DirecTV Advertising's Matthew Van Houten went from selling SpongeBob ads to winning two Emmys for pause ads, and now he's making them programmatic for the first time while teaching at NYU Stern. 📺 From SpongeBob to Advanced Advertising: Spent 20+ years, from selling Nickelodeon ads at Paramount to 13 years at AT&T, navigating the $65 million DirecTV acquisition 🚀 The Growth Guy: Focused on partnerships, operations and business development, building teams and growing the business through all the changes 🤝 All Ships Rise Together: Big believer that partnerships make the business healthy and successful, you've got to have the right partners to make it work 🎓 Hidden Talent Professor: Teaching for 15 years at Baruch and now NYU Stern, bringing the next wave of advertising innovation forward 🏆 Two-Time Emmy Winner: Won Emmys for advanced ad formats like pause ads, now bringing them into the programmatic era with Triple Lift

Magnite's Greg Sherrill is opening streaming TV to advertisers who couldn't afford expensive studios before using AI-powered tools that build 30-second ads quickly. He's solving creative chaos while working on everything from scene-level targeting to pause ads. Forefront of What's Next: Built a career always chasing what's next, and for the past decade, that's been streaming and connected TV at Magnite 📺 AI Meets Creative Chaos: Working with partners like Anoki on scene-level targeting and LG on tile ads while navigating too many places to stream and too much content 🤖 Opening Up Streaming TV: Acquired Streamer AI to help brands build 30-second ads quickly, opening up streaming TV to SMB advertisers who couldn't afford expensive studios 🚀 Beautiful Creative That Drives Outcomes: Focused on how brands can continue making amazing, beautiful, impactful creative that actually works in a world with too many streaming options 🎨 Relationships Carry You Through: Maintain important relationships and surround yourself with great people you trust; those connections create bigger impacts on the industry in positive ways 🤝

TikTok's Rema Vasan took a non-linear path from agencies to platforms, proving culture drives conversion with 170 million users, believes it's all marketing, not a choice between cultural and performance, and says chase learning, not titles, while being a dedicated Madonna fan. Age 13 Marketing Epiphany: Had a crush on her neighbor, who was an Ogilvy copywriter; it didn't work out, but the power of storytelling stuck 💘 Non-Linear Path to TikTok: Started at Ogilvy in a full circle moment, pivoted through digital marketing and influencer marketing, now on the platform side at TikTok 🔄 Culture Drives Conversion: TikTok's 170 million US users make it where cultural relevance thrives, proving culture translates to conversion with real business outcomes, not just vanity metrics 📊 It's All Marketing: No choice between culturally relevant marketing and performance marketing, engage with communities to feed the funnel while giving meaningful ways to convert 🎯 Chase Learning Not Titles: Chase learning over and over, identify mentors and be one yourself, approach every day like it's day one, plus Madonna is a classic entertainer 🎤

A classroom video made Kevin Johnson hear angels singing; now he's leading WPP Canada through AI transformation while proving that success and being good humans can coexist. The Heavens Opened in Class: A teacher threw on "The Power of Advertising" video, angels started singing, and he knew that was his industry and never looked back 📺 AI Is Reorganizing Everything: WPP Open is letting people pivot to creativity and innovation, reorganizing to focus on what matters most - the client's business 🤖 Team Culture Wins: Has a winning track record with a roll-up-your-sleeves culture, believes success and being good humans can coexist 🤝 Whitney Houston Karaoke King: Go-to song is "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," wishes he could binge-watch movies with tea and a blanket 🎤 The Legacy He Wants: Hopes people see that being successful and being good, respectful humans can coexist, and if that's his legacy, it's a good thing 💫

Alex Heath went from blogging about tech in high school to The Verge, now he's independent with Sources and Access podcast that launched with Zuckerberg as guest one, covering the AI race while playing Ultimate Frisbee and belting Sinatra at karaoke. From Blogger to Independent: Started blogging about tech in high school to pay for college, spent a decade at Business Insider and The Verge, now running Sources newsletter and Access podcast 📱 Zuck as Guest Number One: Launched Access podcast with Vox in record time, got the name and went live within a month with Mark Zuckerberg as the first guest 🎙️ Podcasts Are the Future: Sees podcasts and newsletters as where people get their media now, building a flywheel between written scoops and audio storytelling 🚀 Direct Inbox Relationship: Sources newsletter is his bottom funnel with the most direct connection to his audience, syndicated once a week on The Verge 📧 Saturday Ultimate Frisbee Player: Plays Ultimate Frisbee for workouts, hits poker games in LA, and belts Frank Sinatra at karaoke because his low voice pulls it off 🎤

EY's Lou Cohen talks about what happens when AI actually starts thinking instead of just generating answers. He's sharing his philosophy on why people are the real product and the advice he wishes he'd told his younger self. People Are the Product: Chief Digital Officer at EY and professor at three NYC universities, the real value comes from employees bringing knowledge and experience to clients 🎓 From Marvel to Microsoft: Started at Marvel Comics launching AOL shopping, built his own collectors site during the dot-com boom, became an original hire for MSN Search that became Bing Ads 🚀 Neurocognitive AI Revolution: Going beyond Gen AI to where AI actually starts thinking, not just generating answers that might give you 11 when you ask for one plus one 🤖 Privileged Seat Philosophy: Talks with smart people thinking 5-10 years ahead for corporations, then brings that back to transform EY's own way of working 💡 Advice to Young Lou: You're not going to be a doctor, lean into marketing and business, embrace the internet early to accelerate faster, and the 100 emoji ends every conversation ✅

Origin Media’s Michael Rosen is making brand spots work harder with CTV creative, sharing why service beats speed and his go-with-the-flow philosophy on everything from karaoke to business. CTV Creative Powerhouse: Just joined Origin, a platform that amplifies brand spots and TV commercials to make them work harder by enhancing messages for specific locations, products, and audiences 📺 The CMO Secret Weapon: Solving a creative problem, not just a media problem, by taking massive brand investments and making them drive specific KPIs with a creative director approach 💡 Service Over Speed: Slowing down, providing good service, and doing things smartly and effectively actually drives better outcomes together 🤝 Go With the Flow: No set karaoke song, he evaluates the crowd and sees how he's feeling before deciding what to sing 🎤 Stay Strong Philosophy: "Strength" has become his go-to because it represents the resilience needed in business, the world, and his health and wellness routine 💪

Axios's Kerry Flynn covered the creator economy when it was a niche beat nobody cared about, and now that the industry is finally catching up, she's sharing what Smart Brevity really means and why respecting people's time matters. Journalist Since Middle School: Wanted to start a middle school newspaper and dreamed of being a journalist in New York, made it happen with almost 12 years in the industry and four at Axios 📰 Smart Brevity Philosophy: Not everyone loves the news like journalists do but everyone needs information, Axios respects people's time by delivering what they need to be better at work and life 📊 Creator Economy Pioneer: Been covering social media and the creator economy since it was a niche beat, watched it evolve from Facebook and Snapchat to becoming a massive part of the economy 🎥 Industry Finally Waking Up: YouTube has been around for 20 years but the industry is just now standardizing influencer marketing, excited to see what's next after covering this space for so long 🚀 Karryoke Queen: Loves karaoke so much she calls her birthday celebration "Karryoke," go-to song is Misery Business by Paramore, doesn't need drinks to perform 🎤

Mastercard's Jay Altschuler got the brief to rip up the media playbook - he shares his full circle Priceless moment, launching Mastercard Media Commerce Network, and why 20th-century ad models need to go. Ripping Up the Media Playbook: Got the dream Mastercard brief to forget everything about media and build something completely new after stints at Unilever and Samsung 📋 Full Circle Priceless Moment: Started in advertising through his aunt at McCann, who worked on the original Priceless campaign, now leading media at the brand behind the iconic tagline 💳 Buy Side Meets Sell Side: Launched Mastercard Media Commerce Network to leverage their data and create programs that benefit the entire industry, not just buy media 📊 Agent-to-Agent Marketing Era: Preparing for agentic commerce by rethinking what marketing looks like when reaching consumers through AI agents instead of traditional channels 🤖 Rewriting the Rules: Done slapping 20th-century ad models onto 21st century tech, this is the moment to completely reinvent how brands go to market ✨

From industry support through loss to daily prayer for teams, celebrating failure, blessed decades, and authentic spaces, Part Three gets powerful. Charlstie Veith - Industry Support Through Loss: Thankful for industry support after losing her partner to suicide in 2021 and prioritizing mental health 💙  Nadja Bellan-White - Leading with Love: Grateful for her team—prays for them daily and leads with respect, empathy, and consideration 🙏  Jamie Power - Empowered to Fail: Thankful for an organization that rewards curiosity and failure, plus her husband who keeps everything on track 🚀  CJ Mosley - 11 Years of Blessings: Finished 11 years grateful for teammates, coaches, family, kids, and partner—living blessed 💪  Claribel Herrera - No More Code Switching: Grateful for people who empower her to be herself, support crazy ideas, and let her show out ✨

From new beginnings to extended grace, challenging worldviews to supportive communities and strong women legacies, Part Two reveals deeply personal gratitude. J. Brooks - Sobriety & New Beginnings: Thankful for sobriety and the family and friends who saw them through it all, plus two new beautiful children who make everything worth it 💙  Dana McGraw - The Grace We All Need: Grateful for their village—family, friends, their health—and especially for people who extend grace when we inevitably fall down 🙏  Joe Plummer - Learning from a 14-Year-Old: Really grateful for his 14-year-old son whose radically different, wonderful worldview challenges him to rethink how things are supposed to be done 👁️  Sarah Kramer - Surrounded by What Matters: Thankful for family, kids, and the community surrounding her daily, plus the Sparklers, mentors, and being part of a company on the cutting edge of what's next ✨  Cheryl Guerin - Support on Both Sides: Grateful for her husband and two boys whose pride enables her career, and a top-notch team whose love and drive to take chances makes success possible 💪  Louise Dilulio - Raised by Badasses: Thankful for health, New York, family who raised her, and a long line of incredibly strong, badass women (plus an amazing dad) who shaped everything 👑

From handwritten letter traditions to purpose found through loss, Part One captures industry leaders sharing what they're grateful for this Thanksgiving—independence, optimism, supportive families, and the crazy lives they've built. Brianna Gays - Purpose Through Loss: Thankful for kid brother who passed, opening up suicide awareness, passion and purpose to put mental health first in advertising storytelling 💙  Tim Natividad - Handwritten Letters Tradition: Every Thanksgiving Monday, assigns team to write handwritten letters to one person from their career - reminds you to do the same for the next generation 📝  Jennifer Kattula - Great People & Tech Passion: Lucky to work with great people and in technology that lights her up, aligned to strengths and passions, plus being an optimist 💡  Mike Shields - Independent & Grateful: Thankful to work independently without a boss - it's better for everyone and able to have this kind of crazy life ✨  Eleanor Hawkins - Axios Opportunity: Grateful Axios gave opportunity to write about communication, elevate the work, and the engaged community behind Axios Communicators 📰  Lauren Austin - Supportive People: Grateful for supportive family who backed experiential marketing career since 2002, husband, daughters, and incredible creative colleagues 🙏

From TikTok competing with Xbox to tech giants owning all IP, Grant Thornton's panel reveals how the influencer economy reshapes deals and the five principles that determine M&A success. Sovereign Wealth & Content Challenges: Content ownership creates tricky scenarios—some potential bidders haven't bought US assets in 15 years, and antitrust challenges loom for legacy media companies seeking deals 📰  Tech Giants vs Media Value Destruction: Without government intervention, it's hard to see how trillion-dollar players like Amazon and Apple won't ultimately own the bulk of IP as equity disparity between tech and media widens 💰  The Real Competition: Microsoft's Nadella says Xbox's real competition isn't gaming platforms—it's TikTok, revealing how attention economy reshapes deal activity in private markets 🎮  Influencer Economy Shifts Everything: 18-30 year olds in the US want to be influencers (China: astronauts), signaling media creation as a growing GDP percentage alongside AI's impact 📱  Five Deal Principles: When selling, is the industry growing? Is your business growing? What's your moat? What value can buyers add? What's the exit? But it all comes down to people executing 🎯

Cheryl Guerin on Mastercard's AI revolution: campaigns in 15 minutes, personalization at your fingertips, and why humanity matters more as technology gets bigger. Priceless Journey: Studied advertising, worked in telco and agencies, then saw the Priceless campaign and knew Mastercard was the only place—25 years later, still there 💳  Payments Getting Hot: From crypto payments to agentic commerce, AI assistants are emerging to help with everyday life, and trusted brands behind those agents will matter more than ever 🤖  Humanity Matters More: As technology gets bigger, authentic human experiences and real connections will become even more important—never forget that 💙  AI Card Design Studio: Personalize your card with anime, Messi (their ambassador), or anything you love—personalization is at our fingertips now 🎨  Real-Time Marketing Engine: AI digital engine listens to social media, predicts trends, recommends creative, updates in real time—campaigns in 15 minutes, pulled when trends disappear ⚡

Alison Levin takes you inside BravoCon where brands see 66% more breakthroughs, Lisa Barlow breaks the internet for Wendy's, and complete mayhem becomes brilliant marketing. Commerce Comes to Life: The Bravo Bazaar showcases where talent creates their own brands—from Loverboy with Kyle and Amanda to Mezcal with Aaron—and commerce partners like Instacart bring it all together 🛍️  33 Talent Partnerships Drive Results: Up 24% year over year, these talent partnerships drive a 66% increase in brand breakthrough because viewers love the talent, and it creates deep engagement 📊  360 Brand Activations: State Farm taping live Peacock shows so viewers at home can experience BravoCon from their couch, QR codes with custom Wayfair websites for shopping entire collections 📱  Wendy's x Lisa Barlow Magic: Showcasing the Snickerdoodle Frosty for the very first time with Lisa Barlow—an authentic partnership because Lisa is a real Wendy's fan, and the crowd went wild 🍦  Complete Mayhem (Best Way): People chanting "BravoCon" outside, fans experiencing iconic scenes like Lisa Barlow's 17C, Shamia's entryway, and glam at Teresa’s TRESemmé booth with Ariana Maddox 🎉