Thursday January 21 at 10:30 a.m.

The International Builders’ Show is the largest annual building industry tradeshow in the country, and the National Association of Home Builders is holding the 50+ Lifestyle Central Suite at IBS. This is a new addition to the 50+ HC offerings at IBS in intended to be a way to engage with the leaders and influencers in the Active Adult Builder community including the associate members of the industry. The 50+ Lifestyle Central should be the hub of activity for IBS attendees that are actively involved in the 50+ Housing Segment of the market. I am looking forward to seeing how this new format works.

If you’ll be at IBS next week, come participate in our panel “Networking Using Facebook, Blogs and New Media to Market Your 50+ Communities Panel”: Social media is gaining a foothold in the housing industry – find out how to make it work for your business. Social media, like signage to your active adult community, steers prospects to your web site and builds awareness and credibility. In this interactive session, find out how to use these new tools and technologies to connect to potential 50+ buyers, get them talking about your community and build your sales. We will be sharing our research on how different mature consumers are using social media.

The Anxiety Index has shifted! Based on our original research in December of 2008 with Boomers, GenXers and Ikes, the biggest concern then was collapse of the economy; 45% of Boomers were “very nervous”. Fast-forward to 2009 and Boomers biggest concerns have shifted from the state of the economy to the cost of health care and the political debate surrounding this issue (46%). Hear more about the impact of the headlines.

Most interesting in the recent study is a shift in media consumption. The only media activity that rose dramatically was time on the Internet. No doubt social media has made a significant dent in the time generally reserved for traditional media. Learn what media channels are being crowded out.

Meet the new Boomer Social Maven and discover the influence of their connectedness on their circle. Hear more about who they are and how they can impact ROI for your campaigns.

You can sign up by going to www.immn.org. Hope to hear you there!