Should I Stay or Should I Go?

by Nick Coston

Fact: I haven’t missed an OAAA OOH Conference since I began going in 2013, that year being in Los Angeles when it went by the name OAAA/TAB National Convention & Trade Show. The show’s theme back in 2013 was IGNITE, where Sean Reilly from Lamar Advertising and Rick Robinson of Billups were the dual hosts. For the record that was 13 years ago.

Both fine OOH men still look as they did in 2013. I, on the other hand, have aged unmercifully. So much for that.

The only time I didn’t attend since 2013 was in 2020 and 2021 when there was no conference due to Covid. Those years, no one attended as we were all grounded.

Which brings us to 2026. This year’s OOH Conference, titled “The Human Medium”, will be held in Dallas, a wonderful Texas city with terrific hospitality and juicy beef brisket. There’s only one problem regarding the 2026 show.

I may not make it.

Not because I don’t want to, and certainly not because of the speaker line-up as it looks quite robust. Heck, my own attorney John Morgan (Morgan & Morgan), Mr. Billboard himself, is a speaker. And it’s not the very fancy Hilton Anatole Hotel where this year’s conference is residing, after all, if it was good for the 1984 Republican Convention, where President Reagan and Vice President Bush stayed, making it a significant site for political history, it’s going to be good enough for 2026 OAAA. I’ve even stayed there on three occasions while on market rides. It’s a hoot!

Fun Fact: The Anatole features one of the largest private hotel art collections in the U.S., featuring over 1,000 pieces, including two 12-foot sections of the Berlin Wall and a 15-ton propeller from the RMS Lusitania. Wait, there’s even more: the property boasts a Southeast Asian theme, particularly in its art, reflecting the interests of its developers and includes a includes the 4-acre Jade Waters resort pool complex. Woo-hoo!

I guarantee that you will get lost on the vast hotel grounds at least five time.

So, by now you’re saying “Nick, with all this going on in Dallas including the brisket, why for you not be attending”?

Outstanding question that deserves simple answers: It’s the third major OOH related conference in 5 weeks, beginning with the IBO in New Orleans, followed quickly by a five-day trip to Miami Beach for POSSIBLE, then a week off for bad behavior and boom! here comes OAAA in Dallas.

Besides me, even my credit card is tired. That and racking up some serious expenses is enough for me to hit the pause button and reconsider this next lollapalooza of a conference. Don’t get me wrong, I know plenty of OOH peeps who we hung with at POSSIBLE that said “see you in Dallas” as we parted ways. But did they attend IBO in New Orleans, and before that for two weeks in a row of NYC trips including a DPAA Town Hall? I’m even tired just typing this.

Make no mistake here, I absolutely love this time of year and attending our big industry annual conference. We laugh, we eat, we sometimes drink, smoke cigars and talk shop. But I’ve pretty much seen most of you more than twice somewhere in the last three months and although I really do like you all, well, most of you that is, my family paid to have my face plastered on the side of a milk carton.

“Where am I?” it says.

Is there still time to register, hop (I don’t really hop) on a plane and be there by Monday morning, May 11^th in Dallas? Oh, heck yea there is. Might I?

You’ll just have to go there yourself and find out. Even I don’t have that answer.