Past speakers

SOS26 speakers.

State of Social '26 focused on the parts of marketing that can't be optimised away. Australian and international speakers shared practical thinking across digital marketing, strategy, creativity and culture, built around one question: what's left when everything else has been automated.

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At a glance

ThemeFRICTION
EditionNinth
Speakers39

The theme

Ninth year in, this event pushed back against the industry's rush to smooth, streamline and hand off to AI. As more of the workflow got optimised, FRICTION asked what actually breaks when the human part goes with it, and where judgement, taste and instinct still beat efficiency.

Speakers explored the moments that resist automation: the messy first draft, the awkward client conversation, the campaign that only worked because someone pushed back. The takeaway was clear. You can systemise the process. You can't systemise the human. That's the friction worth keeping.

Day oneDay two

Day one · Tuesday 25 August

9.40am

Keynote

40 min

You aren’t going to be replaced by AI

Clare Pickens

10.30am

Keynote

40 min

Overtaking in the attention economy

James Horne

11.20am

Keynote

40 min

You can’t optimise your way to human

Christina Garnett

1.10pm

Breakout Session

30 min · River View Room 1

Creating meaning in an AI-optimised world

Sophie Winter

1.10pm

Breakout Session

30 min · River View Room 2

The best answer wins

Will Bal

1.10pm

Breakout Session

30 min · River View Room 3

Same problem, different company

1.50pm

Breakout Session

30 min · River View Room 1

Pull the lever

Justin Beavis

1.50pm

Breakout Session

30 min · River View Room 2

Privacy law just changed: what marketers need to know

Ariel Bastian

1.50pm

Breakout Session

30 min · River View Room 3

Starting from zero: why we ditched 1 million followers

Geena Lamb

2.30pm

Breakout Session

30 min · River View Room 1

In praise of bad footage

Ama Silva

2.30pm

Breakout Session

30 min · River View Room 2

Get out of your algorithm

Tess Palmyre

2.30pm

Breakout Session

30 min · River View Room 3

Same sector, different playbook

4pm

Keynote

40 min

Riverside chat, in conversation with Jenna Clarke

Marc Fennell

4.50pm

Keynote

40 min

Not dead yet

Rob Campbell

Day two · Wednesday 26 August

9am

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 1

Destination unknown

Saira Manns

9am

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 2

Sport’s social future and the brands ready for it

Katherine Loughnan, Will Schofield, Karen Papalia, Toby Dewar

9am

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 3

Businesses don’t burn out. People do.

Julian Pace

10.15am

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 1

Can your brand pass the Reddit test?

Larah Kennedy, Kelly McParlane

10.15am

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 2

The trust gap

Lizzie Young

10.15am

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 3

The creator economy

Pamela Obeid

11.30am

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 1

Celebrity friction

David Stewart

11.30am

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 2

Better conflict for better work

Tim Duggan

11.30am

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 3

The Human Search Engine

1.30pm

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 1

Don’t get mad, get even

Matt Lawton

1.30pm

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 2

The stuff we can’t post on LinkedIn

Renée Shaw, Josh Bailey, Gabby Torres-Soler, Lachlan Bradford

1.30pm

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 3

From bricks to browser

Jamie Kho, James Jeffs

2.45pm

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 1

The new rules of communications

Lindsay Bennett

2.45pm

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 2

Cold front: legacy media’s fight to stay relevant

Beau Pearson, Pete Curulli

2.45pm

Deep Dive

60 min · River View Room 3

Mastering the other algorithm

Jes Scholz

4.20pm

Keynote

40 min

Word magic for social pros

Jess Zafarris

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