by Nick Coston
CES, Advertising Week, OOH NYC, which this year includes the DPAA Global Summit and OAAA’s OBIE Awards, POSSIBLE, IBO (twice), Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity, ANA Masters, Programmatic I/O, World Out of Home World Congress, OAAA OOH Media Con, Discover OAAA Regional Events, AdClub NYC ANDY Awards, AdClub NYC Annual OOH NOW Conference, InfoComm, ARF David Ogilvy Awards, Media Post’s Brand Insider Summit’s (over 15 of ‘em), and finally Brand Innovators Events (looks like 35 of these in 2026 including the upcoming Hamptons Media Retreat on Shelter Island, May 20th-22nd). Whew.
I know there are few more that I missed, but I’m exhausted just typing these. These are what’s on tap in 2026.
Who you ask goes to all these? Besides DPAA’s Barry Frey and perhaps Anna Bager from OAAA (incredible stamina you crazy kids) as much as I would love it to be me, I don’t even come close. Last year I posted up at just ten of them, this year looks like a solid eight shows.
You may think that I’m poking fun at all these shows, conferences, Congress’s, “days”, but I’m not. I personally like all of them, although I must admit at the one AdExchanger IO I attended in Las Vegas two years ago, regardless of all the prep I had and all the collateral material they provided, I simply had no idea what language they were speaking. I felt lost.
Since I got into OOH in 2001, I’ve been to (I have all the badges to prove this) over 76 such shows, eaten many a fine box lunch, hung out at lots of cocktail parties, smoked numerous, very strong cigars with Brent Baer, Jeremy Male, Regis Maher, Michael Garcia, Jeff Joaquin, Mike Neel, Scott Whisman and Ari Noe and even seen a few shows go under, ‘nare to be seen again.
Just like my wife’s, I’ve loved them all.
By now you’re wondering out of all these shows which one was my absolute fav? I expected that would come up, so here it is.
My fav started with a teaser that Sunday, May 6th, 2018, a wonderful round of golf at a nearby country club with none other than OOH legends Jeremy Male, Rusty McClelland, Andy Sriubas (of Outfront) and Michael Garcia then the owner of OAI Visual Branding. This group pretty much covered most aspects of OOH.
But it gets even better.
“GO2018, Out of Home Media Conference and Expo” in Austin, Texas wins this edition of My Fav Conference hands down. Geopath (remember them?) led by a very entertaining Kym Frank, in partnership with OAAA and the unsinkable CEO and President, Nancy Fletcher, well, this show had it all. Indoor Taco Trucks, a live band during the actual on stage conference, OOH Today’s Brent Baer roaming around the venue as a sort of ‘man on the street” complete with an old school microphone and press hat, interviewing anyone walking by, and a fab “How Out Home Fits” session by Tito’s Handmade Vodka VP Brand Marketing, Nicole Portwood.
Tito’s in the house!
“I would say OOH is a big part of what we do” claimed Ms Portman during an interview during the show. She would also add “at the Super Bowl, transit plus traditional out-of-home worked together to give us high visibility”.
A perfect start to the perfect show. To top it off on the plane ride home back to Baltimore, unplanned, I had the pleasure of sitting beside the Exec VP of OAAA, Marci Werlinich, the workhorse behind most these shows for years. Not only is Ms. Werlinich a neighbor of ours here in Howard County, MD, our two boys were high school chums and graduated together. My son even was at the airport to pick me up, so we naturally gave Marci a lift home. No charge of course.
From the start to the finish line, Austin 2018 still ranks as my #1 show. It was entertaining, interactive, a manageable venue and plenty of OOH characters, legends and cigars.
Most importantly, and many shows these days lack this, it was fun.
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