In This Issue:

• LETTER FROM MARY
• WHAT'S NEXT ANNOUNCEMENT
• INTERVIEW
• FEATURE STORY
• NEW COLUMN
• SILVERRIDE UPDATE
• NEW ON THE WEB
• SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
• NEW MARKET FINDINGS
• NEWSWIRE

LETTER FROM MARY

What an uplifting time! Emails have been pouring in from around the globe with congratulations on the election. This morning a client conference call started in Spanish with the phrase, “Yes we can.” The 2008 election was a watershed event for many reasons, including the online strategies employed by the Obama campaign. Those strategies made use of nearly 3 million email addresses, text messages, and YouTube videos. In 2008, the Obama campaign spent $7.9 million for online ads (with $3.5 million going to Google alone). Truly transformational. In the future, every election will be increasingly digital and each new administration will rely on digital and mobile media as never before.

That is why we are making social media one of the focal points of the upcoming What’s Next Boomer Summit being held in Las Vegas on March 19. Our theme is "Creating Value…Delivering Results." While the election has brought tremendous energy, we know the economic situation facing us has serious ramifications for every business. Each business decision needs to add value for customers – and deliver financial results. Companies large and small are being asked to justify every expense. The buzz in Silicon Valley from the venture capitalists to their portfolio companies is to conserve capital, motivate sales team members with larger commissions, and focus on financial results.

We'll frame our What’s Next event around the themes and research that is important to building business in today’s economy. We are focusing on social media because of the sheer growth of the industry and its effect on the marketplace -- and also because we know boomers are using the new tools. I recently attended the Forum One conference on online communities and you could have heard a pin drop as we listened to experts who are decoding the business model. Speakers from Microsoft, iVillage, eBay, LiveWorld and SolutionSet talked about the return on investment achievable through tools that can help assess customer needs and the degree of customer loyalty that can be increased through a strong set of community tools.

Sales and partnership become even more important in this environment. This morning I listened to Karen Orton Katz of Lithium Technologies speak about sales in a Web 2.0 environment. She noted that the benefits of social media included lowering the cost of customer service calls, providing additional market insights and increasing the potential for up-selling. I asked Karen to share that story at What’s Next.

We are assembling a stellar group of speakers. I am pleased that Guy Kawasaki will be the keynote speaker, sharing tips from his new book: Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition. Emilio Pardo, chief brand officer of AARP, will speak about “Deals that Build Brands.” Emilio will share the story of their recent deal with Disney as well as others. We are also pleased to have Miriam Rivera, former deputy counsel of Google, speak about “How To Do Deals in the New Economy.” Every company today needs a digital strategy.

New research from Steve French of Natural Marketing Institute will help us understand if boomer paradigms are shifting because of the changes in the economy and their pocketbooks. Laurie Orlov, a former Forrester researcher, will bring us new data about one of the biggest boomer trends: aging in place technology.

Check out the full program at www.boomersummit.com and participate in our blog. Let us know what topics interest and motivate you in today’s economic climate. As always, what makes What’s Next work are the people who attend and participate. We are thrilled to have renewing sponsors AARP, Microsoft, Posit Science, MetLife Mature Market Institute, EquityKey, Phonak and LiveWorld and we welcome new sponsors Caring.com and VolunteerMatch. Let us know if you would like to join in as a sponsor, too.

It has been a whirlwind season of conferences the past two months. As you know I try to keep a handle on what is going on with the aging/boomer marketplace, social media, the Silicon Valley investment environment and private/public partnerships. These interests took me to the WomanSage conference in Orange County where a key theme was “Women in Reinvention.” Check out their website for more information. This will be a great resource for the 300,000-plus job seekers in their region.

In Miami, I spoke at the Digital Pathway to U.S. Economic Recovery and Prosperity Conference at the Biltmore. It was fascinating to learn of the work in telecommunications and digital citizenship for seniors in Coral Cables. Sara Czaja’s work about aging in place within a diverse population was especially noteworthy.

I also had a chance to tour the Silicon Valley and meet with Marta Bulaich, a network associate at Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and learn about the venture capital group's Global Network. It was really impressive to hear about the services that they offer start-up portfolio companies and the outreach of their offices.

We also met with Highland Capital Partners and heard about their current investing priorities and what is required to be considered by their investment team. We saw the exciting start-up, The Experience Project, where more than 1.3 million users are connecting, sharing stories, buying virtual gifts and more. And, we toured SolutionSet, a smart, focused company that builds great websites and provides tailored digital solutions. Alex Kapinsky, managing partner, talked about how to serve the customer base and get renewals in this more challenged economy. He pointed to the model of law firms and strong consulting practices where every client is important and their needs are served well.

Finally, I made it over to the Bone and Joint Expo. This event brought together companies that serve the boomer/senior consumer and it was really aimed at the health care consumer. John Muir Health and the Arthritis Foundation were the key sponsors. I took the time for a bone density test (it only takes 5 minutes) and then noted how enthusiastic the attendees were to learn the latest about rotator cuff injuries, joint replacement, spine support, and arthritic thumbs.

So, now an update on the personal side of life. My mom is cruising along really well. She is walking again and is the fastest in her assisted living villa. We took a new candy apple red walker to the theater last Sunday and saw 42nd Street. We then had dinner at Marcello's. It was just like old times -- seeing her looking and feeling well. Those of us who help someone we love navigate the challenges of health problems treasure the times when they are doing well. As to Annie -- she is my new exercise plan. Like the new daughters about to enter the White House, I am shopping for a new puppy -- a sister for Annie. And yes, as an empty nester I already had her photo taken for the holiday season.

All best,
Mary

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WHAT'S NEXT ANNOUNCEMENT

Register Now for What’s Next

Registration is open for the 2009 What’s Next Boomer Business Summit, which will be held in Las Vegas at Bally’s hotel on March 19. We’ve added two pre-conference boot camps this year: Entrepreneurship and E-Revenue for Non-profits. The boot camps will be held on the afternoon of March 18. Great room rates are available at Paris ( $165+ tax) and Bally’s ($145+ tax). The Early Bird conference rate of $325 ends Dec. 15 so don’t wait! Full details at www.boomersummit.com. We’re always looking for new speakers and case studies to present. Please share your ideas with us. The summit is being held in conjunction with the ASA-NCOA Aging in America Conference March 15-19.

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INTERVIEW

Ronald Jou, MD, a member of the Niveus Medical team that was one of two winners of a $10,000 prize at the Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit in Santa Clara in June, talks about some of the challenges of developing the product and the prize-winning pitch:

Q. Describe the product and how you (or you and your team) came up with the idea.

A. The idea is a way to improve functional recovery after critical illness. The product is an intelligent muscle stimulator that activates muscles in patients who are unable to participate in traditional physical therapy. At Stanford Biodesign, my team was charged with improving care in the intensive care unit. During our clinical observations, we noticed that there were many patients were unable to receive traditional physical therapy. These patients tended to have very long and difficult recoveries, and we wondered if it was possible to improve their outcomes by implementing some sort of therapy while they were still in the ICU.

Q. How did you develop the winning pitch?

A. The pitch that we presented at Boomer's was an amalgamation of several other pitches that we have given recently. The video was made by Dorothea Koh. She understands the technical and medical aspects of our projects, and she was able to combine our ideas with music and stock footage to create a compelling experience for the viewer. When most people see the video, they understand the clinical need almost instantly. The slides were influenced by ideas from Guy Kawasaki and Garr Reynolds as presented in their blogs. Both of them truly understand pitching and the presentation medium. The most important thing was practice and iteration. We received excellent feedback from various VC and angel groups, and at Stanford Biodesign, we present to each other regularly to help refine our presentations.

Q. What is you role in and connection to Niveus Medical?

A.For the past year, I have been working with four other physicians and engineers to develop this project through Stanford Biodesign. The program is a one-year fellowship in medical device entrepreneurship. Brian Fahey is a talented engineer from the Duke PhD program, and he and I are currently trying to move this project from our ideas and early prototypes to the ICU bedside.

Q. What is the timeline for bringing the product to market?

A. Medical devices generally take a long time to reach the market. Currently, we are implementing a 12-month plan to move the technology to a point where we can either commercialize the product ourselves or look for potential partners in the medical device space.

Q.Who will be needed on the team to develop it?

A.We are currently recruiting senior engineers for R&D, and we are also looking for executives with experience in medical device commercialization who are interested in this early state project.

Q. How much financing is needed and where will it come from?

A.We are currently looking for a seed round of investment from early stage VCs or angel investors. We think that we can achieve our 12-month milestones with a relatively small amount of capital. We're still refining our financial models, but we are looking for about $150,000 in addition to the SBIR grant funding that we hope to be awarded by the National Science Foundation.

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FEATURE STORY

BOOSTING E-COMMERCE SALES WITH ONLINE VIDEO STORYTELLING
By Fred Cohen

“Blah, Blah, Blah.”

That’s what consumers hear when you talk about your product, or service, especially online. Just watch someone surfing the web. They’ll skim right over anything that even smells like “marketing speak” Online consumers are sophisticated, savvy, and very skeptical.

So, what works? What does it take to close the transaction?

Real customer stories that grab attention. Online video testimonials from people just like your target consumer. Using their words to explain your products’ and service benefits.

Tell ‘em a story
Video storytelling is a simple, effective way to engage website visitors. Since most consumers get their information from television or interactive media, video testimonials are an easier way for people to receive and retain product information. Plus, your key marketing messages become instantly more credible and memorable when presented by real people. Also, these mini-video stories can easily be targeted to any consumer segment, allowing you to highlight the most important benefits for each individual market.

You CAN afford it
Sure, long paragraphs of text are cheaper than video, but they are also far less effective. If your goal is to sell products, or services, you can’t beat the return on investment you will experience when you post carefully crafted video testimonials to your site.

Video production costs for "direct to web" are much less than budgets for traditional video. Since you’ll be delivering online, you save distribution costs, as much as 20 percent of the cost of a traditional video production. Additionally, most companies find dozens of ways to use video they produce, both on and off line, before the testimonials are even finished editing.

Close the Sale
Replace passages of unread text on your e-commerce site with lively sounds and images. Your products/services (and bottom line) deserve the impact and emotion that video storytelling can add to online sales.

Fred Cohen is Executive Producer of Creative Presentations, a Northern California media production company. For more information on boosting e-commerce sales contact him at fred@cpresents.com.

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NEW COLUMN

Debuting in this issue is a column that will be a regular feature written by Laurie M. Orlov, who runs the Aging in Place Technology Watch Web site. Orlov, an independent consultant who has served as VP and principal analyst at Forrester Research, analyzes research and trends in the aging in place technology market, which includes technologies that help the elderly remain in their home of choice. Laurie has 34 years in the technology and market research industry, is a certified Florida Long-term Care Ombudsman and the author of When Your Parents Need Elder Care.

Laurie's first column for the newsletter has been adapted from her blog:

AARP Healthy@Home Survey Provides Clues about Technology Uptake

For those interested in technology for aging in place, the 2008 AARP Healthy@Home Survey by Linda Barrett, Ph.D, of AARP Knowledge Management, is a remarkable resource and should be carefully studied -- I have only begun to absorb some of the key points in it. Technology categories include use of a personal computer; home safety devices, including activity monitoring and fall sensors; and personal health and wellness devices, including electronic pill boxes and medication monitors; and telepharmacy. Eighty-seven percent indicated if they needed help caring for themselves they would prefer help provided in their current home -- and would be willing to give up some of their privacy to stay there.

Highlights from the survey done in December 2007 by Knowledge Networks of 906 adults age 65+ and 1,023 caregivers:

• Seniors report having some independence issues. One-third reported limits on basic physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting or carrying. Two in five report low vision or hearing impairments and 15 percent report problems learning, remembering, or concentrating.
• Seniors may not be aware of products, but would be interested to use. Older adults are both aware of and willing to use personal computers to see and hear people in different places, play games, and search for health information. Only percent were aware of activity monitors (home monitoring), but 56 percent would be willing to use. Although they are familiar with Personal Emergency Response Systems, they are generally unaware of electronic pill boxes (aka medication reminder or management systems.) Seventy-five percent indicated support for telemedicine.
• Seniors expressed concern about cost and need. For all technology categories, most responders expressed concern about costs to install and maintain, most expressed willingness to to pay less than $50/month to use many of the product categories, and most also noted that despite willingness to use these devices, they may not be something that they need.
• Caregivers -- most live nearby Only 14 percent of caregiver responders live one or more hours from those they help. This raises a significant and unanswered question: What about long-distance caregiving? 7 million people in the United States are responsible for the care of someone more than 1 hour away, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Preliminary thoughts
From this study, I would conclude (in no particular order):

• National advocacy attention on technology is mediocre. The study makes it clear -- there is distinct lack of awareness of the availability of these categories of products. The AARP Home Fit Guide does not include any information about these technologies. I would suggest first to the AARP and next to the NIA that their sites offer a guide to technologies they suggest could aid both in nearby and long-distance caregiving.
• Awareness marketing is mediocre.Seniors are open to staying independent with the assist of some technologies -- but how will they learn about them? For every hour spent describing technologies to reporters (free) vendors should spend an hour-equivalent of their sales or marketing dollars advertising their technologies (especially in the home safety category) to the caregivers.
• Cost is king -- and should not be directly born by seniors.The technology categories researched in Healthy@Home must be of a low cost to the seniors themselves, similar to the cost of cable television, Internet access, and other subscription services. However, the cost-benefit to caregivers, doctors, home care agencies, independent living facilities, etc. may be so dramatic that cost-sharing or the entire cost burden will ultimately not be born directly by seniors. My initial take -- costs should be bundled as functionality in a facility or apartment, reimbursed through some sort of insurer that is trying to drive down the cost of care.

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SILVER RIDE UPDATE

Susan Steiner Saal, co-founder and president of SilverRide, sends along the latest on the service that recently provides a new concept in mobility for older adults. SilverRide, which recently marked its 18-month anniversary and now serves more than 300 members in the San Francisco Bay Area with personalized transportation, accompaniment, activity planning and concierge services. The company recently launched the SilverRide Signature Events Series of planned events aimed at helping members get out, meet other members and have fun through trips to San Francisco arts and cultural destinations as well as tours to such places as Golden Gate Park and its botanical attractions. Saal also reports that SilverRide has adopted a new slogan, "Get There With Care," which underscores the "helping hand" aspect of the service while also reinforcing the fact that SilverRide will “take care” of all of the details of the ride and “take care” to always be on time. Most importantly, it speaks to the many family members, friends and other professionals who have come to rely on SilverRide to take care of their loved ones' needs and be a vital part of the caregiving team, Saal notes.

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NEW ON THE WEB

The U.S. Small Business Administration has unveiled a new website, www.sba.gov/50plusentrepreneur, geared to the 50-plus entrepreneur, providing useful information, links and resources vital to starting, growing and expanding a small business. From the news release:

The new site features interactive information and links to help 50-plus entrepreneurs consider the benefits and rewards of business ownership, and to help them make informed choices about business ownership.

Components of the new site include a self-assessment feature to help the aspiring entrepreneur determine his or her business readiness, information on borrowing and credit, and inspirational success stories from baby boomer entrepreneurs. The site will help users evaluate the reasons for business ownership after age 50, the risks involved, and how to devise a plan of action at every phase of business development.

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Dr. Furlong will be speaking at the NCTI Technology Innovators Conference being held in Washington, D.C., Nov. 20-21. Conference organizers have set a two-day agenda focusing on emerging technology trends, challenges, and guidance around the theme, "Thriving in a Global Marketplace." Dr. Furlong will be taking part in a panel discussion titled, "Reframing the Market: What’s Next for Learning and Assistive Technologies?"

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NEW MARKET FINDINGS

Boomers are Redefining Retirement

For baby boomers, a funny thing is happening on the way to retirement -- more work. Although this generation of forty- through sixty-somethings is nearing what was once the traditional retirement age, their futures are filled with more paychecks and less leisure.

However, in much the same way they revolutionized cultural norms in their youth, boomers are redefining the concept of retirement.

Find out more

Smart Bath and Kitchen Designs Key for Boomers Aging in Place
Accessibility and safety are key issues for baby boomers looking forward to staying in their homes as they age. Increasingly, today's consumers are addressing these issues in two of the home's most-used and most accident-prone rooms - the kitchen and the bathroom.

More here

New in 2009: Harley-Davidson models cater to baby boomers

As much as baby boomers hate to admit it they're getting older. Not unexpectedly for some of the oldest members of this demographic cluster, riding no longer is the breeze it once was due to declining physical skills — even though an interest in riding persists.

Harley-Davidson will cater to those riders in the new model year with the 2009 Tri Glide Ultra Classic, a new $30,000 trike -- yes, a three-wheeler.

The Tri Glide Ultra Classic "offers the classic styling and popular touring features of Ultra Classic Electra Glide," according to Harley. It's powered by a Twin Cam 103 V-Twin engine and has a six-speed transmission. A reverse gear is a $1,195 option. The Tri Glide also has 4.5 cubic foot trunk and an 80-watt audio system with CB radio and passenger intercom.

Read more here

A Therapy For Baby Boomers To Sleep On: New Drug For Insomniacs Over 55

Many adults over 55 don’t get enough restorative sleep, leading to serious health concerns. Unfortunately, current sleeping pills are associated with memory problems, a risk for falls, dependency, withdrawal symptoms and disturbed sleeping patterns.

Circadin, a new drug developed at Tel Aviv University by Professor Nava Zisapel, a chemist and neurobiologist from TAU’s George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, may help America’s aging baby boomers get the much-needed sleep they need. Recent results from Prof. Zisapel’s research with Circadin appear in the Journal of Sleep Research and are reviewed in Aging Health.

Details here

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NEWSWIRE

Baby Boomers: The Boomerang Years
For millions of Americans approaching retirement, recent economic events have suddenly caused the oldest members of the baby boom generation to reconsider their plans to leave the workforce. "Although most American still see their 60s as a time to bring their full-time careers to an end, there is also a growing number of Americans who are interested in remaining in the workforce," according to Joan Strewler-Carter and Stephen Carter, co-founders of the Life Options Institute, an organization dedicated to helping people plan for life after age 50.

Boomers beleagured but still optimistic about financial well-being, survey finds
Despite historic market turbulence that has pounded 401(k) plans and retirement savings, American baby boomers surveyed Oct. 20-23 still believe their long-term financial health will be just fine. But the outlook isn’t all rosy, according to a national survey of 947 American adults, age 45 to 64, conducted Oct. 20-23 for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a Fortune 500 financial services organization,

U.S. Senior Centers Plan for Boom of Boomers
Changing food preferences are among many adjustments that senior center directors nationwide, expect to make in the next decade as they balance the wishes of their elderly stalwarts with those of baby boomer newcomers. Some even have taken "senior" out of their names, christening the facilities "community centers." It's a nod to boomers who acknowledge they are aging but bristle at the term "senior" and the stereotypes of fragility or dependency.

In Canada, too many patients, too few doctors
Canada's health-care system has just 216 geriatricians, one-fifth of those needed to treat an aging population. Seniors are the health-care system's biggest customer and a disproportionate drain on services. More doctors and nurses trained in geriatric care could save the system untold millions by appropriately treating an aging population – and improve their care.

Lively times ahead for funeral directors.
Beyond the convention center filled with glistening hearses, beyond the rows of perfectly arranged caskets and bottles of embalming fluid, funeral directors await perhaps their greatest windfall ever: The death of the baby-boom generation.

The dark side of the retirement bubble
Is another perfect storm looming on the economic horizon once we sort through the current Wall Street banking crisis ? Management consultant Stephen Xavier, founder of Cornerstone Executive Development Group, argues that key industries have not addressed the loss of critical knowledge that will hit them when a huge number of baby boomers head for retirement by 2010.

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