Newsletter & Email Growth: Growth In Reverse

Recapping CEX 2025: Un-hyping AI, Community Moats, and the Future of Newsletters

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Sep 3, 2025

Dive into the latest insights from the Content Entrepreneur Expo, where speakers unpack the evolving creator economy. Discover why slowing down and letting ideas marinate beats the rush to AI-first content. Explore the rising importance of community as a shield against content sameness, and the shift from discovery platforms to deeper relationship building. Learn how quality interactions in email and social media can outweigh mere numbers, and why a strategic blend of digital and physical content is making a comeback.

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ANECDOTE

Surprising Audience Members

Chenell opened CEX after Joe Pulizzi and felt nervous speaking in front of industry heavyweights but received encouraging feedback.
She learned you never know who reads your content until you meet them in person or on stage.

INSIGHT

Humans Need Audacious Creativity

Mark Schaefer and others argued humans win in an AI-marketing world by being audacious and different.
Standing out requires radically different creative choices, not just iterating on existing formats.

ANECDOTE

Small Dinner, Big Perspective

Chenell attended a small speaker dinner with Jay Acunzo, Ann Handley, Mark Schaefer, and others and felt out of place yet inspired.
The conversation reinforced slowing down and focusing on what truly matters in content work.

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“If content is king, AI is storming the castle." — Darren Vesterfelt, Mighty Networks

Chenell was just in Cleveland for the annual CEX conference. And she wasn't *just* in attendance—she was also a speaker!

So we're recapping the biggest lessons and takeaways from Chenell's experience at CEX (Content Entrepreneur Expo) — where she basically opened the conference with her keynote, traded notes with some content economy heavy hitters (like Jay Acunzo, Ann Handley, Mark Schaefer, Robert Rose), and soaked up the big trends.

We dig into why slowing down beats AI-first content, the power of community and IRL relationships, how to think about discovery vs. relationship platforms, and why some SEO pros are betting on social over search.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The case for “as slow as possible” content: let ideas marinate; don’t outsource your thinking to AI.
How to use AI as an editor rather than a first-draft brain replacement—and why this matters more than ever.
Driving audiences from discovery platforms → relationship platforms.
Community is a durable moat when content sameness rises (AI is “storming the castle”).
Social > Search (sometimes): comments from real humans can beat 10k empty pageviews.
Testing ideas fast with social media—and how commenting sparks even more ideas.
IRL still trumps all: stages, dinners, and small masterminds create outsized serendipity.
Are physical newsletters back?
Should you try AI sobriety?

LINKS MENTIONED

CEX
Ann Handley
Jay Acunzo
Mark Schafer
Growth In Reverse PRO Community
The GIR Social Growth Challenge
Get Chenell's brand-new course: The Growth Vault — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.
Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here.
Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

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Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

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