October 7, 2025 | Horizon Media HQ, New York
Advertising Economic Forum Is SOLD OUT!
At this private, invite-only experience, our industry’s most innovative practitioners, strategists, and decision-makers will tackle the industry’s biggest shifts (from AI to investment) through honest conversations, data-sharing, and collaboration-driven outcomes. Expect fireside chats with leaders shaping the market, sharp insights from venture perspectives, and candid conversations with peers who get it.
October 7, 2025, 1 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Horizon Media HQ (75 Varick Street, NYC)
Rooftop cocktail reception to follow
What Is the Advertising Economic Forum?
The Advertising Economic Forum (AdEF) is where the people doing the work in advertising come together to make sense of the chaos, and start fixing it. This is a working session for practitioners across the entire ecosystem (from publishers and SSPs to buyers, DSPs, and everyone in between) who are tired of broken promises and ready to talk about what actually works.
Born from a desire to bring clarity, honesty, and collaboration back into the room, AdEF digs into the financial realities, operational complexities, and incentives driving the industry. It’s a space for people who know how the system works to connect, ask hard questions, and share what they’ve learned. The goal is simple: get smart people in a room, cut through the noise, and focus on what it takes to make things work better.
Your AdEF Agenda
The agenda is designed to foster thought-provoking conversations, meaningful connections, and critical deal-making. In addition to curated networking sessions, here is a preview of what we’re planning for this fall.
Fireside chat with Bob Lord (Horizon Media) and Tom Triscari on AI shifts in advertising and economics.
Venture capital perspectives with Sanja Partalo (S4S Ventures) and Sim Blaustein (1745 Ventures).
Closing reflections from Matt Spiegel (EVP, TransUnion) and Domenic Venuto (Horizon Media).
View The Agenda
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM – Registration and Appetizer Reception
1:30 PM – 1:35 PM – Opening and Welcoming Remarks
1:35 PM – 2:10 PM – Setting the Stage
We kick off the day with Bob Lord sharing how he’s moving fast, thinking differently, and reshaping what it really means to get the advertising job done + audience Q&A time.
Bob Lord, President, Horizon Media Holdings
Tom Triscari, Founder, Lemonade Projects
2:10 PM – 2:55 PM – Venture Capital Perspectives – The Pulse of Deal Flow
What’s showing up in today’s deal flow? Just as importantly—what isn’t showing up, but should be? Expect sharp insights,
candid takes, and a look at where capital wants to go next + audience Q&A time.
Sanja Partalo, General Partner, S4S Ventures
Sim Blaustein, General Partner, BDMI
Tom Triscari, Founder, Lemonade Projects
2:55 PM – 3:25 PM – Amazon Deal-Making Time Break Time
3:25 PM – 4:10 PM – Surprise Session – A Game of Media Choices
Ahead of the Forum, attendees will take part in a behavioral-economics style game designed to surface “revealed media preferences.” The results will be unveiled live through eye-opening charts and insights, with two surprise guests to react, interpret, and debate what it all means for the future of advertising + audience Q&A time.
Tom Triscari, Founder, Lemonade Projects
4:10 PM – 4:45 PM – Closing Reflections – From Notes to Next Steps
After three thought-provoking sessions, it’s time to distill what we’ve learned. Domenic and Matt will share their reflections on what they observed and heard throughout the day + audience Q&A time.
Matt Spiegel EVP, TruAudience Growth Strategy, TransUnion
Domenic Venuto, EVP, Chief Data & Product Officer, Horizon Media Holdings
4:45 PM – 5:45 PM – Cocktail Networking Mixer
The Principles That Drive AdEF
AdEF is candid, collaborative, and built for people who want to move the industry forward, not just talk about it. These four principles guide how we show up, how we talk to each other, and what we build next through our work together. This is how real progress begins.
Clarity
Clarity means being honest about where we are, what’s broken, and why it’s broken. It’s about understanding how the economic and technical systems really work, not how people say they should work.
Collaboration
The ad tech ecosystem is notoriously fragmented. Collaboration means getting everyone (publishers, SSPs, DSPs, vendors) in the same room to work on shared problems. It’s about doing the work together.
Communication
AdEF is built on the belief that saying the quiet part out loud is necessary. Real progress requires hard, honest conversations between all players in this space. We ask questions, share what’s working, and push for change.
Commitment
AdEF is a call-to-action. If you’re here, it means you’re ready to move from conversations and ideas to execution, to take what you learn and put it to work. We’re not here to admire the problem. We’re here to make progress.
SPEAKERS
Sanja Partalo
General Partner, S4S Ventures
Domenic Venuto
EVP, Chief Data & Product Officer, Horizon Media Holdings
Ana Milicevic
Co-founder, Sparrow Advisers
Bob Lord
President, Horizon Media Holdings
Sim Blaustein
General Partner, BDMI
Matt Spiegel
EVP, TruAudience Growth Strategy, TransUnion
Tom Triscari
Founder, Lemonade Projects
Horizon Media
75 Varick Street
New York, NY 10013
The Advertising Economic Forum is Produced by
