Into the Metaverse We Go

In this issue, we explore several tech-related topics. 

Our headlines include “Experiencing the Metaverse,” “Gauging the Potential Impact of Artificial Intelligence” and “Improve Your Work-Life Balance on Teams and Slack.”

I’m curious how these headlines will age. I was recently looking over early issues of PR Tactics, PRSA’s newspaper that preceded Strategies & Tactics. Some of the headlines seem downright quaint today. 

Here’s a sampling from between 1994 and 1996:

• “How to Avoid a Cyber Crisis”
• “The Inside Scoop on Webzines”
• “In Search of Scoops in Cyberspace”
• “The Race to be No. 1 in Cyberspace”

While some terms are outdated, the subjects are as relevant as ever now. For example, cyber crises have evolved into many threats, including phishing and ransomware attacks.

Meanwhile, metaverse is the 2020s-era buzzy phrase, 30 years after science-fiction author Neal Stephenson coined the term in his 1992 novel “Snow Crash.”

McKinsey & Company estimates that corporations, private equity companies and venture capitalists have made $120 billion in metaverse-related investments in the first five months of 2022.

According to a July report in Time magazine, the word metaverse appeared in regulatory filings at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission more than 1,100 times through June. The previous year saw 260 total mentions.

And some of the world’s largest companies have been preparing for the metaverse. As Time reported, “They are reorganizing internally, reconstructing their product offerings, and prepping billion-dollar product launches.”

In this issue, Mike Neumeier, APR, helps us unpack the metaverse experience. 

As Mike writes: “It is important for us as communicators to approach new technologies with a healthy mix of skepticism and optimism. Rather than discount them outright, consider innovative technology a call to action. One where it is our job to take that leap of faith so we can understand how and if the solution fits within our work.”

This past spring, Mike’s firm, the Atlanta-based Arketi Group, brought together marketing and communications professionals to explore, test and experience the metaverse firsthand. Go here to see how it turned out.

We’ll hear more from Mike on the topic during the next Strategies & Tactics Live on Aug. 25 at 2 p.m. ET. 

S&T Live, which takes you behind the scenes of a story in the paper, debuted on PRSA’s LinkedIn page in February. Follow @PRSAtactics on Twitter, as well as on PRSA’s social media platforms for updates.

Flashback: introducing the first PRSA.org

While going through back issues of Tactics, I rediscovered this front-page headline from June 1995: “PRSA Launches Home Page on Internet’s World Wide Web.” (We used all the fashionable words of the day there, though apparently couldn’t fit in Information Superhighway and Cyberspace!)

Kidding aside, this was a significant moment in our history. Read our 75th-anniversary feature for more about PRSA’s first website and the leader who helped us make it happen, John Beardsley, APR.