Baseball slow motion woes: Millennials will have nothing of it
Posted On April 6, 2017
When the Chicago Cubs finally broke a 108-year championship drought and won the World Series last fall, cheers went up around the country from Cubs fans frustrated by decades of ineptitude. Many millennials, however, might not have noticed. Baseball is a Baby Boomer’s game. While revenue and attendance are reportedly holding steady, baseball’s fan base is aging. According to Neilsen ratings cited by the Washington Post, half of baseball viewers are 55 or older, up 41 percent from a decade ago. The average age of a Major League Baseball fan is 53, according to the Post, older than the NFL… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials
Stand and deliver is still in demand. And will be forever.
Posted On March 29, 2017
Many names have been coined for millennials – most of which are unflattering – but one that may come closer to hitting the mark than most is the Emoji Generation. With more and more communication being done on screens small enough to fit into a pants pocket, this has become the age of speaking with pictures and acronyms instead of words. Instead of offering a completely formed sentence or phrase with proper grammar and punctuation, it’s now the norm to use abbreviations like idk and omg, emojis and shorthand slang that lends itself to expressing thoughts in hastily typed texts… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Workplace
Grandparents here, there, and everywhere.
Posted On March 24, 2017
During his stand-up routine in the Spike Lee movie, “The Kings of Comedy,” the late comedian Bernie Mac had a memorable bit bemoaning the disappearance of grandmothers. He wasn’t necessarily talking about grandmothers in the literal sense, but grandmothers as he knew them growing up – old ladies who had no patience for foolishness and no qualms about yanking an unruly youngster in line. “Big Mama’s gone,” Mac said. “What’s Big Mama now, 36?” Are grandparents really getting younger? According to the Wall Street Journal, not so much. With nearly one in seven children in the U.S. now being born… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Generation Y / Millennials, Generations
After taking it on the chin for housing, Gen X finding it may be their turn
Posted On March 21, 2017
There’s a lot of attention paid to millennials in the marketplace, and with good reason – they’re the largest segment of consumers. That’s true for the housing market, as well, as the 18-to-34 demographic makes up 42 percent of residential home buyers, as pointed out by Zillow.com’s Jennifer Riner in a piece we shared several months ago. But Generation X is still an extremely important part of the real estate market. With a range from mid-30s to mid-50s, many younger Gen-Xers may still be looking to move up to a larger home as their families expand, while those Gen-Xers at… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Home OwnershipPosted On March 9, 2017
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-018-cam-marston/id1109474808?i=1000382076193&mt=2 Click above to listen to my interview on Entrepreneurial Wealth Manager’s podcast. Was proud to have been asked to be a part of it.
Categories: Uncategorized
Diamonds are for…others?
Posted On March 6, 2017
They love me, they love me not. Can a generation that values new experiences and social awareness be counted upon to continue a tradition of extravagance in the name of love? That may depend on which report you pluck from the internet, but with a bottom line uniquely tied to a demographic that’s of the prime age for engagements and weddings, the future of the diamond industry may rest upon the answer. A recent article in The Economist contends that it’s an industry in decline. While cheaper alternatives are increasing in quality, increased regulation and market forces are driving the… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Generations
Message to Mom and Dad regarding their job searching children: BACK OFF!
Posted On February 22, 2017
Recently, a friend of mine complained that she’d received correspondence from the parent of a soon-to-be college graduate, promoting him as a potential fit for her organization. She was exasperated that a young man who is about to enter the workforce wouldn’t be sending out his own resume and making his own contacts and instead was letting his parents do it for him. As crazy as it sounds, however, they aren’t alone. CollegeParentCentral.com cited data from the College Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University which found that some helicopter parents keep their rotors hovering close even as their millennial… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Work
Belichick may not need SnapFace to field a team. But you do.
Posted On February 16, 2017
Bill Belichick is, most would agree, clearly the most successful person in his field – coaching professional football. He has led the New England Patriots to five Super Bowl victories, including two of the last three years. He is the benchmark by which other NFL coaches are now judged. But while his fashion sense is somewhere just this side of high school sophomore (the hoodies! The hoodies!), he claims to have no idea what Snapchat is – or even how to say it. “I’m not on SnapFace and all that,” Belichick said on a radio show recently when asked about… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Recruiting
For my AL colleagues – Nothing different here. However, you knew that.
Posted On February 13, 2017
I’ve written a lot in this space about what millennials are looking for in a workplace as they start their careers. Since millennials are now the largest segment of the American workforce, employers would be wise to listen to what they value in a workplace. Flexible work hours, a stimulating work environment, a healthy work-life balance, and the opportunity to make a difference in the world are all important attributes to millennials, as countless studies and surveys have shown. But when asked which benefits are most important when searching for a job, respondents to a recent survey of Alabama millennials… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Work, Workplace
Fewer Family Businesses to be Passed to Next Generation
Posted On January 31, 2017
I’ve written in this space before about the need for succession planning. The long-term viability of your business may depend on it – particularly for family-owned business that want to maintain family control. But PwC’s annual family business survey found a decreasing number of owners who planned to keep their businesses in the family. Of the survey respondents who foresaw a change in ownership within the next five years – admittedly a small number at 17 percent – only 52 percent were planning to pass their companies down to another family member. That’s the lowest number since 2010, according to… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Entrepreneurship, Generation X, Succession Planning, Work