Day 1 of @advertisingweek closed with something worth sitting with. In a week saturated with AI & automation narratives, the final session on the Innovation Stage made the counterargument, not defensively, but with conviction. @julesstaveley leaned into friction maxxing. The idea that as everything becomes more instant and frictionless, people are actively choosing experiences that require more of them. Vinyl records in a streaming world. Sold out stadiums in an era of on-demand everything. Live events have always been the ultimate expression of this. They do it because being in the room, the inconvenience, the serendipity, the unscripted moments, is precisely the point. The friction is the experience. As technology continues scaling reach & breadth, what it cannot replicate is depth. The relationship forged in a room. The conversation that happens because two people happened to be standing near the same coffee station. Offline isn't a retreat from the modern world. For many, it's the most desirable complement.