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Table
of Contents
1.
Aging Conference (Not Your Usual Highlights)
2.
Senior Cohousing Facilitator Workshop (Cool Career #120?)
3.
New Study on Work and Staying Healthy
4.
Agile Workforce
If
you work in the field of aging and/or are of a certain age yourself,
you would have been heartened by the number of special programs and
sessions that were NOT dedicated to the deficit model (i.e. aging as
inevitable decline) that has dominated the conversation for too long.
Your 2young2retire team was in Anaheim, CA, last week, at American
Society on Aging/National Council on the Aging conference for the
first time, and we were encouraged by what we observed. Some
highlights:
Should
the boomer market be your target, there was What's Next? Boomer
Business Summit, a day long symposium focused on
"entrepreneurship,
innovation and opportunity--for private sector businesses and
nonprofit organizations--that serve the $2 trillion-per-year baby
boomer market, the largest and fast-growing market in the United
States, now over 76 million strong." See:
http://www.agingconference.org/agingconference/jc06/What's%20Next_program_table.pdf
You
could have spent a day at Civic Engagement: Pathways to the
Tipping Point, another mini-conference dedicated to the premise
that "We're approaching a tipping point, in which a new paradigm
that sees the aging of America as an opportunity to reap a reward
from experience replaces an old one that sees aging only as a threat
and a burden." Possibly the most exciting shift within this
emerging field is the movement to retool nonprofits that have been
dedicated to providing services to elders, for programs that
encourage and empower older adults in community service. We heard
new language: meaningful service, leadership, partnership, mobilize.
Senior
centers are facing their own tipping point, as attendance numbers
decline and it becomes increasingly clear that, as one session
description put it: 'Senior' is no longer
consistent with the values of upcoming generations. Could be why one
session on the future of senior centers became so crowded that it was
standing room only, even after being relocated to a larger meeting
room.
There
were sessions on grandparenting, gay/lesbian issues, fitness, and
even a place for the HOGs among you at VROOM! VROOOOOM! Boomers,
Seniors, Motorcycles and the Art of Zen Maintenance.
An
entire day was dedicated to Workforce Summit -- Tools for
Transition: Building a Workforce With Older Workers for New Business
Challenges. Great to see this focus at a conference on aging.
However, since we believe the business case for hiring older workers
has been made repeatedly, there wasn't all that much new to learn.
Older workers want training and we want flexible hours, yup! The
liveliest action came from the floor, as when the audience (mostly
female) heckled keynoter, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of the Yale University
School of Management, with cries of "Where are the women!"
as he Power Pointed his all-male list of ceo's emeriti. Another
electrifying moment: when a nurse trainer came forward to describe
the true crisis in nursing: Not enough educators.
"Boomers
will need to do the heavy lifting," said Marc Freedman of Civic
Ventures in his talk, Freedom to Work, a ringing call for 'encore
careers' in social innovation. Freedman sees a lot of different
camps entering the 'fray' for the hearts and souls of boomers, and a
five year window in which the struggle will play out. The future is
up for grabs, and small organizations can have an impact way beyond
their size, he said. "If we pull it off, we will create a
society that doesn't overburden those in the middle." Your kids
and grandkids will thank you for that.
Other
random observations.
More
women than men were represented in the 3000+ attendance, about 8 to
1.
Over
60 journalists from all over the U.S. covered the four-day event.
Power
Point is probably over-used for presentations.
Questions/comments
from the floor were remarkably insightful and smart.
Networking
was as valuable as anything on the official program (but you guessed
that!)
BOOK
SITE
Too Young to Retire: A Journal of Transition, published
by 2young2retire Associates, will be available to graduates of the
2young2retire Certified Facilitator Training in April for use in
their 2young2retire courses. Designed to be a companion to Too Young
to Retire: 101 Ways to Start the Rest of Your Life (Plume 2004), the
journal deepens group work and gives the user a record of his or her
process. This is a professional edition and will not be available to
the general public. A Journal of
Transition is $12.95, plus shipping/handling. Discounts will be
available for bulk orders of 25 or more. Contact
howard@2young2retire.com
for more information. The next six-week Certified Facilitator
training begins Tuesday April 25, at 12 noon and 7 p.m. Eastern.
Registration deadline April 15. See:
http://www.2young2retire.com/facilitatorform.html
QUICK
TAKES
-
We
did a review of Chuck Durrett's book Senior Cohousing a few
editions ago and had a flood of emails in response, so housing
remains a hot topic for many of us in our later years. Now you can
learn all about this subject and possibly prepare yourself for a
cool new career, advising others who wish to start a senior
cohousing community. McCamant & Durrett Architects - The
CoHousing Company, has extended the deadline to March 30 for their
Senior Cohousing Facilitators Workshop. Says their email: "Senior
cohousing enables seniors to be more in charge of their life as they
age and is an alternative to living in isolation, expensive
assisted-living facilities and the need to move multiple times in
the last decade of their life."
TRAIN
THE TRAINERS FACILITATION WORKSHOP
WHEN: April 24 – 28,
2006
WHERE: Nevada City, CA
Cost: $750 (housing and meals not
included)
Contact:
coho@cohousingco.com
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Another
elder housing option. Two National Aging in Place meetings coming
up. Western Regional Meeting, Denver, CO., March 28, Embassy Suites
Downtown. Eastern Regional Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, April 11,
Sheraton Society Hill. To register or get more information, visit
www.naipc.org
or contact Daniel George at 202.939.1776, or by email at
dgeorge@dworbell.com
We
believe good work is the life extender, and here from the Center for
Retirement Research at Boston College is a new study that supports
our view:
http://www.bc.edu/centers/crr/issues/wob_2.pdf
Civic
Ventures announced that it had 1200
nominations for the Purpose Prize. Whoever makes the cut, that's an
encouraging amount of civic engagement among people 60 and older!
Nominations closed February 28 and winners will be announced in
September.
Manifesto
for the New Agile Workplace, a study based on a global survey in
which some of Reinventing Retirement subscribers participated, is
now available for $120 from Career Innovation, a consultancy in the
UK, www.careerinnovation.com.
For an executive summary,
http://www.klv.nl/english/KLV_bestanden/Ci%20Manifesto%20-%20Wageningen.pdf
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Ageism
is not defunct in the workplace, but we're working on it. A good
place to keep you eyes on the latest:
http://ilc.blogs.com/ageism_in_america/
Here
are some signs of change. Advertisment from The Kellogg School of
Management for its Executive MBA program: " And for Act II?"
And from The Economist: “The
traditional pattern of retirement, in which one day an employee is
in a bustling office busy as a bee and the next he is good only for
the potting shed and the fireside chair does not make sense for the
economy, for companies or for people.”
http://www.ssa.gov/history/briefhistory3.html
2006
AGE BOOM ACADEMY FOR REPORTERS SET FOR SEPT. 24-29. The
International Longevity Center in New York City has announced the
dates for the seventh annual Age Boom Academy, an almost week-long
seminar on issues in aging for a selection of 10-15 reporters each
year. It is sponsored by the New York Times Company Foundation. The
invitation-only program covers transportation and accommodations for
participating journalists. Breakfast and lunches are also provided.
To apply, send a letter of interest, a resume and work samples,
which should include stories on issues in aging. Send the
information to: Age Boom Academy Selection Committee, International
Longevity Center - USA , 60 East 86th St. , New York, NY 10028; fax:
212-288-3132; e-mail: meganm@ilcusa.org.
A list here of age-boom alumni is posted at Age Boom Alumni
2000-2005.
Stay
well, make it new, make it better.
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