The 2026 AICP Awards Tour makes its final stop in Chicago on Thursday, November 19, bringing the city’s advertising and production community back to The Old Post Office for a screening of award-winning work, a panel discussion and two receptions. It’s a night to honor exceptional work in commercial production and to catch up with the people who make it.
This year’s panel brings together four people who come to the work from different parts of the business. Aldo Gagliardiis executive vice president and group executive producer at Edelman, Magdalena Hernández is an editor at Cutters, Katy Hornaday is CEO of BarkleyOKRP, and Tim Mason is a director at TESSA. They’ll discuss what made this year’s winners stand out, how technology is shaping creative decisions and where the industry is headed.
BarkleyOKRP has a connection to this year’s winning work, earning three AICP Next Awards and tying R/GA for the most wins by an agency in that competition. The Next Awards are one of three AICP competitions, alongside the AICP Show, which honors the art and technique of the commercial, and the AICP Post Awards. This year’s winners were first presented during AICP Week in New York in June. The winning work becomes part of the archives of the Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Film.
For Chicago’s commercial production community, the finale is also an annual reunion. The receptions are a chance to meet people you might work with next and catch up with the people you’ve worked with for years. Old friends and former coworkers who rarely get to be in the same room can spend an evening together and celebrate the people whose work stood out this year. See Reel Chicago’s photo gallery from last year’s finale.
The evening takes place at The Old Post Office, 433 W. Van Buren St. The opening reception begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by the AICP Awards Tour program at 7 p.m. The closing reception runs from 8 to 11:30 p.m. Register through AICP.
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