What to pack for SOS26 (based on how you show up)

You’ve sorted your ticket. Maybe your travel too. Now for the part that sounds trivial but genuinely matters: what are you actually bringing?

SOS26 is two full days at Optus Stadium. The corridors are long, the schedule is dense, and there’s a good chance you’ll be there from the first session to the last Crown poured. August in Perth means mild days and aggressive air conditioning indoors. Plan for both.

Here’s what to pack based on who you are when you show up 👇

The networker

You came to meet people. You’ll speak to most of them, collect a small harvest of LinkedIn connections before lunch on day one, and somehow still find time to tell someone at the Hunt and Brew stand about the project you’ve been sitting on for six months.

Bring: a fast way to share your details, a bag with actual capacity (the merch vending machine is real and you will use it), and shoes that look intentional but won’t hurt by day two. Also: breath mints.

Pro tip: charge your phone the night before and put a portable charger in your bag. A dead phone at SOS26 is a missed follow-up, and there will be someone worth following up with every hour of both days.

The note-taker

You will fill an entire notebook across two days. Your post-event debrief is already feared. Your laptop will also be open. You are welcome to bring highlighters.

Bring: a backup notebook in case you fill the one we give you, a backup pen (SOS gives you one at registration, and you will lose it), a charger for everything, and the quiet reassurance that your All Access ticket includes 12 months of session recordings. You can catch what you missed while furiously annotating something else.

Pro tip: reserve a column in your notes for actions, separate from observations. Future you, excavating insights a week later will be grateful.

The first-timer

You’re not entirely sure what to expect, and you’re keeping your options open. That’s the right approach.

Bring: the schedule on your phone, something comfortable, a tote bag for merch, and a plan to sit next to someone you don’t know at lunch on day one. Also, find the Barkout Session. That’s not a metaphor. Dogs’ Refuge Home brings actual puppies. It happens on Day 1, and you will not regret it.

Pro tip: You don’t need a strategy. Follow what interests you, talk to people, and don’t skip the hallway conversations. That’s where a lot of the good stuff actually happens.

The returning veteran

You’ve been before. You know people, you know which sessions are worth the queue, and you’ve already mentally noted three people you haven’t seen since last August.

Bring: comfortable everything, your SOS tote bag, your charger. And a plan to introduce at least one first-timer to someone they should know. That’s your contribution this year.

Two new things to find this year: the Confession Booth in Champions Terrace (anonymous, two cameras, 20 seconds) and the Grind Zone, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Pro tip: the theme is Friction. If you’re coming to have your current views confirmed, this year’s programme will be interesting.

The manager who sent their team

You approved the budget. You might be attending too, or you might be monitoring LinkedIn from the office for early signals it was worth it.

Bring: genuine curiosity. The sessions are more useful when you’re not there to validate a position you’ve already taken. And keep a tab open for next year’s tickets. Your team will ask before the event’s over.

Pro tip: brief your team to split across sessions and compare notes at the end of each day. You’ll cover more ground, and the debrief will be worth whatever you spend on dinner.

Packing basics that apply to everyone

Mild Perth days, consistent indoor air conditioning. Light jacket for the evening, layers for inside. Comfortable shoes above everything else. A portable charger. A reusable water bottle (Optus Stadium has refill stations throughout). Nothing you’d be devastated to lose or sit on for eight hours.

Everything else, we’ve thought of. Nine years of running this, and the one thing we know for certain: the people who get the most from SOS are the ones who showed up ready for friction.

State of Social. 25 & 26 August. Optus Stadium, Perth. Get your tickets.