The Era of Earned Influence

Registration, welcome and a light breakfast

Chairperson intro and welcome

Ben Smith, founder PRmoment

The Substack Creators Interview

Anna Wharton, creator and founder, White Ink

Anna Wharton is the founder of White Ink is a highly engaged Substack with more than 12,000 subscribers, 22,000 social followers and 300 paid subscribers, along with a growing reputation as a distinctive voice in contemporary commentary.

She is a journalist and author with more than 30 years’ experience writing for leading UK publications, including The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Times, The Observer and the Daily Mail, where she served as Associate Editor of Femail.

Anna van Praagh, creator and founder, Letter from London

Anna van Praagh is the founder of Letter from London, a growing platform for sharp, thoughtful commentary on how influence operates in the capital, alongside a developing community of engaged readers.

Anna van Praagh is an editor, writer and content consultant with a senior track record across some of the UK’s most influential media organisations. Most recently chief content officer at the Evening Standard, she has also written for titles including the Financial Times and The Times, and has worked across a wide range of major media brands.

Interviewer: Ben Smith, founder, PRmoment

Themes

• Why established writers are building direct publishing platforms
• How Substack creates more freedom, flexibility and editorial control
• How newsletters can complement, not replace, legacy media work
• How independent stories can build value and move into mainstream titles
• What makes a story worth developing outside traditional editorial structures
• How writers approach brand opportunities while protecting independence
• What makes brand involvement feel credible, useful or too intrusive
• What PR teams need to understand when working with independent writers

The future of earned influence

- Amy Parry, head of brand, Zeno
- Raph Turner, head of digital, Zeno

Themes

• Why earned has changed and what is driving the shift
• How people now discover, validate, trust and act on information
• The different roles platforms play in how stories travel
• How algorithms and LLMs are reshaping visibility and belief
• What this means for the way brands shape and sell stories
• How brands build influence beyond traditional coverage
• Why measurement needs to move beyond scale and reach
• The new rules of earned influence today

In-house panel: Futureproofing in-house teams for this new era of media

- Tamara Pickett, group communications & external relations director, Virgin
- James Banks, senior vice president - head of external communications, Rolls-Royce
- Sam Cole, global PR & events director, Cunard
- Amy Parry, head of brand, Zeno

Themes:

• Are comms teams still optimising for a media system that no longer exists?
• What changes when earned is no longer just about coverage, but about visibility, credibility and influence across ecosystems?
• How should brands think differently about storytelling when platforms increasingly serve different human behaviours and needs? Platform and behaviour insight
• How do comms, social, digital and brand teams need to work differently together?
• How should brands decide where to place their time, stories and investment today? 
• How do brands identify and respond to narratives before they become reputational issues?
• What happens when AI and algorithms increasingly shape what gets surfaced, trusted and recommended?
• What should replace reach and volume as the primary indicators of earned impact
• What separates genuinely useful agency partners from outdated ones in this environment?

Coffee and networking

Close of event