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I agree you should pick authors based on what they have to say, but you shouldn't discount seeking out those for who they are. Just like you make up a judging panel for an awards program, you want the right balance so no one is left out. To get the right author(s), why not send targeted emails to that demographic asking for article submissions. You will learn who is engaged and who can write. Those building their careers would enjoy being published and we as readers would get a fresh perspective.

I absolutely agree, Matt--and I think your targeted email idea is a great one that any association could use. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

What's the median age of your readership, Lisa?

Last I saw we were giving AARP a run for their money. Maybe you need to run more stories about successful 20-somethings who found ways to move geezers out of their way. I suspect those so-called millenials whom your authors fret about find them to be irrelevant.

Demographic labels like millenials is so last century. Demographics are at best one-dimensional and do NOT predict behavior.

If ASAE and the Center wants to avoid looking like an elephant graveyard why not focus on the people who are a force for change?

A fellow geezer,
Ann Oliveri

It gets down to "who you know." As an editor, you're the door into getting published, so if you don't regularly interact with twenty-somethings, then they are less likely to get through the door. This is true for a lot of people with a lot of groups. Sometimes you have to intentionally expand your network. Diversity doesn't always just "happen."

I checked with Monica Dignam, our vice president for industry and market research, and she tells me that our median member was born in 1958. However, this is a little skewed by our CEO membership, which tracks older than other groups; their median year born is 1953, while the median year born for staff is 1961.

Another interesting fact she passed along: The DC area skews younger than other areas, with a median year born of 1960 compared to 1956 for members outside DC.

With regard to the rest of Ann's comment, I definitely agree that demographic labels do not predict behavior on an individual level--there are going to be 24-year-old Luddites and 60-year-old technology gurus. But I do think that the experiences of someone growing up in the 1960s were significantly different than the experiences of someone growing up in the 1990s, and those differences have an impact on those groups as a whole (although impacting each individual in a different way).

But I wholeheartedly agree that we want to hear from individuals who are a force for change. I'd love to hear who pops to mind when you think of change agents (of any age!).

Folks with an interest in this discussion may also want to check out related posts on
Jamie Notter and David Gammel's blogs ...

This may be changing directions slightly, but perhaps we need to alter our perspective a bit. I certainly agree that ASAE and most associations need to do a better job with and for Millennials. But I notice that we usually focus on trying to prepare our "boomer" selves to deal the younger generations. What about working with the Millenials to prepare them to deal with us? I recently gave a talk ("Boomers & Beamers") to business students at Virginia Commonwealth University, and decided to approach it by telling them what to expect from us and how to deal with that. Using some of Cam Marston's excellent ideas and research, we talked about what they should expect from the senior folks they'll encounter in the workplace and how the mature generations' expectations compare with theirs, so they would have a better idea of how to succeed in the current environment.

Let me be clear. I definitely do not suggest that we bend the entering population to meet our generational expectations. Rather, if we get everyone to understand the values and experiences of everyone else, we can develop systems that will foster personal and professional success for all our members and staff.

At the risk of being wrong (it's happened), and of having nothing to say on this subject (that's happened too), I think it may be very important for someone to support what Bruce and Susan had to say in their May Associations Now (AN)article on "Preparing for the Millenial Tsunami". Their article, and the good posted comments above aid in a better awareness and understanding of the importance of the Millenial generation for all associations.

Everyone who knows Bruce and Susan knows that they are experienced and dedicated folks in the association management field. We all benefit from whatever they have to say. And it was apparent to me that both authors have a great care and concern about associations successfully welcoming and retaining Millennial members and customers. The fact that neither author is a Millennial in no way lessened the reality or relevancy of what they had to say.

Editors, like those of Association Now, strive to present relevant and challenging issues in an engaging and informative manner. Doing so in 500 words or less can be a real challenge!

At the end of the day, the test of author and editor, seems to me must be: 1) Do they have something relevant or compelling to say; 2) Can they present it in an engaging manner? Age, country of origin and eye color have nothing to do with it.

I would urge everyone, of every age and interest, who can meet 1) & 2) to send an email to one of the AN editors. At the risk of overloading their computers (and Estonia's), I've never met an editor yet who had too many sources for too many future articles. As a Milleninal in a Baby-Boomer's body (don't try that at home), there's lots of good knowledge and information being shared in AN and here, for everyone's benefit who is still interested in learning. Let's all just keep on keeping on!