I spent what felt like a long six days in the South of France for my first Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Somehow, it also went by incredibly fast. Judging by what I experienced, and what has continued to fill my social feeds, there's a good chance many of you were there too.

There's no shortage of Cannes Lions coverage, so rather than recap everything, I wanted to share five observations from my first time attending. I'll save a few interviews I did during the week for future editions of the newsletter.

The best way I can describe Cannes is that it feels like scrolling LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, but in person. Everything you normally see online suddenly exists in the same physical space.

Within minutes of walking the Croisette, you run into creators, marketers, journalists, athletes, celebrities, founders, CMOs, platform executives, and agency leaders. People you've only ever seen on a screen or interacted with online are suddenly standing next to you.

Between the talks, happy hours, dinners, hotel lobbies, and activations, the entire week becomes a continuous flow of unexpected sightings and conversations. Most people were more than willing to engage, which made it feel even more connected than you'd expect from an event of that scale.

It was one of the few events I've attended where networking did not feel forced. The conversations happened naturally because everyone was there for many of the same reasons.

Creators weren't just present at Cannes. They were embedded into the fabric of it.

Depending on who you ask, there were roughly 250 to 500 creators officially in attendance, but that number feels much larger when you include people who create content but don't necessarily identify as creators.

One of the biggest surprises for me was the range of creators there. It wasn't only the biggest names or full-time professionals. There were also early-stage creators who clearly saw attending as an investment in their future business.

Many were intentional about treating Cannes as both a networking opportunity and a content moment. Conversations often came back to building relationships, growing audiences, expanding brand partnerships, and building a business.

To me, it reinforced how much the creator economy has matured. Cannes is beyond a place where brands invite a handful of creators. It is becoming a place creators actively invest in because they see long-term value in being there.

Cannes has become one of the biggest stages for platform and company announcements, and this year many of the biggest updates revolved around creators.

Meta introduced Creator Marketing Hub, bringing together Creator Marketplace and Partnership Ads, while also unveiling new AI tools, a reimagined Facebook Creator Studio, and new Meta Glasses. LinkedIn announced Collaborative Posts and Suggested Feeds. TikTok announced Custom Creator Networks, a new Content Suite feature that lets brands build structured communities of creators, employees, and advocates for campaign briefs and content activation, with Starbucks as the first pilot building on its Green Apron Creator Program for employees. Amazon introduced Creator Hub on Fire TV, Lowe’s expanded its creator initiatives with Creator: Into the Blue, and Forbes launched the Forbes Creator Network.

While each announcement was different, the broader trend was the same. Creators have become a core part of how platforms and companies attract audiences and advertisers, build products, and compete with one another.

From beaches and rooftops to hotels, apartments, and branded villas, activations were on another level.

Some of the standouts and favorites included Adobe’s festival-wide presence, where guests could use its Firefly Camera, Meta Beach, which included a performance from Miguel, desserts from Cédric Grolet, and creator-inspired installations, Pinterest Manifestival, where guests could get real trend-inspired tattoos, and Reddit’s Community Deli, which brought deli culture to life in an immersive way.

Others included Manychat’s postcard station, where you could send a postcard home to friends and family, L’Appartement Linktree, an exclusive pop-up penthouse, and creator JT Barnett’s invite-only late night party for creators.

These activations weren’t just elaborate, they were intentionally designed for social distribution. The people attending were only part of the audience. The much larger audience was everyone who would eventually experience them through social content.

One of the most interesting things about Cannes is how rare shared attention has become.

Marketing is increasingly fragmented. Everyone follows different creators, consumes different media, and works across different platforms. Outside of moments like the Super Bowl, the Grammys, or Coachella, there are very few times when so much of the world is focused on the same conversations at the same time.

Cannes is one of those moments.

Everyone has a different schedule and attends different events, but there is still a collective experience that builds throughout the week. The same announcements, activations, trends, and conversations quickly become what everyone is talking about.

When you bring together advertising, technology, media, creators, sports, entertainment, fashion, AI, and business in one place, those conversations naturally become bigger than any one industry.

That is what makes Cannes feel unlike anything else in the industry calendar.

Cannes Lions exceeded my expectations.

Even after hearing plenty of stories from people who had attended before, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Looking back, I got exactly what I hoped to get out of the experience. Networking, learning, new opportunities, great conversations, and a much better understanding of how Cannes actually works.

Now that I have that foundation, I think I will get even more out of it next time. I would spend more time exploring activations I missed, check out more of the award-winning work on display at the Palais, and leave even more room in my schedule for spontaneity.

A big thank you to the Cannes Lions team for inviting me as an official LIONS Creators Ambassador, for the opportunity to co-host the creator and marketer mixer, and for all of the curated experiences throughout the week. Thank you as well to everyone who took the time to chat, share a meal or drink, invite me to an event, or simply say hello. It was all greatly appreciated.

June 30th marks Social Media Day, and to celebrate, creatorpreneur Jayde I. Powell is hosting the Chronically Online Virtual Social Media Summit. The event brings together brand marketers, agency professionals, creators, and influencer marketing professionals for a full day of conversations about the state of the social industry.

Speakers include Lia Haberman, Austin Null, Tameka Bazile, Brandon Smithwrick, and many more.

You can get more details, see the full agenda, and purchase tickets here. Use code Lindsey15 for 15% off.

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