Midtown Manhattan was a bit more crowded than usual in early October thanks to Advertising Week 2025 — the best event of its kind.
For four days, innovators, entrepreneurs, and curious creators convened to chat through ideas and explore future opportunities that will ultimately shape our world. Not only is the event a fantastic way to connect with people within your field, but it’s an opportunity to expand and collaborate with professionals and businesses you might not have necessarily heard of beforehand.
Who knows what could develop down the line?! That’s the beauty of an event like this.
As is the case each year, there are plenty of memorable moments throughout the four-day period — talks, activations, giveaways. Here are a few of ours.
The scope of the gathering
In 2025, over 20,000 attendees and 4,000 companies ventured to the Penn District for a chance to chat and learn more about their respective fields, and beyond.
From media and tech to travel and retail and everything in between, all professional interests were accounted for during the world’s premiere marketing event. Secret Media Network managed to join forces with plenty of colleagues: content creators, PR reps, readers and writers, etc.
Secret NYC’s creative activation
Each year, the SMN team brings the creativity — and the free tote bags — that attendees can’t seem to resist. Of course, we have a hyper-local guide to the area, so that conference-goers can have our editors’ best picks for where to eat, shop, and venture near the Penn District.
This year, we were particularly proud to introduce the world to our silver, avant-garde bagel…which bore a striking resemblance to the Chicago Bean.
Anyway! The photo-worthy feature not only made for fun selfies, but it was a way to bring together the people visiting the activation. Moreover, the bagel was meant to represent the connectivity between us and the ever-changing ways of our world, and we’d like to think at Secret NYC we’re evolving alongside New Yorkers.
Connecting with our favorite creators
Not only did SMN and Fever host a panel alongside one of our favorite creators — and SMN100 recipient, Tiff Baira — but we got to connect with “NYC’s official cupid” about matters of the heart and her new book.
Psst: don’t forget to check out footage from our panel “Human Over Hype: The Power Of Niche Creators, Collaboration & Real Connections.”
We also got in touch with Mexican creators, Chinguamiga and Paco De Miguel to provide insight on an area we all love: food. See the results below.
Though it’s only been one week since the annual conference, we’re willing to bet a lot will change for the better between now and Advertising Week 2026 thanks to this four-day spark of creativity. Stay tuned for more!