In This Issue:

• LETTER FROM MARY
• A READ ON READEO
• MARK WILLAMAN INTERVIEW
• AGING IN PLACE TECH WATCH
• REMEMBERING DR. ROBERT BUTLER
• SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
• MARKET FINDINGS
• NEWSWIRE

LETTER FROM MARY

It is 2011 and the first cohort of baby boomers is turning 65. There is nearly a story a day about that cohort and how it is going to change the face of retirement. We know that the 55+ age group is the fastest-growing segment of entrepreneurs. As they have to "make up" for what was lost in the recession, there is a need to stay in jobs longer and also take on new businesses. Technology will play a major role in the tools that they use to grow their businesses, stay in touch with their friends, families and colleagues and take care of their health and fitness. At the upcoming What's Next Boomer Business Summit April 29 in San Francisco, we are featuring many of the top researchers and analysts who study the market dynamic and can provide data and analysis about these trends.

Jody Holtzman, senior vice president, thought leadership, at AARP, will be presenting the latest research from their study, "Healthy at Home." Laurie Orlov, founder, Ageinplacetech.com and Lyn Jeffrey, cultural anthropologist at the Institute for the Future, will share the latest trends on how technology can transcend geography for families. On the mobile technology front, Jeff Hasen, chief marketing officer, Hipcricket, and Miles Orkin, national director of E-revenue and mobile innovation, American Cancer Society, will provide a perspective on how mobile is going to change how we manage our health and fitness as well as our mobile wallet. Social media will continue to play an increasingly important role in the lives of older adults. Bill Tancer, general manager, research, of Experian Marketing Services along with Lori Bitter, president of Continuum Crew, will provide a look into the trends in this area. We will also cite trends in broadband use from the new Pew Research Data on Broadband, 2010. There is not a product or service company today that doesn't have a strategy that includes integrated marketing. It is important for us as business leaders to know how to make marketing work by optimizing search and local. The information gathered from a trial campaign online can help inform and provide messaging for a broadcast or print campaign.

Print will continue to play an important role in reaching boomers in retirement and beyond. In March, USA Today will launch a new magazine entitled Mature Living. There is increased coverage in their newspapers (online and offline of the boomer market). PBS will also launch a new digital property called Next Avenue.

We are fortunate to have top thought leaders: Vint Cerf, an Internet "co-father" and vice president and chief Internet evangelist at Google and Guy Kawasaki, author and venture capitalist, as plenary speakers. I met Vint at the AARP@50+ conference in Orlando where we were on a panel together (pictured) with actor-director Rob Reiner and Jeffrey Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future, USC Annenberg School for Communication.

As we try to highlight what is actually working when companies go to market, we want to show how alternate distribution channels can be very important parts of the strategy. Casey Pittock, CEO of Wellcore and Dr. Marilyn L Ditty, gerontologist, of Age Well Senior Services Inc., will discuss how non-profits and for-profits work together. We are also exploring how group purchasing for senior communities, like those pioneered by the Senior Resources Alliance, can be a new channel. Innovation and experimentation that can drive new revenue streams is the talk of the town in the boomer/senior marketplace. Non-profit channels, like the AAA, can be important ways to bring an idea to market. Alexandra Morehouse, AAA chief marketing officer, will share how this is working.

Richard Saul Wurman, co-founder of the TED conferences, said that he saw TED as "a dinner party of his own choosing." I think of the What's Next conference in the same light. By inviting the most innovative companies and the top thought leaders, you can get insight and intelligence that can help you understand the market dynamic. What worked in 2009 is not the same as what works today.

Another trend we are seeing is the use of technology in sports and fitness. We heard a compelling panel at CES in Las Vegas (the prelude to the Silvers Summit and Digital Health event) in which Rick Rommel, senior vice president of emerging businesses, Best Buy, Ellis Rosenberg, senior director business development, AARP Services and Bud Meyers, president, Senior Circuits, talked about how to partner. A key point that Rick Rommel made was to make sure your product was ready for retail adoption. It is better to have a product tested and get customer traction and enthusiasm than to launch too early and have the product pulled off the market. There is nothing worse than customers returning your product because it doesn't meet their expectations. The store employees should be enthusiasts. We have seen many companies fail to listen to the customer in the early stages and make appropriate changes. Our best weeks are when we get feedback regarding what boomers want and need. It was not a surprise to hear that the sports and fitness technology products in Best Buy were moving. As boomers hit 65, they will need to make fitness a higher priority. In golf, running, tennis, there are new technological solutions that use sensor feedback and simulation. This market will only grow. You can get a copy of the research and data from the slides from the CES Silvers Summit and Digital Health Summit here. Congratulations to Susan Walker and Jill Gilbert for their great effort.

Another place to see a lot of discussion will be in the relationships that boomers have with their adult children and grandchildren. The 60 million-strong grandparent economy is not one to be ignored. There are many opportunities to tap into this market. Another market to explore is that of travel and learning. We have two great speakers at What's Next in this space, Mara DelliPriscoli, president, Travel Learning Connections Inc. and Renee Werbin, publisher and co-founder of travelgirl magazine. If you have a friend who loves travel, pick this one up.

I recently reread the book, Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and am about to read Finding Flow by the same author. Also enjoyed Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink and I loved Nora Ephron's book, I Remember Nothing and Other Reflections. On the business side, Saeed Amidi, president and CEO of Plug and Play gave me a copy of Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days that is quite strong, especially if you are an entrepreneur. The Power of Pull is also an important read. For those of you in product development or design, Bill Moggridge has edited a new book, Designing Media that is very compelling. There is a wide range of ideas by creative thinkers such as Mark Zuckerberg, Chris Anderson and Paul Saffo.

About once a year, I reread Erik Erickson's book Vital Involvement in Old Age to remind me why we are creating businesses and institutions to serve the needs of older adults. The framework that he provides about the real quest for purpose, identity, community, family and connection is always important to remember. Many times we are caught in the more trivial and forget the big picture of what we are trying to do. I really enjoyed the movie, "The Social Network." Now when I try to describe what SeniorNet was, I say it was a social network (that predates Facebook and the movie). The real reason we create new products and services for older adults is to unleash their creative potential and talent. It takes about seven years to build a new venture. We started SeniorNet in 1986, ThirdAge Media in 1996 and MFA in 2002. For those of you wanting to build a venture or create a new division in your company that focuses on the needs and interests of older adults, I have shared 10 growth areas for 2011-2020. See if you agree. Or, share another growth area that will be larger.

Expect to hear from us next month, too. Let us know what is on your mind and what you are seeing.

Mary

PS: Don't forget to register for What's Next. Click here and enter the discount code wnfom11 to receive 20 percent off on registration.

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A READ ON READEO

Readeo is a new service that uses the technology of the Internet to bring generations together through reading. It enables grandparents to read children's stories to their grandkids hundreds or thousands of miles away. To explore this new service, we checked in recently with Coby Neuenschwander, Readeo founder and CEO.

What is Readeo?
Readeo is a service that gives families a meaningful way to connect with young children over the Internet. By combining video chat with digital children's books, we make it possible for a grandma in Texas to share a bedtime story with a grandson in New York. With Readeo, families can share the all important storytime together no matter how far apart they might be.

How did Readeo come about and how does it work?
I live far away from my parents and have a 3-year-old son. We tried video chat and it didn't keep his attention. However, my son has always loved to be read to. So, I thought combining the reading experience with video chat could create a more meaningful interaction for my son and his grandparents. My son now spends 25 or 30 minutes reading with my parents in one sitting on Readeo -- it's far better than the 30 seconds he would spend squirming in front of them on Skype.

What is your target audience?
Anyone who would like to establish and maintain a relationship with a young child who might not be near them geographically. Among others, this includes business travelers, divorced families, grandparents, and military families.

How do you decide which books to offer?
Our editor, Jenny Brown, hand-selects each of the books on our site. She has been in children's books for over 20 years. She worked for several years as the children's reviews editor for Publisher's Weekly and has also worked with Scholastic and Harper Collins.

How has Readeo been received?
Very well. I just received an e-mail from a mom telling me she wants us to limit the number of books available because her son doesn't want to stop reading with his grandma - she was serious!

What do you see as its growth prospects?
We still have a long ways to go to create more awareness for our service in the US. We'd love to have more of a presence internationally as well.

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INTERVIEW: MARK WILLAMAN

You've said that the "Silver Tsunami" article that ran in the Economist is an important one. What are the key lessons to draw from it in terms of marketing to boomers?
One key lesson is to think beyond the opportunities of selling more consumer goods to this demographic group. According to Census data, 78 million boomers begin turning 65 in 2011 and over the next 18 years between 3 and 4 million boomers will do so each year. The business media tends to focus on consumer "marketing" opportunities with the boomers due to their vast numbers and spending power. These are real opportunities but much less attention is given to the implications -- and challenges -- of an aging boomer demographic and the related marketing opportunities for companies that provide products and services for the aging population. Particularly in the employer marketplace. The Feb. 16th, 2010 Economist article, The Silver Tsunami, did a fabulous job highlighting the aging population's impact on this fact.

Continue reading this interview

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AGING IN PLACE TECH WATCH

Laurie Orlov has more insights on aging in place technology, posted on her perceptive blog.

First up is a post that wraps up 2010 and identifies some trends to watch this year.

She also looks at the recent CES in Las Vegas and reports on the new tech for an older audience on display at the show -- which was notable for its scarcity.

Finally, she makes some good points about the high costs of assisted living and how tech-enabled services should be used to drive senior housing costs down.

REMEMBERING DR. ROBERT BUTLER

Dr. Robert N. Butler, a pioneering gerontologist who founded the National Institute on Aging and won a Pulitzer Prize for his book on aging, died in July at age 83. Butler was enormously influential and even coined the term "ageism" to describe age discrimination against the elderly.

Writing on the Healthcare@Intel blog, Eric Dishman, director of health innovation and policy for Intel's Digital Health Group, notes how Dr. Butler's thinking influenced him and how his passing was a personal wake-up call. A sample: "A flood of thoughts and questions went through me: 'How can he be gone? Was he really 83 years old? He was so young. I had no idea he even had Leukemia. He didn't seem sick. I will miss him, even though I barely knew him. I wouldn't have my career if it weren't for him. I wish I had told him 'thank you.'"
Read Dishman's entire blog post here.

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Upcoming events:

Aging in America (ASA annual conference), April 26-30, San Francisco
Note: MFA boot camps to be held on April 26:

• Entrepreneurship – What You Need to Know
• Partnership – How to Raise Money for Your Non Profit Organization Through Partnerships
• Social and Mobile Media for Dummies
• How to Raise Angel Money for Your Business

What's Next Boomer Business Summit, April 29, San Francisco

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MARKET FINDINGS

Baby boomers expected to face long-term care woes as they age
About 70 percent of the generation that prides itself on staying active and independent will, at some point after their 65th birthday, turn to long-term care in a nursing home, assisted-living facility or at home, according to the National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information, an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Read more.

Boomers take to the Web for more purchases
"Let your fingers do the walking" was always a great slogan, but now it's migrated from the phone book to the computer -- and it's the older shoppers who are taking the concept to heart, a survey indicates. Read more.

Hot market: The aging population
By 2030, 71 million Americans will be over age 65, according to the U.S. Census. Currently, 30 percent of elderly Americans who are not in assisted living live alone, and 90 percent say they want to grow old in their homes, according to AARP. Home health care, much of it for the elderly, is one of the fastest-growing segments in the country's fastest-growing industry. Read more.

'Boomer' No Longer Synonymous with 'Consumer?'
After 40 years of dominating this country's economy, baby boomers are starting to throttle back on spending. Baby boomers used to be dubbed "conspicuous consumers," but are now turning into "temperate pragmatists," a term coined by Pam Danzinger, president of Unity Marketing. She first noted "the emergence of this new personality in the luxury market" back in 2007 when, she says, the numbers reached a critical mass. Read more.

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NEWSWIRE

Wave Of Seniors With Substance Abuse Problems Enter Medicare
One in 10 seniors is a heavy drinker. For most alcoholics, the problem starts in their early 20s. By the time they reach their 60s, alcohol has taken its toll. That could have implications for Medicare, as millions of baby boomers enter the system.

Test may spot early signs of Alzheimer's
A test developed by a pharmaceutical company may for the first time be able to detect the signature of Alzheimer's disease in living patients. That test could give people an early-warning tool to find out whether they have the brain plaques that signal the incurable, mind-robbing disease, which afflicts about 5.3 million Americans.

Report: Boomers hitting retirement with fewer assets
The number of baby boomers entering retirement is growing so quickly, that one third of affluent Americans have now cashed their last paycheck, according to a report from Cogent Research. But as the first wave of "boomers" — those people born between 1946 and 1955 — go into retirement, they are doing so with on average 12 percent less assets today, than they had four years ago, according to Cambridge, Mass.-based Cogent Research.

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