CreatorCon is heading back to Huntington Place in downtown Detroit next month, bringing creators, entrepreneurs and small-business owners together for days of networking, workshops and live shopping demonstrations. Founder Robert Courtney says the goal isn’t just to celebrate influencers — it’s to turn them into business owners.
The event is designed to bridge the gap between content creation and business growth, according to ClickOnDetroit, which reports the conference is scheduled for Nov. 13-15, 2026. DSDT College, which is partnering with the event on a tuition initiative, lists the dates as Nov. 13-14, 2026 — a discrepancy that had not been resolved as of this writing. Courtney describes CreatorCon at its core as a marketing and business conference, one that gives creators a platform while giving businesses a chance to build brand awareness by working alongside them.
Attendees can expect speakers, workshops, a vendor marketplace, sessions on artificial intelligence and live shopping segments, the outlet’s report notes. This year’s lineup also includes a CreatorCon Kids showcase on Friday, aimed at introducing younger audiences to content creation.
Why Creators Are Becoming the New Sales Force
Courtney has pointed to a broader shift in how people shop and vet businesses. He said audiences increasingly turn to social media rather than traditional reviews when deciding who to trust, and he’s attributed the pull of creator marketing to the authenticity and trust that come from creators sharing first-hand experience, per the same ClickOnDetroit account. That shift shows up in the numbers: U.S. creator ad spend hit $37 billion in 2025, up 26% year over year, according to eMarketer.
Live shopping, one of the conference’s featured formats, is also growing fast. U.S. livestream ecommerce sales grew nearly 50% in 2025 to $14.64 billion, with the number of buyers climbing 21.5% year over year, eMarketer reports. The outlet notes that live shopping conversion rates run between 9% and 30%, compared with just 2% to 3% for standard ecommerce platforms — a gap that helps explain why Courtney said top live-shopping sellers are, in his words, “printing money.”
Still, the U.S. has a long way to go to catch up with markets like China, where livestream commerce captures roughly 60% of ecommerce activity versus approximately 5% in the U.S., per eMarketer. Only 21.7% of U.S. digital buyers made a purchase through livestream commerce in 2025, even as brands and creators logged more than 8 million hours of livestream shopping sessions in the U.S. in 2024. Platforms built around the format are cashing in regardless — Whatnot, dedicated specifically to live commerce, expected 2025 sales to exceed $6 billion, according to the same eMarketer analysis.
A Tuition Boost for Local Students
Beyond the stage and vendor floor, CreatorCon is tying its proceeds to local education. A portion of proceeds from the conference will support student tuition at DSDT College, according to a statement from DSDT College, which offers career-focused programs in information technology, artificial intelligence, digital marketing and software development. The exact dollar amount or share of proceeds directed to the initiative was not specified.
DSDT College’s announcement also names several confirmed speakers for this year’s event: LaRussell, Jason Wilson, David Shands, Nicky Saunders and Alicia Lyttle. CreatorCon’s website describes its intended audience broadly, listing content creators, influencers, entrepreneurs, small-business owners, brands, corporations, students and marketers among those who attend, according to CreatorCon Detroit’s own site.
From a Hotel Ballroom to a Convention Center
CreatorCon has grown steadily since its early days. The 2023 edition was held at Detroit’s Garden Theatre and drew hundreds of attendees from fields including technology, fashion, music, real estate, film and marketing, per the Michigan Chronicle. By 2024, the conference had moved to the Cambria Hotel for a two-day run billed as the third annual CreatorCon, featuring 11 workshops and a Podcast Playground, and organizers expected to connect more than 600 industry innovators, the Chronicle reported at the time. Last year’s event scaled down to a single day at Huntington Place, focused on learning, networking and showcasing creativity, ClickOnDetroit reported in its coverage of the 2025 conference.
For newcomers wary of walking into a room full of strangers, Courtney has a simple message: show up and start talking anyway. He’s encouraged first-time attendees to push past networking jitters and begin conversations, telling ClickOnDetroit that content creation offers real opportunity to anyone willing to pursue it seriously. Full schedule details and tickets for the November conference are available at creatorconexperience.com.
