Coronavirus gives millennials, Baby Boomers something else to argue about
Posted On March 18, 2020
When you stop and think about it, our response to the global spread of coronavirus, or COVID-19, has been pretty remarkable. Professional sports leagues have suspended their seasons. The NCAA canceled March Madness and the College World Series. Disneyland and DisneyWorld have closed. People all over the country and the world have willingly curtailed their daily activities –many of them voluntarily quarantining themselves — in order to not only decrease their own chances of catching the virus, but the chances of unwittingly passing it on to others. But not everyone has completely bought into the social distancing methods many of… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Blog, Generation Y / MillennialsDissecting some Generation X cliches
Posted On February 3, 2020
What does it mean to be Generation X? Are we forever doomed to be the quintessential middle child, overlooked between the Baby Boomers and millennials? Are we the slackers described in the Douglas Coupland book that spawned the name? Are we the Forgotten Generation? Last year, the New York Times took a stab at defining Generation X by shooting down some long-held preconceptions about it. We’re not slackers, author Alex Williams says, and we were never cynical and disaffected. The oldest among us were in our mid-20s when the country pulled out of the mid-‘90s recession, and we actually had… Read More
Categories: Blog, Generation X
What millennials want: Food trends for the largest generation
Posted On December 23, 2019
Want to feed millennials? Here’s what you need to know. Forbes recently published a list of food-related trends for millennials, and if you’re a restauranteur or grocer who wants to stay in business, it’s probably advice worth heeding. Millennials not only represent the largest sector of the workforce now, they represent the largest sector of adults. These are your customers. You’d better know what they want. So what do they want? For starters, less sugar. Many of us, actually – not just millennials — are looking for any and all ways to cut it out of our diets for reasons… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Generation Y / Millennials
OK, Boomer: iGen strikes back
Posted On December 2, 2019
If you are of a certain age and like to share your opinions on open social media platforms like Twitter, you may have come across a cryptic response: “OK, Boomer.” It should not be mistaken as acquiescence. You have just been given a two-word slap-down by the younger generation, a phrase that has taken on a life of its own. As noted in a recent New York Times article, what started as a cynical reaction to the same old, tired generalizations about millennials and iGen has become a rallying cry of sorts, complete with memes, merchandising opportunities and the inevitable… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Generations, iGenA few good reasons not to forget about Generation X
Posted On October 17, 2019
Stuck between the once-mighty Baby Boomers and the front-running millennials, Generation X is often considered the Forgotten Generation. Earlier this year, however, they went from just being considered forgotten to actually being forgotten: Smells like Disrespect. But thankfully not everyone has forgotten about us. VisionCritical.com recently compiled a list of stats that show Generation X still has some pull in the marketplace, even if CBS News wants to pretend we don’t exist. Consider: Thirty-one percent of total U.S. income is earned by Gen-Xers. Fifty-five percent of today’s startups are founded by Gen-Xers. Gen-Xers outspend all other generations on housing, clothes,… Read More
Categories: Generation X
What we’re blaming millennials for this week: saving too much
Posted On October 10, 2019
They’re entitled, we said. Self-absorbed. The products of participation trophy culture. But now millennials are frugal? Citing research from Raymond James, cnbc.com noted that millennials might be to blame for slower economic growth. Raymond James analyst Travis McCourt cited the rise of the U.S. personal savings rate — 8.1 percent this August, as compared to 5.7 percent in 1996 – as having a “disinflationary impact” on the economy, stagnating growth. McCourt chalks this up to a “generational change” after the financial crisis of the previous decade. And so now, we’re apparently blaming millennials for saving too much. Perhaps if college… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Recession Economy
How a family-owned coffee company is brewing for a new generation
Posted On August 26, 2019
It’s not often that I get to do a radio show with the owner of a company while I’m consuming his product. But in the latest episode of “What’s Working With Cam Marston,” I sipped on some coffee with chicory produced by Baton Rouge-based Community Coffee while talking with the company’s fourth-generation owner and president, Matt Saurage. He shares a brief history of the company with us (including the story behind the house drawn on the package), his goals in running a family business, and why, although its habits are different, the millennial generation is as bountiful a market for… Read More
Categories: Entrepreneurship, Generation Y / Millennials, What's Working with Cam Marston
Gen X won’t be overlooked by financial industry for long
Posted On August 22, 2019
As the Baby Boomers enter retirement and millennials are now the largest segment of the workforce and the consumer base, we’ve noted before that Generation X has somewhat of a middle child syndrome. This might seem particularly true in the financial industry, where Boomers essentially built the industry as we currently know it, and millennials are the group that seems to have grabbed its attention as investors. That leaves a generation in the middle that, despite being in its peak earning years, has gotten less attention from the financial industry despite likely needing it the most, according to a story… Read More
Categories: Financial Services, Generation X, Retirement
PowerPoint: Not just for conference presentations anymore
Posted On August 18, 2019
PowerPoints are a useful digital tool. They make it easier to organize your thoughts or prepare a presentation. They have become the go-to method of presenting information at conferences, business meetings, professional development and any number of other professional settings. And now, apparently, they can also help you find your friend a date. According to the New York Post, many millennials are using the popular tool to create easy-to-read dating profiles for friends who are looking for relationships. DateMyFriend.ppt allows people to create three-minute profiles for their friends and pitch them to potential suitors at a bar or other social… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials
The BP Method: Using reverse mentoring as a talent recruiting tool
Posted On July 5, 2019
A year ago, I spoke with Pershing Advisor Solutions CEO Mark Tibergien about reverse mentoring, where older business leaders enlist the help of younger employees to keep up to date on current trends and the issues important to millennials in the workplace. Now one of the largest energy companies in the world is utilizing the approach as well. According to a recent Bloomberg article, CEO of British Petroleum’s Upstream, 48-year-old Bernard Looney, is taking mentoring from 26-year-old BP petrophysicist Connor Tann. Looney’s goals are more than just making sure BP is meeting the needs of its millennial employees, however. He… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Recruiting, Training Industry, Workplace