Next of the Best: why the ivy Ballroom is the only place to be on June 11

By the time the calendar flips to June, the Australian media industry collectively runs on fumes, flat whites, and end-of-financial-year adrenaline. And for sure, you’ve survived way too many “just bumping this to the top of your inbox” emails by now.

You need a break. More importantly, you need a room full of people who actually understand exactly what you do all day.

In just one and a half weeks, on Thursday, 11 June, the 2026 Mediaweek Next of the Best Awards will take over the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney. And it’s shaping up to be a solidly concentrated gathering of actual industry heavy-lifters.

Thank you very much.

Grading the industry's best

This year, we didn't just call for awards entries; we asked the absolute titans of the market to review them.

Our judging panels, featuring leaders like Sian Whitnall alongside Virginia Hyland, Darren Woolley, and Olia Krivtchoun, waded through the data, the decks, and the bold claims to find the people genuinely driving outcomes.

The resulting shortlist serves as a masterclass in talent. We are talking about the strategists, the commercial drivers, and the culture builders from over 30 of the most powerful agencies, publishers, and platforms in the country.

Pop culture chaos meets the company tab

To keep the spirit of the night firing on all cylinders, we’ve handed the MC microphones over to Nic Kelly and Loren Barry from The Hot Hits.

They typically spend their time wrangling global pop stars and dissecting red-carpet fashion. Next Thursday, they’ll be wrangling a ballroom full of media executives while judging how agency types interpret “Cocktail dress”.

We couldn’t have built this event without some serious backing. So we send a big thank you to our headline sponsors, News Australia, LiSTNR, and Blis, for helping us build a platform that genuinely champions the leadership delivering industry results.

Secure your spot

If you have a finalist on the board or simply want to treat your team to the best EOFY party going, the clock is ticking.

Entrants submitted their work. The judges made their decisions. Let's make sure we see you there.

Tickets available here.

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