Comms FutureLab is a media platform for communications and marketing leaders who are endlessly curious about the future of our profession. Through thoughtful analysis of AI, media, leadership, trust and organizational change, we help today's leaders prepare for tomorrow's challenges and opportunities.
Welcome to Comms FutureLAB
Welcome to Comms FutureLABHi, I’m Susan. For more than 20 years I’ve worked across communications, influencer marketing, and social media. I’ve advised executives, trained spokespeople, built communication strategies, and watched our profession change through social media, then mobile, and now artificial intelligence. Over time I realized my gaze has always been drawn a few steps ahead to how shifts in technology, trust, and culture are reshaping how we communicate. Every few years we’re told everything has changed. This time feels different. AI is changing how we write, search, create, and make decisions. Trust in institutions continues to shift. Audiences are harder to reach. Media habits keep changing. Communications and marketing leaders are being asked to do more while making sense of technologies that seem to evolve every week and, lately, every day. That’s why I started Comms FutureLAB. This newsletter is where I’ll examine what's worth paying attention to and separate that from the noise. My goal isn’t to report every announcement. Plenty of publications already do that and do it well. I’m more interested in the questions that come after the headlines.
You’ll find practical analysis, research translated into plain English, lessons from my work with leaders and organizations, conversations with interesting people, and occasional experiments with new tools. If something you read here helps you think differently before your next leadership meeting, media interview, or strategy session, then this newsletter is doing its job. One thing that caught my attentionLast week thousands of government leaders, researchers and technology companies gathered in Geneva for the AI for Good Global Summit and the World Summit on the Information Society Forum. I'm having a little FOMO from not being there, but what I've gleaned from the recaps has been super insightful. There's a huge shift away from new AI models towards on governance, trust and responsible use. That stood out to me because it reflects where our functions is heading. For the past two years, many conversations have centered on what AI can produce. The next phase is about whether people can actually believe what they see, hear and read. Verification, disclosure and credibility are becoming communication skills, not technical details. Teams that understand how to build trust alongside AI use will have an advantage over those that focus only on speed. I’ll be following that closely here. Thank you for joining me at the beginning of this journey. I’m glad you’re here. Much Love ❤️ Susan #CommsFuturist |
Comms FutureLAB
Comms FutureLab is a media platform for communications and marketing leaders who are endlessly curious about the future of our profession. Through thoughtful analysis of AI, media, leadership, trust and organizational change, we help today's leaders prepare for tomorrow's challenges and opportunities.
Your Embargo Needs an Internal Comms Plan I’m working on a project with an organization that has a longstanding practice: employees hear company news 24 hours before it’s announced publicly. I understand the reasoning. Employees shouldn’t routinely learn important news about their company from a news alert, LinkedIn post or reporter. But 24 hours can be a long time when you’re also working with media under embargo. An embargo gives reporters access to information before an announcement with...
A few weeks ago, I appeared on the Comms Confidential podcast. We talked about leadership, career growth and how AI is changing the communications profession. One idea has stayed with me since my conversation with host Jo Gallo: the importance of being a lifelong learner. Early in our careers, learning is built into the job. We attend training, ask questions and seek feedback because we're expected to develop. As our responsibilities grow, the expectation changes. Our calendars fill with...
Last week, Taylor Farms faced criticism for saying too little during the Cyclospora outbreak. Many commentators argued the company’s response felt overly cautious, too vague, and lacking urgency. Then the FDA announced that the product sample driving much of the online conversation was a false positive. The investigation is still ongoing, but one of the most widely circulated “facts” turned out to be incorrect. No one knows whether Taylor Farms is ultimately cleared. That isn’t the point. But...