February: Unused Ether

I spend a chunk of time each weekday with news aggregators, email alerts, search engines, etc. - gathering information for my client work and this blog. A new folder is created once a month just for these virtual meanderings.

I'm a crazed, sloppy, obsessive bookmarker. Most of the links don't end up in posts. When the month is over the folder is pushed aside and a new one is created.

So in the waning hours of each artificial lunation (and if I remember) I'll be tossing up leftover miscellany as a post. The links may have to do with Baby Boomers and advertising/marketing, or only about Baby Boomers, or only about advertising/marketing. Or, who knows. They'll be whatever I've carelessly or determinedly snatched and tucked away - and nearing their expiration date.

I just hate to see perfectly good ether go to waste....

The residue from February, 2008:

Is Facebook the new Hula Hoop?

Craze Creator Dies

Model Age: New Faces for the Baby Boomers

Strokes of genius: Many retirees start Career 2.0 by embracing Web entrepreneurship

Baby boomers attracted to vehicles
that blur the line between cars and SUVs

The British Invasion in Second Life

What Keeps Boomers Tuned In?

January 2008 stats for boomer social networking sites

12 People Who Are Changing Your Retirement

California Court to Hear Google Age Discrimination Case

Ageless activity: 'Senior centers' don't excite newly over 50

French Women Don't Get Fat and Do Get Lucky

The 2010 Meltdown

Eureka! It Really Takes Years of Hard Work

The Tiresome Old Sage

2008 What's Next Boomer Business Summit

The What's Next Boomer Business Summit is coming up in March. I think this'll be number five (but I've lost count). It's no surprise that What's Next is now an annual event at the ASA-NCOA Conference.

I've blogged about it through the years, and attended twice:

What's Next Boomer Business Summit

At My Table at The Summit

Intrepid Reporters Brave Anaheim

This year the speakers include Gail Sheehy, Carol Orsborn, and Paul Kleyman.

I'll miss it this year - but Mary knows I'll miss her even more!

Boomeropia

There’s a new site targeting Baby Boomers and travel: Boomeropia. Here's a little piece in USA Today about it.

In the original edition of my book, published in 2005 (it’s also in the updated paperback) I spend a few pages imagining the perfect travel web site for Boomers. Boomeropia isn’t it – but it does have a few of the ingredients I’d suggested. It’s definitely a smorgasbord of vacation ideas. That’s good.

The name Boomeropia is abominable. In my book I warn against calling Boomers Boomers and naming anything “Boomer-whatever”. But they’ll find out soon enough. When I see “Boomeropia” I think of those neologism contests, mostly blends. Boomeropia sounds to me like a blend of boomer and myopia - a term boomer-bashers (a neoligism! as is 'baby boomers') might come up with:

Boomeropia: A psychological disorder prevalent in Baby Boomers who have convinced themselves that they are the only generation of any importance. In advanced stages of the disease, patients believe that there is only one generation - Baby Boomers. All other generations are merely cohorts and wannabes. Also known as “The Me Generation”.)

Perhaps they were trying to blend “Boomer” and “Utopia” - but that domain (Boomertopia) was taken. Who knows.

For the record: This blog and my book are B2B, not B2C. I use the term “Baby Boomers” because it’s a common sociological and business/marketing term.

At the moment, Boomeropia is simply a vacation aggregator – a collection of descriptions and links to other sites. Clicking around, I found some interesting ones – including a handful of top-notch suggestions in their excellent section for grandparents/grandchildren (a big market). The handicap section (again, not really the appropriate or smart term to use) is sparse - and if they'd done their research it would've included the top blog in the world on this subject: Rolling Rains. Although Dr. Rains is anything but handicapped. I'd have trouble keeping up with him. (Actually, I don't think I could. He'd leave me out of breath in hotel rooms to recover - as he again headed out the door to do things I'd never do.)

There’s also a meager but pretty good for beginners travel tips section (where they use another word you don’t want to use: Seniors) and a simple bulletin board.

Site Design: Nobody paid any attention at all to colors and color contrasts, wishy-washy type over pictures, fonts and size, etc. – and the headache-inducing effects these have on older eyes. Too bad. However, Boomeropia is clean, a breeze to navigate, and the simple hierarchy is refreshing.

All in all, it's not a bad site to zip through if you're planning a vacation. You'll probably pick up a few ideas and tips.

New Edition Creeping Into Libraries

I receive emails regularly from college students and professors. Thanks to The Advertising Educational Foundation selecting my book as a Classroom Resource – it has ended up as just that. The original edition (2005) is in hundreds of college and university libraries worldwide. Here’s a partial list.

Now the updated, revised edition is creeping into libraries. At the moment, copies can be found here:

Penn State - University Park, PA
DePaul University - Chicago, IL
Kent State University - Kent, OH
University of Illinois - Chicago, IL
Menlo College - Atherton, CA
Regis University - Denver, CO
Texas A&M University - College Station,TX
Fashion Institute of Tech Library - New York, NY
University of Alberta - Edmonton, Canada
Northern Illinois University - Dekalb, IL
College of Dupage Library - Glen Ellyn, IL
Eastern Illinois University - Charleston, IL
Ferris State University - Big Rapids, MI
Governors State University - University Park, IL
Bellevue Community College - Bellevue, WA
Miami University Libraries - Oxford, OH
Wright State University - Dayton, OH
Morehead State University - Morehead, KY
RIT Library - Rochester, NY
University of N Carolina - Greensboro, NC
Quinnipiac University - Hamden, CT
Broward Community College - Ft Lauderdale, FL
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo, CA

When students or teachers ask me if they should buy my book, I tell them, "Why don't you go to your library and request it. They'll probably order it for you." Most business and educational book authors don’t make a living from royalties – so we’re more interested in people reading our books than simply selling copies. Excuse the convoluted conceit involved here – but admittedly I get a big kick out of the fact that twenty or thirty students are taking turns, pouring over the same copy.

IMMN and New Members

It's become a mad rush - joining IMMN (The International Mature Marketing Network).

I'll probably get in a ton of trouble for blurting it all out before any official announcements - but here goes:

Carol Orsborn of Fleishman-Hillard (FH BOOM) is now a Board Member. Also joining is Lori Bitter of JWT BOOM.

So … a top PR firm and a top ad agency - and though the names are similar, they're not related. Fleishman-Hillard is with Omnicom, JWT with WPP. (Now they're related.)

New Honorary Board Members: Florian Kohlbacher of The German Institute for Japanese Studies, David Wolfe of Ageless Marketing, Richard Adler of The Institute of The Future.

A welcome to all.