What To Do When There’s no Here, and no There

You may remember a TV commercial starring Anna Pacquin (the Australian Actress) when she was just 12.  I remember it very distinctly, it was created by MCI and came out in 1998 or 1999.  I was so taken by what Anna said that I referred to it in a speech.  In essence, she said, in the future, there will be no here, and no there, but everything will be everywhere at once.  Of course, she was talking about the Internet.

Recently, Virginia Cornue, who writes a blog for boomers at www.vaboomer.com , captured not only the essence of that commercial, but particularly how it related to what Boomers today are experiencing and how they are making new use of the internet, particularly Facebook and Twitter, to re-establish social and life connection with everyone, everywhere.  Here is what she wrote (I am quoting from her here–and kudos to you, Virginia):

There Is Only Here Now
The internet has erased time and space–and there is no more there there, there is only here now–we are all one in the internet cloud. The ramifications for us Boomers is profound. Kids grow up and scatter. Friends move away–as I did to far flung parts of the world–all over the US, then to China for several years. And while I needed to shake the dust off my small town feet, my roots got parched because I could never really stay in touch with friends and family in an easy way. Facebook has changed all that. And when I found my drama department pals from UNC-Ch, I was so happy. I began to feel grounded again.

There Is Only Here Now Baby Boomer Depression and Lonliness
Many Boomers are suffering from depression and loneliness precisely due to severed human connections–they are no longer at their jobs, their elders are dying, their kids are going, their ages are bringing new issues to the fore. But the new social networking platforms are a tonic to depression and loneliness. Anthro 101 and Psych 101 are very specific that human beings are social animals. We travel in packs. We like to congregate.

But some of the conditions of contemporary society obviate our most basic needs and the means of keeping us connected and happy.

The new social networking platforms are a great anti-depressant.”

Bookmark to

What Is On The Baby Boomers’ Minds?

I think there’s nothing more telling for a marketer than a survey of market needs that lets people speak their minds about what they want and need. It’s a lesson I keep learning over and over. There’s really no other way to learn the needs, concerns, and desires of different groups of people within one large catch-all group. Continue reading What Is On The Baby Boomers’ Minds?…

Bookmark to

Obama’s Managerial Chops

It already seems like eons ago that there was a national political debate asserting that Barack Obama’s only experience in management of anything was as a “community organizer,” a throwaway phrase uttered with such overt disdain it could just have been “junior refuse collector.”  Continue reading Obama’s Managerial Chops…

Bookmark to

12 Ways to Fix the Economy

Matt Furey, an international marshall arts champion, internet marketing guru, and master teacher with whom I’ve studied zero-resistance living and “psycho-cybernetics,” wrote the following recently about fixing the economy.

Whether you agree with them or not, these points are quite thought-provoking–which really was the point.  You’re welcome to post your comments below. Continue reading 12 Ways to Fix the Economy…

Bookmark to

Emergency Plan to Save the Economy Starts with Housing

For over 30 years I’ve been engaged in work as a senior executive in the consumer financial services, mortgage, housing, and online marketing industries.  During this time I learned the ins and outs of each of these industries and blended this knowledge to grow successful companies.  Now, as our country faces potentially the most catastrophic downward economic spiral since (or maybe including) the Great Depression, I was struck by a thunderbolt of insight that brings together all these different disciplines and hard won experiences, and I conceived a breathtaking emergency economic recovery proposal Continue reading Emergency Plan to Save the Economy Starts with Housing…

Bookmark to

“Old Friends”

Last weekend I had the good fortune to hear a masterful musical duo, called Aztec Two-Step, perform at the Fairfield Theatre Company (”FTC”), on whose board I am privileged to serve.  Imagine an intimate arena theatre with perfect acoustics, that holds only 200 people, and where there are no bad seats.  Continue reading “Old Friends”…

Bookmark to

Landing The Plane

This morning, bright and early, amid the better than postcard-like brilliance of fresh snow glistening like a frosting on the trees of Connecticut, on this Martin Luther King Monday, I did a live radio interview on WEKZ in Monroe, Wisconsin to answer the question “Should Baby Boomers Be Investing in the Stock Market Right Now?”. Continue reading Landing The Plane…

Bookmark to

The Death of Trust

Like you, I’ve been watching (and heavily reading) all the news of the U.S. economic meltdown during the last few weeks, almost breathlessly, the different stories and different fragments of the economy swirling around me like parts of homes in a tornado. As you may remember I predicted all of this more than 18 months ago and published it in the beginning of 2008 in my Special Report, The Baby Boomers Hidden Secret Formula Exposed. So I’ve been waiting for something new to say here at the beginning of 2009, something to tell you beside the obvious. Continue reading The Death of Trust…

Bookmark to

My Father Passes On

My father, Win Roll, died early in the morning thirteen days ago, at the age of 83, in his own bed, 2,000 miles away from me in Henderson, Nevada.  I had a long phone conversation with him the previous Sunday, and was on the phone with his caregiver the night before (when nothing seemed awry).  He was suffering from advanced Parkinson’s disease, a very debilitating condition, and was on kidney dialysis three times a week.  But he was a trooper about all of it.  We all flew out for the funeral, which was beautifully done and included eulogies and a reading by my wife and two young daughters.  Continue reading My Father Passes On…

Bookmark to

192 Miles Closer to a Cure

Well, I did it! I rode the entire Pan Mass Challenge, the 192 mile bikeathon to cure cancer, from Sturbridge MA (where Rt. 84 meets the Mass Pike at the top of Connecticut), over the Bourne Bridge, to Provincetown at the very end of Cape Cod. I finished respectably in the middle of the pack. It’s simply an amazing experience, and I want to share it with you. I also want to let you know how much I appreciate your support. Continue reading 192 Miles Closer to a Cure…

Bookmark to