Boomers as seniors maintain relevance
October 9, 2007
How will boomers approach aging? Will boomers accept the traditional ageism of being devalued by society based on age?
Periodically, life will summon us to answer the questions: Who am I? Why am I here? and What is my life about? On my bookshelf sits a thin little book full of extraordinary thought titled The Call, written by author David Spangler, who examines these questions.
When are we asked to answer the call most profoundly?
“The call actually comes from the person standing in front of you, who in their hearts of hearts is saying, “Will you be kind to me?” “Will you value me?” “Will you honor me?” “Will you see the sacred in me, the sovereignty in me?” according to Spangler.
Perception is everything to a belief system, and for generations who have come and gone, to age and grow older is to become bothersome and irrelevant to the heartbeat and movement of society. Where do people shuffle off to after they retire? The rats still in the race have little real idea or interest in answering that question. And why should they? Tradition has been quite successful at marginalizing seniors into burdensome and ineffective members of society.
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Boomers 2.0: Boomers online
October 9, 2007
Earlier this year, futurist, author and JWT Boom CEO Mirian Salzman appeared as a keynote speaker in Beyond the Numbers: The Boomer Marketing Summit — Boomers 2.0 — Reaching 40-plus Consumers Today. The press release for the conference indicated that Salzman would be addressing ten shockers about 50somethings, including:
Sex: They’re having more of it and rumor has it: it’s better.
Kids: 50somethings today are more likely to be young moms than young grandmothers.
Career: Second and third careers allow 50somethings to push the envelope and fulfill dreams they left behind years ago.
Reinvention: 50somethings are given license to be whoever they want to be for their second adulthood.
As a boomer, I am hardly shocked, but I get the idea the marketing world is coming to realizations about the lifestyles of boomers that come as a shock to their industry. Equally surprising are the misconceptions about boomers and internet use.
At least the misconceptions about internet use are surprising to those of us actively online.
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Grateful Dead: Deadheads new social network
October 9, 2007
In 1971, on the gatefold sleeve of the Grateful Dead’s second live album — also known as Skull & Roses — the following notice was printed:
DEAD FREAKS UNITE: Who are you? Where are you? How are you? Send us your name and address and we’ll keep you informed. Dead Heads, P.O. Box 1065, San Rafael, CA 94901
The mailing list created from that invitation had an estimated 40,000 members. Newsletters and other mailings were sent out from 1971 to 1980. After that, the Grateful Dead Almanac. Later, the members moved online to Dead.net.