Return on Influence festival ‘26

The best in influencer marketing. And you’re invited.

Save your spot

October 21

10am - 5pm (ET)

Online & Free

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds

We’re putting the people behind the world’s best creator programs on stage.

Return on Influence is a free one-day virtual festival dedicated to influencer marketing.

Leave with ideas you can use today and build on as your program grows.

Meet the speakers

Spend the day with the brands, creators, and marketing leaders behind some of the world's best influencer programs. Expect practical sessions, candid conversations, and real-world case studies. More speakers to be announced soon.

Maya Shaff

Head of Influencer at ŌURA

Georgia Humphries

Influencer & Social Media Marketing Manager EMEA at Stanley 1913

Zaria Parvez

Head of Social at DoorDash, (prev. Duolingo owl)

Leah Walker

Director of Creator & Influencer Partnerships, Adobe

Enara Roy

Social & Influencer Manager (Halfday Iced Tea, P.F. Changs & more)

Jessica Kaylee

Creator (12.7M)

Croes Bros

Creator (2.87M)

Elfried Samba

CEO of Butterfly Social (prev. Gymshark Head of Social)

Lucy King

Chief Marketing Officer at HORMBLES CHORMBLES

Josh Rangel

Senior Director, Social Strategy at Ogilvy

Martyna Kasmauska...

Creator Partnerships Team Lead for Emerging Markets at BURGA

Gabriel Gomez

Director of Social + Content at amika

Tess Allen

Senior Manager, Influencer & Social at goodwipes

Kamil Strycharz

Head of Creator Marketing at Chicago Bulls

Meredith Diehn

SVP of Marketing at goodwipes

Sarah Whittle

Founder and Creator Unicorn Social (ex-Crocs, Duolingo)

Tyler Vaught

Global Head of Creator Marketing at Edelman

Cadence Melendez

Influencer Marketer (ex-Moroccanoil)

Adorea Rhodes

Creator at adoreaxo

Jennifer Quigley-Jon...

VP Strategy & Partnerships at PMG (fmr. CEO Digital Voices)

Brittany Ratelle

Founding Attorney, Ratelle Law for Creators

Max

Creator at 321maxx

Sari Miller

Influencer Specialist (ex-Olive & June, Bubble)

Larisa Premk

Influencer Marketing Specialist
See more

Four stages to learn

Save your spot
Save your spot
Save your spot

Like any good festival, we’ve got stages. Unlike any good festival, there’s no mud. Pick your favorite, or stick around with us all day.

Where Influencer Fits

10:00am – 11:35am (ET)

Strategy and the wider
marketing mix.

- Where influencer marketing sits in the mix
- How CMOs/founders think about influencer marketing
- When and why brands shift spend into creators

Simone Partner

How Brands Do Influencer Marketing

11:45am – 14:00pm (ET)

The tactics & systems to make
your program run

- How teams run their programs day-to-day
- Campaign structure, workflows, and processes
- Mistakes that led to great campaigns

Simone Partner

The Feed

14:20pm – 15:50pm (ET)

Creator perspective and getting
it right in the feed

- What creators look for in brands
- What makes collaborations successful or fail
- Why disclosing sponsored posts is important

Gabriel Gomez

Future of Influence

16:00pm – 17:00pm (ET)

Scaling and long-
term growth

- What it takes to scale from 5-5000 creators
- Moving from channel to part of the brand system
- Creators as long-term assets, not activations
- How influencer marketing connects to community and brand equity

Sarah Whittle

Agenda

Every session breaks down how modern teams are structuring, measuring, and scaling influencer and creator programs – with frameworks you can apply immediately.

Save your spot
Stage:
Where influencer fits

Opening: Why Return on Influence?

10:00am - 10:15am (ET)
It's time to kick off the festivities! 🎉 Join our host (and former influencer) Simone Partner, and Modash CEO Avery Shrader, as they open Return on Influence Festival '26. They'll dig into why return on influence matters more than ever, and how to get the most out of every session coming up. Grab a coffee and join us at 10:00 sharp!
Simoné Partner
Avery Schrader
Stage:
Where influencer fits

We Bought Into Creators. Now What? 3 Organizational Changes Brands Need to Make

10:15am - 10:35am (ET)
Creators have been validated as more than a tactic. But has the way brands work with them actually changed? Tyler Vaught looks at what comes next: what real co-creation looks like, why creators are becoming a new earned media layer, and the people and skills brands need to make new technology genuinely useful.
Tyler Vaught
Stage:
Where influencer fits

Ask the CMO: Marketing Leaders' Takes on Influencer Marketing

10:35am - 10:50am (ET)
What makes a CMO put more money into influencer marketing? Meredith (SVP of markets at goodwipes) and Lucy (CMO at Hormbles Chormbles) compare how they think about creators alongside the rest of the marketing mix, what signals tell them a program is working, and what would make them invest more.
Meredith Diehn
Lucy Hormbles
Stage:
Where influencer fits

Creators in Social

10:55am - 11:35am (ET)
- Josh Rangel (Ogilvy): “Using Authentic Creators” Isn’t a Strategy: Briefing by idea, not specifics
- Zaria Parvez (DoorDash): The Right Creator for the Right Moment
- Elfried Samba (Butterfly Effect): Community Architecture: How to Mean Everything to the Right 1%
Josh Rangel
Zaria Parvez
Elfried Samba
Stage:
How Brands Do Influencer Marketing

The Missing Part of Influencer ROI (feat. Creator 321maxx)

11:50am - 12:10pm (ET)
What if one of the biggest drivers of influencer ROI isn’t another metric, but the relationship behind the collaboration? Georgia Humphries shows what Stanley 1913 learned from running similar creator events with and without direct brand relationships, and how stronger connections translated into more organic content, reach and advocacy.
Georgia Humphries
Max
Stage:
How Brands Do Influencer Marketing

Small but Mighty: How to Run Influencer as a Small Team

12:15pm - 12:50pm (ET)
Running things solo? Maybe you're a team of two? You're not alone. You don’t need a huge team to run an ambitious influencer program. That's why from influencer marketers who have worked at brands like Moroccanoil & Bubble are sharing the real challenges small teams face and the practical ways they’ve overcome them.
Sari Miller
Cadence
Larisa Premk
Stage:
How Brands Do Influencer Marketing

The Co-Brief: How to Write Creator Briefs With a Partner Brand (goodwipes x OLIPOP)

12:55pm - 13:15pm (ET)
Briefing one creator for one brand is hard enough. What happens when two brands need to speak with one voice? Using goodwipes x OLIPOP as the example, Tess Allen shows how to co-write a creator brief, align two brand voices and still leave enough freedom for creators to make the work their own.
Tess Allen
Stage:
How Brands Do Influencer Marketing

Inside the Playbook: How the Chicago Bulls Reimagine Creator Campaigns

13:15pm - 13:35pm (ET)
Go inside with the Chicago Bulls to learn how a globally recognized professional sports team partners with creators in a unique way to engage fans both online and in-person. This session dives into the playbook behind these industry-leading campaigns, including:

- Partnering with a star creator for a first-of-its-kind game takeover
- Entering brand-adjacent spaces alongside Chicago Bulls players
Kamil Strycharz
Stage:
How Brands Do Influencer Marketing

Strategies BURGA Uses to Reach New Audiences & Enter Close-Knit Communities

13:40pm - 14:00pm (ET)
How do you reach a new audience without feeling like a brand that just showed up? Martyna Kasmauskaitė shares three ways BURGA is entering close-knit communities: bringing creators into product creation, using Substack in its influencer strategy, and building community-focused events around creators and their audiences.
Martyna Kasmauskaitė
Stage:
How Brands Do Influencer Marketing

Lunch

14:00pm - 14:20pm (ET)
‍
Stage:
Feed

NAILING the Brief: What Brands & Creators Wish the Other Side Knew.

14:20pm - 14:40pm (ET)
What happens when you find a creator who just gets the brief? Enara Roy is joined by nail artist Adorea, who she’s worked with across three very different campaigns, including collaborations for brands like Hello Kitty. They’ll unpack the work from both sides, sharing how the ideas came together, what makes a creator want to work with a brand again, and how one collaboration can turn into a long-term creative partnership. And yes, expect some serious nail art.
Enara Roy
Adoreaxo
Stage:
Feed

Is This Legal?

14:40pm - 14:45pm (ET)
Isn't everyone doing it? See if you can get these quickfire questions right, before joining Brittany to learn more about the legal side of creator campaigns.
Brittany Ratelle
Stage:
Feed

The Legal Side of Creator Campaigns: 5 Mistakes Brands Make (And How to Avoid Them)

14:45pm - 15:05pm (ET)
Creator campaigns move fast. Legal mistakes can move even faster. Creator attorney Brittany Ratelle breaks down five common mistakes brands make in creator campaigns and the practical steps marketers can take to avoid them.
Brittany Ratelle
Stage:
Feed

Jessica Kaylee: Serialized Short Form - How Brands Become Part of the Story

15:05pm - 15:25pm (ET)
Jessica Kaylee (12.7M subscribers) is one of the most watched female microdrama creators on all of YouTube. Her channel averages 2 billion views a year. Jessica is sharing how serialized short-form keeps audiences coming back, and how brands can become part of the story without breaking what keeps people watching.
Jessica Kaylee
Stage:
Feed

Croes Bros: Changing How We Work With Brands Amidst AI

15:30pm - 15:50pm (ET)
AI is reshaping how creators make content, and how brands collaborate with them. The Croes Bros (2.87M subscribers) share how they’re adapting their craft and brand partnerships when AI is in the mix, offering brands a different way to approach working with creators.
Croes Bros
Stage:
Future of Influence

The 50 to 5,000 Creator Challenge

16:05pm - 16:15pm (ET)
Can you imagine scaling from 50 creators to 5,000? Jennifer Quigley-Jones (PMG & Global Influencer Council) explores what changes as creator programs grow: what can be systemized, what still needs human judgment, and how brands can scale without sacrificing creativity, relevance and real relationships.
Jennifer Quigley-Jones
Stage:
Future of Influence

How Adobe Uses Creator Tiers to Scale With Intention

16:15pm - 16:25pm (ET)
More creators doesn’t automatically mean more impact. Leah Walker breaks down how Adobe uses different creator tiers for different jobs, from conversion to education and awareness, and how to grow a creator program without losing the quality and intentionality that made it work in the first place.
Leah Walker
Stage:
Future of Influence

Building for International Scale

16:30pm - 16:40pm (ET)
What does it actually take to turn a creator program into a global one? Maya Shaff shares how ŌURA is building for international scale, and the systems, testing and decisions needed to grow without simply copy-pasting the same playbook everywhere.
Maya Shaff
Stage:
Future of Influence

Ask the Council

16:40pm - 16:50pm (ET)
The all-wise Global Influencer Council answer your questions from their sessions.
Jennifer Quigley-Jones
Leah Walker
Maya Shaff
Stage:
Future of Influence

Building for What Comes Next

16:50pm - 17:00pm (ET)
Hear from the people who speak to thousands of influencer marketers every year.

Modash CEO Avery and Head of Product Willi share the shifts they're seeing across the industry, and how those shifts are changing the way brands scale their creator programs.

You'll leave with big ideas about where influencer marketing is heading, what other brands are asking for, and what it could mean for your own program.
Avery Schrader
Willi Wiedergold

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Get front row seats to some of the most entertaining influencer content on the internet

Influencer marketers say

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For the best in influencer marketing

Frequently asked questions

If you can't find the answer to your question, ask our friendly support team.

Ask a question

Return on Influence Festival '26 is a free, one-day virtual festival dedicated to influencer marketing, hosted by Modash.

We're putting the people behind the world's best creator programs on stage, so you can leave with practical ideas to use today and build on as your program grows.

Return on Influence Festival '26 is for those looking to manage, grow or understand influencer marketing as a channel. Whether you're a team of one, part of a larger creator marketing team, or work with creators more generally in social, brand, or content marketing, you'll find practical sessions designed for you.

Expect sessions ranging from those dedicated to CMOs, founders, and marketing leaders looking to understand how to manage influencer programs strategically, all the way to tactical sessions for teams of one running influencer programs day-to-day.

The festival is completely free to attend.

Return on Influence Festival '26 takes place on October 21, 2026, from 10am - 5pm ET. Tuning in from other timezones?

‍

  • 🇺🇸 7am - 2pm PT
  • 🇪🇺 4pm - 11pm CET
  • 🇬🇧 3pm -10pm UK

Simply register using the form on this page. Once you're registered, we'll send everything you need to join the festival before the event - including updates on new lineup additions and the full agenda once released.

The festival runs entirely in your browser, so you don’t need to download or install anything. We'll send you a link before the event, and you can join with a single click.

Absolutely. The festival runs throughout the day, but you're welcome to join whichever sessions interest you most by using the same link.

The day is split into four stages: Where influencer fits, How brands do influencer marketing, The feed and Future of influence.

Each stage has a different theme and the sessions taking place during that time will be relevant to it.

More details about the stages can be found under “Four stages to learn” on this page.

We’ll also publish the full agenda ahead of the event so you can plan your day.

Yes. All registered attendees will receive access to the recording after the festival.

No. Return on Influence Festival '26 is designed to feel like a festival rather than a traditional virtual conference. It includes front-row seats to creator content, interactive formats, and high production value throughout the day. The creator economy is fun - we want our festival to reflect that!

Yes. Chat live with other attendees, ask questions during sessions, and join conversations throughout the day.

The full agenda will be published in early October, with additional speakers announced over the coming weeks.

Please contact Jack Eaton at jack@modash.io for press inquiries, interview requests, or media assets.

We’re not accepting sponsorship for this event. However, we’re always open to collaborations that will make our events more useful for attendees. Contact jack@modash.io if you have an idea you want to discuss.

Get in touch with jack@modash.io and we'll be happy to help.