Are you a Sell Side Summit rookie? Do you know what you've gotten yourself into? Come down to the LBJ Pavilion and get the prep you need to conquer the conference. And meet some fellow greenhorns and our event speakers.

Meet your fellow attendees in this fun and friendly session that sets the stage for the rest of the event! Grab a drink as we break you up into small workgroups and complete a (fun, we swear!) tech-focused icebreaker activity that will inform the agenda and discussion over the coming days. 

We kick off Sell Side Summit with a good, old-fashioned party! All attendees come together to eat, drink, and get to know each other. 

Enjoy a hearty breakfast to fuel your mind for a day of learning ahead! Location:  Pecan Court

A big welcome from AdMonsters Content Director Lynne d Johnson and our Sell Side Summit co-host, Addy Atienza, who will introduce the AdMonsters team and provide an overview of the next few days with your publisher peers.  Location:  Barrons Ballroom 

As discovery shifts from search to AI and the definition of “quality content” is rewritten, what does connection really mean for publishers? Mediavine CRO Amanda Martin joins AdMonsters Lynne d Johnson for an opening conversation on bridging buyers and sellers, keeping human creativity at the center of automation, and building fair value models in an AI-scraped world. Together, they’ll unpack how publishers can reconnect the ecosystem—from data and demand to discovery and trust.  Location:  Barrons Ballroom

When a publisher only looks at RPM, it can lead to incorrect near-term revenue decisions: too much ad clutter on the page, a non-customized content experience, and recommending third-party content that isn't relevant, sending more users away from your site instead of engaging with it. In a world where Publishers are seeing less organic traffic, we have to do more with less. Become like marketers. Invest in retentive technologies. 

Join the conversation with Jason White, CEO of Mula, as he shares his experience & vision for how Publishers can diversify traffic, grow revenue & increase profitability by leveraging automation.

Join the conversation with Jason White, CEO of Mula, as he shares his experience & vision for how Publishers can diversify traffic, grow revenue & increase profitability by leveraging automation.

With referral traffic from Google Search in decline and AI-driven discovery reshaping attention flows, publishers must think beyond SEO. In this session, Patrick McCarthy, SVP, Programmatic Monetization at People Inc. (formerly Dotdash Meredith), shares how his team is mining deep content & audience signals, reorganizing their structure for agility, and diversifying traffic strategies to win in the era of LLMs. Expect actionable frameworks, lessons learned from their D/Cipher AI push, and a sharp look at what's next in programmatic monetization.

Grab your coffee, grab a snack and grab a pal. Catch up with peers and gear up for your breakout session!

After a busy morning, enjoy lunch and catch some vitamin D out on Pecan Court.

AI is advancing rapidly, but not every aspect of advertising operations will be transformed equally. In this session, we’ll distinguish between where AI will bring incremental improvements and where it will drive true disruption—and where the risks are still too early to call. Through live polls and interactive discussions, we’ll explore how AI is likely to reshape campaign execution, creative generation, and operational roles, while also examining the limits of AI in areas such as traffic validation. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of which processes to monitor closely, what guardrails to establish, and how to position themselves and their teams for success in an AI-enabled future.

After an interactive deep dive and focused breakouts, it's time to get up and refuel! Enjoy refreshments and snacks with your peers.

Monsters, get ready for Sell Side Jeopardy—our fast-paced, interactive trivia showdown built for true ad ops masterminds! Choose your category, test your knowledge of programmatic pitfalls, tech wizardry, and the newest agentic protocols, and see who comes out on top as the smartest on the sell side. Bragging rights and laughs guaranteed!

Retail and media are now part of one connected engine—and it’s changing how brands, publishers, and retailers create value. In this session, 84.51° breaks down how Kroger is linking purchase data, publisher media, and CTV platforms to engineer measurable outcomes. We’ll explore what real interoperability looks like, how publishers can plug into the new commerce media ecosystem, and what it takes to move from fragmented data and “ads in aisles” to shared strategy and full-funnel measurement.

Ready to sip, snack, and stumble upon the next big thing in ad tech? Join our Tech Crawl—a choose-your-own adventure through our sponsor tech stations where you'll get the inside scoop on the tools changing the digital advertising game. Chat with vendors, collect insights (and maybe a drink or two), and check in at each stop. Hit our magic number and you’ll be in the running for a serious prize ($$$) during dinner. Think of it as networking, but with way better snacks—and a lot less awkward. Location:  Robertson & Leftwich

An awesome meal enjoyed by attendees and sponsoring tech providers together, accompanied by music and... surprises? Location:  Pecan Court

With the line between content, identity, and automation blurring, newsletters and first-party data are becoming mission-critical levers. In this keynote, Stephanie Mazzaramo will explore how The Arena Group is using newsletter strategies, subscriber data, and addressability partnerships to future-proof monetization in an AI-driven ecosystem. Expect a deep dive into how publishers can design scalable, privacy-forward newsletter systems that play well with agentic discovery and programmatic activation.

A few years ago, the challenge was getting buy-in for automation. Now, it’s mastering the complexity that comes with adoption. In this fireside Q&A, Michele Bavitz of Theorem joins AdMonsters Lynne d Johnson to unpack how publishers are scaling revenue operations through automation—and where the next big opportunity lies: connecting ops, presales, and strategy in one intelligent workflow.

Whew! After a great kickoff, it's time to fuel up and network before diving into peer-to-peer workshops.

This is where peer-to-peer learnings really shine. Now it’s time to report in about all of your newly discovered strategies that you can immediately put into practice when you return to work. We’ll go around the room and share from each workshop, digging deeper, so that we can all reap the benefits of your new learnings.

Your brain needs a little break after all this thinking! Attendees get to select from a variety of local experiences while making new connections. Choose an activity that sparks joy, from active adventures in the Nashville landscape to relaxing poolside with great people; there is something for you! See the full activity description here.

Join us for our closing Sell Side Summit Celebration @ Monsters Night Out @ Electric Shuffle.

Get ready to unleash your inner beast! We’ll be transported via bus to Electric Shuffle Austin for an evening of high-energy fun: think upbeat shuffleboard meets elevated bar vibes with signature cocktails, great company, and laid-back competition. Whether you’re a seasoned shuffleboard pro or just here for the laughs, mix, mingle and play. Return bus service provided.