Chicago Conference Highlights Boomer Business Opportunities

February 22, 2007; 02:02 AM

The What's Next Boomer Business Summit is coming to Chicago in two weeks. The annual conference brings together blue-chip speakers, sponsors and business leaders from around the country who are interested in the next moves baby boomers will make in their careers and personal lives.

The What's Next Boomer Business Summit takes place March 5 & 6 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Information about the conference, including registration, is available at www.boomersummit.com. For press passes, please visit www.agingconference.org/press.

The conference presents market data, case studies and business strategies directly from companies, thought leaders and entrepreneurs that are serving and finding innovative ways to connect with consumers age 45 and older - a market segment that controls more than 90 percent of America's financial assets, yet has until recently been largely ignored by corporate marketers.

Summit highlights include:
• What do boomers want, buy, do, crave and need? Noted speakers from AARP, Philips, Electronic Arts, TV Land and Edmunds.com will present the latest research and discuss emerging business opportunities in areas such as healthcare, lifestyles and financial services.
• Speakers from Philips, Intel Digital Health Group, Rush University Medical Center, QuantumIntech, the MD Network and the Natural Marketing Institute will share current trends in healthcare and opportunities in the health, beauty and wellness markets.
• MetLife Mature Market Institute, Age Wave and Longevity Alliance will examine the relationship between maturing consumers and money and discuss emerging trends in financial services - such as the kinds of branding, marketing and distribution to which boomers are most responsive.
• Yahoo!, TV Land and the Healthy Living Channel will reveal what's new in distribution channels - digital, print and broadcast - for consumers in their 40s, 50s and 60s, and examine where the Internet and cable are headed.
• Innovative entrepreneurs including Posit Science Corporation, 50+ Digital, Biz Starters and Comfort Cakes will discuss ways in which boomers are redefining entrepreneurship.

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.

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. Media panelists include MORE Magazine founder Myrna Blyth, Chicago Tribune real estate columnist Jane Adler, Dallas Morning News business reporter Bob Moos and syndicated health columnist Jane Glenn Haas.

What's Next provides valuable opportunities for attendees to network with venture capitalists, brand managers and business leaders from the Chicago area and around the country who are driving boomer-targeted initiatives.

The conference "gives attendees an opportunity to meet potential new customers and strategic partners, exchange ideas with business leaders, and learn how innovative companies are bringing products and services to the boomer market," explains Mary Furlong, CEO of Mary Furlong & Associates (MFA) and executive producer of the Summit.

The What's Next Boomer Business Summit is co-produced annually by MFA and the American Society on Aging's Business Forum on Aging (BFA). What's Next is a pre-conference of the annual 2007 Joint Conference of the American Society on Aging (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," 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.