What I Learned at CEX (Content Entrepreneur Expo) 2025

There were some common themes running through the different presentations at CEX (Content Entrepreneur Expo). After a couple of years of "how to use AI" topics, this year was focused on how to stand out from those who are using AI.

A common theme was identifying what AI couldn't do, a...

There were some common themes running through the different presentations at CEX (Content Entrepreneur Expo). After a couple of years of "how to use AI" topics, this year was focused on how to stand out from those who are using AI.

A common theme was identifying what AI couldn't do, and lean into that. Whether it was being more crazy (Mark Schaefer), attracting humans rather than algorithms (Wil Reynolds), taking time to be mindful of your work (Ann Handley), using repetition to build your brand (Jay Clouse and Joe Pulizzi), or identifying that 10x efforts lead to 100x results (Andy Crestodina), there are so many ways to get your product or service to stand out.

I should clarify that I took a half-day workshop with Andy, so he has many quotes in here.

This collection also features Rich Brooks, J. Rita McNeil Danish, Esq., Amanda Northcutt, Robert Rose, Edward W., Amy Landino, Fernando Labastida, Jeff Sieh, Robbie Fitzwater, Chenell Basilio, and Darrell Vesterfelt.

CEX is always one of my favorite events of the year. Since this was my fourth, I got to hang out with many friends like Annie Figenshu, Daniel Nestle, Rebecca Achen, Will Hanlon, Brian Piper, Pamela Muldoon, Erika Heald, Brian Stout, Katie Brinkley, Dan Christ, and so many others!

The portraits were drawn on the iPad in the Procreate app. No AI was used! This is just me and a digital pencil.