Blogging Boomers Carnival #20 is up!

The Boomer Chronicles is this week's BBC hostess with the mostest. This week's delectables range from brains to food to mid-life garage bands. Enjoy.

Presidential Candidates...Where do YOU Stand on 50 Plus?

I run an online group on Eons.com, the Jeff Taylor (of Monster.com fame) creation for those 50 to 100 years old. The group, called "Careers for Boomers and 50 Plus" has a large, fairly active membership (you are welcome to join,) and I'm always interested in trends or through-themes. One of the biggest red flags waving right now in topics and comments in the group is the apparent age discrimination that is stopping qualified 50 plussers from finding gainful employment. I think we are in an interesting moment that is about to become a pivotal moment.

Within a short few months, the die will be cast for our presidential hopefuls. So who will be our next president? Who is hoping for our 78 million votes (yes, there are about 78 million boomers)? Will it be Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards or even possibly Al Gore? What about John McCain, Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee?

We're a strong demographic and issues that affect us are front and center...for us. Medical programs and soaring medical costs in an overly bureaucratic (read "unhelpful") insurance system, threats of social security shortfalls, challenging employment issues including age discrimination in the workplace...and what ever happened with the resolutions that came out of the White House Conference on Aging?

Make sure that your voices are heard. Your vote will count. To learn more about each of the candidates under consideration, click on this link for profiles on each one (thanks to the Washington Post for this).

There is a powerful time ahead for our demographic. I'm not political by nature, but it would be nice if some of these candidates were listening. Make sure you are certain where each of these candidates stands on the issues that affect you, at 50 plus.

The difference between Gen Y and Gen Plus. You Tube.

Gen Plussers, 50 plussers, Boomers, children of the 60's...whatever you want to call us...this group of 78 million strong...there is one thing we cherish and will reluctantly give up. Our privacy. I should know. I've been blogging for several years, now. Hundreds of you subscribe and many of you email me. Often. But how many of you feel comfortable or confident making a comment on a post? Very few of you.

Oh, sure, you try to reply to the subscription email that arrives in your inbox and hope that will work (kinda sorta). It doesn't, by the way. Others of you click onto the title or head to the blog site and decide that today is the day you will put your words in a comment. And then you stop. Because it is darn tootin' scary. For us. For the Boomers and 50 plussers who live by our shredders, who won't create a my space or blog.

Well, I cracked up last night listening to the news of a young Mass. man who gave out his cell phone number on You Tube (the video site, where anyone can download/upload their video for the world to see!!) and has received over 5000 phone calls and text messages from strangers who just want to chat. From ALL over the world. WE are afraid to anonymously blog and HE is giving his number, his name, his city and his face out to the world. Forever! If there ever was a clearer illustration of the differences between Gen Y and 50 Plus, this has to be it. My hat is off to Ryan Fitzgerald, the young man, and to his generosity of spirit and sense of adventure. Love it! Won't be doing it myself, mind you...but LOVE it! To see the You Tube broadcast and fall in love with Ryan yourself, just click on this link.

Blogging Boomers Carnival #19 is posted!

This week's Blogging Boomers Carnival is hosted by the always intrepid, sometimes irreverant and always relevant, Life Two. Even a bit more than your usual Carnie fare -- this week there are also some fun contributions from a whole slew of guest bloggers. Check it out, stay current, or wax nostalgic. Always fun.

Snoop Dogg declares "izzle" has fizzled.

Interviewed on Movies on MTV.com, the king of "izzle", Snoop Dogg (famous/infamous rapper), is asking his fans to move on from talking like him. He created a whole new lingo, by adding "-izzle" into his language. He is "izzled" out and wants us to LIG (Let it Go!) So, before "izzle" has completely passed us by, I figured I'd give a shout out to all the potential employers out there who are looking to attract the 50-plussers to their workforce.

Here's how. For example, if I wanted to say, "HEY, Employers! Where are you? Why are you not declaring yourself 50-plus friendly? Get your jobs listed on Gen Plus!", in Snoop, I'd say "Whass up, Emplizzles? Whizzle yo at? Whizzle yo nizzle declizzling yozizzle 50-pizzle frezizzle? Foshizzle, gizzle your jizzles on Genizzle Plusizzle and watch it sizzle!"

Ahhh. Much better. Now maybe we'll get some attention.

A black, black week for Blacksburg, VA

Like so many others, I am so deeply saddened and disturbed by the tragic shootings that took place this week at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and survivors of this massacre. To pay your respects, or to read more about this tragedy, please visit the official Virginia Tech website:
http://www.vt.edu/

Blogging Boomers Carnival #18

Take a fun stroll through Blogging Boomers Carnival, hosted this week at The Rearview Mirror. You'll find lots of interesting boomerlet tidbits to get you thinking throughout the week.

Oh no...not a...glitch? Here's a top 20 list to make it up to you!

If you have been having trouble in the past few days finding job listings on Gen Plus by doing a keyword search that is because we...have...a...glitch! Oh no. Nothing worse when you run a web-based company than to have a glitch. Your keyword searches are probably giving you...NO jobs. We should have this sorted out by Monday or Tuesday, but in the meantime, regardless of what state you live in, type National, in the keyword section, or better yet, choose "National" instead of state and then you can search each listing for your particular community.

Thank you to those of you who have brought this to my attention. We're working on getting the fix in as fast as possible. In the meantime, head over to my very honorable competitor, Retirement Jobs, who have a very good assortment of job listings, or to my personal fave, Indeed (not niched, but very user-friendly), and we should be back up to speed in the next couple of days.

If you have NOT listed yourselves with the big search firms, such as Robert Half or Korn Ferry, here is a list of the top ones from Vault.com. Get your resumes in with them for top tier jobs. They are starting to feel the crunch from the other side.

Korn/Ferry International
Heidrick & Struggles
A. T. Kearney
Spencer Stuart
Russell Reynolds Associates
Christian & Timbers
TMP Worldwide
Egon Zehnder
Michael Page International
Solomon-Page Group
Ray & Berndtson
Management Recruiters International
Norman Broadbent International
The Witney Group
Robert Half International
Allen & Associates
J. B. Hunt Executive Search
Boyden
Battalia Winston International
Amrop International


Wendy

Survey says...

This is your last chance to get your vote in. I've been running a survey on how long 50 plussers have been looking for work. Very unscientific, but the results are interesting nonetheless and I'm going to release the stats in the next couple of weeks. So if you want your voice to be heard, click on the survey link and let the world know what it really is like for a 50 plusser looking for a job.

Blogging Boomers Carnival #17

This week's carnival host is the ever-delightful Cafe Glam! Head on over for a real treat this week with the Blogging Boomers Carnival #17. If you've been keeping track, the carnival gets more and more exciting and fun each week. In case you've never visited our Carnival, we are a group of Boomer Bloggers with a lot to say (and say it, we do!). You'll find a range of topics from politics, to dating, to world views and back again. Hop on over and enjoy!

Strategic Planning with a 50-Plus Edge

I'm very pleased to announce the release of the first Gen Plus e-workbook, "Keep Dreaming: Creating a Strategic Plan for the Rest of Your Life". Over a year in the making and with thanks to some terrific beta testers, this introductory edition is now available through the Gen Plus shop.

What is "Keep Dreaming..."? This e-workbook is a course that brings together the concepts behind strategic business planning to your life plan! Using proven business and marketing strategies in this electronic workbook, you will be able to develop a Strategic Plan for moving into the next phase of your life.

I've always believed that one can manifest one's own destiny. Every time I have set my sights on a goal and created a strong vision and a plan to get there...guess what? I've been able to do just that. So I'm urging you to leave your fear behind you! I've taken the best of what I've learned in my over 15 years as a corporate executive, managing hundreds of people, creating mult-million dollar budgets, creating and executing strategic and marketing plans for significant operations in both the US and Canada, and re-shaped it, in a very user-friendly way, to help you achieve your personal strategies, targets and goals.

The course incorporates easy-to-understand worksheets and forms, that will help you identify objectives, hit your goals and measure results. At the end of this course, you will have a written plan and a developed approach to achieving success for your future.

And because of the many, many questions I've gotten from my readers over the years about using computer skills, I've created this course so that no computer skills are necessary - other than you being able to click through to order the e-workbook, and then to download and print out the 50 plus pages. I am dedicated to your success, and I am offering this limited introductory edition for $14.95 (retail price is $29.99). Why? Because I really want you to take control of your destiny and the only way to do that is to create it. It doesn't matter what type of person you are, what resources you have, or where you live. All that matters is that you have a dream and you just aren't sure how to get there. Do you remember the movie "Field of Dreams"? "Build it and they will come." That was the promise. Let me help you build it.

The book is not yet available in print, however, if you would like to be on a wait list for the printed publication (it will retail at around $99.95) rather than the e-workbook, please email me at wspiegel@genplususa.com and I'll make sure to let you know when it is available.

Where are 50 plussers looking for love?

One of the services we offer at Gen Plus is a 50 plus online dating service, Gen Plus Singles. I rarely post on this feature, but just the other day, as I was looking at my membership demographics, I noted there were some areas of the country that were much more active in their dating search than others. Not sure why I think you'd find this interesting (I've only included areas with higher than 2% of the membership), but just in case, here you go:

US-California 11%
US-Texas 9%
US-Georgia 7%
US-Florida 6%
US-Indiana 6%
United Kingdom 6%
US-New York 6%
US-Illinois 6%
US-Massachusetts 3%
US-Pennsylvania 3%
US-Washington 3%
Canada-Ontario 3%
US-Alabama 2%
US-Colorado 2%
US-Connecticut 2%
US-Kansas 2%
US-Michigan 2%
US-Missouri 2%
US-Virginia 2%
Canada-Alberta 2%
Canada-British Columbia 2%

Vintage 90's...or dot.com to sub-prime

Staying abreast of the news that past couple of days, watching as more and more of the "sub-prime" lenders see their empires slipping away, I've been having a niggling feeling that I've seen all this before.

This morning, waking up at the crack'o'dawn with my daughter coughing and feverish and my dog's wet nose plastered against my cheek, I had the feeling that I'd been waking up like this for some time. And then, (of course, because what ELSE would one think about before the sun rises) I had a 90's flashback -- of the dot.com crash, where everyone realized that the emperor wasn't wearing any clothes -- followed by the deja vu of seeing the sub-prime market come crashing down. I always thought the no-interest, sub-prime market was ridiculous because it was lulling people with insufficient financial savvy into a false sense of ownership, thinking that their financial picture would change before mortgage rates rose. Kind of similar to stock prices climbing over the concepts of web-based companies, with venture capitalists looking for the next manna from heaven.

We'll see thousands of employees flooding the marketplace after losing their sub-prime jobs and thousands of bankruptcies and foreclosures. The job market will stagnate slightly as the marketplace rebalances again. Sound familiar? But whereas there were no assets to pick up on after the dot-com crash, there is real property that was stacked up again the sub-prime mortgages. People will be picking up property from the misfortune of others and the real estate market is projected to readjust and then restabilize. I sense that 50 plussers, with some financial savvy and a bit of savings may end up the big winners as this game unfolds over the next few years.

I wouldn't joke about this! Blogging Boomers Carnival #16 is up and away!

Super heroes fear not. This week's Carnival is hosted at Your Drum and it is a triumph of Boomer fearless forays over the past week or so! So, head on over and watch Boomergirl leap over tall glass ceilings in a single bound.