2026 Touchstones Luncheon Recap

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The Touchstones Luncheon | October 5, 2027 | New York Hilton Hotel

The 2026 Touchstones Luncheon in Review

The Touchstones Luncheon, a signature moment of the Leadership Conference, celebrated industry excellence and forward-thinking leadership. This year’s event honored the 2026 Touchstone Award recipients, recognizing organizations making a lasting impact across media, entertainment, and technology. The luncheon also brought a fresh twist to the celebration with the Future Ready Challenge, an interactive game show exploring the ideas and innovations shaping what’s next.

The competition was ON! The challenge delivered a high-energy showdown packed with quick thinking, friendly competition, and plenty of excitement. Team A rose to the challenge and took home the victory!

_{(L-R) Photo 2: Samira Bakhtiar (General Manager, Telco, Media, Entertainment, Games and Sports), James Rooke (President, Entertainment, Versant Media), Val Boreland (President, Comcast Advertising), Tom Montemagno (EVP, Programming Acquisition, Charter Communications), Sheereen Russell (EVP, Client Partnerships, Warner Bros. Discovery), Orlando Hampton (SVP, Enterprise Technology, AI Contact Center, Invisible Technologies)}

Congratulations to Amazon Web Services (AWS), recipient of the inaugural Catalyst Award! AWS earned the Catalyst Award for its innovative AWS Elemental Inference technology, demonstrating how AI can transform video workflows and drive meaningful industry advancement. Accepting the award: Katherine Kelshaw and Kali Ridley.

_{(L-R) Kali Ridley (Senior Product Marketing Manager, Media & Entertainment, AWS), Katherine Kelshaw (Senior Solutions Architect, Media & Entertainment, AWS), Tracy Pitcher}

Congratulations to NBCUniversal / Bravo, recipient of the inaugural Connect Award. Bravo earned the Connect Award for BravoCon, demonstrating how immersive fan experiences can strengthen community connections and extend storytelling beyond the screen. Accepting the award: Jennifer Geisser and Harriet Hubball.

_{(L-R) Harriet Hubball (SVP, Brand Marketing, Bravo), Jennifer Geisser (EVP, Communications and Talent Relations, Bravo & Peacock Unscripted), Tracy Pitcher}

Congratulations to Versant, recipient of the inaugural Inspire Award! Recognized for bold leadership in building an independent media company with a forward-looking vision rooted in innovation, entrepreneurship, and audience connection. Accepting the award: Roy Cho and Val Boreland.