Natalie Cole...Definitely Still Unforgettable.

What could be better on a Friday night than slipping off my shoes, sipping a glass of rich red wine, munching on bits of cheese and chocolate and...listening to the newly released "Still Unforgettable", a just lovely album by Natalie Cole. The eight-time Grammy winner, who has recently revealed her battles with Hepatitis C, has come up with a wonderful showcase album for her timeless voice and incredible phrasing. This exploration of American Pop Standards includes a heartwarming interpretation of "Walking My Baby Back Home", once again, in a duet with her late father, Nat King Cole.

And to get your next few Fridays off to a great start, Rhino Records has sent me a give-away copy that I'm going to randomly select a winner from my subscriber list. If you want to be in the draw and you are not yet a subscriber, just add your email to the subscribe me box. If you don't want to subscribe to the email feed, then just shoot me an email and I'll add your name into the mix, too! I'll draw names and announce the winner next Friday for inclusion in the following week's Blogging Boomers Carnival.

For a preview, click on any of the Listening Party Links:

Quick Time
Windows Media Audio
Real Player

You can also purchase I-Tunes.


Official Site http://www.nataliecole.com/
Official MySpace – www.myspace.com/nataliecole

Very cool online interactive interview!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing Gail Rentsch about her new book, "Smarter Women Don't Retire—They Break Free: From Working Full-Time to Living Full-Time through my Careers group on Eons.com.

It was a novel idea, lots of fun, and if you missed it, head over to the Q&A and get a feel for the concept of the online interview yourself!

So Much to Share...So Little Time!

I've got some book reviews coming your way, but in case you want to get a head start on your mid-summer line up, here's one for the boys...


Bob Morris' ASSISTED LOVING True Tales of Double Dating With My Dad (HarperCollins June 2008)

What would you do if your eighty-year-old father dragged you into his hell-bent hunt for new love? Bob Morris, a seriously single son, tells you all about it in this warm, witty, and wacky chronicle of a year of dating dangerously.

This father-son memoir has received some wonderful reviews:

"But it's the journey, not the destination, so the saying goes, and in pursuit of romance, this father and son get a second chance at finding each other; theirs is the resounding love affair at the center of the book... And by way of good manners, let me thank you, Bob Morris, for your heartfelt contribution to the canon of father-son memoir; an expression of civility, a grace note unto itself."- Dinah Lenney, for the LA Times

"Never losing sight of the complex relationship between aging parents and adult children… the inspirational memoir captures all the needed laughs and emotions that go with love and life in the waning years of parent-child bonding.."- Publishers Weekly

You can check out Bob's website at www.assistedloving.com for videos of him and his dad!

AND one for the gals...

How do women retire nowadays? Well according to this book, they don't!

What will you do when you retire? Wave that “red flag” question in front of a woman who fought for any scrap of work success she now claims, and then watch anticipation angst kick in as she thinks about the “what next” stage of her life – the one that comes after her kids are grown, her career has plateau-ed, her spouse is getting antsy, and her friends are primarily work-related.

The Transition Network (TTN), a nation-wide community of women who are re-imagining retirement, have written Smart Women Don't Retire—They Break Free: From Working Full-Time to Living Full-Time to help women deal with the "what next" question.

Smart Women Don't Retire—They Break Free is a blueprint for women redefining retirement. It's a practical guide showing how to choose what to do next, whether it's pursuing a new career, volunteering, or becoming an entrepreneur. This book shows you how to create your own whole new set of life choices.

Praise for Smart Women Don't Retire - They Break Free

"This book compiles concrete evidence that the angst of friends and colleagues is, in fact, part of a flood of concern across the nation. The good news is, we are not alone. The better news is, there are some answers here, or at least signposts that point the way to new possibilities." —Lynn Sherr, Correspondent, ABC TV

“In the next decade a huge number of women will be making a work-related transition from a lifetime career to whatever comes next . . . This book provides a valuable orientation to this process; it is rich in practical advice and inspiration.” —Jennie Chin Hansen, President, AARP
“Every woman 50+ should read this book . . . regardless of where they are on their retirement journey!” —Jeri Sedlar, coauthor of Don’t Retire, REWIRE! senior advisor to the Conference Board on the Mature Workforce

More Information: http://www.thetransitionnetwork.org/
http://www.smartwomendontretire.com/

Health Care Work Force Too Small, Unprepared For Aging Baby Boomers; Higher Pay, More Training, And Changes In Care Delivery Needed To Avert Crisis

Last week I received a media preview of a comprehensive new monster report that has just been released today, by the Institute of Medicine. The report warns of a looming crisis regarding our aging population and health care inadequacies. And it isn't that we don't already know most of this in general. However, the numbers that the report assigns to the challenges ahead will have some government heads spinning. If this doesn't make SOME notice the elephant in the room, then I don't know what will.

WASHINGTON — As the first of the nation's 78 million baby boomers begin reaching age 65 in 2011, they will face a health care work force that is too small and woefully unprepared to meet their specific health needs, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The report, Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce, calls for bold initiatives starting immediately to train all health care providers in the basics of geriatric care and to prepare family members and other informal caregivers, who currently receive little or no training in how to tend to their aging loved ones. Medicare, Medicaid, and other health plans should pay higher rates to boost recruitment and retention of geriatric specialists and care aides, said the committee that wrote the report. The committee set a target date of 2030 — the year by which all baby boomers will have turned 65 or older — for the necessary reforms to take place.

"We face an impending crisis as the growing number of older patients, who are living longer with more complex health needs, increasingly outpaces the number of health care providers with the knowledge and skills to care for them capably," said committee chair John W. Rowe, professor of health policy and management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York City. "The sheer number of older patients in the coming years will require trying new models for delivering health care and the commitment of greater financial resources," he added. "If our aging family members and friends are to live as robustly as they can and in the best health possible, we must have a work force of adequate size and competency to take care of them."

Work Force Shortage Threatens Quality of Care

Several reports show an overall shortage of health care workers in all fields, but the situation is worse in geriatric care because it attracts fewer specialists than other disciplines and experiences high turnover rates among direct-care workers — nurse aides, home health aides, and personal care aides. For example, there are just over 7,100 physicians certified in geriatrics in the United States today — one per every 2,500 older Americans. Turnover among nurse aides averages 71 percent annually, and up to 90 percent of home health aides leave their jobs within the first two years.Older adults as a group are healthier and live longer today than previous generations, the report notes. Even so, individuals over 65 tend to have more complex conditions and health care needs than younger patients. The average 75-year-old American has three chronic conditions, such as diabetes or hypertension, and uses four or more prescription medications, the committee found. Dementia, osteoporosis, sensory impairment, and other age-related conditions present health care providers with challenges they do not often encounter when tending to younger patients.

All Providers Should Be Competent in Geriatric Care

Virtually all health care providers treat older patients to some extent during their careers — and likely will do so even more frequently given that one in five Americans will be 65 or older by 2030 — so they need a minimal level of competence in geriatric care, the committee concluded. Health care workers should be required to demonstrate competence in basic geriatric care to maintain their licenses and certifications. All health professional schools and health care training programs should expand coursework and training in the treatment of older individuals.To deliver care more efficiently and alleviate the shortage of adequately trained workers, the report calls on the health care professions and regulators to consider expanding the roles and responsibilities of health care providers at various levels of training. For example, if a certified nursing assistant is able to administer certain medications, a professional nurse would have more time to concentrate on more complex patient needs. Additional research is needed on how to prepare health care workers to assume expanded roles, the committee noted.Because insufficient training can leave direct-care workers unprepared for the demands of their jobs and lead to high turnover rates, the federally required minimum number of hours of training for direct-care workers should be raised from 75 to at least 120. More training is required for dog groomers and manicurists than direct-care workers in many parts of the country, the report notes.

Higher Salaries, Financial Incentives Needed

While the number of older patients is rapidly increasing, the number of certified geriatric specialists is declining. Medicare, Medicaid, and other health plans need to pay more for the services of geriatric specialists and direct-care workers to attract more health professionals to geriatric careers and to stanch turnover among care aides, many of whom earn wages below the poverty level.Salaries of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, and others who specialize in geriatric care lag behind those of their counterparts in other fields. A geriatrician earned $163,000 on average in 2005 compared with $175,000 for a general internist, despite the extra years of training required for a geriatric career. Physicians who choose dermatology can earn over $300,000 a year. Registered nurses who work in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities earn less on average than their counterparts, despite working longer hours with more overtime. Medicare's low reimbursement rate for primary care is the foremost reason that geriatric specialists earn lower salaries, given that so much of their income comes from the government program. Medicare should increase its reimbursement rates for services delivered by geriatric specialists, the report urges.Direct-care workers are more likely to lack health insurance and use food stamps than workers in other fields. The median wage for direct-care workers in 2005 was $9.56 an hour. To boost wages, states should allocate funds to be added to the Medicaid payments that cover the majority of services provided by direct-care workers, the committee stated.

Family Members, Other Informal Caregivers Need Training

The report calls for health care facilities, community organizations, and other public and private groups to offer training programs to help family members, friends, and other informal caregivers provide proper assistance to their loved ones and to alleviate the stress they may feel in coping with an older friend's or relative's needs. Health professionals should regard patients and informal caregivers as an integral part of the health care team, the committee added. Between 29 million and 52 million family members, friends, and others tend to aging parents or other older individuals. More than 90 percent of older adults who receive care at home rely in part on informal caregivers and nearly 80 percent rely solely on family or friends. However, little is done to ensure informal caregivers have the necessary knowledge and skills. State attorneys general should recognize training programs for unpaid caregivers as a way that nonprofit hospitals could meet their requirement to provide benefits to their local communities in exchange for their tax-exempt status. In addition, federal agencies should support the advancement of assistive technologies that can help older patients manage their conditions and handle the basic activities of daily life and also can help informal caregivers take care of their loved ones.

Medicare Hinders Delivery of Quality Care

Although a comprehensive examination of Medicare was not the focus of this study, the committee noted several ways that the program hinders the provision of quality care to older adults, including Medicare's low reimbursement rates, its focus on treating short-term health problems rather than managing chronic conditions or age-related syndromes, and its lack of coverage for preventive services or for health care providers' time spent collaborating with a patient's other providers. Medicare and other public and private insurance plans need to remove disincentives that prevent health care providers from adopting new models of care delivery — such as interdisciplinary team care — that could improve patients' health and lower costs, the report says. The committee acknowledged the complexities of making changes to Medicare and the financial crisis facing the program, which is predicted to run out of money by 2019. It was beyond the committee's purview to recommend a detailed plan for how to re-engineer Medicare. The study was sponsored by the John A. Hartford Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Retirement Research Foundation, California Endowment, Archstone Foundation, AARP, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and Commonwealth Fund. Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies.

Contacts: Christine Stencel, Senior Media Relations Officer
Alison Burnette, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail: news@nas.edu

The new Canadian spelling of Boomer....Zoomer!

Canadian media mastermind, Moses Znaimer (if you are Canadian, you'll definitely know who he is, and if you are not, then keep your ears open...because you will...) has recently taken over as executive director of CARP (the Canadian version of AARP) and is shaking things up...in a positive way. Just as he reinvented the face of Canadian radio and television, he is going to add his golden touch to CARP.

For starters, he'll be renaming the popular CARP magazine "Zoomer" and hopes that Zoomer will become part of the Canadian lexicon as he rebrands and freshens up the 50-plus focused organization. Full press release...and worth a read.

The Battle Within

In my twenties, I was fearless. There was no risk too great to take. I travelled to different countries, visited every nook and cranny in Canada and the US that I could afford to travel to. Took jobs for $150/week so that I could break into a new industry, stayed up all night, had lots of different boyfriends -- opened my arms wide to all new experiences. With no fear. Perhaps, in retrospect, there was a certain naivete that protected me, but nonetheless, I experienced a wide rainbow. As a result, my own career and life path were pretty rich.

I'll bet many of you can relate to that freedom to change, to risk, to fail. And we all did it without blinking.

Isnt' it so odd, that with so much experience under our belts, as we get to our late 40's, early 50's, and even well into our 60's and 70's, for some reason, the older we get, the more paralyzed we become. I know, for myself, life's responsibilities (child, home, dog) take front and center and as a sole breadwinner, I have to measure in the risk. But why, when in our twenties, we are so able to change, do we start to hesitate, falter and fear change as we age? We seek job security in a world where job security is no longer viable. We avoid change to stay secure in our own nests. Why? Is there some biological factor at play? Some holdover from the early days of mankind, when as a race, our lifespan only stretched into our late 40's or early 50's? Is there a pre-wired instinct to get ready to die?

Hold on. There it is again. That fear factor. We have it in job search -- as mature workers we are terrified that we won't find meaningful employment. There are services in cyberspace dedicated to helping us find work, but even that concept brings us more fear ("I need a career management service to break down a door?")

In this millenium, we can anticipate healthy, vibrant lives well into our 80's and even 90's. So at 40 and 50, we really are only at mid-life. That's a whole lot of living yet. So where does the fear come from? What a relief it would be -- to shed the nest, strike out for unknown territories and fearlessly reconquer the world. My recognition of my burning need for change started with my quest for a new car and realizing that the car of my dream did not fit into my current life needs. Did I still get a great car? Yes. Was it the car I would have purchased if I was free as a bird? Heck...no. But it underlined some major changes in my life that limited my personal freedoms. Do those constraints extend to all apsects of a mid-life?

You may have stayed in a job for a really long time and then left it. Do you remember the feeling of freedom when you made that choice? Even people who are downsized ultimately feel a great sense of relief and freedom to embrace personal change, even with an uncertain financial security.

What is the true emotion behind the "mid-life crisis"? An internal call of the wild? Maybe the mid-life crisis is mis-named. Maybe it is really just listening to ourselves for a minute or two and following our heart's desire.

Looking ahead to 2008

I love, love, love this time of year. The air is crisp in California, life simultaneously speeds up and slows down over the week between Christmas and New Year's, and just like "spring clean", I go through a "year-end clean up."

Going through some old magazines, I pulled out one that had an intriguing article that I hadn't written about, but seems very appropriate going into 2008. The magazine, Icon, the magazine of the American Society of Interior Designers, focuses on the creative direction of designers, looking at trends and innovations in American design. In the January/ February 2007 issue, there was a solid article on redefining the workplace based on generational work habits and preferences. Creatives always tend to be ahead of the trend, because they invent and reinvent by picking up on change -- or a need to change or progress, which inspires their creativity.

I haven't been able to source a link to the article " Workplaces That Span Generations" by Michael Berens, but there were some creative observations that translate directly to the changing face of the workforce. Were these observations ahead of trend? Yes. Is the workforce slowly, slowly shifting in a way that recognizes these trends? Barely. But starting. Here is what Berens, director of research and knowledge resources for ASID, observed:

From Bureau of Labor statistics, the workforce is working longer and the age spread between younger and older workers is growing from 30 - 35 years to upwards of 40 years. In the next ten years the 55 plus age group of workers will increase by 50% whereas only by 5 - 10% in the younger age categories.

What are the age cohorts or demographics? Traditionals (my mom -- born and raised around the World Wars -- 1900 - 1945), Baby Boomers (me -- born between 1946 and 1964), Generation X (Gen X - my younger cousins -- born 1965 - 1980) and the Millenials (also called Generation Y or Gen Y, born 1981 - 1999...my daughter was born in 2000, but I consider her a millenial.) Each of these demographics enjoys very specific types of work values and styles of work. In a nutshell, the traditional is the typical "company" worker, who responds to power of position. Boomer is competitive (we know that) and values performance and symbols of recognition. Gen X distrusts institutional structure and heavily values work/life balance. Gen Y is "wired" but accessible. Wants to make a difference doing "value" work, expects good technology and likes to socialize.

The new direction in design is to create work space that respects these values and the drivers that push each group. So, for example, a private office wasn't as important to a younger worker as overall office design. Gen Y'ers find their privacy behind iPods and earbuds, but still crave interaction and direction. Traditionals and Boomers value office space. So the most creative designers are showing employees that they are valued by creating flexibility in the workplace design that reflects the flexibility that workers are looking for. Community area is increasingly important for interaction and workplace design looks for ways to integrate younger and older workers, who benefit from the best that each demographic has to offer. Some examples include wired breakrooms (think corporate Starbucks) where workers can work, meet and socialize with their laptops. Ergonomics (and privacy) are important for older workers, so ergonomic design is a choice -- including things like adjustable workstations, keyboards, lighting and surfaces...think good chairs, larger monitors and ways to address hand and neck problems.

Designers have recognized that they can do their best by bringing the generations together. Now it is up to employers to catch up and do their best, by proactively seeking out the 50 plus employee.

Ignites.com Includes Gen Plus Among Social Networking Category for 50 Plus

TIAA-Cref Crafts Boomer Social Networking Site

Article published on Dec 19, 2007

By Hannah Glover

TIAA-Cref hopes to make a connection with its baby boomer clients by encouraging its retirement plan participants to make connections with each other.In February, the firm plans to invite 20,000 customers over the age of 50 to participate in a social networking site, Myretirement.org.Rather than focus strictly on investments for financial planning, participants will be invited to post their musings across various channels including family and life, health and fitness, travel and relocation, work and money, volunteering and social activism and “redefining retirement.”Each area will be moderated by a “Role Model,” or a retired TIAA-Cref customer whom the company has deemed to be an expert. About 500,000 of the 3.3 million TIAA-Cref customers currently collect retirement income, according to the company.And while TIAA-Cref compliance representatives will also monitor the site, none of its products or services will be advertised, according to Jamie DePeau, senior vice president of marketing at the firm. The goal, she says, is to help TIAA-Cref customers adapt to the ever-changing concept of retirement and to present a holistic set of tools.“We have a longstanding relationship with these people and we are interested in building a lifelong relationship,” she says.Building such relationships can also engender loyalty, analysts agree, potentially resulting in assets rolling out of the retirement plans into the retail product line. More importantly, analysts agree that the social networking site is a savvy use of the interactive marketing opportunities unique to the Internet, and they expect other firms to soon follow suit.“Consumers like to be empowered,” says Dennis Gallant, principal and founder of Gallant Distribution Consulting. Consumers’ expectations have been shaped by their experience in the retail market place, where the explosion of blogs and other online tools has created a forum for people to exchange their views on practically everything.The Internet has diluted the power of the consumer brand, says Ray Villares, interactive marketing managing director at Acquity Group, a Chicago-based digital marketing firm.Companies that provide a portal that speaks to consumers’ needs and offers objective or peer-generated advice will have an advantage, he says. “It’s about convenience,” Villares says. “Your website can subliminally communicate how customer-oriented you are.”The more complex the topic, the more assistance and feedback people crave, and there are few topics more nerve-racking or complicated than figuring out how to spend — and finance — the rest of one’s life, Gallant says.TIAA-Cref’s customer base lends itself naturally to such a community-driven mind-set, since the company’s 90-year heritage comes from delivering retirement plans at low cost to educational institutions and nonprofits, he says. To help engender that close-knit sense, TIAA-Cref plans to recruit heavily among participants in Lexington, Ky., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Ann Arbor, Mich., according to company spokeswoman Abby Cohen.TIAA-Cref has faced its challenges in attracting new assets, says Morningstar analyst Christopher Davis. Despite efforts to broaden its retail reach, most of the company’s $430 billion under management is locked into qualified retirement plans. Competitive pressures in the nonprofit retirement plan space from companies such as Vanguard and T. Rowe Price, along with outflows, subpar performance and the loss of some large state-sponsored 529 college saving plans programs, have proven to be difficult challenges for TIAA-Cref.Still, Davis notes, while the company has struggled to boost its retail brand recognition, its retirement plan customers consider the company “one of the good guys” and “an advocate.”By and large, asset managers have underutilized such Web 2.0 tools, says Lee Kowarski, a managing director at consultancy kasina.“The idea of community is so important, particularly around retirement planning,” he says. Although social networking may be most readily associated with the school-age set, Kowarski says those over 50 years of age are online too.In fact, of the 34.7 million Americans between 50 and 64 years old who went online last month, a whopping 20.2 million of them visited social networking sites, according to data from comScore, a Chicago-based firm that tracks online consumer behavior.On average in November, each of those boomers spent 142.8 minutes, or nearly two and a half hours, on such sites, comScore data show.Sites such as AgingHipsters.com3, GenPlus4, IRememberJFK.com5 and Saga Zone6 each testify to the appeal of social networking among boomers. Eons.com7, for example, has registered 600,000 users since it launched in July of 2006, according to a company spokesman.It’s not only boomers who are motivated by peer communication and online communities. FRC research shows that retirees and those over the age of 50 command about 59% of the industry’s marketing attentions when it comes to retirement income planning. Meanwhile only 12% of such efforts are geared toward those between 30 and 40 years old, and 7% at those under 30.

Blogging Boomers Carnival #48 is up!

The always fascinating Baby Boomer Chronicles is this week's host to the Blogging Boomers Carnival -- chock full of interesting, insightful and sometimes insufferable boomer insights of the week!

And on a side note spaces are filling for the Gen Plus Town Hall in LA on January 22nd -- if you aren't working, looking to change your job/career, or just looking for a meaningful strategy for the next decade, we'd love to have you join us. Click on the link for more info on this free event.

Community-Building Conference Call in a New Way!

Amy Z, of A-Z International, and fellow expert blogger on Eons, is hosting a unique phone conference tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct 23, and you are invited!

We all have a lot of concerns, issues AND suggestions for career and business. So, a few weeks ago, Amy hosted her first phone conference to members of her Eons group, and it was extremely well-received. In fact, the information that was shared was so valuable to the other callers, that she and I have joined forces for this one. Amy's expertise is in marketing and building virtual business, and mine is on career and job issues surrounding the Boomer and 50 Plus demographic and we are happy to share our information with you freely, because it is so darn fun!

The call starts at 5:30 pm PST (8:30 pm EST). To control the call, Amy asks that you email her directly for call-in number and password. You can email her at az@a-zinternational.com or me at wspiegel@genplususa.com and one of us will send you the coordinates!

So, if you want to hear what your online buddies sound like and share information in real-time, if not in person, then join us. Amy will be moderating and it should be fun, informative and interesting. The only charge to you is the cost of your long distance call in.

And if you can't spend the whole hour, no problem. Check in and then check out. Amy will be keeping the conference line open from 8:30 - 9:30 p.m. EDT.

Gen Plus Town Hall Forum

It's official. Our forum in LA in January has a home. Here are the details:

What:

A very different town hall/forum event than you'd expect and probably than you've ever experienced -- very informal in tone (open, friendly, accessible), but with a formal agenda.

Focused on issues that Boomers and 50 Plus are facing in job search, career issues and reinvention at this next stage. Experts will be there to provide a much needed resource. You will be expected to participate in the spirit of community.

All of us will walk away with value-added information and ideas to get you going for 2008. I'll follow up the email with an electronic recap of ideas generated for all who attended.

Fee:

None. (However, please plan on spending at least $5 each on a menu item to help the venue recoup their costs of supporting us with staff.)

How is that possible?

Because I'm donating my time in order to mobilize the energies of disenfranchised and/or frustrated jobseekers/career reinventors, to wake up employers, and to give a helping hand in the best way I can...by sharing resources with all of you. This program is a portion (but a good one) of a 1-day program that I do charge for.

Because I have the support of a local business who believes in this cause (our venue).

Because it is needed.

Because there are other communities who would like me to set something like this up for them, but I need to see what your voices need to share.

Because this is an election year and what you are experiencing is very, very important in shaping the next decade.

Because I really care about the challenges facing Boomers and 50 Plus in the job market...looking at another 20 -25 years of needed income and few willing to make the hires right now.

When:

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Time:

2:00 - 4:30 pm. We'll want to go longer, but that is the limit on the venue availability. I've chosen this time and this date because it is a light traffic day in Los Angeles. If you currently work and would like to attend, plan on calling in for an afternoon off and get proactive.

Where:

The very lovely Balboa Encino Clubhouse. We'll have the deli-style restaurant all to ourselves, along with table service, a very reasonable and yummy menu, and some 50 plus staffers, too! The grounds are lovely, so plan on a few extra minutes if you want to stroll along the path around the gorgeous Balboa Park or head over to Balboa lake for a visit with the ducks! (Once I have your reservation, I'll be forwarding you address and driving directions.)

How to sign up?

Quickly. I've started getting reservations and we've got limited space available in this venue. Simply send me an email at wspiegel@genplususa.com along with your name, correct email address and best phone number to reach you. Reservations are being taken on a first-come, first-served basis, so if you'll need more than one spot, please let me know in your request. We have very limited seating, but I'll start taking a wait list once we're full in case I'm able to get more space. If you plan on coming in from out of town, please let me know. I'll have slightly different instructions for you.

A big thank you to Balboa Encino Restaurant for their support and help. Can't wait to hear from you. Let's get going.

Town Hall and Survey Update

The Town Hall concept is coming along nicely. So far, I've received emails from a few of you to secure your spots. Please pass the word along to any 50 plussers who would benefit from this type of event. Just to give you an idea of how the afternoon session is going to work, I thought it would be a good idea to outline for you the objective and what the general agenda is.

For those of you who haven't read past posts announcing the Gen Plus Town Hall, in a nutshell, I'm taking social activism to a whole new level. I've found a venue that is going to partner with me and has offered to host an afternoon forum for Gen Plussers - in Encino (a suburb of Los Angeles.) It will take place on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 from 2 - 4:30 pm...at no charge. There will be food and drink available (and encouraged) for purchase -- most meals come in at under $10.

There is limited space, so this will work on a first-reserved, first-served basis. The objective of the afternoon is to bring the challenges of job search for 50 plussers out into the open and for you to leave with some tangible action items that you can incorporate into your job search or your start up (or existing) business. There will be a few industry experts (HR, Employer Relations, Marketing) who are planning on joining us. If you need some help with your resume or cover letter, bring a few copies with you and we'll try to make the time to give you some free advice.

We'll be starting off with a short panel discussion. Then you'll be breaking up in groups with specific assignments. Once your assignments are complete, you'll be sharing your findings with all the groups. Our experts will be joining the different groups and available to facilitate and answer questions along the way! Whatever action items or findings come out of this forum will be collated and then sent to each attendee so that you have a written document of our findings.

There will be some items for sale -- all geared to the 50 plus market and available for purchase if you need them, or available online at a later date.

This is a small segment of a one-day program that I would typically charge an arm and a leg for ;), but I truly believe in our ability to mobilize one community at a time and really positively impact how employers are looking at the 50 plus demographic.

I've had requests for Town Halls in Boston, DC, Chicago and Raleigh and I'm holding onto all names for future events. If you are interested, please send me an email at wspiegel@genplususa.com. I'll be relentlessly promoting this free forum because you need to be there, so you might as well email me now and get it off your plate. (I'm a little cheeky today, I know...but this program will really be helpful and I know there are tons of California subscribers just dying to spend an afternoon in Encino, some East Coasters and mid-Westerners who will need an excuse to get away from the cold, and some golfers who will want to stay on and take advantage of the venue the next day...)

On another note, thank you to all of you who are responding to the survey. This will be very helpful for Choose2Lead, a nonprofit, doing research on the 50 plus work demographic. The survey will only be open for a couple of weeks, so please make your voice count. (Just up at the top of the page.)

Finally, I'm still hearing from some of you who don't know how to comment on the blog. If you are a Feedblitz or Feedburner subscriber, you can't comment by replying to the email. You have to click on the title, which will link you to the blog. Once there (here) scroll down to the bottom of the post and you'll see a link called "Comments". Just click on the link, enter your comments in the pop up window, and sign in anonymously or otherwise. That's it.

I always love to hear from you.

Wendy

Survey says...

Having run a survey on length of job search for the past several months, some of the findings were very interesting -- reflecting the stories and issues that many of you have been clearly identifying. Please read the full media release for survey overview. Please feel free to add your comments. I always love to hear from you.

Update: Gen Plus Forum -- Town Hall Meeting

As announced earlier, I'm planning a Town Hall type of meeting in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 22 (light traffic day in LA!) from 2 - 4:30 pm at the lovely Balboa Golf and Country Club in the also very lovely Los Angeles suburb of Encino.There is limited room for this event. There will be NO charge for attending, and food and drink are available for purchase. Agenda will focus on the career issues that are affecting you and we will work together (along with some great experts joining us) to come to some action items for everyone there. To secure your seat, please email me directly at wspiegel@genplususa.com.

If you've already emailed me you are on the list and I'll be sending confirmation emails once the date is firmly locked. If you are coming in from out of town, please wait to book travel until you receive my confirmation email.

This forum is to create possibilities for you. If the program works well, I'll host more of them across the country. So, if you live near LA, or have friends who could use the networking/input of confidence, or energetic direction, please pass the information along.

Coming up...What's on the horizon?

So much to write about and so little time!

First big piece of news: I've arranged to host a "Town Hall" for Gen Plussers, in Los Angeles (suburb of Encino) at a lovely venue. More details to follow, but here is some info to start getting the word out. Tentative date: Tuesday, January 22nd. (Very good traffic day!) Time: 2 - 4ish. We'll have the venue until about 5:30 , but a lot of you will need to head home before the traffic gets bad.
Who can come? If you are a Gen Plusser (i.e. a boomer or 50 plusser) who has something to say, needs some career help, or just wants to develop community, this is for you. We'll have some very cool guests joining us...all experts in their fields...and all coming just for you.

What's the cost? Nothing. No charge. There will, however, be food and drink available for purchase. So please help support this generous business and come hungry!

How do I register? I'll be sending out more info shortly, however, space is extremely limited, so I'll be registering people on a first-come, first-served basis. If you would like to be on the list, simply email me at wspiegel@genplususa.com and give me your name and contact info. I'll send you a confirmation email as soon as I have the date firmed up.

How Many Villages Does it Really Take?

Due to some requests over the past year, I'm putting together a Town Hall meeting in Los Angeles, CA in the next couple of months. An interesting concept (more on this later) and some exciting experts are planning on joining us to share their thoughts and concerns about employment challenges for 50 plus.

I'm soliciting a venue that will enable us to have a "no charge" or nominal charge event, however, food or drinks will be on you.

If you are like me, you are always hungry and always in search of interesting, thought-provoking conversation. So, please let me know if this interests you by adding your comment to this post or emailing me directly at wspiegel@genplususa.com

I've already started a wait list and will let you know date(s) and time as soon as they are set in stone. But, there will only be about 20 - 25 spaces available, so reservations are first-come, first-served.

If you are interested in participating in a Town Hall in another city or acting as host, please let me know and if there seems to be a compelling interest...you may see an event pop up a city near you, too!

Oprah, Revolution Health and a Sneak Peek for Gen Plus readers!

Cindy Samuels, of Revolution Health (and a Gen Plus reader!) passed along a sneak peek about something she thought might be really interesting to our readers. Revolution Health has joined forces with O, the Oprah Magazine as a sponsor of the O You! Conference on September 29 in Miami. Now, here's the peek (and the perk!)...to celebrate, Revolution Health is offering visitors to http://www.revolutionhealth.com/oprah/ a chance to win one of five trips for two to the conference in Miami.

The contest won’t be announced in the press until Monday but she is giving us the advance buzz.

The O You! conference is expected to draw several thousand women and will feature speakers including financial expert Suze Orman (LOVE her -- if you don't know who Suze is, then you need to right away), exercise physiologist Bob Greene (hmm...I wonder if he has seen our Gen Plus low impact fitness DVD...), life coach Martha Beck, heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, and others. Revolution Health, which is led by AOL founder Steve Case, is an official title sponsor of the event. If you've never visited Revolution Health, it is a great site with tons of fantastic, relevant health and medical info with a strong focus on women's issues and a commitment to improving access to healthcare information in the US.

Cindy passes along that entering the sweepstakes is easy (she's right --it is.) From the “O Guide” home page at http://www.revolutionhealth.com/oprah/, visitors can click on the contest form and sign up to enter. Each visitor is eligible to enter once per day. The first sweepstakes closes on July 21 (which is why I wanted to get this post out to you today) and there are four more sweepstakes after that.

Good luck! I hope our readers win ALL the trips! Let me know if you are a winner -- I'll be your stowaway!!

A refreshing view of 50 plus

A kindred spirit has published a book focused on the period between mid-life and retirement and the challenges and opportunities facing our Gen Plus demographic. Marc Freedman has released Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life

For a one-two punch, combine his perspective with our e-workbook on strategic planning! Very excited to see that the 50 plus demographic is gathering momentum.

Sharing a cuppa and getting enlightened

If you ask most people who they'd like to hang out with, most will give you the name of someone younger than themselves. People are typically attracted to the energy of youth. I like hanging out with my daughter. She delights me. But if I really think about it (which I am doing, right now, at the ungodly hour of 4:30 am...but typical for us writing sorts), some of my most genuinely delightful encounters have been when sitting around and enjoying the wisdom of the elders. I'll proudly admit it. I like 70 and 80 year olds. Because I am always on a quest for more knowledge, strive to be an agent of social change, and have a deep interest in world movement, history and politics, some of the best sources of opinions and overall wealth of information sits with our elders. Underutilized, generally ignored, but, in my opinion, priceless.

A couple of weeks ago, my prolific mother, who at 71 is really unstoppable, had a group of her acquaintances over to our home for a pre-theater brunch. My mother teaches a brilliant play-reading class that has grown over the years and brings about 50 very bright people together every couple of weeks to delve into the mysterious depths of the playright's mind. So, as is her tradition, once a year, she invites these wonderful people to our home, where we eat, drink and make merry. Most of the attendees are in their 60's, 70's and 80's and the power of knowledge that sits in our home (and around a table every two weeks) is formidable. A sample of just a few: a former television producer and director (now philanthropist); a grande dame of the Quebec theatre scene for decades; a retired teacher who still tutors troubled teens; a patron of the arts who supports just about every theatre in Los Angeles; and on and on. I learned more in two hours than in two weeks of regular living -- in a living room, drinking decaf (a lot of you will laugh over that), and eating around a few tables.

I used to hang out with my grandmother. An artiste, a pioneer in women's rights before there were women's rights, flamboyent and tempermental, but she was my friend and a strong influence into her 90's. We would discuss life, world politics, the world of art, smoking, travel, sports. Her favorite color was purple. Her favorite artist was Lismer. She was a horrible driver. She LOVED a good cuppa coffee.

Now, I like to hang out with my mother. I don't have to. I have a world of friends, acquaintances and work colleagues. But she is a lifelong learner and so am I and I delight in our conversations, our agreements and our disagreements. She's a spitfire, my personal rabbi, a teacher by nature, an artist by design. So, yesterday morning, after an extremely busy weekend and an ungodly amount of driving in LA traffic, I had to hop back on the road for yet another day of 3 hours of driving. Just before I left, I heard the sound of fresh coffee being ground, followed by a pot percolating and as I was heading out the door with child in tow, my mother, my mom, my elder, passed me a little brown bag with a breakfast for the road and a mug of steaming fresh coffee to warm me up. This is not a daily occurance, but it was an instinctive extension of love to get me on my way. It made my day. Amazing. Just like that, in a moment. Mixed in with a discussion of a recent article in the Globe and Mail on geographic movement of the workforce.

I've written before about multi-generational living. Really, it is just going back to community in the way that community used to be. 7 year olds learning from 20 year olds learning from 50 year olds learning from 70 year olds. That is the context I prefer to live in and the world I wish to be in. Rejoicing in the wealth of knowledge of my elders and enjoying the energy of youth. While drinking a cuppa.

Whose Space?

Well, I've done it. After so many emails about needing a My Space for 50 plussers I've decided to join the ranks. I now have my own My Space (although I'm not quite sure what to do there yet...) If you are brave, head on over there: http://www.myspace.com/genplus I'll let you know more as I figure it out. And I'll let you know if I find any 50 plussers out there!

If you figure out how to be my friend on myspace, you'll be one step ahead of me!

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.