Category Archives: tech savvy boomer

A Remarkable Achievement

Posted on by
8

A few months ago, I decided to submit my blog for a Webby Award. “Why not,” I thought at the time as I filled out the nomination form and submitted my registration fee. Then I forgot all about it.

I received an email yesterday: “The wait is almost over! The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences will officially announce the Nominees and Honorees for The 17thAnnual Webby Awards tomorrow, April 9th, 2013. All official Nominees and Honorees will receive a notification email tomorrow and packets via postal mail within a few days of the Academy’s announcement.”

“That’s right, I do remember I submitted my blog,” I said to myself. “Yes, I did submit a nomination…but I’ll never win. The competition is fierce. No way will I stand a chance. That was a waste of time and money. Could have bought a new handbag or a new pair of shoes with that money.”

I received an email today.

Are you ready?

Are you sure you’re ready?

Are you really, really, really ready to hear what the email said?

Absolutely, positively want to know who was an honoree? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?

Drum roll please. Another drum roll please. Excuse me, please bring in the marching band too.

I opened the email today and here’s what it said:

“It is my pleasure to inform you that A Baby Boomer Woman’s Life After 50 has been selected as an Official Honoree in The 17th Annual Webby Awards in the Personal Blog or Website category.”

2013 Webby Award Honoree, Life After 50, boomer blogger

My blog is a 2013 Webby Award Official Honoree in the Personal Blog or Website category.

“In recognition of the exceptional quality of submissions received this year, the Academy has acknowledged outstanding entries as Official Honorees, alongside our Nominees. With  11,000 entries received from all 50 U.S. states and over 60 countries, the Official Honoree distinction is awarded to the top 15% of all work entered that exhibits remarkable achievement. Congratulations – this is an outstanding accomplishment for you and your team!”

Twist and shout, twist and shout! Scream out loud! Twist and shout! Wow-o-wow! My little blog…Judi’s little blog…is an Official Honoree in The 17th Annual Webby Awards (click on the link to see my listing). While I didn’t make it into the top five nominee spot this year, getting into the top 15% truly is a remarkable achievement.

Why am I so excited to be honored? The Webby Awards is the Internet’s most respected symbol of success. Honorees are selected for recognition based on excellence in criteria ranging from content, structure and navigation, visual design, functionality, interactivity and overall experience to content, creativity, engagement and quality of craft.

Winners are chosen by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences a global organization whose newest members include Tumblr founder David Karp, New York City Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne, Lauging Squid founder Scott Beale as well as CEO of Rovio Mikael Hed, co-founder of Instagram Kevin Systrom, as well as director Darren Aronofsky, Martha Stewart, Huffington Post Media Group President Arianna Huffington, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, musician David Bowie, Internet co-creator Vint Cerf, Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson, and R/GA Chairman and CEO Bob Greenberg.

The Webby Awards, life after 50

I have a new little black dress for The Webby Awards Gala.

Will I get to go to the gala awards event at Cipriani in NYC in May and mingle with the The Webby Award winners and media moguls of the worldwide web?

I don’t know if I’ll be invited. But if I am invited, I already have my little black dress. I bought my little black dress several years ago and I knew I would eventually wear it to a special occasion. It is a strapless form-fitting dress with a big frou-frou flower on the shoulder. If I go to the awards event, I’ll be sure to tell you all about it. And if they let me, I will be bringing my teammates from Cataleno & Co. and BTwoDesign, who helped me create my blog and continue to support my work.

Okay, bring on the applause. I’m ready boomer girls. Life after 50 is grand. Ain’t it?

Judi

A Peek Into The Future With Ford

Posted on by
6

I recently attended the Go Further With Ford Trend Conference sponsored by The Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan.  This was the second year I was invited. (Wonder if they spoke to my astrologer from several years ago who said that I stay ahead of the trends? Or maybe they invited me because I’m just such a trendy boomer girl who likes to keep her boomer girlfriends up-to-date on all the trends.)

What’s that?  You want to know all that I learned at Ford. Here’s a peek into the future:

Urbanization: Sheryl Connelly, Ford’s Head of Global Trends Future, said that by 2050 there will be a global population of nine billion. Plus, that population is aging, both here in the USA and also in emerging markets that are not ready for it. Sheryl said that by 2050 more people will be over 60. Mobility is going to be an issue around the world, that’s one of the reasons that Ford is interested in this trend. (Ooh, how old will I be by then? Let me do the math. Ah, if I’m still ticking I’ll be 92. And if I am still ticking or even if I’m in heaven, I may still be driving because Ford is going to add technology that may allow my car to virtually drive on its own with driver alerts, traffic jam and park assists, lane departure warnings and a whole lot more.)

Carol Coletta, a specialist in developing cities and creative communities also spoke about the growth of cities. Carol said that the average homebuyer today is paying more for a house with a higher walkscore and if there is good transit, they’ll pay even more. While millennials like city life, so do many baby boomers who often move back into the city when they become empty-nesters. According to Carol, cities underpin the economy and offer more variety, discovery, and opportunity. (Hmm, hmm, hmm, after hearing Carol talk all about the benefits of city living I was tempted to go to walkscore.com to check the scores of my home.)

Streamline & Simplification: As Parrish Hanna, Global Director of Human Machine Interface for Ford said, this trend is all about what German Painter Hans Hofmann refers to as “the ability to eliminate the unnecessary, so the necessary can speak.” With so much technology available now, we’re connected all the time. Parrish said that over 40 percent of those who are always tuned in really desire a slower lifestyle and want to de-clutter and prioritize what is most important. (Amen, I second that philosophy. Between my emails, my iPad, iPhone, iHome and Macbook, my TV remote, my cable remote, my DVD remote, my DVR buttons, I always feel like I am on overdrive. It’s like “The Busy Trap” that Tim Kreider wrote about last week in the New York Times.) Not to worry, in the future, there will be voice activated driver wellness right on the steering wheel – to sync my smartphone, check my heart rate, and sense my breathing patterns. The good thing is that Ford is testing these simplification systems on older drivers to ensure that they work on all generations.

Age of Accessible Design: Since I consider myself a fashionista, this trend was one of my favorites. That’s because it is about style and seduction. It’s about the desire for products and services that work and that also have good design. Guess who I met at this session? Do you see who is in the picture with moi? Yes, it is Christian Siriano, the youngest winner and fan favorite of Bravo’s “Project Runway.” (I was very impressed with Christian and want to follow him on Twitter @csiriano. He shares his design process so if you are a fashionista like me you may want to follow him too.)

Eco-Psychology: I saved the best trend for last. That’s because DO YOU KNOW WHO I MET? Yes, I am shouting. DO YOU SEE WHO TOOK A PICTURE WITH MOI?  Yes, it is Adrian Grenier from Entourage. Yes, he is as gorgeous in real life as he is on TV. (All the female bloggers sat in the front row for this session.) Adrian is doing some really cool stuff that is aligned with this trend on his new website called SHFT. Eco-psychology is about an awareness of health and well-being and the relationship with nature and how we heal our bodies and ourselves with nature. This trend is about the butterfly effect, about how each one of us can make small changes now to improve the environment, that will impact big changes in the future. I think when I purchase my next car I may look at a hybrid model.  By then, my new car my be able to find the location of a nearby charging station, track my CO2 emissions and plan the most efficient driving routes for all my trips.

My post would not be complete without highlighting some of the interesting bloggers I met during the conference.  Check them out.  Some are boomers and some are mommies.  Some write about entertainment and some write about travel and technology.

Elise’s Ramblings by Elise Crane Derby

MidLifeBloggers by Jane Gassner

GeekGirlfriends by Christina Tynan-Wood

Everything’s A Buzz by Michelle Spreckels

Connect with your Teens by Jennifer Comet Wagner

Traded My BMW for a Minivan by Elizabeth Peterson

Enjoy…see you in the future.

Judi

P.S. – Calling all boomer girls…this blog is my newly updated site. I hope you like it. As part of the relaunch, anyone who signs up to receive my posts via email or leaves a comment on any blog post during the month of July, or sends a note to me with feedback about my newly designed blog, will be entered into a raffle for a copy of “I Remember Nothing And Other Reflections” in remembrance of the late writer Nora Ephron. (Note: To leave a comment on a post you can click the little bubble near the title of the post.)

The Writer Within – Part II

Posted on by
2

I listened, I learned and I sat among the literary this past weekend in NYC, as I enjoyed my first American Society of Journalists and Authors Conference (ASJA). There were so many editors and authors. There were newbies like me trying to break into the profession. There were accomplished authors who have written many books. There were social workers and doctors who want to write a book someday. There were bloggers (like me) and social media wizards. They were all smart, enlightened and so full of writing wisdom. Their passion for the written word, whether online or in print, was inspiring.

So who did I meet and what did I learn?  Do you wanna know? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?

Okay, some new news that may be of interest to boomer girls:

-  I met the Beauty Editor at MORE magazine, Genevieve Monsama. MORE targets our age group and Genevieve said that their stories often include the psychological component of aging.  She said that women 40+ want to look good for their age. (I agree and hope that one day I can have a bylined article in MORE.  They look for writers who are 35+ and who can weave stories with personal experiences. Will have to think about a beauty story I can pitch.)

- I met Senior Associate editor of AARP magazine, Lesley Wooldridge. Do you know that this magazine has a circulation of 35 million? They produce separate editions for those 50+, 60+ and 70+. Lesley says that AARP readers like to feel great, save money and have fun. They are vibrant active people. (Know wonder I like this magazine.  I am the target market. Are you an AARP member? You should be if you are 50+. I know so many people who resist joining AARP when they turn 50. I don’t know why. You get good benefits and if you are a magazine-aholic like me, you get AARP magazine included with your membership.)

- I listened to “The Happiness Project” author Gretchen Rubin at Friday’s luncheon. Gretchen encouraged writers to enjoy the fun of failure. “That’s part of moving forward. The danger of doing nothing is worse than trying and failing,” she said. “Remind yourself how happy you are to be doing what you’re doing.” To motivate us more, Gretchen quoted the author Harlen Coben, who said “No one has to fail for me to succeed.” (Gretchen is so right, I am happy when I am writing my blog. And I can’t wait to start writing my book, especially after receiving tips on my book proposal during a one-on-one mentor session with author and former agent Lisa Cool.)

- I met Sondra Forsyth, Senior Editor of ThirdAge.com. Sondra is a writer and a former ballerina. More than four million people read ThirdAge.com, which has a lot of great health and wellness content for boomers. You should check it out.

I closed out this wonderful ASJA conference among the standing room only crowd at Columbia University ‘s Graduate School of Journalism Professor Sree Sreenivasan’s session on Social Media 2012. Prof Sree is a technology expert and shared a great clip with us from the Today Show when the worldwide web and the internet were hardly part of people’s vocabulary. It reminded me of how much our lives have changed in the past 15 years and about how much more will likely change in the next 15 years.

Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Foursquare, Tumblr, Instagram…what will be next? How does anyone keep up with it all in a 24 hour day? I guess there is not time for sleep.  Menopausal women don’t sleep anyway.

Tweet, tweet, tweet….oh, to be a writer…it’s all so exciting.

Judi

  

Tablet Technology to the Rescue

Posted on by
2

I definitely need to simplify my life. I need to de-clutter my life, like I read this morning in the March issue of O, The Oprah Magazine. The entire issue is devoted to de-cluttering.  I haven’t finished reading it, so I cannot give you any tips just yet.

I was reminded of why I need to simplify my life yesterday while traveling with a business colleague on the train to Connecticut. He sat there reading the current issue of The Economist on his Nook, quietly flipping the pages in silence with the touch of a finger. (My colleague O also showed me all the back issues of The Economist, which were neatly arranged on his tablet.)

I on the other hand, tried to read my paper copy of The New York Times, which I held tightly with all 10 fingers. (Mind you, the paper had been delivered to my door by the nice newspaper delivery man earlier in the morning in his gas guzzling car.) I carried the newspaper in my briefcase. I unfolded the newspaper section by section.  I got my hands full of newsprint. I had to fold the newspaper several times as I read each article, being careful not to hit my colleague O in the lap or arm. Then I threw away the paper, creating more waste. Oh yes, I ripped out an article to bring home to add to the rest of the newspaper articles that are piled high on my desk.

When I was done reading the newspaper, I wasn’t able to read my Vogue or InStyle magazines. I didn’t bring the March issues because I did not want to carry more than 1200 pages of paper. Instead, I took out my Kindle and read my book. (I have an original Kindle and I’m reading the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson. It is so, so good.)

“The new iPad 3 is being announced on March 7th,” texted my son D.

“The new iPad 3 is coming out next week.  Mom you know you need to get one,” texted my daughter A.

They are right. I do need to get a tablet. And I need one now.

I have to change my ways and lighten the load for myself and for the environment. I need to clear the clutter of newspapers and magazines that are taking over my bedroom, my dining room table, and kitchen counters. I need to empty the baskets that sit full of printed pieces in my office and family room.  I need to throw out the mounds of clippings that are sitting in bins in my garage.

My kids are on the mark– their mom — me, me, me — needs to simplify her life and get a tablet.

Why during my life after 50 am I planning my schedule around the newspaper man and the delivery of  The New York Times? I need a tablet.

Why during my life after 50 am I dirtying my hands with newsprint? I need a tablet.

Why during my life after 50 am I using a scissor to clip newspaper articles when I could be using Evernote.com?

Yes, yes, yes…I am saving my dollars, dimes and pennies and next week I am going to change my life for the better and buy an iPad 3 tablet.

Whew, that was a workout.  Glad I made that decision so fast.

Go Judi! Go Judi! Go Judi!

Judi

Music Memories of My Younger Years

Posted on by
4

Maybe it was the Grammy Awards that brought back the memories of music from my younger years. I thought this year’s 54th ceremony was one of the best-ever with so many performances by oldies, but goodies like baby boomers Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney. (My sister N swooned over Paul when we were growing up. He truly was the cutest Beatle. I was quite young when the Beatles hit the stage on the Ed Sullivan Show, but I remember.)

Or perhaps, it was hearing about the sad passing of Whitney Houston. I used to dance to her tunes throughout the late 80s and 90s. I would turn up the sound and sway my hips whenever I Wanna Dance With Somebody Who Loves Me came on the radio. While I didn’t particularly like Kevin Costner and Whitney in The Bodyguard, I did love the soundtrack. Let’s see, which were my favorites? Ah yes, I Will Always Love You, I’m Every Woman, and Run To You.

I had new carpeting installed throughout my house two weeks ago. I felt like I was moving all over again. I had to pack up all the books and bottles on my three bookcases in my loft area where I have my home office. As I packed away all my records (yes, I said records) from the 70s and 80s, my heart started to beat a little faster.

My heart was beating faster because my memory was being jogged back to my college days. I could clearly picture the portable stereo and speakers on my dorm room desk where they used to sit. Was it more than 30 years ago? How could that be? Where has the time gone? Back then, my turntable was always revolving with many of the records that now sit silent on my bookcase shelf. I remember…

  • Janis Ian – Party Lights
  • Kenny Loggins – Whenever I Call You Friend
  • Boz Scaggs – Georgia
  • Linda Ronstadt – Blue Bayou
  • Carly Simon – Mockingbird
  • Dan Fogelberg – Leader of the Band (I played that song over and over and over. I was so sad when Dan passed away several years ago. He was such a great musician.)
  • Gordon Lightfoot – Bend in the Water
  • James Taylor – You’ve Got A Friend
  • Jackson Browne – The Pretender
  • Barry Manilow (I must have borrowed this album from a friend. Did I really buy a BM record?)
  • Judy Collins (Send in the Clowns for my namesake Judy.)
  • Cat Stevens – Wild World, Peace Train, and Another Saturday Night (I played this song every Saturday night when I didn’t have anybody to hang out with after I graduated and was single in the city.)
  • Bonnie Raitt – Good Enough
  • Bruce Springsteen…The Doobie Brothers…The Moody Blues…Donna Summers…The Pointer Sisters…Simon & Garfunkel…the Beatles, the Beatles, more Beatles

I have so many great music memories from my younger years. As was true at the Grammys this year and as the writer Farhad Manjoo says “everything old is new again.” I think I am going to buy an Ion Audio unit (as soon as one is available for sale) which converts vinyl records to digital files.  According to Manjoo’s NY Times article, “this technology is easy to use because you simply plug in a USB thumb drive to save your music.”  Plus, it only costs $70.

Ooh,ooh,ooh, I can’t.  Yes, it’s time for me to enjoy these songs of my younger years during my life after 50. I’ll be singing and dancing to these tunes again real soon.

Judi

A Boomer Girl And Her New Smartphone

Posted on by
1

I did it.  I made the move to a smartphone.

I did it.  I bought an iPhone4S and I am now one of those people who is addicted to her smartphone. (Hope I don’t become what New York Times writer Lizzie Skurnick calls a “clogin,” one who blocks an entrance or exit while checking a smartphone.  I definitely have signs of what Lizzie calls “e-ander,”to walk slowly while checking my messages, and I also have “sentropy,” as I do have a tendency to come to a stop to see if a message has been sent.)

I did it and I love it.  My phone is smarter than me. (Although I don’t find Siri so smart. Siri doesn’t answer all my questions correctly like it does in the iPhone4S television commercial.)

My smartphone can tell time. (However, unlike my millennial children, I never go out of the house without my watch on my left wrist.  It’s a creature of habit that I wear a watch.  I even had my mother-in-law’s old watch refurbished and I actually have to wind it to make it work. Imagine that!)

I can keep my “to do” list on my smartphone and delete each item after I complete it. No more little scraps of paper to keep track of. No need to keep my “to do’s” once they are done.

I can check my stock quotes on my smartphone and get up-to-date information in a matter of seconds. (Not sure I want to do this on a daily basis anymore with the way the Dow is doing lately.)

Oh, boy. Oh, boy. This smartphone is so, so, so smart. I can check the daily and weekly weather, find out what time it is around the world, take fabulous pictures, buy newspapers and magazines from the newsstand, find maps and directions when I need to go someplace new, keep my photo album up-to-date, listen to my music, read and sync my books with my Kindle, check the latest movie schedules and watch new movie trailers and movies too.  I can update my status on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and shop on Rue La La or any other site I want to shop.

I can download yoga routines and wellness routines.  (Wonder if my smartphone can help me lose the few extra pounds I put on this week?  Or if it can cook a turkey for Thanksgiving?)

“You have to protect your new smartphone,” said the AT&T salesman.  ”You need a good case and a car charger.”

“How much will that cost?”  I asked.

“Let’s see, the case is $50 and the charger is $29,” said the AT&T salesman as he rang up the two items.

“You are going to show me how to put the phone in this fancy case,” I said to the salesman.” Absolutely,” he replied. “And you can also set up a speaker phone in your car.”

“I can set up a speaker phone in my car.  Wow-o-wow, this phone is really fantastic,” I said.

“What kind of car do you have?” asked the nice twenty-something salesman.

“I have a 2004 Honda Accord,” I said.

“Ooh, I don’t know if a smartphone will work in that old a car,” he said.

A new case for my smartphone: $50
A new charger for my smartphone: $29
A new car for my smartphone: $27,000+

I love my smartphone.  I adore my smartphone.  But now I need a new car for my smartphone.  What will it need next?  Sure hope it is not a college education.  My youngest graduates in May 2012 and I’m done with paying tuition.  It’s time to save for retirement, not for my smartphone expenses.

Judi

Tech Savvy Senior

Posted on by
1

Last week, I went to the BlogWorld conference in NYC to learn all about blogging and social media.

Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp, and Gowalla, these are just a few of the social networking tools that I need to become more familiar with if I am going to be a more tech savvy senior.

I definitely want to be more social.   Yes, I do, I do, I do. But, how, oh how will I ever have time to keep up with all this social media?  Maybe if I give up sleeping, which is really only about four hours a night with all my menopausal moments these days, I can spend more time surfing the worldwide web.

Or, maybe, maybe, maybe, I can ask my son D to help me become more tech savvy.

D was very helpful this weekend when I wanted to download the new Lady Gaga CD.  I do know how to use iTunes, but Gaga’s new CD was much less expensive on Amazon.com.  So, I turned to D and said, “Please, oh, please, can you go to Amazon.com and purchase Born This Way for me and then make a CD for my car and then put the songs on my iPod too?  Please, please, please.”

“Sure mom,” said D.  What a wonderful son I have. I love him. I love him. I do. I do. He downloaded the entire audio track in about 10 minutes and I was out the door with my CD and iPod in hand.  It was a fabulous ride to my condo on the corner for Memorial Day weekend singing and bopping to Born This Way.  And instead of surfing the net, I was able to spend more time riding the waves.

“But, mom,” said D, “you’re going to have to learn how to use these tech tools when I’m back at school this fall.”

“You’re absolutely right,” I replied.  So let’s see how far I’ve gotten in the past few days since I’ve been back from BlogWorld:

Facebook- will you like me on Facebook?  Facebook has 650 million subscribers, but no one is my fan. You can find me at judi boomer girl and hit the “like” button.  Then I’ll have some fans on Facebook.  Tell all your 50+ friends to like me too.  I want to have millions of fans. I do plan to host some contests and promotions on Facebook when I become a more tech savvy senior.  So go ahead and become my fan.  I want to be liked. But, don’t expect any messages if you write to me…I haven’t learned how to answer a message yet.

Twitter - will you tweet with me on Twitter?  You can find me at @judiboomergirl and hit the follow button or check out the side bar on my blog and you can see all my tweets.  Sometimes I tweet about interesting articles targeted to baby boomer women and aging and wellness.  You may want to follow the other people that I follow.  They are more interesting than me.

Foursquare - I haven’t registered with this site yet.  Not sure I want to reveal where I am every minute of the day.  According to Foursquare’s website, they are a location-based mobile platform that makes cities easier to use and more interesting to explore.  By “checking in” via a smartphone app, users share their location with friends while collecting points and virtual badges. Foursquare guides real-world experiences by allowing users to bookmark information about venues that they want to visit and surfacing relevant suggestions about nearby venues.  Merchants and brands leverage the foursqaure platform by utilizing a wide set of tools to obtain, engage, and retain customers and audiences.

I will let you know when I become one of the 8+ million subscribers and then you can follow me and I’ll share all the exciting places I visit.

There are several other sites like Foursquare that you may want to check out.  There’s Yelp and Gowalla, which have a similar platform.  I haven’t joined these two sites either.  I actually thought the speaker who spoke about Gowalla was saying ‘gorilla.’  Wonder who names all these sites?  Whoever does is very creative.


“Mom, I just got movie tickets for $4.00,” said my daughter A on Friday night.

“How did you get the tickets so cheap?” I asked.

“On Groupon,” said A.  ”Aren’t you a member of Groupon?”

“No, no I am not a Groupie,” I said.  ”I’ve had enough of all these tech tools for now, I’m tired of being so social, I just want to be liked.”

Judi