• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, February 5, 2025

You know what’s great about this industry?  The people.

People talk about culture in terms of a company, or a team, but if you’ve been part of the digital advertising industry for any period of time, you see something different.  You start to realize the entire industry itself has a culture, and that culture is very special.   The people who’ve been part of this business since the beginning are, for the most part, still involved.   Some are starting to retire. Many are in leadership positions. All of them are part of a community, and that sense of community is unlike anything I’ve seen in any other industry vertical.

I started out in advertising in 1995.  I left advertising for a couple years with a foray into collaboration tech, followed by a stint in fintech.  Both areas were amazingly interesting, and I learned a lot, but those industries lacked that same sense of community that is somehow inherent in digital media and advertising.

Even the people who came from traditional advertising and eventually made their way here can attest that digital has a different vibe.  It feels more like a big family than any other industry.  When I returned to the space and dove back into advertising, it felt like a reunion.  Seeing some of the people who I fell out of touch with for five years, and re-engaging, felt warm and comfortable, like returning to a community that welcomes you back and wants you to succeed.

The industry has grown dramatically.  It used to be we were comparing digital media spend to traditional advertising dollars, then to traditional television.  At each step, the industry grew and became a more dominant piece of the pie.  At each stage, the relationships have continued, and they grew stronger.

The industry spawned networking organizations like 212, ThinkLA nd Las Vegas Innovation Marketing Association.   The industry has spawned charitable organizations like TD Foundation, which helps American veterans’ families in crisis, and others that do great work supporting all walks of people and causes.   They further foster a sense of community and the idea that the industry is doing good.

The industry has created marriages (including mine), and it is even crazier now to see the children of people who helped launch this industry interning and/or working to help further the industry their parents helped create.  You may see that in the world of banking and finance, or even entertainment, but rarely do you see it with such gusto.

When I was in fintech, it was always about the company, not the people.  Everyone only cared what company you worked at, not you and your history.  Maybe that’s because there was no sense of shared history.  Finance is one of the oldest businesses in the world, and while there is innovation in fintech, I found it to be less passionately and more financially driven.  Digital media still feels like people do it because they love it rather than just because they think they can get rich doing it.

The people in this industry are special, and I hope we find more ways to celebrate them as they begin to fully retire and ride off into the sunset.  Maybe I am being a romantic, but I am so happy to be back in this business and engaging with all of you. I thought that maybe, just maybe, you all needed to hear this, too.