Manta’s ADFEST adventure as a newbie continues. Find out why ADFEST loyals, a host of delegates, and battalions of judges come back. A lot. Experience ADFEST through Manta’s eyes. Here is Manta’s Day 3:
First day of the festival. ADFEST 2026 has officially begun.
We arrived early to the work room and watched everything come to life in real time. Just hours before, the space was a tangle of wooden boards, wires, cables, and sweaty handymen drilling and hammering nonstop. Now, it had transformed completely. Shortlisted works were neatly displayed, the dining hall looked bright and inviting, and lounge areas and booths were dressed up with colourful posters and blinking agency signs. By late morning, PEACH was buzzing, filling up quickly with guests and delegates, all arriving with that unmistakable mix of curiosity and excitement.
My first session of the day explored the idea that feeling in advertising should be part of the KPI, echoing this year’s Human+ theme. Sitting there, I was reminded once again of just how much thought goes into a 30-second commercial. As the speakers walked through their process, I started to notice the layers. Every tiny detail, whether shaped by AI or human instinct, worked together in quiet harmony. There is so much nuance packed into such a short span of time, and when it all comes together, it creates something that lingers long after the screen fades to black.
Unlike the jury room, where completed works are judged as a whole, this session broke everything down step by step. It focused on the thinking behind the work. How a scene is chosen. Why a certain angle matters. How AI can help generate characters. How music, tone, mood, and cinematography shift the emotional outcome entirely. One line that really stayed with me was that AI can generate, but it cannot create human conviction. It felt like such a simple truth, yet so powerful. We often forget just how instinctive and complex human judgment is until we see it side by side with machines.
Later in the day, I joined a workshop on how to elevate your LinkedIn profile and make the most of the platform. It was probably too short for how much ground it could have covered, but there were still a few useful takeaways. Self-PR is hard. Even for people in creative and PR industries, putting yourself out there can feel uncomfortable. There is always that hesitation. But the advice was refreshingly straightforward. Be yourself. Be genuine. Be human.
And honestly, I think we already know that.
We know that connection still matters. We know that emotion is what makes us relatable. We know that being physically present with other people, sharing space, energy, and conversation, is something no digital tool can fully replicate. But somewhere along the way, we started to forget. We let social media, technology, and even AI speak on our behalf. We let them tell our stories for us.
That is why something like ADFEST still feels so relevant. Maybe even more than ever. Because at its core, it brings people back together. Real people, with real thoughts, real feelings, and real conversations.
And that is something that will never go out of style.
