Amazing conversations awaken a stronger sense of where the Boomer generation is heading. Amazing conversations instill clarity, insight, motivation ... even hope. Amazing conversations showcase the brightest minds in Boomer business, marketing and aging today. Thought leaders. Trendsetters.
For nearly a year, I have been undertaking a radio host odyssey on the WeEarth Global Radio Network. Dovetailing my new book, the show is entitled Generation Reinvention: How Boomers Are Changing the Future.
Guests on my show have included a remarkable cast of thinkers and creators. What they have to say is worth your time, and you can listen to their commentary today and in the future at your convenience, at any moment you want to hear some amazing conversations.
Jed Diamond, Ph.D.
Generation Reinvention 1: The Future of Boomer Men
Jed Diamond, Ph.D. is Director of the MenAlive, a health program that helps men live long and well. Since its inception, Jed has been on the Board of Advisors of the Men's Health Network. He is also a member of the International Society for the Study of the Aging Male and serves as a member of the International Scientific Board of the World Congress on Men's Health. He is the author of many influential books including Male Menopause and The Irritable Male Syndrome.
Generation Reinvention 1: The Future of Boomer Men
Carol Orsborn, Ph.D.
Generation Reinvention 2: The Future of Boomer Women
As a leading voice of her generation of women, Carol Orsborn, Ph.D. is CEO of BoomerCommunication.com, and serves as Senior Strategist with Vibrant Nation.com, the largest online community of educated, passionate women 50+. Her blogs and op-eds on work/life run regularly on the site, as well as on the Huffington Post, Humana’s Real4Me and Divine Caroline.com. She has appeared on Oprah and on The Today Show multiple times, and in the pages of People Magazine and The New York Times, among many others. Carol is the author of Boom: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer--the Baby Boomer Woman and The Art of Resilience.
Generation Reinvention 2: The Future of Boomer Women
Chuck Nyren
Generation Reinvention 3: the Future of Advertising
Chuck Nyren is an award-winning advertising video producer, creative strategist, copywriter, consultant, and speaker focusing on The International Baby Boomer Market. He has been a consultant for advertising and marketing agencies and companies with products for the 40+ Market, including AARP, National Association of Home Builders, Harris Interactive, AstraZeneca, Bayard Presse (France), The Seattle Direct Marketing Association, WPP's Commonhealth, and Omnicom Group. He is consultant with The Faith Popcorn BrainReserve TalentBank and is on the Advisory Board of GRAND Magazine. Chuck is the author of Advertising to Baby Boomers.
Generation Reinvention 3: the Future of Advertising
Greg Dobbs
Generation Reinvention 4: The Stories of Our Lives
Greg Dobbs worked for ABC News for 23 years, starting in Chicago as an editor for ABC Radio’s Paul Harvey, then for TV as a producer, then in 1973 becoming a correspondent. In 1977 assigned to ABC’s bureau in London, then in 1982 to Paris, and in mid-1986 to ABC's new bureau in Denver. Memorable domestic news stories covered: the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the San Francisco earthquake, the execution of Gary Gilmore, the Watergate hearings, and the Indian occupation of Wounded Knee Major foreign news stories: the Gulf War; the occupation of the US embassy in Iran; the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; the Iran-Iraq war; the ouster of Idi Amin from Uganda; the assassination of Anwar Sadat in Egypt; and the ill-fated Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana in England.
Generation Reinvention 4: The Stories of Our Lives
John Erickson
Generation Reinvention 5: the Future of Retirement Housing and Age Inclusiveness in Television
For three decades, John Erickson envisioned and built innovative communities for seniors, understanding before most that an active, social lifestyle and access to good health care were essential for the mental and physical health of seniors.As the founder of Erickson Retirement Communities, the company operates 20 retirement communities with more than 23,000 residents in 11 states. He could have stopped there. But instead, he took what he possessed — a deep understanding of senior America and its strengths — and launched cable network Retirement Living TV in 2006, to provide a new voice to a generation largely ignored by television media.
Generation Reinvention 5: the Future of Retirement Housing and Age Inclusiveness in Television
David Cravit
Generation Reinvention 6: Boomers to Zoomers, the Future of Aging in Canada
David Cravit is Executive Vice President of ZoomerMedia Ltd. David possesses over 30 years’ experience in advertising, marketing and consulting in Canada and the US. Previous to working with ZoomerMedia, David was a partner in Saffer Cravit & Freedman Advertising, which he helped take from start-up to over $150 million in annual billings. The agency had offices in Toronto and Chicago, and was recognized as a leading retail specialist agency in North America. After selling his interest in the business, David worked as an independent consultant to other advertising agencies in Canada and the USA, before joining ZoomerMedia in November 2005. David is author of The New Old.
Generation Reinvention Show 6: Boomers to Zoomers, the Future of Aging in Canada
Lori Bitter
Generation Reinvention 7: Marketing to Boomers, an International Perspective
Lori Bitter launched Continuum Crew following the closure of JWT BOOM, the nation’s leading mature market advertising and marketing company. As President, she was responsible for mature consumer strategy across a number of industries, most notably age targeted and age restricted real estate. In her role at JWT BOOM, Lori managed the production of LiveWire: The Summit (formerly the Beyond the Numbers conference) for five years. She was the editor of LiveWire, a quarterly publication, and she is author of numerous white papers on topics relevant to the senior and Boomer population.
Generation Reinvention Show 7: Marketing to Boomers, an International Perspective
Peter Whitehouse, M.D., PH.D.
Generation Reinvention 8: The Future of the Aging Brain
In his book The Myth of Alzheimer’s: What You Aren’t Being Told About Today’s Most Dreaded Diagnosis, Peter Whitehouse M.D., Ph.D. and his protégé, Daniel George, address the very foundation of our cultural and social relationships to the most dreaded disease of modern times.With more than 30 years of experience as a scientist and geriatric neurologist, Dr. Whitehouse, himself a Boomer, has been at the forefront of the evolution of the disease we call Alzheimer’s. He has earned over a million dollars consulting with pharmaceutical companies about development of cholinesterase inhibitors, the contemporary silver bullets in drug therapies for early treatment of disease symptoms.
Generation Reinvention 8 :The Future of the Aging Brain
David B. Wolfe
Generation Reinvention 9: The Future of Business, Ageless Marketing, and a Brave New Worldview
For over 25 years, the late David Wolfe was the most articulate and respected author and spokesman for Ageless Marketing and a paradigm shift toward understanding changing consumer needs as we age. David was an internationally recognized customer behavior expert in middle-age and older markets. Author and coauthor of three published books, including his breakaway Ageless Marketing, David was also a thought-leader in identifying shifting business values, a maturing, if you will, of the value companies and their products bring to our lives. His most recent work, an exciting and penetrating new book, investigates how society’s values are dramatically changing. Sadly, David passed away in December 2011, so this interview is one of his final reflections on his brilliant and enduring body of work.
Generation Reinvention 9: The Future of Business, Ageless Marketing, and a Brave New Worldview
Richard Adler
Generation Reinvention 10: The Next 20 Years
Richard Adler is the architect and leader of an important research study on Boomers for the Institute for the Future. Thirty years ago, he was appointed to a position at the Aspen Institute Program on Communications and Society, where he considered the potential of “pay television” to change the economics of TV programming, anticipating subscription networks like HBO that emerged a few years later. In the early 1980s, when new digital media were emerging, Richard joined the Institute for the Future, a nonprofit think tank in Silicon Valley, where he focused on the emergence of “online services.” In the mid-1980s, at a time when these services were being used by less than one percent of Americans, he was asked to provide a “vision” for the state of the technology in the year 2000. He predicted (correctly) that by 2000, half of all Americans would be online. This visionary has a lot to say about the next 20 years.
Generation Reinvention 10: The Next 20 Years
Tom Frey, Ph.D.
Generation Reinvention 11: The Next 20 Years, Part 2
Thomas Frey, Ph.D. is Executive Director and Senior Futurist at the DaVinci Institute, a futurist think-tank based near Boulder, Colorado. His blog on emerging technologies has been recognized by Popular Science magazine as one of the top five science blogs. He is the top-rated futurist speaker by Google. Before launching the DaVinci Institute, Tom spent 15 years at IBM as an engineer and designer where he received over 270 awards, more than any other IBM engineer. He is also a past member of the Triple Nine Society (High I.Q. society over 99.9 percentile).
Generation Reinvention 11:The Next 20 Years, Part 2
Dick Stroud
Generation Reinvention 12: The Future of Boomer Aging in the United Kingdom
Dick Stroud is a consultant, lecturer, writer, and one of Great Britain’s most influential thinkers about the 50+ market niche. His company 20plus30 specializes in advising companies how to capture the buying power of 50-plus consumers. He is author of The 50-Plus Market, an impressive 315-page exploration of business with the lucrative, influential 50+ marketplace. He has taught at the London Business School, American University in London, and Southampton Business School. Before running his own company he worked for IBM and PA Management Consultants.
Generation Reinvention 12: The Future of Boomer Aging in the United Kingdom
Dick Ambrosius
Generation Reinvention 13: Age Branding, Cognitive Fitness and the Future of Retirement Housing
In 1981, Dick Ambrosius formed one of the first consulting firms to specialize in marketing to middle age and older adults. This led to his selection as Entrepreneur of the Year in 1997 by Entrepreneur Magazine. In 1980, he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as the youngest member of the National Advisory Committee to the 1981 White House Conference on Aging, which he attended as a delegate and keynote speaker. In 2004, he was appointed as a delegate-at-large for the 2005 White House Conference on Aging. Today he serves as Vice President of Outreach and Group Programs for NeoCORTA Inc., which offers scientifically-designed assessments for future brain fitness and provides users with a road map to maintain or improve their future cognitive health.
Generation Reinvention 13: Age Branding, Cognitive Fitness and the Future of Retirement Housing
Jeff Rosenfeld, Ph.D.
Generation Reinvention 14: Retirement Housing for the Boomer Future
Jeff Rosenfeld, Ph.D. is Director of the Gerontology Program and Gerontology Center at Hofstra University. He is a gerontologist with an interest in the interplay between aging and home-design. Along with Wid Chapman, he is the author of Home Design in an Aging World. His newest book, entitled Un-Assisted Living, also co-authored by Wid Chapman, will be published in the fall of 2011 by Random House. In addition to Hofstra University, Jeff teaches as an adjunct at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan. He received his Ph.D. at Stony Brook.
Generation Reinvention 14: Retirement Housing for the Boomer Future
Kim Walker
Generation Reinvention 15: Boomers and the Future of Aging in Asia Pacific Countries
Kim Walker is founder and CEO of SILVER, based in Singapore, the first strategic business and marketing consultancy in Asia Pacific focused on Boomers and 50+ consumers. Before founding SILVER, Kim has held local and regional C-suite positions in Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, and Tokyo. He is Asia’s top expert on the 50+ market. Most recently he was President and CEO for M&C Saatchi in Asia. He has been a senior executive with Carat Asia Pacific and Bates Worldwide. He has launched new operations or led acquisitions in most Asian markets.
Generation Reinvention 15: Boomers and the Future of Aging in Asia Pacific Countries
Mark Miller
Generation Reinvention 16: Boomers and the Future of Retirement Readiness and Security
Mark Miller is a journalist, author and editor who writes about trends in retirement and aging. He has a special focus on how the Baby Boomer Generation is revising its approach to careers, money and lifestyles after age 50. Mark edits and publishes RetirementRevised.com, featured as one of the best retirement planning sites on the web in the May 2010 issue of Money Magazine. Author of The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security, he also writes Retire Smart, a syndicated weekly newspaper column and also contributes weekly to Reuters.com.
Generation Reinvention 16: Boomers and the Future of Retirement Readiness and Security
Harry "Rick" Moody, Ph.D.
Generation Reinvention 17: Spiritual Journeys of Middle Age and the Future of Aging in America
Harry “Rick” Moody, Ph.D. understands implications of aging in ways that are both profound and practical. In his marvelous book entitled The Five Stages of the Soul: Charting the Spiritual Passages That Shape Our Lives, he reveals challenges and possibilities presented us as we age by focusing on the spiritual stages through which most of us pass. The outcome of careful spiritual exploration can be significant answers to deeper questions about the meaning of our lives. From a business perspective, Rick is Director of Academic Affairs for AARP in Washington, DC, where he has gained and contributed much practical wisdom about the social, economic and cultural aspects of aging today. He also serves as Senior Associate with the International Longevity Center-USA and Senior Fellow of Civic Ventures.
Generation Reinvention 17: Spiritual Journeys of Middle Age and the Future of Aging in America
Marc Sotkin
Generation Reinvention 18: Laughing Our Way to A Spectacular, Incredible … Old Age
Marc Sotkin was formerly head writer for The Golden Girls. He began his writing career in 1976 and has been a staff writer and producer on more than 350 episodes of various situation comedies for every television network. His credits also include Laverne & Shirley, as well as co-writing and producing two Garry Shandling specials for Showtime. He has been honored with multiple Emmy, Golden Globe and Cable Ace award nominations and has won a prestigious Writers Guild Award. But this is a Boomer comedy writer who has reinvented himself. Presently, he appears in his weekly Boomer Alley videos. In addition he hosts Boomer Alley Radio which airs weekly in Los Angeles on CBS affiliate KFWB, across Colorado on the Radio Colorado Network, and is podcast to the universe.
Generation Reinvention 18: Laughing Our Way to A Spectacular, Incredible … Old Age
Frank Lampe
Generation Reinvention 19: Boomers and the Future of Conscious Consumerism
Frank Lampe is one of the thought leaders in the healthy living / sustainability marketplace, so-called conscious consumerism or Lifestyles of Health & Sustainability (LOHAS). He brings more than 23 years of media and communications management experience to his role as director of communications with the American Herbal Products Association. As a co-founder of Natural Business Communications, he and his team introduced and quantified the LOHAS concept and produced the groundbreaking LOHAS Journal business magazine and the LOHAS Market Trends Conference. He was the editorial director at New Hope Natural Media, where he launched several trade titles, and is a former editor of Natural Foods Merchandiser.
Generation Reinvention 19: Boomers and the Future of Conscious Consumerism
Marti Barletta
Generation Reinvention 20: Marketing to PrimeTime Women and the Future of Business
Marti Barletta is the world’s foremost authority on marketing to women. She is the author of the groundbreaking book, Marketing to Women, which is now available in 15 languages, and co-author with Tom Peters of Trends (July 2005), who named her MVP/BizGuru of 2005. Her new book is PrimeTime Women: How to Win the Hearts, Minds, and Business of Boomer Big Spenders. In this book Marti breaks the story on the unprecedented buying power of women in their prime (ages 50-70) and details why this "silver bullet" segment is the prime source of business growth for the next two decades. As the recognized international authority on marketing to women, Marti is frequently quoted on CBS Evening News, ABC Money Matters, MSNBC's Squawk Box and NPR's Talk of the Nation, as well as in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Fast Company, BusinessWeek, Entrepreneur and many other publications worldwide.
Generation Reinvention 20: Marketing to PrimeTime Women and the Future of Business
Rob Kirkpatrick
Generation Reinvention 21: 1969 — a Tumultuous Year That Shaped the Boomer Future
Rob Kirkpatrick captured the concluding year of the sixties in a book entitled 1969: The Year Everything Changed. He has also written Magic in the Night: the Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen. Rob was a featured commentator in the History Channel documentary Sex in '69: The Sexual Revolution in America and has worked in the book publishing industry for more than a dozen years as an editor. He is also a blogger for Huffington Post.
Generation Reinvention 21: 1969 — a Tumultuous Year That Shaped the Boomer Future
Kathy Dragon
Generation Reinvention 22: Active Boomer Women and the Future of Travel
Kathy Dragon has more than two decades of experience in the Adventure and Experiential Travel industry including designing, marketing, selling, guiding and operating small group tours worldwide for active adults. She started leading bike tours in 1987, and she’s since trained hundreds of guides and tour operators on the nuances of understanding the North American PrimeTime Traveler (50-70 yr old) whose impact is substantial and whose needs and interests are unique within the global travel community. From Patagonia to Provence, Kilimanjaro to Komodo, Kathy has been there and personally escorted over 3000 guests (primarily Boomers) on life-changing adventures.
Generation Reinvention 22: Active Boomer Women and the Future of Travel
Bryan Welch
Generation Reinvention 23: Baby Boomers, Magazine Publishing and the Future of Sustainability
Bryan Welch and his family raise cattle, sheep, goats and chickens on a 50-acre farm, which they call Rancho Cappuccino. All their animals range freely, and the grazing animals are strictly grass-fed. When he’s not farming, he runs Ogden Publications, a diversified media, consulting and affinity marketing company. His company has grown rapidly over the past few years and now publishes 10 magazines for people interested in self-sufficiency, sustainability, rural lifestyles and farm collectibles. Familiar titles include Mother Earth News, Utne Reader, Natural Home and The Herb Companion. Combined, the publisher’s magazines have over 2-million readers, and their websites attract more than 3 million unique visitors each month.
Generation Reinvention 23: Baby Boomers, Magazine Publishing and the Future of Sustainability
J. Mara DelliPriscoli
Generation Reinvention 24: Boomers, Lifelong Learning and the Future of Educational Travel
J. Mara DelliPriscoli is President of Travel Learning Connections, Inc. She is the founder and architect of the Educational Travel Conference. With this conference platform she has facilitated the growth of strategic business partnerships and business-to-business networking of those in the field of alumni, museum, conservation and affinity group travel. With over 30 years experience in the tourism industry, Mara has directly worked in most sectors of the travel industry including marketing, sales, tour and hotel operations, and transportation, trade and government research firms. Mara is in a sense synonymous with educational travel, and with Boomers educational travel is the future.
Generation Reinvention 24: Boomers, Lifelong Learning and the Future of Educational Travel
Steve French
Generation Reinvention 25: Lifestyles of Health & Sustainability and Boomer Healthy Aging
As Managing Partner at NMI, Steve French has over 25 years of marketing, consulting, and management experience across numerous industries. With his focus on healthy aging, wellness, and social sustainability, he works with many global clients on developing new business opportunities, strategic planning, and market research projects. He has pioneered a range of NMI consumer databases that analyze attitudes and behavior, including NMI’s Healthy Aging/Boomer Database. As a recognized industry expert, Steve’s expertise is also welcomed on a regular basis by global media. He is an author of numerous reports and articles, and he is a regular speaker at many industry events worldwide.
Generation Reinvention 25: Lifestyles of Health & Sustainability and Boomer Healthy Aging
Dr. Bill Thomas
Generation Reinvention 26: Changing Aging and the Future of Boomer Elderhood
Dr. Bill Thomas is a visionary leader in the online Changing Aging movement and a renowned expert on geriatric medicine and eldercare. He is author of an award-winning examination of aging, entitled What Are Old People For?. His forthcoming, much-anticipated book on Boomer aging is entitled The Second Crucible. Recipient of numerous awards, including the Ashoka Fellowship, America’s Award, Heinz Award and Giraffe Award, Bill is also a professor at UMBC’s Erickson School of Aging, a musician, author of six books and an insatiable social media consumer and blogger.
Generation Reinvention 26: Changing Aging and the Future of Boomer Elderhood
Marc Middleton & Bill Shafer
Generation Reinvention 27: Creating Empowering Stories about Active Aging for TV, Radio and Online
A broadcast veteran, Marc Middleton spent 14 years as Sports Director and anchor at WESH-TV in Orlando before moving to the News Anchor Desk. Among his many assignments, Marc covered the Olympics in Barcelona, Sydney and Athens. Marc is an award-winning reporter whose work has been recognized with two Emmys, 5 Emmy Nominations, the Dupont Award for Excellence in Journalism, AP Sportscaster of the Year and two UPI Sportscaster of the Year awards. Marc also served as WESH’s technology reporter and helped produce the stations first-ever streaming Webcasts, blogs and podcasts.
Bill Shafer is co-host of Growing Bolder TV and the Growing Bolder Radio Show. A broadcast veteran considered one of America’s best storytellers, Bill has been one of Florida’s most honored journalists for nearly three decades. As news anchor, sports director and lifestyle reporter, he brought seemingly ordinary people to the forefront and proved everyone has a story. He has won countless national awards for his work. In his spare time, Bill is a youth ice hockey coach.
Generation Reinvention 27: Creating Empowering Stories about Active Aging for TV, Radio and Online
David Weigelt
Generation Reinvention 28: Marketing to Boomers through Online Engagement and Digital Media
David Weigelt co-founded Immersion Active, the only interactive agency in the United States solely focused on Boomers and seniors. In the spring of 2009, David, along with Immersion Active partner Jonathan Boehman, released his first book on how to engage mature consumers online through a developmental relationship marketing approach. Entitled Dot Boom: Marketing to Baby Boomers through Meaningful Online Engagement, the book has received praise from national and international marketing notables, including Microsoft, PBS, and AARP.
Generation Reinvention 28: Marketing to Boomers through Online Engagement and Digital Media
Arjan in't Veld
Generation Reinvention 29: Marketing and Advertising to Boomers and 50+ in Holland
Arjan in't Veld is founder and director of Bureauvijftig, a marketing and communications agency that specializes in 50+. (Bureauvijftig is Dutch for Agency Fifty.) Arjan graduated at Radboud University, Nijmegen, focusing on “Baby Boomer marketing.” In 2005, he was one of the first marketers addressing this niche in the Netherlands. Bureauvijftig is based in Utrecht and provides services for a variety of organizations: from Volkswagen and Thomas Cook, to the Academic Hospital and a local healthcare institute. His firm’s main focus is to translate 50+ consumer insights into successful marketing communication programs. Arjan is also cofounder and partner of a large healthcare portal for caretakers.
Generation Reinvention 29: Marketing and Advertising to Boomers and 50+ in Holland
Marc Freedman
Generation Reinvention 30: Boomers and The Big Shift to a New Life Stage
Marc Freedman is CEO and founder of Civic Ventures, a think tank on Boomers, work and social purpose. He spearheaded creation of Experience Corps, now one of America’s largest nonprofit national service programs engaging people over 55, and The Purpose Prize, which annually provides five $100,000 prizes to social innovators in the second half of life. Author of newly released The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage beyond Midlife, Marc eloquently argues that it is now time for society and culture to embrace a new life stage between middle age and old age.
Generation Reinvention 30: Boomers and The Big Shift to a New Life Stage
Todd Harff
Generation Reinvention 31: The Future of Integrated and Online Marketing to 50+ Consumers
Todd Harff brings a unique perspective to help clients achieve business results through his agency, Creating Results. In addition to his work with clients, Todd is a respected writer and featured speaker about marketing to the 50+ adult. He is a frequent contributor to industry publications. Todd has addressed regional and national conferences on a variety of topics related to marketing, advertising, website design and public relations.
Generation Reinvention 31: The Future of Integrated and Online Marketing to 50+ Consumers
Gary Moulton, Ph.D.
Generation Reinvention 32: Boomers and the Future of Computer Software, Hardware and Online Technologies
Gary Moulton, Ph.D. is a product manager in Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group. He is responsible for the company’s strategic initiatives that focus on the use of technology by older adults (50+). In this role he is in charge of all efforts the company is making in the aging market segment. This includes product innovations for Baby Boomers. Prior to his current aging-related responsibilities he was the company’s assistive technology relations product manager. In this role he was responsible for coordinating Microsoft’s marketing efforts with assistive technology manufacturers, and he was the manager of Microsoft’s Assistive Technology Vendor Program.
Generation Reinvention 32: Boomers and the Future of Computer Software, Hardware and Online Technologies
B. Joseph Pine II
Generation Reinvention 33: Boomers, The Experience Economy and Authenticity
Joe Pine is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and management advisor to Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups. He is co-founder of Strategic Horizons LLP, a thinking studio dedicated to helping businesses conceive and design new ways of adding value to their economic offerings. Joe and his partner Jim Gilmore wrote "The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage." Realizing that in a world of increasingly paid-for experiences people no longer accept the fake from the phony, but want the real from the genuine, so Pine & Gilmore wrote “Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want” in October 2007.
Generation Reinvention 33: Boomers, The Experience Economy and Authenticity
Dee Wallace
Generation Reinvention 34: Turning on Your Bright Light: Spiritual and Life Lessons for a Generation
Thirty years ago a gifted young actress from Kansas risked security and comfort to become part of the movie-making industry in Hollywood. Two years later she landed the role of a lifetime and walked onto a soundstage for Stephen Spielberg’s movie, “E.T.: The Extraterrestrial.” Her character Mary, a smart, funny young mother, was about to change this actress’s life, as well as a generation’s views of modern motherhood. This heralded portrayal raised as many questions as it did answers for the rising star. In the three decades since her first day of work on the film, those questions have been answered. In her new book, Bright Light, Dee Wallace shares her touching story and wisdom that can help each of us rekindle and nurture the heartlight that guides us home to our true self.
Generation Reinvention 34: Turning on Your Bright Light: Spiritual and Life Lessons for a Generation
Duncan Campbell
Generation Reinvention 35: A Consciousness Revolution for Boomers
Duncan Campbell holds degrees from the Sorbonne, Yale College and Harvard Law School. In the last 40 years he has gained extensive experience in the fields of psychology, philosophy, spirituality, law, business, finance, politics, communications and teaching. Duncan’s radio program, entitled Living Dialogues®, features conversations with consciousness pioneers — some known to a larger public and others lesser known or as yet unknown — yet all embodying the best in new paradigm thinking in a broad variety of fields.
Generation Reinvention 35: A Consciousness Revolution for Boomers
Paul Kleyman
Generation Reinvention 36: A Journalist’s Look at Boomers and Aging
Paul Kleyman is the Director of the Ethnic Elders Newsbeat at New America Media (NAM), a division of Pacific News Service reaching 60 million ethnic audience members in the United States. From 1988 through 2008, he was the editor of Aging Today, a newspaper of the American Society on Aging. He co-founded and is National Coordinator of the Journalists Network on Generations and edits its e-newsletter, Generations Beat Online. He is also an invited blogger for The Huffington Post.
Generation Reinvention 36: A Journalist’s Look at Boomers and Aging
Helen Dennis
Generation Reinvention 37: Boomer Women, Successful Aging, and Reinventing Retirement
Helen Dennis calls upon Boomer and older women to shape a new kind of retirement, one that she refers to as “renewment” to emphasize the possibility of positive change, enlightenment, and adventure. Helen is a nationally recognized leader on issues of aging, employment and the new retirement. In the academic environment, she has received awards for her university teaching at the University of Southern California’s Davis School at the Andrus Gerontology Center.
Generation Reinvention 37: Boomer Women, Successful Aging, and Reinventing Retirement
Andy Cohen
Jack York
Generation Reinvention 38: Boomers and the Challenges and Opportunities of Caregiving
Andy Cohen is Chief Executive Officer and a co-founder of Caring.com. He oversees the company’s operations and finances, with the goal of establishing Caring.com as the premiere website for people taking care of their parents and other aging loved ones. Andy has launched four successful web businesses, taking them from start-up to tens of millions of dollars in revenue. In a 20-year career before founding Caring.com, he held leadership positions in management, marketing, and sales with S.C. Johnson Wax, Intuit, Peapod, Instill, and SuccessFactors.
Jack York founded It’s Never 2 Late in the summer of 1999 after spending 14 years in the Silicon Valley. He retired from that industry as vice-president of strategic sales for Vishay Intertechnology. In 1998, he began donating computers to assisted living centers in California. This endeavor became a labor of love, and the enthusiasm that the seniors showed in jumping into the computer world motivated him to establish It’s Never 2 Late. Jack speaks internationally on how adaptive technology should be accessible to all older adults in senior living communities. It’s Never 2 Late specializes in constructing adaptive computer labs for older adults in all stages of life.
Generation Reinvention 38: Boomers and the Challenges and Opportunities of Caregiving
Ken Dychtwald
Generation Reinvention 39: Baby Boomers and the Transformational Power of the Age Wave
Dr. Ken Dychtwald is a leading expert on the ways that Baby Boomers are aging differently than any generation in history. He is widely regarded as North America’s foremost visionary and original thinker regarding the lifestyle, marketing, healthcare and workforce implications of the age wave. He is a psychologist, gerontologist, documentary filmmaker, entrepreneur and best-selling author of sixteen books on aging-related issues, including Bodymind, Age Wave, Age Power, The Power Years and Workforce Crisis.
Generation Reinvention 39: Baby Boomers and the Transformational Power of the Age Wave
Steve Hoffman
Generation Reinvention 40: Boomer Consumers Living and Buying in the Natural World
Steve Hoffman is co-owner of Best Organics LLC, a leading organic gift company, and serves as chair of Naturally Boulder, an economic development initiative established by the City of Boulder to promote the growth of natural and organic businesses in the region. Steve is also cofounder of LOHAS Journal and the annual LOHAS Forum. He is the former national Marketing Director and Rocky Mountain regional Sales Manager for Arrowhead Mills. He served for more than eight years as the Editorial Director of Natural Foods Merchandiser, a leading trade magazine published by New Hope Natural Media and as Education Director for Natural Products Expo.
Generation Reinvention 40: Boomer Consumers Living and Buying in the Natural World
Michael Stusser and Chis MacInnes
Generation Reinvention 41: Boomers and the Future of the Spa Industry
Michael Stusser is founder of Osmosis, a popular spa in northern California. His discovery of the Cedar Enzyme Bath was a life-changing experience that led him to create Osmosis. This destination day spa has grown in twenty-five years into a nationally known hospitality location on five acres with extensive mediation gardens. Osmosis was recently acknowledged as “Americas Most Spiritual Spa” by Spirituality and Health magazine.
Christina MacInnes is Chief Operating Officer for Crystal Mountain Resort and Spa. Chris and her husband Jim have transformed this family-owned business into one of the Midwest’s premier four-season resort destinations. In addition, she is president of Crystal Properties Inc., the resort’s development company, and serves on its board of directors.
Generation Reinvention 41: Boomers and the Future of the Spa Industry
John L. Petersen
Generation Reinvention 42: Boomers, Wildcards, and High-Impact Transformations of the Future
John L. Petersen has been widely recognized as one of the most informed futurists in the world. He is best-known for writing and thinking about high impact surprises—called wild cards—and the process of surprise anticipation. His current professional involvements include the development of sophisticated tools for anticipatory analysis, surprise anticipation, and helping leadership design new approaches for dealing with the future. An award-winning writer, Petersen’s first book, “The Road to 2015: Profiles of the Future” was awarded Outstanding Academic Book of 1995 by CHOICE Academic Review, and remained on The World Future Society’s best-seller list for more than a year. His latest book, “Out of the Blue: How to Anticipate Wild Cards and Big Future Surprises,” was also a WFS best-seller.
Generation Reinvention 42: Boomers, Wildcards, and High-Impact Transformations of the Future
John Zweig
Generation Reinvention 43: Boomers and the Future of Healthcare, Aging and Marketing
John Zweig is Chairman of Healthcare and Specialist Communications for WPP. His role is to develop the Group’s capabilities and coordinate client services on behalf of WPP’s firms specialized by discipline, audience and industry. With a particular emphasis on healthcare clients, John provides access to these resources and capabilities around the world. Prior to becoming CEO of WPP’s Branding & Identity, Healthcare and Specialist Communications businesses, John was President of Thomas Ferguson Associates and founded CommonHealth in 1992; during the ten-year course of his leadership, he helped build CommonHealth into the largest and most respected integrated marketing firm of its type.
Generation Reinvention 43: Boomers and the Future of Healthcare, Aging and Marketing
Chris Kilham
Generation Reinvention 44: Boomers, Medicinal Plants and New Paths to Healthy Aging
Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter, author and educator. The founder of Medicine Hunter Inc., he has conducted medicinal research in over 20 countries. He is the FOX News Medicine Hunter and appears on FOX News Health online in the US and international television markets. e is Explorer in Residence at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he teaches the popular ethnobotany course The Shaman’s Pharmacy through the Department of Plant & Soil Sciences. He has appeared as a guest expert on several hundred radio and television programs including news programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, FOX TV, and NPR. He has appeared as a guest on The Dr. Oz Show, and is a regular guest on FOX News Ask Dr. Manny.
Generation Reinvention 44: Boomers, Medicinal Plants and New Paths to Healthy Aging
Wendy Boglioli
Generation Reinvention 45: Boomers, the High Costs of Growing Old and Long-Term Care
Wendy Boglioli, a former Olympic swimmer and Gold Medalist, is a motivational speaker and spokeswoman for Genworth Financial. She is best known for winning the gold medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay in world record time at the 1976 Montréal. The gold was particularly crucial to the U.S. women’s team as it was the only gold medal awarded to American women during the games. Wendy then served as assistant coach of the Yale University Swim Team, before embarking on a career as a motivational speaker and spokesperson. In 1997, she entered the long-term care insurance field and currently serves as national spokeswoman for Genworth Financial’s Long Term Care Division.
Generation Reinvention 45: Boomers, the High Costs of Growing Old and Long-Term Care
Gary Zukav and Linda Francis
Generation Reinvention 46: Aging and the Search for Authentic Power and Spiritual Partnerships
Gary Zukav is the author of “The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics,” winner of The American Book Award for Science; “The Seat of the Soul,” the celebrated #1 New York Times bestseller; “Soul Stories,” also a New York Times bestseller; and many others. His books have sold millions of copies and are published in twenty-four languages. Gary has appeared on the Oprah show 35 times, more than any other guest.
Linda Francis has been practicing the creation of authentic power since she read “The Seat of the Soul” in 1989. In 1993 she met Gary Zukav and they created a spiritual partnership which is in its eighteenth year. During this time, she co-authored with Gary two New York Times bestsellers, “The Heart of the Soul: Emotional Awareness” and “The Mind of the Soul: Responsible Choice.” Linda has been in the healing profession for three decades, first as a registered nurse and then as a chiropractor.
Generation Reinvention 46: Aging and the Search for Authentic Power and Spiritual Partnerships
Ed Tate
Generation Reinvention 47: Journey of a World Champion Public Speaker and Lessons for Boomers Reinventing
Ed Tate won the coveted Toastmasters International World Championship of Public Speaking, finishing ahead of 175,000 members from 70 countries. To date, he has spoken professionally in 46 states, 12 countries and on five continents. Ed’s success in business has spanned more than two decades. Since 1998, Ed has been principal of Ed Tate & Associates, LLC, a professional development firm that provides keynote and endnote presentations and workshops, as well as in-person and do-it-yourself tools and expertise on Leadership, Executive Presentation Skills, The Challenges of Change, Management, and Sales Presentation Skills.
Generation Reinvention 47: Journey of a World Champion Public Speaker and Lessons for Boomers Reinventing
Matt Thornhill
Generation Reinvention 48: Boomer Consumers and Age Readiness for Business
Matt Thornhill started the Boomer Project, a marketing research and consulting firm to help marketers gain a better understanding of Boomer consumers. Insights based on the Boomer Project’s national surveys among Boomers have earned Matt an international reputation as an authority on marketing to Boomers. His first book, Boomer Consumer, co-written with his business partner, John Martin, was named one of the best business marketing books the year it was published. He writes several columns on Boomers for both online and traditional media. In addition, he edits and publishes a monthly newsletter on marketing to Boomers for over 6,000 subscribers.
Generation Reinvention 48: Boomer Consumers and Age Readiness for Business
Don Blauweiss and Chuck Schroeder
Generation Reinvention 49: Boomers, Advertising and the Real Mad Men
This time my guests are two creative talents who worked for the legendary Doyle Dain and Bernbach, the advertising agency credited for launching the Creative Revolution of the 1960’s and 1970’s … the agency that influenced the creative direction of the Mad Men series.
Don Blauweiss began his career as a graphic designer, achieving international recognition for his package designs. Then he became an advertising Art Director at Doyle Dane Bernbach where he worked on historic and legendary campaigns for Volkswagen, Coffee of Colombia, Lufthansa, Uniroyal, and Avis.
Chuck Schroeder also started his career in the advertising business at Doyle Dane Bernbach as a copywriter working on Alka-Seltzer, Volkswagen, Polaroid, Mobil, American Airlines, Stroh’s Beer and other accounts.
Generation Reinvention 49: Boomers, Advertising and the Real Mad Men
Assaf Wand
Generation Reinvention 50: Designing Stylish Consumer Products for a Generation Getting Older
Sabi, a health and wellness brand, manufactures and markets products that transform mundane daily chores — such as taking pills, taking out the trash, getting dressed, opening jars — into moments full of delight. The company has an eye toward the Boomer generation, anticipating growing preferences for these products as the generation ages. Assaf Wand is founder and CEO. He has been a venture capitalist at Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Prior to that, he was Foris Telecom’s Vice President for Business Affairs. He has held senior roles with Arcadian Networks and McKinsey Consulting’s New York office where he consulted Fortune 100 clients.
Generation Reinvention 50: Designing Stylish Consumer Products for a Generation Getting Older
Laurie Orlov
Generation Reinvention 51: Boomers and the Future of Aging and Adaptive Technologies
Laurie M. Orlov founded a popular website and blog several years ago entitled “Aging in Place Technology Watch.” She analyzes research and trends in the aging-in-place technology market, which includes technologies that help the elderly to remain in their home of choice. Laurie has 34 years of experience in the technology and market research industry, including nine years as an analyst, and she has been research director at Forrester Research. Laurie is also a certified Florida long-term care ombudsman and the author of “When Your Parents Need Elder Care: Lessons from the Front Lines.”
Generation Reinvention 51: Boomers and the Future of Aging and Adaptive Technologies
Generation Reinvention 52: The Future of Luxury Travel and the Boomer Generation
Ira Bahr is Chief Marketing Officer for Inspirato, a luxury destination club launched in January 2011, combining the advantages of independent luxury home rental with the personalized services and amenities of private luxury vacation clubs or resort hotels. He oversees customer acquisition, customer communications and channel marketing activities. Prior to joining Inspirato, Ira was the CMO at DISH Network, the third largest provider of pay television in the U.S. with more than 14 million subscribers. Previously, he served as the Senior Vice President of Marketing, Alliances and Communications at Sirius Satellite Radio.
Generation Reinvention 52: The Future of Luxury Travel and the Boomer Generation
Generation Reinvention 53: Boomers, Aging, and Long-Term Psychological and Social Wellbeing
Dr. Sara Honn Qualls is a professor of psychology and aging studies and Director of the Gerontology Center at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. She led the development of the doctoral program in clinical psychology that emphasizes Geropsychology. We’ll talk about geropsychology and its implications for you as a caregiver or for yourself as you age. She also helped found the CU Aging Center where students learn to provide mental health and family interventions for older adults. She founded a unique collaboration between UCCS and the Palisades at Broadmoor Park, a privately owned senior residential community, where faculty and students create cutting-edge wellness programs using innovative technologies.
Generation Reinvention 53: Boomers, Aging, and Long-Term Psychological and Social Wellbeing
Generation Reinvention 54: Boomer Men and “The Embrace of Aging”
Executive Producer and Director Keith Famie is a nine-time Emmy Award winning filmmaker and founder of Visionalist Entertainment Productions, which he established in 1997. Keith is a renaissance man, with a rich history of entrepreneurial adventures. He began his career as a chef, lived in France, owned restaurants, and won food and wine awards. He became a celebrity chef on The Food Network and produced thirty-two segments of “Keith Famie’s Adventures.” He also ended up on “Survivor: The Australian Outback.” As testament to his tenacious personality, he was the last survivor voted off the show.
Generation Reinvention 54: Boomer Men and “The Embrace of Aging”
Generation Reinvention 55: Boomers, Public Television and Next Avenue
Next Avenue is a new national pubic media website that launched May 15, 2012 by PBS stations across America. It is focused on America’s growing 50+ population. My guest is Doug Price, who became president and chief executive officer of Rocky Mountain PBS in January 2009 and elected to the board of directors of the Public Television Major Markets Group. Prior to that, he had a successful career in banking with FirstBank Holding Company of Colorado. A 1978 graduate of the University of Colorado, he became president of the FirstBank of Boulder in 1982. He was promoted to president of FirstBank of Denver in 1988 and retired in 1999.
Generation Reinvention 55: Boomers, Public Television and Next Avenue
Please check back periodically. This blog post is a dynamic representation of our amazing guests who are shaping the future for Generation Reinvention.