ITheme
Integrated Marketing
How Integrated Marketing leaders navigate opportunity, complexity and risk — and the coordination capabilities, human expertise, and structural alignment that establish lasting competitive advantage.
Velocity
Marketing. Communications. Leadership. Redefined.
Dates
July 16 – 17, 2026
Location
Chicago, IL
01 — The Experience
Not just speed.
Direction, recalibrated.
For the modern C-suite leader, velocity is both an opportunity and an existential threat — amplifying advantage for those who harness it, accelerating decline for those who cannot.
Grounded in Integrated Marketing Communications — the discipline pioneered by Northwestern's Medill School — Velocity explores how to unify data, channels, messaging, and experience into a coherent system that moves as one.
This is not about tactics. It is about building organizations and leaders capable of operating at speed with clarity — integrating strategy and execution, upskilling for continuous disruption, and turning velocity into competitive advantage rather than complexity.
03 — Themes
Three currents,
one operating model.
In an AI-driven landscape, IMC is no longer a best practice — it is the operating model required to maximize business growth. Velocity is structured around three intersecting bodies of work.
IITheme
Communications
Mastering the strategic discipline of communications — from narrative architecture and stakeholder alignment to crisis readiness, reputation management, and the systems that make messages move at scale.
IIITheme
Leadership
Navigating three distinct leadership states — driving high performance under pressure, steering through complexity and ambiguity, and leading personal and organizational reinvention — alongside emerging mandates in AI fluency, boardroom influence, and cross-functional culture building.
04 — Featured Sessions
Conversations
that move the work.
I
The Trust Deficit: The New Demands of Communications Leadership
Robert GibbsChief Communications & Public Affairs Officer, Warner Bros. Discovery & Former White House Press Secretary
Bradley AkubuiroPartner, Bully Pulpit International
II
On Leadership & Longevity with Helen Lin & Tara Walpert Levy
Helen LinChief Digital Officer, Publicis Groupe
Tara Walpert LevyVP, Americas, YouTube
III
Capability: The Foundation For Performance & Reinvention
Rishad TobaccowalaCo-Founder, The Athena Project
Veronika KryuchkovaGlobal Head, Capabilities - The Marketing Academy, Reckitt
IV
Relevance Under Pressure
Dr. Marcus CollinsClinical Assistant Professor of Marketing, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan & Co-Host, "From The Culture" Podcast
Jonathan HalvorsonChief Marketing & Digital Officer, Kenvue
05 — Partners
SUPPORTINGPARTNERS
Dstillery is the leading multi-model AI ad targeting company empowering brands and agencies to target their best prospects.
Publicis Media creates value for clients through global media agency brands and scaled capabilities across investment, strategy, insights and analytics, data and technology, commerce, performance marketing and content.
1440 is designed to provide fact-driven news and knowledge for the insatiably curious, without the opinions or distractions.
The premier trade association for the US out of home advertising (OOH) industry, The Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) is a passionate advocate and a progressive thought leader that protects, unites, and advances the interests of OOH.
06 — The Voices
The room you
won't find elsewhere.
Growth leaders, founders, operators, academics and artists — convened in conversation, not on a panel circuit.
Bradley Akubuiro
Partner, Bully Pulpit Int'l & Author, “Faster. Messier. Tougher.: Crisis Communication Strategies in an Era of Populism, AI & Distrust”
Harry Allen
Journalist, MLK Jr Visiting Scholar, MIT & Former Head of Enemy Relations, Public Enemy
Meghan Anhalt
Global Social Media Lead, John Deere
Anna Bager
CEO, OAAA
Michael Beebe
CEO, Dstillery
Danielle Robinson Bell
Associate Professor, Clinical and Academic Director of Medill Executive Education (Individual programs)
Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, Northwestern University
Pete Blackshaw
Founder & CEO, BrandRank.ai
Jeff Brecker
Partner, Growth & Innovation, Siberia
Ed Carfagnini
SVP, Client Partnerships, Clear Channel Outdoor
Doug Chavez
EVP, Retail Strategy
OneMars Publicis Commerce
Wendy Clark
Partner & President
The Consello Group
Lisa Collings
Client President, WPP Media
Dr. Marcus Collins
Associate Professor
Ross School of Business
Rex Curtiss
Chief Tractor Officer, John Deere
Paddy Dhanda
Product & Agiles Practice Director, QA
Allison England
Head of Global Markets Communications, GE Healthcare
Janet Foutty
President, Corporate Partnerships, RAISE US
& Former Chair & CEO, Deloitte Consulting and Chair, Deloitte US
David Freeman
Founder & CEO
Kynetic Ventures, Former Head of Digital Talent & Media, CAA
Robert Gibbs
Chief Communications & Public Affairs Officer, Warner Bros. Discovery
Jon Halvorson
Chief Marketing & Digital Officer, Kenvue
Angie Hannam
Chief Global Talent Officer, R/GA
Tariq Hassan
Former CMO, US, McDonald's
David Hernandez
Chief Creative Officer, Allstate
Tim Huelskamp
CEO, 1440
Drew Ianni
Co-Founder, The Athena Project
Veronika Kryuchkova
Global Head of Capability Building | The Marketing Academy, Reckitt
Tara Walpert Levy
VP, Americas, YouTube
Helen Lin
Chief Digital Officer, Publicis Groupe
Mike Linton
Host, CMO Confidential
Renetta McCann
Chief Inclusion Experiences Officer, Publicis Groupe
Ann Mukherjee
Director, Global CEO Program, Chicago Booth & Former US CEO, Pernod Ricard
Preeti Nadgar
Chief Strategy Officer, Starcom
Myra Nussbaum
VP, Global Brand, Moen & House of Rohl, Fortune Brands
Lou Paskalis
President & CEO, MMA Global
Sheena Rubin
Head of Earned & Social Media
The U.S. Army
Shelby Saville
CEO, Starcom
Kristine Shine
Founder & CEO, Shine Talent
Marla Skiko
Global Head, Media & Marketing Intelligence, Ford
Sherina Smith
Enterprise Chief Marketing Officer, American Family Insurance
Keith Soljacich
EVP & Head of Innovation, Publicis Media Content & Innovation, Publicis Media
Rishad Tobaccowala
Co-Founder, The Athena Project
Todd Unger
Chief Marketing & Experience Officer, The American Medical Association
Domenic Venuto
Chief Product & Data Officer, Horizon Media
Vijay Viswanathan
Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications and Associate Dean, IMC, Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, Northwestern University
Anthony Vitagliano
Founder & Creative Director, TONOS
Charles Whitaker
Dean and Professor
Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, Northwestern University
Ethelbert Williams
Head of Digital Commerce, Instacart, DoorDash & Uber, PepsiCo
Carlos Zepeda
SVP Strategy & Marketing - Wine and Spirits, Moët Hennessy USA, LVMH
07 — A Distinguished Tradition
The Don
Schultz Award.
Velocity is home to the 4th Annual presentation of The Northwestern Medill Don Schultz Award for Innovation in Teaching, Theory and Practice of Integrated Marketing Communications — honoring the legacy of the late Professor Don Schultz, who established the IMC discipline at Medill.
In Her Own Words
"Tension makes for a great story and great leadership."
"Talk less. Listen more."
"Making sure people are seen for who they are — fully — is so, so important."
"I like the water just where it gets right up to [the] nose, and I can breathe, but I've got to paddle like hell."
2026 RecipientIn Honoris
Wendy Clark
Partner & President, The Consello Group
"One of the most important women in advertising."
Northwestern's Medill School, the Schultz Family, and The Athena Project are proud to present this year's Don Schultz Award to veteran marketer, operator, and agency executive, Wendy Clark.
Wendy is Partner & President at Consello Group, a leading global advisory, and she most recently served as the Global Chief Executive of Dentsu International and previously served as CEO of DDB Worldwide. She arrived at DDB after serving as President of Sparkling Brands & Strategic Marketing at Coca-Cola North America.
Wendy's career accomplishments have been widely recognized, including her 2007 induction into the American Advertising Federation's Advertising Hall of Achievement.
08 — Learn & Stay
Learn -
On the Riverwalk.
Velocity is hosted at Medill's downtown Chicago campus — 303 East Wacker — at the heart of the Chicago Riverwalk and a short walk from the host hotel.
Venue
Medill — 303 E. Wacker Dr.
Northwestern's downtown campus on the Chicago River. Easy to reach from O'Hare, Midway, or anywhere in the Loop.
Stay -
Across the River
A dedicated room block puts you across the river from campus — wake up minutes from the morning sessions and steps from the city's best.
Host Hotel
The Sheraton Grand Hotel
A preferred attendee rate of $279 is reserved and you may book HERE.
09 — Frequently Asked
Details,
considered.
Request your seat
at the table.
As we wrap up the 2026 Velocity Conference, if you are interested in sponsoring next year's Velocity conference (July 26-27, 2027), please click the button below.