Author Archives: Mark Venning

Longevity: Aging & Innovation

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Mark Venning

Aging and innovation. That’s really what it was all about at the MaRS Business of Aging Summit on April 30th. Once you cut through the media spin like “Boomers as Zoomers” and the other one that gets up my nose … Continue reading →

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TAGlab:a Promise Envisioned

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Mark Venning

Technologies for Aging Gracefully. What a perfect tag line, pun intended. Conversation recently steered me to this wonderful University of Toronto initiative- TAGlab , a collaborative research team that explores ways in which digital media can basically help people “preserve … Continue reading →

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Business of Aging,Marketing:Part 3

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Mark Venning

Further to the SERC symposium on “Mature Consumer Marketing”, lots of nuggets to sift out from the April 18 panel conversation. If you were a business with a product not necessarily aimed at aging demographics, you still could have gained … Continue reading →

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Business of Aging,Marketing:Part 2

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Mark Venning

Excellent! The Sheridan Elder Research Centre (SERC) symposium “Mature Consumer Marketing” on April 18 featured a panel of specialists in marketing and research who addressed the marketing strategies to aging demographics. Some in the audience from small, medium businesses seemed … Continue reading →

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Business of Aging, Marketing:Part 1

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Mark Venning

As fortune has it, there are two symposiums under the banner “business of aging” that I’m attending over the next two weeks. The first is at Sheridan College, Trafalgar Campus., presented by the Sheridan Elder Research Centre (SERC) on April … Continue reading →

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Our Life Course:What’s Tomorrow’s Normal?

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Mark Venning

On every third occasion when I get into a conversation about how all generations might newly “envision the promise of longevity”, invariably the subject swings to retirement, with the “can’t hardly wait” chant. And then on the fourth occasion it’s … Continue reading →

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Old Age Security:85 years in the Mincing

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Mark Venning

Canada’s Federal 2012 budget and the Ontario Provincial budget both arrived last week, just like the expected bouncing babies Finance departments deliver every Spring. Also to be expected, the federal budget baby was born wriggling with it’s insecurity blanket – … Continue reading →

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Across the “Central Steppes of Aging”

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Mark Venning

For all the talk of how a Boomer generation will “challenge aging” by staying active and engaged; there are still people I meet who persist in making their age sound older than old. Among them there are those who have … Continue reading →

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In Memory of a Friend

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Mark Venning

Somehow today engaging in a discussion on what we might make of the promise of longevity takes a different tone, as I reflect on the loss of a dear close friend over the weekend. Words fail when it happens suddenly … Continue reading →

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Aging Alone & Creating Commune-Part 2

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Mark Venning

Our “self made communal living” in theory had it’s advantages and largely assumed that in this new arrangement our current friendships and share interests would stay the same.  The success of this would also be dependent on numerous things, not … Continue reading →

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