What Culture Con 2026 Taught Me About Networking Horizontally

I went to Culture Con this year expecting to spend two days running between stages. It was my first time, I had a gifted ticket, and I wanted to see everything. I came with two friends and one goal: network, no matter what.

Instead, I walked away thinking less about who was on stage and more about who was standing next to me.

I also walked in with my business card on my nails. NFC chip nails, so one tap on someone's phone opens everything I do. I got the idea from @janeyparkxyz, and it turned out to be the easiest conversation starter I've ever had.

The line was the first room

The Day 1 line was long. It started at the gates, went down the sidewalk, and wrapped back around to the Wegmans parking lot. That was my one complaint all weekend, and Imani Ellis, Culture Con's founder, addressed it publicly and apologized.

But I treated that line like the first room of the conference. I talked to the people in front of me and behind me. My very first tap was a woman who does her own nails, so you know we had plenty to talk about.

Before long, the line turned into a small workshop. I showed the people around me how the NFC nails work and how to set up Back Tap on an iPhone, so a double tap on the back of the phone starts recording. That way you can capture a session without fumbling for your notes app while the speaker is talking.

I took notes in real time during the sessions and built them into a notebook as the weekend happened. Afterward, I only customized it to my brand so I could share it: Iman the Polymath's Notes for CultureCon. I've shared it with more than 20 people since, in person and on Threads. A conversation on a line became a resource people are still using.

The best content was at the small tables

The most interesting format at Culture Con was the Brain Date. Small tables of 8 to 14 people, 30 minutes each, run by attendees on topics they know well. I couldn't get into one either day because they were full.

When I got home and scrolled through the schedule in the app, I found close to 100 of them across both days. There was a no-code AI agent session, a session on reading a room when you network, sessions on creator contracts, wellness, and honoring AAVE in academia. A lot of the things people online said were missing from Culture Con were already there, at the small tables.

That changed how I think about conferences. The main stage gets the photos, but a lot of the learning happens in the smaller rooms, and you have to go looking for it before you arrive. I'm manifesting a Brain Date of my own at Culture Con 2027. I already ran a small one on the line, so I know I can.

I also went to a session on building your own AI agent and left without a clear definition of what an agent is. I'm a lifelong student of AI, and I go to sessions like that because there's always something to learn from how someone else teaches it. It reminded me what I want my own teaching to look like: define the term in the first five minutes, build something live, and send people home with a template they can use that night. With new technology, the job is to bring people in.

Network horizontally

There was a lot of conversation online about who got to see which celebrity. I understand the excitement, but celebrities are people too, and the person standing next to them might be the better person to talk to.

So besides networking vertically, I want to encourage people to network horizontally. Pull up the friends behind you, the ones next to you, and the ones right ahead of you, and keep that circle with you as your careers grow.

I think about it like school. You don't only learn from the teachers and the principal. You learn from the class ahead of you and the class behind you. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan came up together and are still building together, film after film. That's the kind of story I want young people to hear more often, because it explains why you rock with your people so hard.

It also means you have to speak up. Some people said they left Culture Con without meeting anyone. I say this with love: closed mouths don't get fed. If someone has a great outfit, tell them. If someone asks a good question in a session, find them afterward. If crowds are a lot for you, walk in with a plan: two people you want to meet, a place to reset, and a friend if you can bring one. I was overstimulated too. It was my first time, there was so much happening, and experiencing all of it in two days was impossible for one person.

What it adds up to

The momentum from an event like Culture Con can push you forward, but only if you do something with it afterward. Try the ideas you heard. Take notes and share them with people who couldn't be there. Remix what you learned into your own style and give credit when you do.

I went in thinking about the stages. I left thinking about the circle. That's what I'm carrying into next year.

If you attended, fill out the Culture Con feedback form. Specific feedback, with solutions attached, is how an event this size keeps getting better.

If you want to keep building with me, I'm teaching two virtual classes with Vibe Connect this month: AI for Educators: Teach More, Plan Less (free) on Oct 15, and Edit Like a Studio of One: AI Video Editing on Oct 22, part of my Content Maxxing course. Details are at imanthepolymath.com/events.

Want the full review, including the sessions that stood out and my ideas for next year? It's on my Substack: Read the full Culture Con 2026 review [Posting on Friday]