Europe's mega ad tech/digital advertising/digital media week is nearly upon us – when senior level agency, marketer and tech execs descend on Cologne with big volume deals to sign and custom algos to flog.

All of this will of course be kicked off on Monday September 14, by the must-attend event of the year, namely ATS London .

Yes, readers, it's time to stuff your suitcases with ill-fitting lederhosen and book those flights.

ATS London remains the biggest and best programmatic event globally, attracting the world's top executives in the programmatic space. This year, we will continue to have the best speakers, content, and audience.

For the third year running, we remain unsponsored. What does that mean? It means there is no pay-to-play at our flagship event. It also means we craft the best agenda for you – and this year will be no exception.

We are delighted to announce that Terry Kawaja, Founder & CEO of Luma Partners, will be speaking at this year's event. Kawaja will be presenting his views on the martech, ad tech, and programmatic industries, as they are evolving globally.

Given the move away from decentralised programmatic buying within the holding groups, ATS London will also have separate marketer and agency OppCo panels discussing the key tech, data, and business trends that influence buy-side strategy.

On the sell side, we will have a full panel on ad blocking. This panel will draw speakers from ad blocking vendors, looking to provide users with content-only options, to publishers, seeking to limit damage to their commercial advertising models.

We also have a full panel of publishers (The Telegraph, The Guardian, Zoopla, and CNN) talking about the new programmatic publisher model.

Our full agenda will be published this week, but here's a flavour of what you can expect from this year's event:

-- Why data is the real inflection point for marketing technology and advertising technology
-- The evolution of the agency trading model, following the decentralisation of media trading within holding groups
-- How ad blocking changes the dynamic of media trading – what can the industry do next?
-- Making mobile work for everyone: why a standardised approach is no longer an option but is critical to our survival beyond 'GAFA'
-- Publishers fighting back – the models and strategies that enable publishers to survive
-- Connecting the channels: how programmatic is opening up real-time data-enabled buying across DOOH, TV, and radio

Some of those speakers already confirmed:

-- Michael Blais, Head of Display Marketing & Operations, eBay
-- James Patterson, Client Services Director, EMEA, The Trade Desk
-- Steph Miller, Head of Media Sales, Zoopla Property Group
-- Ian Curtis, Advertising Product Manager, Telegraph Media Group
-- Tim Gentry, Global Revenue Director, Guardian News & Media
-- Mike Thornhill, CEO, ActiveInstinct
-- Pippa Glucklish, Co CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group
-- Paul Frampton, CEO, Havas Media
-- Damien Blackden, Global Chief Strategy Officer, Maxus
-- Boris Mouzykantskii, Founder, Chief Scientist & CEO, IPONWEB
-- Roi Carthy, CMO, Shine Technologies Corp
-- Ben Barokas, CEO & Founder, Sourcepoint Technologies
-- Dan Smith, Director & Head of Advertising & Marketing Law, Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co
-- Caspar Schlickum, CEO, Xaxis EMEA

In an industry where back slapping is commonplace and award ceremonies celebrate mediocrity, we feel at ExchangeWire that it's time we highlighted the true legends of the space.

So, for the first time ever, ExchangeWire invites you to nominate someone in the industry you think should be awarded the inaugural 'Ad Tech Legend' of the Year.

Nominations are invited up to September 1, and ATS London attendees will be presented with a shortlist of names at the event, for whom they can then vote during the day. The winner will be announced at ATS London, before networking drinks.

Tickets are selling fast for ATS London. You can get 20% of the ticket price if you fill our European Programmatic survey. We look forward to welcoming you to our sixth ATS London event.