CreatorIQ, the global operating system for creator-led growth, today announced details of CreatorIQ Connect 2026, the premier one-day event for global marketing leaders turning creator marketing into a measurable, scalable growth engine. Taking place October 13 in Los Angeles, Connect will bring together more than 1,000 brand marketers, agency leaders, platform executives, and creators for a single high-impact day of strategic programming, executive access, and connection. YouTube returns as Presenting Sponsor for the second consecutive Connect.

“The creator economy has outgrown guesswork,” said Chris Harrington, CEO at CreatorIQ. “Brands and their agency partners need real infrastructure and real intelligence to run creator marketing at scale, and that only happens when the people building it are in the same room. This year we built the most ambitious Connect yet—bringing together the executives, operators, creators, and platform leaders shaping what’s next, and giving them a day to think, connect, and leave with something real.”

“We’re at an inflection point where creators of all sizes aren’t just amplifying brand stories, they’re the ones writing them. Brands aren’t asking if creators belong in the strategy anymore, they’re asking how to build the infrastructure to do it well. That’s why YouTube keeps showing up for Connect: it’s the rare time when the platforms, brands, agencies and creators driving this economy are all working towards making creator marketing turns into a real, repeatable growth engine,” said Mithun Sheth, Vice President, Go-to-Market Operations at YouTube.

Distinct Programming Across Three Stage Experiences

Connect 2026 features three distinct stage experiences, with 30+ speakers across 20 sessions addressing the topics shaping creator marketing today: AI and intelligence, content at scale, creator commerce, brand safety and governance, and the transformation of marketing organizations around creators.

The Engine Stage features Presenting Sponsor YouTube leading a featured creator keynote, bringing together SubwayTakes creator Kareem Rahma and YouTube Vice President of Go-to-Market Operations Mithun Sheth to discuss why YouTube is the biggest opportunity in creator marketing and how brands can build partnerships to maximize impact. Additional sessions include executive-level panels and forward-looking conversations on the strategic shifts reshaping marketing. Speakers include marketing leaders from the Los Angeles Rams, PepsiCo, Microsoft, Gap Inc., Sephora, AT&T, Google, Virgin Voyages, Amika, Kiko Milano, Dentsu, and more.

The concluding keynote will feature TIME100 and Forbes Top Creator Jordan Howlett, aka Jordan the Stallion, in conversation with Blenders Eyewear President Jack Gray and Greenlight Group Co-Founders Doug Landers, moderated by ICYMI Founder Lia Haberman. The session will highlight Blenders Eyewear’s strategic partnership naming Jordan its Chief Content Officer, and why they built a C-suite role around a creator’s instincts.

The Craft Stage hosts practitioner-led sessions, boundary-pushing creative case studies, and real-world playbooks from the teams and agencies driving the most innovative creator programs in the world. Sessions will feature experts from Amazon, Adobe, Canva, e.l.f. Beauty, Peloton, Reach Agency, Snap, WPP, and more. Kaya Yurieff and Jasmine Enberg of Scalable will host a live podcast recording to bring their data-driven analysis and real-world experience to conversations with proven industry leaders, with guests to be announced.

The Studio Stage brings a curated mix of invite-only executive roundtables, opportunities for brands and creators to connect, and industry-specific networking sessions. Presenting Sponsor YouTube is hosting a dedicated workshop focusing on how to work with YouTube creators. In addition to the Engine stage fireside chat with Virgin Voyages, Titanium sponsor TikTok will also lead a workshop with CreatorIQ that breaks down how to build creator marketing at scale, from finding the right creators faster to turning creator content into measurable business impact.

Key partners including AWIN, Collab by ZDX, Lumanu, MagicLinks, and Sprinklr will also participate in sessions across all three stages.

The Most Creator-Centric Connect Yet

CreatorIQ Connect 2026 is bringing the biggest creators to the stage so far, with Jordan Howlett (jordan_the_stallion8), Kareem Rahma (@kareem), Sean Sotaridona (@seandoesmagic), and sports content creator and former professional soccer player Brittany Isenhour (@brittany1wilson) all speaking on the Engine stage.

Dentsu Creative‘s fan-favorite Creator Speed Dating returns for the second year, bringing creators, brands, agencies, platforms, and entertainment leaders together for curated one-on-one conversations and new connections across the ecosystem.

This year also marks the introduction of the CreatorIQ Connect Creator Ambassador Program—the first-ever creator roster for Connect, giving creators full access to the event alongside top brand marketers, executives, agencies, and fellow creators.

See the Agenda and Register

A partial agenda is available at events.creatoriq.com/creatoriqconnect. Additional speakers and sessions will be announced in the weeks ahead.

Register now at events.creatoriq.com/creatoriqconnect.

About CreatorIQ Connect

CreatorIQ Connect is the premier one-day event for global marketing leaders turning creator marketing into a measurable, scalable growth engine. Now in its fourth year, Connect brings together 1,000+ leaders from the world’s most influential brands, agencies, and social platforms, alongside the creators shaping the industry, for a single high-impact day of strategic programming and connection in Los Angeles.

About CreatorIQ

CreatorIQ is the operating system for creator-led growth, helping global brands and agencies transform creator marketing into an intelligence-driven growth engine. Powered by the Creator Graph™, which processes more than 250 million social posts daily across more than 15 million creators worldwide, CreatorIQ unifies fragmented platform data into a centralized intelligence layer and system of record for creator relationships, performance, governance, and commerce. More than 1,300 organizations—including Dentsu, Delta Air Lines, Google, Beiersdorf, Nestlé, and Wella—rely on CreatorIQ as the infrastructure to run and scale their creator programs globally. Learn more at www.creatoriq.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

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