My Magnificent Seven

They are indeed OOH Cowboys

My Magnificent Seven

by Nick Coston

By now you must be sick of reading all these spring conference posts on LinkedIn. There was the IBO in Salt Lake City, POSSIBLE in Miami Beach and the OAAA in Boston and 6575 posts in between, over a five-week period. I did the trifecta, attended all three and thoroughly loved them all. We have some truly good people in OOH. I’ll state at the end of this ramble which show I thought was the best, meaning most informative, best pacing, most relevant to our industry and of course the best food.

However, the most important take away from these last four weeks is to bring attention the Top Industry peeps who best caught my attention as they contributed the most during each show. This isn’t your normal Top Twenty List, in fact it’s limited to seven, and I consider them all friends. Most weren’t on the stage or any panel, they were just there working. Most don’t work for the big companies; some even work alone, on their own. They have no idea I’m mentioning them in this piece until now. Sorry ‘bout that. What I will tell you is that most of these seven peeps you’ve never heard, maybe never even met. If you have, you probably attended at least one of these shows, and you’ll get right away where I’m coming from. They are engaging, bright, personable, happy souls who when they enter a room immediately raise the “in play” level of any conversation. May I encourage you to get to know them. Forget what you read online about OOH being an old, crusty form of advertising, past its prime, with non-verifiable analytics, and crappy copy. Wake up, stop paying attention to naysayers, they’re just jealous as those days are well behind us. Based on the enthusiasm of just these seven, the future of OOH (meaning DOOH, Place-Based, Transit, you know, the usual suspects) is mind-boggling bright. I may even work an additional ten years just to see these seven continue raising their game and pushing the envelope on OOH.

I’ll be 90 by then.

Nevertheless, bear with me a moment while my attention issues take over. I’d be amiss if I avoided commenting on these three shows, IBO, POSSIBLE and OAAA so here’s my quick, running my mouth comments:

1. Please, for the love of God, stop with all these expert panels that clogged up some of POSSIBLE and much of OAAA. It’s an easy way out to fill time but terribly boring. It’s much less difficult for industry audiences to focus on one engaging speaker at a time, specifically a short time such as 12-15 minutes each. Save room for some Q and A, get that damn audience up out of their seats asking questions, even 3 audience questions will ignite a spark among the dead. Make the conversation two-sided. Enough of these snoozer panels where even the panelists run out of intelligent things to say.

2. The best session among all 3 shows I saw featured an industry veteran, that only really insiders are familiar with. He’s not a show-off, not a sexy celebrity type, speaks in plain English not industry jargon, and yes is based in West Virginia. I implore you if there’s a tape of this somewhere, and hopefully IBO has this bad boy recorded, then catch Bill Lodzinski’s “Points to Ponder: Sales, Leadership and Life” talk. Covering a span of roughly 25 minutes, Bill’s talk was a spellbinding mix of industry takes, personal travels and family, all wrapped into what seemed like a one-on-one conversation. This is a guy who’s worked at Link Media Outdoor, Associated Posters (API), Fairway Outdoor, Outfront, and Lamar. Heck, he’s his own panel wrapped into one. Any who, it was the best session out of all 3 conferences, professional, personal, entertaining and to the point. No big, new-age industry phrases and certainly no nappers in the crowd. Hope you can find a copy of it, you’ll see what I’m talking about. Plus Bill is a snappy dresser. Although a completely different personality, my dear friend David Shing comes in second to Bill. “Shingy” is a show of his own, and I love how he uses the whole stage and makes eye contact. Also, a great storyteller, he has an amazing command of our industry. Although there’s only one, OOH needs more Shingy’s.

3. I know you’ve been waiting for this one: best food presentation and eats at all 3 shows. All were good mind you, but a bit of a tie between IBO’s sports bar night and fab Taco Bar and Lamar’s Closing Night bash complete with Cirque du Solel style performers and awesome snack foods and appys. I gotta lean towards IBO’s Flanker Kitchen & Sporting Club night. A huge sports bar with bunch of screens, big open bar and waitress service for drinks too. Hard not to pass up that fresh guacamole and make your own nacho’s. I’m a cheap date.

Surprise! The IBO is the sleeper here among the other two larger conferences and takes the win. Make no mistake, they were all outstanding, but IBO was that much better.

Ok, enough show talk, back to my Top Seven Amazing Peeps list. Hope I matched the pictures right. These are in no particular order, so if you are at the top of my list, well…

1. Bill Durden, VP, Durden Outdoor, Dothan, Alabama. One of the most dynamic OOH individuals to come along in years with his ability to own a room while relating to all aspects of outdoor. Bill, who won an automotive Obie in 2024 was described by Billboard Insider as “giving a one-of-a-kind OBIE acceptance speech”. I was present for that moment realizing that this was an enlightened OOH colleague to watch. Saw Bill and his huge smile again at the IBO recently in Salt Lake City where he was a presenter at the 2025 Indie Awards Show. Watch out OOH, he’s one of many up-and-coming OOH peeps to keep an eye on.

2. Jules Folkers, currently working as SVP, Product at Chameleon Digital Media, Jules has a pedigree OOH background with 5 plus years at Motionworks, then a whopping 12 years as a Managing Director at Omnicom Media Group. She’s a walking-talking encyclopedia of all things OOH, she’s forgotten more than I’ve ever learned. After scoring and experiencing a wonderful lunch at POSSIBLE this past April with Jules my colleagues, I made the one man’s opinion that she should be head of an agency, one that specializes in data management and digital transformation. She also has a wicked sense of humor, so listen up. Jules is a huge, under the radar contributor to DOOH and thankfully will be for some time.

3. Deakin Bell, CEO, Media Boss Group, Deakin has quickly become a very loud and effective industry mouthpiece. With his intimidating height and flashy ball caps, Deakin is on the fast-track to building his own brand. Bright, quick witted with a deep baritone voice, Deakin has been commanding industry attention even before he went on his own this past September. As Director of Member Engagement for the IBO, Deakin masterfully handled the MC duties at the recent Spring Conference and most recently as Director of Heli-D, North America, the groundbreaking flying digital screen out of Australia, soon to debut here in U.S. Yes, I said flying digitals. While building his own advising company, Deakin is also an amazing OOH sponge. He listens, chimes in with feedback and always remembers your name. This 8-year Group Director vet from oOh! Australia’s largest OOH company in Sydney has a huge future here. Besides his IBO Conference foghorn, Deakin introduced his Heli-D client at Possible and was a fixture with them at the recent OAAA in Boston. Watch him and his fast growth, he’s easy to spot. He too has a lot in common with this Top Seven List.

4. Melody Roberts, Founder, Chief Creative Officer at OOHC. Melody, in a short time has become one of most creative OOH copy designers in the industry. Take it from experiences with me alone, she’s clever, lightning fast, and always extends you choices of copy to consider. A Silver OBIE Award Winner at the OAAA Media conference in Boston, she also was honored with the IBO Best & Brightest Indie Impact Award in April at the Salt Lake City Conference for her work on the Bushnell Campaign on behalf of Meadow Outdoor Advertising. How many other individuals do you know that nailed both OOH award shows this year? Without any intimidating ego, she’s awesome and I’m glad to call her my best creative buddy.

5. Mehul Mandalia of Moving Walls, is the co-founder and head of product at the Singapore based global media tech group. I’ve only known and worked with Mehul since early March of this year and there’s zero doubt he’s the brightest and most forward-thinking OOH player I’ve ever worked with. Unassuming, Mehul can talk OOH tech with the best of them, from programmatic to planning & proposals, to revenue management, OOH measurement, verification and connecting inventory. As are the others mentioned above, Mehul isn’t a show-off, he doesn’t try and impress the industry with techy words and often used catch phrases. I’ve been on over 25 industry meet-ups in the last 4 months and never was he stumped, rattled or used the term “let me get back with you”. As are the others listed here, he’s not an industry household name, yet. But give him time, he’s busy building a global OOH tech platform without breaking a sweat.

6. Jeff Powers, Advisor, OOH Connect is another unassuming yet familiar face, as evident by his always smiling mug and friendly approach at both Possible and the OAAA Conferences this year. I met Jeff almost 2 years ago at a DPAA Town Hall in NYC and quickly remembered him from his previous gigs at Evergreen Trading, and years at Outfront. Mostly on the sales and marketing sides, Jeff also is one the bright stars in OOH that still flies under the big-name radar. When I see Jeff at conferences, Town Halls and related events, it reminds me of peeps that consistently show up. Talented and smart enough to head a team or OOH related company, the guy’s a true grinder. Anyone who knows him likes him. Task oriented and awesome at customer relations, I value his kinship and the stealth ways he navigates OOH. He can work a room better than anyone I’ve ever seen. That’s Jeff on the right at Possible standing next to Alex from Ivee.

7. Alexis Garrett, who’s now working at the massive place-based digital network, NRS Digital as their Director of Advertising, has been an OOH colleague of mine since 2015 when she was our regional rep for Clear Channel in Tampa. Tenacious, professional, and always in ad sales, nobody fits the mold of a successful advertising rep than her. Yet unless you met her at numerous OAAA Conferences, you may never have heard of her since she’s mostly been in similar positions in one market, Tampa-St Pete. No one does their homework better than she does on knowing her product, their locations, keeping in close touch even when there’s no current business, all while balancing home life with 3 small children. If OAAA ever allows OOH salespeople to speak on techniques that makes them the best in the game, she needs to be on that panel. We must applaud our comrades in OOH that have always been on sales side, they are what keeps this industry alive and functioning. Since 2009 that’s what she’s been doing, consistently. If I had to compile a team of OOH advertising reps/directors, she would be among my top 3. A team player always, she’s one of the best at making OOH cheerful and easy to navigate.

Today’s ramble broke 2000 words. I could keep going on these seven for another 2000. Additionally, there’s easily another seven behind them and then seven more.

Indeed, our future is young, aggressive, talented and cheerful to work with. OOH is in good hands if we continue to develop and celebrate these under the radar finds.

It’s time we sunset these conference panels and give the real players their due.