Boomer Market Leaders Gathering in Chicago

February 8, 2007; 01:26 AM
Next month's What's Next Boomer Business Summit features business tips and winning strategies from leading innovators in the $2 trillion-per-year baby boomer market.

The two-day conference takes place March 5-6 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

For more information and Summit registration, please visit www.boomersummit.com. For press passes, please visit www.agingconference.org/press.

Keynote speakers include Gail Sheehy, author of "Sex and the Seasoned Woman" and "Passages"; Emilio Pardo, chief brand officer for AARP; and Larry Keeley, president of Chicago-based Doblin Inc. and a noted speaker on the topic of innovation.

The What's Next summit presents market data, case studies and business strategies directly from companies, thought leaders and entrepreneurs that are serving and finding ways to connect with America's growing legion of 45+ consumers, which controls more than 90 percent of all financial assets.

Presenters come from a range of industries. Panelists exploring boomer attitudes towards work, play, community, home, health and finances include:

• CarSpace, Edmunds.com -- Executive Director Sylvia Marino will present the latest research on what is driving boomers toward certain auto brands and vehicle types.
• Pogo, Electronic Arts -- Senior Director Beatrice Spaine will discuss the rapid growth of online gaming among boomers -- Americans age 50+ account for more than one of every three minutes spent on online casual games.
• Longevity Alliance -- CEO Steve Zaleznick will present the latest data on long-term care insurance and why more and more boomers are buying it.
• Natural Marketing Institute -- Managing Partner Steve French will present recent survey data on boomers and their most pressing concerns about aging.

Summit attendees will also have a chance to hear what reporters, bloggers and other media have to say about opportunities in the boomer and senior markets. One panel moderated by MORE Magazine founder Myrna Blyth features Chicago Tribune real estate columnist Jane Adler, Dallas Morning News business reporter Bob Moos and syndicated health columnist Jane Glenn Haas.

On another panel, Word of Mouth Marketing Association founder Andy Sernovitz, Ketchum Communications partner Paul Rand and Resolution Media founder Matt Spiegel will offer a toolkit of new media marketing tactics to reach the boomer consumer. New targeted distribution strategies will also be presented by Jack Barrette, category development officer for Yahoo! Lifestyle, Health & Medicine and TV Land president Larry Jones.

The conference provides valuable networking opportunities for companies and entrepreneurs developing strategies to tap the enormous boomer and senior markets. The conference "gives attendees an opportunity to meet potential new customers and strategic partners, exchange ideas with venture capitalists and brand managers, and learn how innovative businesses are creating products and services and bringing them to the boomer market," explains Mary Furlong, CEO of Mary Furlong & Associates and executive producer of the Summit.

Summit attendees will have opportunities to meet business leaders driving boomer-targeted initiatives in and around Chicago, and to connect with members of the American Society on Aging's Business Forum on Aging (BFA), a national group of more than 200 businesses serving mature consumers.

The What's Next Boomer Business Summit is co-produced annually by the BFA and Mary Furlong & Associates. What's Next is a pre-conference of the annual 2007 Joint Conference of the ASA and the National Council on Aging (NCOA), which takes place March 7-10, 2007, at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers. For information, see www.agingconference.org.

Sponsors of the 2007 Summit include: AARP; AARP Services, Inc.; Pogo, Electronic Arts; Intel Health Group; Longevity Alliance; MetLife Mature Market Institute; Philips International; Posit Science Corporation; QuantumIntech, Inc.; Springboard Press, an imprint of Warner Books; Verizon Wireless; Fleishman-Hillard's FH Boom; TV Land; The Stress Institute and Wal-Mart.

Marketing partners include The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), The Natural Marketing Institute, theMatureMarket.com and Small Business Trends.

About the co-producers:
Founded in 2003, Mary Furlong & Associates (MFA) is a proven team of business innovators, comprised of talent from marketing, editorial, business, online content and community. Mary Furlong, Ed.D., the firm's founder and CEO, has guided the offline and online 45+ market strategies of leading corporations and non-profit organizations for more than 20 years. Furlong is Dean's Executive Professor of Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business, and previously founded SeniorNet and ThirdAge Media. She is a member of the Leadership Council of the American Society on Aging's Business Forum on Aging, and she is author of "Turning Silver into Gold: How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace," which will be published February 9, 2007, by FT Press. Information about MFA is available at www.maryfurlong.com.

Established in 1989, The Business Forum on Aging is a constituent group of the American Society on Aging (ASA), the largest professional membership organization in the field of aging in the United States. The BFA is comprised of more than 200 businesses that serve people over 50. By creating a business-to-business network and by linking companies with the best and brightest leaders in the field of aging, the BFA provides its members with practical, usable information and products they need to improve their workforce as well as their productivity and sales. Information about the BFA is available at www.businessforumonaging.org.