It’s so worth the friction!
#StateofSocial26 was two days at Optus Stadium that argued back.
Clare Pickens, CEO of Leo Australia, opened by making the case that the friction we are all racing to remove is the bit worth keeping. James Horne took the handbrake off and showed us how he got Aston Martin from zero to two million. Christina Garnett explained why you cannot optimise your way to human. Marc Fennell sat down with Jenna Clarke for a Riverside Chat on what AI is quietly taking from us, and Rob Campbell closed Day One with a reminder that creativity is not dead yet. Then Jess Zafarris sent us home with word magic and at least one word everybody had to look up.
Around the keynotes: Deep Dives and Breakout Sessions on GEO, Reddit, privacy law, burnout, celebrity IP, legacy media and the creator economy. Rub Shoulders tables with no speaker, no slides and nobody at the front, just the person who solved your problem eight months ago. Twenty seconds of anonymous truth in the Confession Booth by Sked Social. Hunt And Brew coffee flowing from 7.45am. Velvet sofas and a neon tunnel in the Lube Lounge. And because Day Two landed on International Dog Day, a crew of adoptable puppies from Dogs Refuge Home for the Barkout Session, a gold coin a pat, every cent to DRH. Channel 10 liked it enough to cross live to us for the weather.
Nearly 900 delegates. Both days sold out. Nine years in and the point still stands: friction is not the obstacle, it is the work.
Year ten is 24 & 25 August 2027. You know where to find us.
Catch the video recap 👇
Huge thanks to David May from PAV for his epic edit of footage captured by Studio Orange, and to SoCo Studios for the photography.
