Base.Camp Savannah Agenda
To learn more about the event, how to request your invitation, sponsorships, and more, please visit the full Base.Camp Savannah event page. As a note, this agenda (although never final) covers our session topics in great detail. Will you find a break down of every break or meal below? No. But rest assured, there will be plenty of pauses for refreshment, times to commune, and scheduled meals to make new friends.
Sunday, October 5, 2025
| Session Time | Session Title | Session Description |
|---|---|---|
| 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. | Arrival & Registration | Swing by, grab your swag and badge on your way up to your room. |
| 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. | New Attendee Welcome Reception | Base.Camp welcome reception for those new to Base.Camp. |
| 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. | Welcome Reception & Dinner | Nothing is quite like that first night of Base.Camp: catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. |
| 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. | Rise Camp After Party | Continue to party with our friends from Rise (but drink lots of water and take your vitamins, Monday is a long, productive day.) |
Monday, October 6, 2025
| Session Time | Session Title | Session Description |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00 a.m. | Morning Run with Melissa | Join Melissa for a 3-5 mile run to get the day started off right. |
| 8:00 a.m. | Breakfast | Grab your coffee, your consciousness, and maybe a croissant (or three). It’s time to start the day. |
| 9:00 a.m. | Base.Camp Kickoff | Let’s come together as a community, set the tone for the day, talk about what matters right now … and, of course, reveal the jacket. |
| 9:15 a.m. | Using Disruption to Build the Future | All change – no matter how much we work for it, want it or dread it – is stressful. Our brains perceive all change as a potential threat and our reactions are neurochemically mediated. Renowned resilience expert and physician Deborah Gilboa, MD, will challenge us to rethink disruption not as a setback, but as a strategic tool for growth. Dr. G will outline the neuroscience behind our responses to disruption and deliver the strategies needed to move from stressed to resilient. Drawing on decades of experience in medicine, leadership, and behavior change, she provides practical frameworks for cultivating cultures that thrive in uncertainty and actively shape the future. Perfect timing, eh? Deborah Gilboa, MD, Resilience Expert, Founder, Ask Doctor G |
| 10:00 a.m. | Find your Way to the Next Session | A brief intermission, so you can resume your journey. |
| 10:15 a.m. Breakouts | Actual AI & Automation in Practice | Too often, trade coverage and conferences focus on what could be. This session is about what’s happening now. We’ll look at real examples of AI and automation already in use across publishers, then open the floor for participants to share their own experiences, challenges, and wins. Together, we’ll capture notes and begin mapping a draft direct-sold workflow that incorporates today’s practical automation concepts. Courtney Glaze, VP Revenue Operations, The New York Times |
Programmatic Stack Attack | What really is working and where should we direct our energies? This session gives you a pulse on how others are structuring their programmatic operations—and a framework to think about your next move. Come ready to share, rank, and take home a priorities roadmap. Amanda Dean, VP, Programmatic Partners, The Weather Company Jason Tate, Sr. Director, Programmatic Partnerships, MediaNews Group & Tribune Publishing | |
Site Traffic Is Everything… So, What’s the Plan? | Following an amazing session in Red Rock Canyon, let’s talk about every way possible to get people—not bots! (well, unless those bots bring us people)—to our websites. Ad ops people are rarely the people to drive this strategy. But if you are responsible for monetizing your audience, you bet it matters. Be a part of the solution for your company. Alex Mason, VP, Revenue Operations, Outside Inc. | |
Head of Ad Ops, Esquire | Laws change, vendors pivot, users opt out. This session is about what ad ops can own when the privacy landscape feels like quicksand—and how to build durable practices that don’t whiplash with every update. Brendan Reiley, Sr. Director, Revenue Operations, NASCAR Digital Media | |
| 11:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. | Meet People Break (AKA Networking) | Stretch your legs, hydrate, briefly question your sanity, and get moving to your next session. |
| 11:45 a.m. Breakouts | Building Trust into our Programmatic Ecosystem | Where is the trust? How can we rebuild trust and escape the “Both Buyer and Seller Beware” mentality that jeopardizes our existence? Rob Beeler, Founder & CEO, Beeler.Tech |
Internal Struggles: Changing Our Organizations from Within | Publishers know they need to change, but they don’t all know how. Let’s talk about how the organizations are rethinking their set-up to be better positioned for the future. Lori Tavoularis, Principal, Tavoularis Consulting | |
Why Build It if You Can’t Sell It? | The data is there. The pipes are laid. The heavy lifting is done. The revenue bump hasn’t come. Why? Because our Sales teams can’t sell what they don’t know, and they won’t sell what they don’t trust. Let’s talk about how we can finally turn our hard work into big wins. Jana Meron, Principal & Founder, Lioness Strategies LLC | |
CTV and Retail Media for Those Who have Neither | You might not have your own channel or large chain of retail outlets. It doesn’t mean you can’t find opportunity to get a cut of the ad budgets going in that direction. Let’s discuss how. BTW, if you are in CTV or Retail Media, you are free to join! | |
| 12:45 p.m. | It’s Lunch Time, Folks | Grab a bite, meet someone new, swap big ideas. |
| 1:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. | Brands Run the World: Be a Brand | In a noisy, fragmented media landscape, brand is the moat. Amanda Sabreah, trusted by iconic names like Coca-Cola, FIFA, TNT, and McDonald’s, will break down how publishers can think and operate like modern brands to stay relevant, grow loyal audiences, and attract premium advertisers. This talk will explore how brand strategy isn’t just for consumer products but it’s the key to audience trust, editorial influence, and long-term revenue. Amanda Sabreah, Founder, Thought Factory |
| 2:30 p.m. to 2:40 p.m. | Hustle to Your Next Session | Shake it out, grab some water, contemplate your existence, and then off you go to the next session. |
| 2:40 p.m. Breakouts | Revenue 2026: Where Will It Come From? | Someone is going to ask you for revenue projections for 2026. You might as well use this opportunity to talk with others in the same predicament and share the best ideas of how to go forward. Melissa Chapman, Head of Community & Operations, Beeler.Tech |
Publishers Are Brands | Building on the keynote, the future belongs to publishers who think less like traditional publishers and more like brands creating digital content. Amanda Sabreah, Founder, Thought Factory | |
Ops Out Loud | Welcome to scream therapy for publishers. Sound off. Seriously. Say the things that aren’t being said that need to be said. Tell us the stories that need to be told. Share the problems that need to be solved. It’s a safe space, but what you collectively say here will be heard beyond our time in Savannah. You’ve told us before you want your voice to be heard. This is your place to do it. Liz Moorehead, Content & Storytelling, Beeler.Tech | |
Data Rizz That Eats | You can have the most amazing first-party data, and it still doesn’t mean squat if you can’t get advertisers to buy it. Selling your audience requires a narrative. So, how do you tell your story? Stephanie Mazzamaro, Head of Monetization & Identity, The Arena Group | |
| 3:40 p.m. | Leverage Your Community Break | Move your body, grab a snack, reconsider your life choices, and then dive into what’s next. |
| 4:00 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. | Resilience is Not Futile | We conclude our day with Dr. G. Scaffolding onto the morning’s learning about what drives us to positively navigate disruption, she will provide the tools we can use to draw resilience from others in the face of unwanted change. As we strive to communicate positions, policies and purpose, we will apply evidence-based, scientific strategies to decrease the overwhelm disruption causes and improve the mental health, resilience and success of our people and organizations. Deborah Gilboa, MD, Resilience Expert, Founder, Ask Doctor G |
| 5:45 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. | Dinner at The Wyld | Join us for the quintessential Southern evening at The Wyld, just outside Savannah. Set beside the water and fragrant with blooming jasmine and marshland air, this night celebrates Lowcountry living at its best. Enjoy a traditional oyster roast, seafood specialties, and games, or simply settle into an Adirondack chair to watch the sunset over the river. Laiken Love and her fellowship band will provide the soundtrack, performing the best music the Lowcountry has to offer. Dress casually, and don’t forget a jacket for when the evening cools off. |
Tuesday, October 7, 2025
| Session Time | Session Title | Session Description |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 a.m. | Rise & Shine, It’s Breakfast Time! | Grab more coffee, regain consciousness, and maybe go for a parfait instead of a croissant this time. (Just kidding, have the croissant.) Let’s do this again. |
| 9:00 a.m. | Reflect on Monday, Plan for Today | We’re back for another day. We’ll recap the hivemind goodness that came out of day one and talk about how to make the most of day two. |
| 9:10 a.m. | You Know Your Way Now, Find Your Next Session | It’s time to get moving, folks. Today’s magic isn’t going to make itself. |
| 9:20 a.m. Breakouts | Case Study: A DSP and a Data Company Walk Into a Bar… | Between our partners and our publishers, we have some amazing stories to tell. Updates on what those stories are coming. Promise. Ryan Boh, VP of Product, Lockr by Viant Jeff Steiner, VP Customer Solutions, 5×5 |
Case Study: From Zero to Sticky: Video Making Readers Stay (and Pay) | In this session, you’ll hear how Autopian, a beloved car culture site, used video to drive a 27% revenue increase, 32M annual video player loads, and 8% more dwell time. From identifying under-leveraged video inventory to deploying a tech-forward approach that doesn’t rely on massive in-house resources, this case study offers a playbook for growing loyalty, revenue, and brand impact through smarter video. Matt Hardigree, Publisher, The Autopian Michael Myslinski, Partnerships, EX.CO | |
Case Study: Order Management at the Center of Change | For Publishers operating in an increasingly complex world, operational agility is as vital as technological innovation. GSTV – America’s largest on-the-go video network – undertook a far-reaching transformation that touched not just technology, but culture, processes, and people. This session goes beyond platform adoption, inviting attendees to discuss the complexities of preparing for, executing, and thriving through transformational change. Bill Porter, Director, Product Management, GSTV Raymond Adamson, VP, FatTail | |
| 9:50 a.m. | Make Your Way to the Next Session | Get vertical, caffeinate, politely debate session highlights, and then carry on. |
| 10:00 a.m. Breakouts | Come Back Home(page): Rethinking the Opportunity | Learn how USA Today transformed its homepage strategy by balancing editorial curation with AI-powered personalization and rediscovered that the front door can be a revenue driver. Kara Chiles, SVP of Media Product, Gannett Kurt Gessler, Staff Product Manager, Publisher Products, Taboola |
Moving Beyond Dashboards | Publishers can’t afford to treat direct, programmatic, and premium formats as separate worlds. The Weather Company shares how it addressed the challenge of monitoring yield across multiple sales channels—identifying suppressed impressions, line-item conflicts, and anomalies that dashboards often missed. Let’s explore how cross-channel visibility enhances trust with advertisers and protects top-line revenue. Rich Zeroth, Head of Advertising Yield, The Weather Company Ju-kay Kwek, CEO & Co-Founder, Switchboard Software | |
| ROAD to Transparency | Amongst all the Transaction ID kerfuffle, James Strang has put forward a plan to provide more transparency within the programmatic ecosystem. Learn more about his proposal and potential next steps. James Strang, Ad Tech Consultant, JS.Consulting | |
| Do You Really Need Programmatic? | Explore the revenue opportunities beyond programmatic advertising. Discuss strategies, partnerships, and channels that can drive growth without relying solely on automated buying (or relying as much). Talk about how to diversify your monetization approach, increase control, and capture incremental value in a changing digital landscape. | |
| 10:30 a.m. | Enjoy Community Break | Grab a snack, chat up neighbors, pretend to check emails. Then, off you go! |
| 11:05 a.m. Breakouts | Table Talks: Bring Your Topic, Have Your Discussion | There are topics you want to cover, that we don’t cover in the larger agenda. This is your opportunity to tell us about those topics, get into small table groups, roll up your sleeves and hash it out. Take the conversation where you want it to go. |
| The Hidden Tax: Understanding Reseller Impact | Resellers and hidden intermediaries are siphoning off revenue, often without detection and beyond the reach of traditional A/B tests. This session will explore how hidden middleman fees and opaque demand paths reduce yield and transparency.. We’ll discuss how to trace the true path of demand, identify the red flags, and regain control with smarter, more direct supply strategies. Patrick McCann, SVP Research, Raptive | |
The New Playbook for Local Publishers | How does a Georgia publisher grow digital revenue without leaning on programmatic? In this fireside chat, Keith Pepper, founder of Rough Draft Atlanta and former ad tech executive sits down with Jaime Levitt Corry, founder of JLevCo., to unpack the bold bets behind turning a chain of community papers into a thriving digital-first local brand. Keith Pepper, Founder, Rough Draft Atlanta Jaime Levitt Corry, Founder, JLevCo. | |
| 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. | The Lunch Lady Cometh | Fill your plate, find your people, trade ideas (and maybe desserts). |
| 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. | Activities | Click here to view the activities list. |
| 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. | Savannah Nights: Sunset Serenade at Smiles Dueling Piano Bar | Tuesday evening kicks off at the JW rooftop, where we’ll gather to watch a stunning sunset over Old Savannah. From there, we’re heading over to Smiles Dueling Piano Bar, where the night turns wonderfully wild. Expect a high-energy, interactive musical experience, so bring your song requests and dancing shoes. This is your night to outshine the city: sequins, mirrorball vests, disco pants, metallics so bright we’re legally required to provide sunglasses. If you’ve got something that sparkles, glows, or could double as a lighthouse beacon, tonight’s the night. Dress reflective, literally and emotionally. We’re talking mood rings, mirrored aviators, and yes, glow sticks galore (because obviously). Let’s see you catch the light, on and off the dance floor. |
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
| Session Time | Session Title | Session Description |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 a.m. | Breakfast | Rise and shine, everybody. It’s time to fuel up for the home stretch ahead. |
| 9:00 a.m. | Make Every Second Count Wednesday | We’ve accomplished a lot together over the past two days. We’ll tie a bow on what we’ve discussed together and talk about how to make the most of our remaining time together. |
| 9:10 a.m. | Don’t Dawdle, Wednesday Sessions are Great | And away we go, onward to our final sessions of the day. Hydrate get moving to your next seession. |
| 9:20 a.m. Breakouts | Publisher-Buy Side Alignment Part I | Part I of a half-day meeting directly with DSP and buying platform product leaders in structured working sessions to align on technical roadmaps, optimize data signals, and improve inventory representation. Nicole Kilaita, Director, DSP Strategy, Yahoo DSP Ryan Boh, VP of Product, Lockr by Viant Christopher Carafello, VP Product, Mediaocean Oz Gegre, Senior Director, Inventory Development, The Trade Desk |
| Who Can It Be Now? How Bot Traffic Will Change Site Access | AI-generated traffic is already here and growing. It’s forcing a rethink of how publishers define “real users.” Join this conversation on how bot detection, consent frameworks, and value exchanges may need to evolve. Cody McCauley, Partnerships Lead, TollBit | |
| 10:15 a.m. | Networking Break & Check the Heck Out of the Hotel Break | This is your time. Spend time with your friends, new and old. Frantically track down rogue chargers that have escaped your grasp. Test the limits of the expansion cabilities of your suitcase. But be quick, we’ve got a few more goodies in store this afternoon. |
| 10:45 a.m. Breakouts | Publisher-Buy Side Alignment Part II | The conversations continue as we work around the room meeting with our new buy-side friends Nicole Kilaita, Director, DSP Strategy, Yahoo DSP Ryan Boh, VP of Product, Lockr by Viant Christopher Carafello, VP Product, Mediaocean Oz Gegre, Senior Director, Inventory Development, The Trade Desk |
| Capturing Branding Dollars in a Performance-Obsessed Market | With retail media, walled gardens, and performance-driven DSPs pulling spend, publishers face mounting pressure to prove their branding value. How can publishers effectively demonstrate upper-funnel impact to counter buyers’ bias toward performance channels? Let’s discuss strategies for packaging insights that defend brand budgets in RFPs and renewals, and see who has successfully shifted spend from performance into branding—and the tactics that made the difference. Kristen Friesen, VP, Revenue, Brand Metrics | |
It’s the Last Chance, Last Dance for Conversations that will Transform 2026 | We’ll do our best match-making to make sure you leave with one more nugget of awesomeness before you head home. | |
| 11:30 a.m. | Transition Break | Catch your breath from the morning, debrief with your peers, and gather your thoughts before we come together one last time. |
| 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. | Closing Session & Wrap Up | |
| 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. | Last Lunch with All Your New Friends | You can’t travel on an empty stomach. Plus, you’ve made some great connections over the past few days. Catch up, share ideas, and take time to talk about what we can all accomplish together. (Just don’t talk with your mouth full.) |