New York City

Ad Execs are King of the Hill in New York City

One of our clients is an association of advertising agencies that holds an annual weeklong workshop for all its members. The last one we managed took place in New York City. Thanks to the popularity of AMC’s Mad Men, New York is well-known as the nexus of advertising’s golden age in the ’60s. To discuss what the future of advertising has in store, 22 executives from different ad agencies made the trip for a blend of education, business, and fun in the Big Apple.

To welcome all those in attendance that week, we arranged a lovely dinner at Pier Sixty and the Lighthouse along the Chelsea Piers. The guests soaked up the spectacular riverfront views of the city from the Lighthouse while enjoying their gourmet dinners and catching up with their friends, many of whom only see one another at this event. It was a great start to a fantastic week.

The first half of each day was dedicated to workshops. The theme of the workshops was “Advances in Advertising.” In preparation for these educational sessions, we identified and invited key speakers with the week’s theme in mind.

Very little time was spent at the hotel, so we booked the executives at a nice-but-not-fancy hotel near Times Square. It offered everything they needed, most importantly a great location, and spared the group the expense of a five-star hotel.

The week’s workshops were balanced with a healthy dose of sight-seeing, shopping, and dining. One venue that I can’t recommend enough is Buddakan, where the rehearsal dinner scene from the Sex and the City movie was filmed. We didn’t have a film crew or celebrities, but there was plenty of action, and the cuts of steak were premier.

Our final night in New York was spent cruising the Hudson River. The guests were treated to a farewell gala dinner surrounded by the dazzling lights of the City That Never Sleeps. It was a fitting way to close the week, and an event that these modern ad executives will not soon forget.