The Times Center — Attraction in New York

Marketing Brew Summit at The Times Center

Marketing Brew’s Summit at The New York Times Center delivered exactly what our industry needs right now: concentrated signal over spray-and-pray noise. The main theater—The Stage at The Times Center—was a joy to sit in all day: generous legroom, excellent sightlines, and rock-solid acoustics that kept every word crisp without blasting the front rows. The room itself is a 378-seat auditorium designed by Renzo Piano, purpose-built for talks and screenings, and it shows. The in-house technical package (cinema-grade projection, surround audio) gives presenters headroom to do more than advance slides; it lets ideas land.

Downstairs, the gathering spaces were curated with the kind of care marketers notice—wayfinding that flows, staff who anticipate, and a layout that nudges real conversation between sessions. Catering was spot-on for breakfast and lunch; at The Times Center, food service is handled by Dig Inn and it lived up to the it's reputation—fresh, timely, and easy to grab without creating traffic jams.

The day moved on a crisp cadence~20-minute blocks that were long enough for substance and short enough to keep energy high. That rhythm invited a real cross-section of perspective: legacy brands, breakout DTCs, and the creators/operators building the next playbook in social and earned. Recent Summit lineups have featured leaders from companies like Squarespace, Ford, Atlassian, Nasdaq, and Edelman alongside reporters from Marketing Brew who keep the conversations grounded in what’s actually moving the market. In past New York editions, we’ve also heard from e.l.f. Beauty, Duolingo, Mastercard, and Sesame Workshop—an editorial range that mirrors the way modern teams actually work.

Scale matters—but intimacy converts. Compared to the sprawl of the big tent weeks, this Summit felt intentionally right-sized: enough people to meet real peers, not so many that you’re shouting over a DJ to grab five minutes with a speaker. The Hall and gallery spaces upstairs/downstairs are flexible by design, which keeps networking organic instead of awkward.

Net takeaways

Format discipline → Fast cycles force clarity. You leave with quotable ideas and usable frameworks, not just vibes.

Editorial curation → Marketing Brew’s bench cuts across brand, platform, and creator economy—useful if you straddle paid, social, and earned.

Venue advantage → The Times Center is built for talks. That translates to fewer AV hiccups, better audio, and happier attendees.

Would we send our team again? Absolutely—so long as the criteria and quality stay at this level. The combination of a comfortable, thoughtfully run venue; smart, brisk programming; and a speaker slate that reflects where attention actually lives today makes this a strong annual pick for practitioners and...

I went here to see the pre-screening of Where'd You Go, Bernadette? with a Q & A featuring Richard Linklater. The building itself is very minimal design. Clean lines but stark. There are many, many steps so be aware of that. There are elevators yet the majority of the entry as well as the theatre are steps. The restrooms are down a rather long set of steps and down the hall at the end. The theatre seats are small red velvet and a bit low with no give. If you are over 5 feet 6 inches, then you might feel cramped. Also, the temperature was warm in the theatre. The screen is smaller which I prefer actually and the sound is not as loud as a chain theatre. Overall, the interview was ok but possibly make sure the sound is turned up as it was a bit difficult to hear both parties, and I was in the front row. For $50 it was a steal. A pleasant experience. I...

Came for an all-day tech event, from noon to 6:30 pm. I believe a total of almost 500 attended. Small sandwich lunch buffet was served, fresh and satisfying. Conference went well till 3:30 when we had a small break where tiny cakes and fresh vegetables were laid out. Event finished at 5:30 for an hour-long reception. No hard liquor, but very good selections of red and white wines. There were also some bottled beers and plenty of hors d’oeuvres being passed around. Restroom is only at the basement floor but if you use the elevator, easy to get to. Staff was excellent. Very professional and disciplined. From waitresses to stagehands, every person always knew what was going on. This is what I would expect if I were having a...