The archive
SOS26.
It’s so worth the friction!
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 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 everyone 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 for the weather.
Nearly 900 delegates. 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.
On film
The recap film.
The speakers
Who spoke at SOS26.
Josh Bailey
CoCo
Deep Dive · Day two
Will Bal
Bonfire
Breakout Session · Day one
Ariel Bastian
Jackson Macdonald
Breakout Session · Day one
Justin Beavis
AFL - Australian Football League
Breakout Session · Day one
Lindsay Bennett
Ideally
Deep Dive · Day two
Lachlan Bradford
Sked Social
Deep Dive · Day two
Rob Campbell
Colenso
Keynote · Day one
Jenna Clarke
The Australian
Meg Coffey
Pete Curulli
Southern Cross Austereo
Deep Dive · Day two
Toby Dewar
Foxtel Media
Deep Dive · Day two
Tim Duggan
Deep Dive · Day two
Marc Fennell
Keynote · Day one
Robbie Figg
Christina Garnett
Keynote · Day one
James Horne
WLSD
Keynote · Day one
James Jeffs
Bankwest
Deep Dive · Day two
Larah Kennedy
Quiip
Deep Dive · Day two
Jamie Kho
Bankwest
Deep Dive · Day two
Geena Lamb
Adelaide University
Breakout Session · Day one
Matt Lawton
Five by Five
Deep Dive · Day two
Katherine Loughnan
Fox Sports Australia
Deep Dive · Day two
Saira Manns
PR & Social Media Specialist
Deep Dive · Day two
Kelly McParlane
Quiip
Deep Dive · Day two
Pamela Obeid
Amplify
Deep Dive · Day two
Julian Pace
Happiness Co
Deep Dive · Day two
Tess Palmyre
Brandable
Breakout Session · Day one
Karen Papalia
Foxtel Media
Deep Dive · Day two
Beau Pearson
Channel 10
Deep Dive · Day two
Clare Pickens
Leo Australia
Keynote · Day one
Will Schofield
BackChat Studios
Deep Dive · Day two
Jes Scholz
Deep Dive · Day two
Renée Shaw
tl;dv
Deep Dive · Day two
Ama Silva
Creator Flow
Breakout Session · Day one
David Stewart
Jackson Macdonald
Deep Dive · Day two
Gabby Torres-Soler
Sked Social
Deep Dive · Day two
Sophie Winter
Australian Wildlife Conservancy
Breakout Session · Day one
Lizzie Young
Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA)
Deep Dive · Day two
Jess Zafarris
Keynote · Day two
The program
Session by session.
Tuesday 25 August
9.40 to 10.20AM
10.30 to 11.10AM
11.20AM to 12PM
1.10 to 1.40PM
RVR3
Same problem, different company
1.50 to 2.20PM
2.30 to 3PM
RVR3
Same sector, different playbook
4 to 4.40PM
4.50 to 5.30PM
Wednesday 26 August
9 to 10AM
RVR2
Sport’s social future and the brands ready for it
Katherine Loughnan, Will Schofield, Karen Papalia, Toby Dewar
10.15 to 11.15AM
11.30AM to 12.30PM
RVR3
The Human Search Engine
1.30 to 2.30PM
RVR2
The stuff we can’t post on LinkedIn
Renée Shaw, Josh Bailey, Gabby Torres-Soler, Lachlan Bradford
2.45 to 3.45PM
4.20 to 5PM
Photos
Were you snapped at #StateofSocial26?
Huge thanks to David May from PAV for his edit of footage captured by Studio Orange, and to SoCo Studios for the photography. A big thanks to Channel 10 Perth for their support of Dogs’ Refuge Home at SOS26.
Every edition
Every edition, one place.
State of Social ’27





















































































