People + Agencies 2026
People + Agencies is the show that honors the humans and shops behind another banner indie year.
Founders who bet on themselves. Strategists who kept clients honest. Creatives whose work moved culture. Operators who kept the lights on when the numbers didn't. Teams that built something worth being part of. And the shops that made all of it possible.
Every December, 40 names hit the livestream during Top 40 Week — five days of reveals in front of the whole indie community. A Hall of Fame class gets a bigger honor: induction, celebrated live in NYC.
Put yourself, your team or your shop in the running.
Buy a pack. Split it across your team.
Flat-price entry credits. Bank them at the agency level, spend them from anywhere on your team, never expire, roll to the next show if unused. Cleaner than sending a Stripe link around and hoping people remember their member discount.
Our sponsors
The sponsors making this year’s show possible.
See the caliber of work that’s won
The full archive of past People + Agencies 2026 winners lives outside this platform. Take a look — this is the bar.
Browse past winners ↗Categories
18 categories across multiple tracks.
- 10 Toes DownFor the shop that stood firm on its values, culture or niche—even when saying “no” was painful. This salutes the hard choices: firing a toxic high-paying client, refusing to pitch for unethical industries or sticking to a model that others said couldn’t be sustained.
- Addy Hot StreakGoes beyond mere financial growth to dissect the engine driving a massive winning run. We’re looking for repeatable strategy, positioning or operational magic behind the momentum.Category sponsor:Pathlabs
- Best Living RoomCulture isn’t ping-pong tables, free beer or mandated back-to-office days—it’s safety, trust and shared purpose. This category honors an agency where people actually thrive, stay long-term and do their best work without burning out.
- No FlukesNo one-hit wonders here. We’re looking for the agency delivering high-caliber, sharp creative work month after month across its entire client roster, not just for a single hero client or speculative pitch project.
- Under The Radar + On The MoneyChampions the unsung heroes of brand growth. Work that delivered massive commercial impact, deep community engagement or absurdly good ROI without relying on viral hype or traditional PR-push tactics.
Want to judge?
People + Agencies 2026 is judged by working indie creatives, strategists, and editors. If that’s you, we’d love to have you on the jury. The commitment is 6–8 hours of remote judging in your assigned week, on your own schedule.
Apply to judge →