At The Adcom Group, we’ve hosted our share of notable events in our standout 5th-floor meeting space just up the hill from The Flats, but Thursday, November 20th, unfolded in a way that felt… different. What started out as a stream of Cleveland-based tastemakers getting off the elevator and getting their Share the Land swag bag and raffle tickets bloomed into an energized group of peers. Here’s how it went down:
A CONTENT CREATOR’S VERSION OF WHO’S WHO, BUT WITHOUT @HANDLES
What happens when you put 60+ influencers in a room with NE Ohio organizations, brands, media outlets and Adcom marketing professionals? Let’s be real. First, you dig into the noshes, dirty sodas, Great Lakes’ Christmas Ales, plus a charcuterie board that goes on ad infinitum. A sip here, a “hello” there, and small groups likely wondered who had the most followers. (Spoiler alert: the combined audience tally of these Clevelanders topped 15M.)
REAL-LIFE COLLABORATION: WHAT A RUSH
It was when we settled in for the creator panel discussion that the event started to feel electric. The creative community of Cleveland lobbed questions, shared experiences, and one panelist—we’re looking at you Joey Kinsley [@SirYacht]—regaled the room with a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor about his process.
It didn’t take long for the room to start buzzing with questions, answers, anecdotes and full-tilt enthusiasm.
- How did you find your agent?
- How many emails do you send a day?
- How selective are you when partnering with brands?
The clear takeaway was that, no matter how creators approach their process, there’s one cardinal sin that will cost them followers, as well as their own sense of integrity.
Stay. True. To. Yourself.
Word. After all, everyone at our invitation-only event reached a level of success in the first place by sharing their own brand of thinking.
IT’S NOT EASY FINDING A COMMUNITY WHEN YOU WORK ALONE
When the panel wrapped and the networking picked up again, business cards (Adcomers) and handles (everyone else) were exchanged like AI prompts during finals week. Turns out, a ton of parasocial relationships can be rewarding, but when you put an eclectic group of people with a common purpose in the same room, it’s fire.
CREATORS + CLEVELAND = A DEEP BENCH
“Cleveland’s creators can hold their own against the biggest markets, but what really makes this city special is how much we show up for one another. This event was all about strengthening those connections so we can keep learning, collaborating and feeling supported as a community.”
Abbey Kay, Social Media Manager at Adcom
WHY ADCOM?
As the leading Cleveland agency for influencer marketing, we are continually excited about bringing people together, so we brought this event to fruition. We feel fortunate to support and uplift this kind of collaboration that makes us all stronger together. We would like to give a big thanks to the vendors, sponsors and attendees who all came together to make some Midwest magic. Stay tuned.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
As of 2025, Julie Robinson has been a content creator for 40 years. She started copywriting at agencies in Los Angeles, moved to the East Coast, bounced back to LA, and then brought her big-agency experience back to where people are Midwest Nice. She’s a Creative Director at Adcom and finds herself already looking forward to whatever the agency does next.
