Partnering with a selection of inspirational speakers, over the summer we hosted six events within the Clockwise Campus that ranged from Q&As with a finance manager, to fireside chats with an established influencer and informative lectures with an AI expert.

For those that didn’t manage to catch the series this summer or are keen for a recap, we have summarised the key takeaways from all the talks below.

First in the impressive line up, and actually our first venture into hosting Metaverse speakers as a whole, was Victoria Clapham. Victoria is an Investment Manager with nearly 20 years’ experience in industry. She has worked for several leading investment management firms, before co-founding her own wealth management company five years ago.

In her talk, Demystifying Finance, Victoria attracted an impressive virtual crowd to talk through all areas of finance – from asset classes and funds, to risk, ISAs and cash accounts. Finances can seem intimidating and a tall order to understand, but Victoria picked through each topic area and broke down the complexities to provide thought-led advice and insights.

Our three key takeaways included:

1. “The higher the potential rewards, the higher the risk of losses.” – whilst this might seem obvious, this straightforward statement brought together the key learnings of risk that was the red thread throughout her discussion.
2. “When the general price level rises (inflation), each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduction in the purchasing power of money.” – this argument outlined the importance of understanding whether your savings are working for you. If you’re losing spending power due to inflation, perhaps not.
3. “If you want to finesse your tax situation for the year, you can do it via pension contributions.” – those higher earners (i.e: for those earning £60,000 per annum, if you can afford to put away £10,000, you can ensure you’re in a lower rate of tax).

Next up was a look into the fascinating work-life of influencers. It was fantastic to hear from Oenone Forbat, a self-made multi-hyphenate who has built quite the lucrative career ‘influencing’.

A woman with many hats (literally and figuratively), Oenone is an influencer, author, podcaster and comedian. Her Instagram account started off as a fitness and wellness page but has since evolved into a warm and welcoming hub for other 20-somethings navigating this uncertain time in their lives. She now creates content about books, sustainable fashion, modern day dilemmas, and everything in between, as well as her more recent love of painting.  Her talk offered fascinating insight into the world of online – from trolls and supportive communities, to thought-led advice on how to actually make money based on your follower count.

Our three key takeaways included:

1. “The word influencer makes me cringe, there’s such a negative stigma around it, I much prefer the term multi-hyphenate” – admittedly for someone with so many different spinning career plates, the term influencer and the stigma surrounding it, didn’t seem quite substantial enough for Oenone.
2. “I have built such a positive community of females online, we all support each other and are all genuinely such good friends.” – Girl power and friendships through industry – we love to see it!
3. “I acknowledge that I have had an incredible amount of privilege and the creative industries are a hard industry to crack.” – a very good point well made, and something to consider when embarking on a career journey – though definitely never a reason to hold you back.

After forging a new path in the metaverse with insightful talks across a range of sectors, it was only right that we next looked to delve deeper into the metaverse and AI itself.

Luke’s talk broke down the major trends and opportunities we’re seeing as AI and the digital landscape quickly evolves. The insightful session went further into gaming, digital economies, AI in business and how we navigate this landscape as the next generation enters the workforce.

Our three key takeaways included:

1. “The gaming industry is now larger than the movie and music industries combined, with a huge influence on culture and digital economies.” – Luke gave the examples of Fortnite becoming a distribution platform and the success of virtual concerts such as Travis Scott’s to really show the way the world is changing.
2. “Digital and tokensized economies are on the rise, with games like Pixels demonstrating real-world economic integration, where in-game currency can be traded for real money” – we’ve all seen the rise of cryptocurrency but to see it used alongside real currency in the gaming world really feels like a step into the third web.
3. “90% of online content could be AI-generated by 2025. The future actually lies in “Action AI,” where AI agents perform tasks autonomously, potentially creating new categories of entertainment and digital economies” – definitely something we all need to be aware of as we navigate the online world in the age of AI

In the next session, three mental health and workplace wellbeing experts came together in the metaverse,  MYNDUP Founder & CEO  Joel  Gujral, Clockwise’s Director of People and Culture Jo Sweeney, and Life Coach Jermaine Harris to explore ways of creating a high performance workplace cultures. By boosting your organisation’s mental health and leadership capabilities, you can support higher productivity and reduce sickness absence and attrition!

Hosted by Joel, Jermaine and Jo stressed the importance of transparent communication channels, regular feedback loops, and collaborative tools that facilitate teamwork and innovation. They discussed strategies such as promoting work-life balance, providing mental health support, and creating a supportive work environment that fosters both personal and professional growth. The speakers advocated for creating opportunities for employees to upskill and reskill through training programs, mentorship, and access to educational resources, ensuring that the workforce remains adaptable and competitive in a rapidly changing environment.

Our three key takeaways included:

1. “A high-performance culture begins with prioritising the well-being of employees” – employee satisfaction, anxiety management and preventing burnout all maximise team value in the workplace
2. “Effective, open communication and collaboration are critical components of a high-performance culture” – it’s so important to establish healthy team practices and let success follow naturally
3. “There is nothing more  important than continuous learning and professional development” – something we can all take into our daily lives, every day’s a school day!

The fifth metaverse session was hosted by Jason  Okundaye, acclaimed London-based writer and author of Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain. In the Clockwise Campus he talked through the cycle of workload and how employees go through periods of “feast and famine”. The workplace can be an isolating place, and Jason discussed methods of handling pressure and stress management as well as the all-important switch off process to ensure good work-life balance.

In the session Okundaye highlighted how virtual environments like the Clockwise Metaverse can offer safe, inclusive spaces for community building, activism, and the amplification of diverse voices. This led to the specific examples where technology has facilitated greater awareness and mobilisation around social justice issues.

Our key takeaways included:

1. “Feast and famine particularly comes up for those who are self employed and it’s a cycle where you swing between being overwhelmed by work to not having enough and doubting yourself.  We have to think of how we can network, upskill and learn in these famine periods” – this definitely inspired us to look at courses and classes during the often quieter summer months!
2. “Advancements in virtual reality and digital networking can be harnessed to drive social change by providing minority groups a voice where they may not have been heard before” – it was super interesting to dive into the intersection of technology and social justice and see how AI can be a force for good.
3. “As we navigate the metaverse, there is absolutely the need to pay attention to ethical considerations, equitable access, and the mitigation of digital divides” – something for the Clockwise team to keep front of mind as we continue to explore the metaverse through our Clockwise campus.

Our Metaverse space has proven an embarrassment of riches during our programme of events, as we’ve taken many takeaways and nuggets away from each inspiring speaker. To innovate the space even further, we decided to host the world’s first breathwork workshop in the Metaverse to conclude our series.

This was hosted by Jamie Clements, a breathwork specialist and founder of The Breath Space. Jamie has worked alongside top entrepreneurs, politicians, athletes, global brands and many more, to share the life changing potential of breathwork and altered states of consciousness. His talk started with a bit of insight into breathing, and how breathwork affects the mind and mindfulness, as well as different methods to cope or manage your breathing.

This was followed by a session of breathwork exercises which people could follow along in the comfort of their own homes or offices. We left feeling calm and serene, ready to face the next challenge in the workday.

Our three key takeaways included:

1. “It has been suggested that between 35 – 90% of the population have a dysfunctional form of breathing” – that’s an awful lot of people and highlights the importance of breathwork to elevate your mood and physical health.
2. “Nasal breathing, which might feel a little unnatural sometimes, has eight key benefits to your body” – this includes, but isn’t limited to, filtering air, improving cognition and improving your sleep pattern.
3. “To better your physical and mental health, it is scientifically recommended to do 10 – 12 minutes of breathwork per day for at least four weeks” – allow your breath to calm, steady and focus you with this small time commitment.

There’s much more to come from the Clockwise Campus and we encourage you to check it out for yourself here! In the meantime, watch this space for more exciting talks and events coming to a metaverse near you soon!