search ads, then 6th person on Facebook's marketing team 💻 AI Early Adopter: One of the first to try ChatGPT and mid journey, serendipitously reconnected with a Microsoft colleague for a head of marketing role where AI expertise became crucial 🤖 Zero Click Revolution: Four out of five people use zero click search results for almost half their searches - AI interfaces becoming the primary way people get information in one personalized place 🔍 Conversational Commerce: Microsoft building conversational, personalized, agentic experiences - experimenting with ad formats, business tools, and brand agents for 2026 🚀 Hidden Talent: Can still do handstands, splits, and back bends while binging podcasts like "Not Another CEO Podcast" about billion-dollar exits 🤸

Dana McGraw coached college basketball for 8 years before pivoting to data, starting in search engine optimization and moving through analytics at Yahoo Sports to now leading measurement science at Disney 🏀 Measurement Philosophy: Believes measurement isn't finite but fluid, with no single metric answering if you've driven value. It's the combination of all measures together creating the full picture of advertising outcomes 📊 Cross-Platform Reality Check: Debunking the misconception that cross-screen, cross-platform measurement is impossible. With audience graphs and identity resolution capabilities, it's absolutely achievable 🌐 Outcomes Over Reach: The big industry trend is shifting focus from reach to outcomes, with more collaboration between agencies, brands, and media companies all driven by creating value and customer-first experiences 🤝 Bold Leadership Advice: "You never lose when you lead with compassion and give people a bit of grace" when leading teams. Would tell her younger self to be bolder and more confident while making sure her voice is heard 💪

Megan Graham was obsessed with Nancy Drew as a kid and decided to become a reporter, worked her way from high school newspaper editor through college paper to eventually landing at WSJ after 4 years at Ad Age 📚 2012 Graduate Persistence: Graduated during a tough time for journalism jobs, applied to 75+ positions before Kokomo Tribune in Indiana hired her as a business reporter 📊 CMO Today Focus: Covers how companies break through noise and into the zeitgeist at WSJ - "companies just want people to be talking about them positively" - writing for CMOs who can't get enough AI content 🎯 Anti-Pitch Philosophy: Best stories don't come from pitches but from seeing something and noticing social media chatter - companies need to be more proactive before moments happen 💡 Cooking Content Creator: Still sends cooking pics to her mom for approval (even though she now cooks for her boyfriend) - recently made crispy rice with smoked salmon and ate all but two pieces 🍳

Greg Licciardi published book on achieving optimal marketing success using AI and beyond, teaching the framework at Fordham and Seton Hall universities for years - concept inspired by Wendy's targeted ads during the pandemic 📚 Wendy's Epiphany: Got hooked on fast food during pandemic and noticed Friday 11 am ads in social feed, realizing "this is the holy grail of marketing" - framework: right person, right message, right environment, right time, right outcome 🍟 AI + Human Element Advocate: Features Microsoft's Vera Hsu on the importance of AI enablement while maintaining human connection and emotional strategies - warns AI's speed can't replace authentic brand purpose 🤖 ANA Event Leader: Bringing top brands together in Orlando at Rosen Shingle Creek with Steven Van Zandt and the Disciples of Soul (E Street Band members) 🎸 Holiday Book Discount: Offering the ATM audience a special holiday discount on "the must-read modern-day marketing book" - content focused on helping audiences do their jobs better 🎁