EVENT PREVIEW · SEPTEMBER 2026
A good conversation about ecommerce can start almost anywhere: with a founder answering a customer's question, a creator demonstrating a product, or a team finding a better way to help someone shop.
Social Commerce Summit brings those perspectives together in Utah on September 16. Produced by Social Commerce News, the gathering connects brand leaders with people working across platforms, agencies, and investment. This edition takes place at Young Living Headquarters in Lehi. Organizer announcement
For PBJay, the interesting question is how those relationships develop: what helps an audience become a community, what makes a creator partnership last, and how a brand carries that connection through to the shopping experience.
The essentials
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Young Living Global Headquarters
1538 W Sandalwood Drive, Lehi, UT 84043
Brand admission: Complimentary for qualified brands, by application.
Industry and agency admission: Listed at $999.
Check your registration confirmation for arrival times. Details checked September 12.
A new series with an established network behind it
The summit launched in Manhattan Beach on May 14–15, 2026. Its first gathering was an invitation-only preview, with complimentary admission for qualified attendees. The format brought together disciplines that often have their own separate events: affiliate marketing, creators, live selling, and direct-to-consumer commerce. Launch registration
In a May interview, fractional CMO Kathleen Ross described the opportunity to connect brand, performance, and growth teams. That gives the series a useful editorial thread: following the whole customer relationship, from discovery through purchase. Net Influencer interview
The wider network has a longer history. Stuart Johnson, founder and CEO of Social Commerce News, also founded Direct Selling News. DSN's November 2025 commerce gathering in Lehi covered Shopify adoption, payments, subscriptions, and the relationship between community and digital shopping. That was a separate event, but it helps explain the mix of relationship-driven commerce and ecommerce operations surrounding the new summit. DSN's 2025 recap
The route to Utah
MAY 14–15 · MANHATTAN BEACH
The launch preview introduces the series.
JULY 15–16 · NEW YORK
A welcome evening and main summit are listed at Sony Hall, with representatives from Shopify, Amazon, Meta, TikTok, and Snap. New York event archive
SEPTEMBER 16 · LEHI
Utah opens the fall series, followed by announced Los Angeles and New York events. Fall announcement
Three conversations we're curious about
These are PBJay's proposed interview angles, based on the announced lineup—not official session titles or completed interviews.
01 · Growing with a community
People to meet: Jess Toolson of Mixhers; Karalynne and Jeff Call of Just Ingredients.
We'd like to explore how founders keep listening as their businesses grow. What do customers ask before buying? Which conversations influence a new product? And how does a team keep that personal connection as more people join?
Our opening question
What's something your community helped you understand about your product that you wouldn't have learned from a dashboard?
02 · Building creator partnerships
People to meet: Trygve Jensen of Pattern; William August of Outlandish.
A partnership has a life beyond its first piece of content. We're interested in the working relationship: how brands support creators, make room for their ideas, and learn together over time.
Our opening question
What changes when a creator becomes a long-term partner, and how do you support that transition?
03 · Connecting discovery with shopping
People to meet: Emma Lifer of Grüns; Dylan Ander of Heatmap and MentionStack.
What someone learns about a product should carry through when they're ready to explore it further. We'd like to hear how teams connect content, product information, and the shopping experience—and how customer questions guide those decisions.
Our opening question
What have you changed in the shopping experience after seeing how people first discover your brand?
Join the conversation
For ecommerce founders and teams developing their approach to community and creator partnerships, this lineup offers several starting points for conversation. These are the people and questions we'd put on our list.
Who would you like PBJay to interview? Leave a comment with a name or a question you'd love us to ask.