It's 5:17 a.m. on the 9th of December. My blaring alarm has just gone off (to the ire of my long suffering wife). The seemingly endless torrential rain is hammering down on the roof. Pulling out my waterproof trousers (a steal at just £9.99 from the middle of Lidl) in preparation for boarding an overpriced train packed with sleep deprived commuters - disconnected from the world by their phones and giant noise cancelling headphones - is doing little to bring festive cheer to my 50 something year old face. 

War, AI, mass redundancies, economic jitters, Climate Change, the madness of Musk, Trump and Putin & co, bananas floating around in the English Channel - 2025 has had it all in spades. One could be forgiven for fantasising about kicking back on the sofa, shedding a tear over re-runs of Gavin & Stacey, and indulging in that most seasonal of pastimes - the afternoon nap. As Nessa might say, we all need a ‘tidy’ break and in 2025, the world feels ready for a reset. 

But as I squeeze on those Lidl trousers and prepare to tackle this morning's emails, there are plenty of positives - human resilience, grit and determination are beacons of hope as the industry's movers and shakers plot their moves for 2026. For all the talk of the death of creativity, tech businesses and agencies have found ingenious ways to make those marketing shackles stretch further and deliver growth - often against all the odds. Call it humanity and human connection at its best. 

Briefly allowing myself the indulgence of reflecting on our own wins, we've had a record breaking year at MAD//Fest HQ. Our MAD//Fest London 2026 theme, ‘The Human Touch’, has gone down a storm with brands, agencies and tech businesses throwing their hat into the ring to speak on-stage. 

MAD//North is back this Feb, bringing ‘Northern Soul’ vibes to Manchester after our most successful launch ever in 2025.

MAD//Masters By Rory Sutherland has gone from strength to strength as B2B and B2C businesses switch on to the magic of behavioural science (and who doesn't want Rory tackling their challenges in 2026?)  

Amplified - our content studio with a uniquely effective lead gen model - has already amassed a client list including TikTok, Havas, smg, LiveRamp, Lumen, customer.io, Similarweb and delivered quote frankly ridiculous lead volumes for clients. 

We've forged an innovative partnership with Ingenuity, delivering joined up marketing solutions and services for agencies of all sizes. 

Perhaps most importantly, in-person and online, our community goes from strength to strength. 

MAD//Fest is made for a world where people need to work hard to get budgets signed off and demonstrate ROI. Ostentatious displays of caviar and champagne are out of fashion, down-to-earth conversation and building meaningful human connections are in - and that suits MAD//Fest just fine. 

In spite of my aging body, we’re agile enough to align with the trends. There's huge demand for integrated content-driven marketing solutions that deliver leads and awareness throughout the year. Of course I would say that, but the proof is in the (Christmas) pudding and new clients keep joining our happy punters and propelling MAD//Fest’s growth. 

So if you see me on the train or at one of the 93 work do’s still to go until we can enter a semi-comatosed state caused by eating like Henry VIII with our nearest and dearest, tap me on the shoulder and say hi. And if you don't, drop me a line and we'll chat in the New Year. After all, community and human connection is what we do best.