The five-people test, and the terms conversation

AGS Rome 2026 Welcome Pack · the one page that makes the trip pay

Nobody in this business gets on a plane for the panels. You go to find out which advertisers are actually paying, and to sit across from them. That's why this page comes before the flight, not after.

The five-people test

Open the list. Run your eye down it. Write five names.

Can't fill five rows? Stop. Ten minutes spent, and you know. That's a better outcome than most conferences give you.

Can fill them? That's your meeting list, and it goes into the Match App the day it opens.

Some ways to find the five:

• The offer you've run longest through a network. Somewhere there's a company whose name is on it, and you've never spoken to a person there. If they're on the list, that's a direct conversation about terms that no amount of Telegram will get you.
• The name in your head. The advertiser you've imagined sitting across from. The terrace, the espresso, no account manager in the middle, a cap and weekly wires and the year's number done in twenty minutes. Check whether they're going. The next step is smaller than the imagining.
• The contingency three. The offer you're on will end. It always does. "Revenue dropped to £0 overnight," one scaled buyer wrote. Which three of these would you want to have already met the day that happens? Back up the relationships the way you back up the accounts.
• The geo you're moving into. Who on the list operates where you want to go, and could tell you in ten minutes what a month at your desk didn't?
• The platform question. The one the rep dodges. TikTok, Meta and Google have people at the stand. Bring the question.

The terms conversation

What you'd discuss is the same short list every time. Bring your numbers and the one thing you'd change.

The last column is the whole game. The buyer with the direct deal walked in with something the other side wanted: volume he could prove, creative velocity, a geo the offer owner couldn't crack, the ability to test an angle across formats in a week. You've spent the last year building exactly that production capacity because the platform automated everything else. This is where it pays off in the room, not just on the dashboard. It changes the conversation from "can I have a bump" to "here's what I can do with a better structure."

What you bring, physically

• Your volume, as a sentence. Monthly spend or daily conversions on the offer in question. Not a screenshot. A number you can say without looking down.
• The three things you'd change, in order. From the table.
• What you'd test first if the terms moved. This is the line that makes an offer owner lean in, because it tells them you're going to send them money.
• Your tracker's version of events. If a network on the list has ever shown 51 where your tracker shows 84, bring the numbers. Looking your account manager in the eye and asking why is one of the honest reasons buyers give for going, and it works.

The request

Short. Who you are, what you run, the number, the one thing. A request that reads like two operators talking terms gets accepted. A request that reads like a pitch to a stand gets the "let's connect" pile.

Afterwards

Accepted meetings get a time and a place. Take the terms table. Write the answer in the last column while it's fresh. The follow-up is one message the same day with the number you agreed to test, and then you go and test it.

That's the trip. Five names, five requests, a table of terms, and a number that moved. Everything else in Rome is a bonus.

We update this kit from time to time as confirmations, prices and event details change. This page is current as of 12 September 2026.