Once Upon a Time in Tribeca: Welcome to Longaxis 2026

Something a little extraordinary is about to happen in Tribeca. Over a year of planning, obsessing and refining . . . and we're finally, actually, hours away from Longaxis 2026.

Last year, we pulled off a sold-out debut that attendees rated 4.9 out of 5. We set a pretty high bar and then we spent the last twelve months quietly building something even better.

The Venue: A Full-On Fantasy

Maxwell Tribeca is anything but a conference center. Think: A roaring fireplace. A secret door. A garden room bathed in natural light. Cozy corners that make you forget there's a keynote starting in twenty minutes.

We'll layer immersive venue branding throughout every inch of the space, which will be designed to make you feel like you've stepped through a page in a storybook from the moment you walk through the door.

"It’s the kind of place where it's impossible to feel bored."

If you've been to Maxwell before, you know. If you haven't . . . you're in for something spectacular.

The People: 110+ of the Most Interesting People in DTC

Here's what makes us most excited about who’ll be in the room: This year's attendee base skews decisively AI-forward. 

More than half of registered guests describe themselves as either "all-in" or actively "finding their groove" when it comes to AI adoption. These aren't people curious about AI from a distance. Rather, they're actively building with it, testing it and looking for the edge cases and playbooks that others haven't figured out yet.

Past Longaxis attendees have come from brands like Helix Sleep, Nutrafol, Steve Madden, Magic Spoon, Veronica Beard, Seed, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, Urban Stems and Favorite Daughter. This year's list is every bit as stacked. These are the people moving fastest in DTC right now.

The Programming: Content Worth Clearing Your Calendar For

We'll give you the headlines without the spoilers.

Opening Keynote: Backstroke Founder & CEO R. J. Taylor takes the stage alongside the team at 3Z Brands to kick off the day with something worth showing up early for. Grab a coffee. Open your notes app. And bring your curiosity.

Industry Panel: "Seeing Your Customer Beyond Behavioral Data." If that title doesn't make you lean forward a little, we don't know what will. This conversation is relevant to everyone in the room . . . and it's going to get specific.

Roundtables: We’ll host seven simultaneous deep-dive conversations, facilitated by people who deeply know what they're talking about. Signups have been fierce, already! And the two most coveted tables so far are Mirror, Mirror: Unlocking Creative Superpowers with AI Tools and The Looking Glass: AI Analytics and the Death of Static Dashboards. 

The full slate of roundtables will look like:

The closing keynote? It’ll be delivered by astrophysicist Paul Sutter. 

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The Activities: Things You'll Talk About on the Way Home

We believe the best conferences feel like the field trips you loved as a kid. They’re filled with moments of wonder woven into the whole day. Here's a look at a few of the special activities attendees will take part in:

• Fresh pasta making. — A hands-on class you'll actually remember.

• Your signature cocktail. Judged. — May the best mixologist win.

• A shadow box you made with your own hands. — No experience needed. Just a story worth telling.

• Permanent jewelry. All day. — Drop in whenever. Leave with something to show for it.

There are a few things we're not going to tell you about yet. Because some surprises are better in person. 😉

The Feeling: It’s More of an Experience Than a Conference

We spent a long time thinking about what Longaxis should feel like. Not just what it should cover, or who should speak, or what food should be served . . . but the feeling someone carries with them when they step back out into Tribeca at the end of the day.

We kept coming back to one thing: the field trips you loved as a kid. The ones where you showed up not totally sure what was going to happen. The ones that left with your brain buzzing and something new stuck to you—an idea, a connection, a feeling that the world was a little bigger than you thought.

That's what we're going for. A little magic, a lot of substance, and a room full of people who are genuinely changing DTC marketing.

If you're registered: Get some sleep, charge your phone and wear something you'd want to be photographed in. Doors open at 10.

If you missed out this year: We sold out again, but you can follow along on our socials and subscribe to the Backstroke newsletter so you're first in line when we open applications for 2027.