Announcements · SOS26

Ever wished networking wasn’t so networking-y? Say hello to the Rub Shoulders breakout sessions (and all the right people) at State of Social ’26: Friction.

The award-winning journalist takes the stage in Perth with The Australian’s Jenna Clarke for a Riverside Chat, in the first public conversation about his Audible Original Podcast, Unreal: When AI Becomes Us

You don’t need a sesquipedalian (look it up) vocabulary to know that words have power. And Jess Zafarris is coming to SOS26 with a bunch of fun, creative ways to unlock more of it.

What if you could conjure up a strategy that combines the ubiquity of social media with the trust-building might of audio. Music to your ears, right? Well, have we got a deep dive for you.

Your brand’s in a race for traction, but in a fast-moving attention economy, how do you get in front and stay there? Maybe you just need to take the handbrake off and get out of your own way.

There are two types of people attending State of Social ’26: the ones who lube then grind, and the kinky souls who grind first and lube later. Which are you? And what are we talking about?

Is AI-disrupted SEO grinding your gears? Are you kicking that can filled with big strategic decisions down the road?

How many people can say they sparked an entire online marketing community and transformed thousands of marketers’ careers – lives, even – with a single tweet? 

Successful digital media entrepreneurs know all about managing conflict. The best, like Tim Duggan, actively harness it. And he’s coming to State of Social ’26 to show you how.

Can you use your socials to deliver big SEO wins? Can you weave creators into your existing social strategy to build trust? Can social media to turn customer friction into an even stronger community?

Quiip’s Larah Kennedy and Kelly McParlane are demystifying Reddit at SOS26.

Friction is in our feeds, budgets, politics and the algorithms shaping our worldview. It’s exhausting! But State of Social legend Tess Palmyre says you can turn that exhaustion into creative liberation.

AI. Process. Efficiency. Is there even room for creative thinking to disrupt and innovate anymore? State of Social Hall of Famer Rob Campbell says there is. And he’s back for State of Social ’26 to rattle your creative cage, then liberate you from it.

Only our industry’s leading practitioners and pioneers make the cut at Australia’s smartest digital and social marketing event. And we’ve invited the best of the best back for SOS26’s friction-fest.

The smartest marketers are already thinking one move ahead.