Summit Will Focus on Baby Boomer Marketplace

Newswise — Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, analysts, corporate executives who are developing products and services for the boomer marketplace, and representatives of organizations and foundations that serve consumers 50 and over, will gather at Santa Clara University on June 21 for the Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit, presented by the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, at the Leavey School of Business at SCU.

"As a market, aging is where technology was 30 years ago, and with the boomer population currently 77 million strong and growing, it is going to be one of the top priorities in the 21st century," said Mary Furlong, the event producer and founder of SeniorNet.org and ThirdAge.com, and Dean's Professor of Entrepreneurship at SCU. "We are on the frontier of amazing new innovations as the venture and and corporate community begin to invest in companies that will serve the burgeoning global aging marketplace. This conference will provide attendees with the market research they need to make smart decisions."

"Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit" will take place June 21 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) in the Recital Hall at SCU. Registration is open to the public and available online at http://www.boomerventuresummit.com.

The conference will open with a White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) Solutions Forum, during which The Honorable Dorcas R. Hardy, Chairman, WHCoA Policy Committee; Bob Blancato, WHCoA Chair during the Clinton Administration; and Gail Hunt, CEO, the National Alliance for Caregiving will hear testimony from a panel of corporate and venture leaders. The part of the program is open to the public at no charge.

The morning program will include an inauguration of the Smart Home, an exhibit that showcases innovative products and technologies for the boomer home in 2010; A Global Look at Boomer Demographics with presentations by Brad Edmondson, vice-president, ePodunk.com; The AARP Strategy for 50+ Consumers, presented by Emilio Pardo, senior vice president, business development, AARP; Investment Strategies for the Healthy Living and Boomer Markets, presented by Charles "Chip" F. Baird, Jr., founder and a managing director, North Castle Partners, the top private equity fund in the healthy living and aging market; and a panel discussion that will explore where the venture community is investing in the boomer market, with Steve Jurvetson, managing director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Tom Rogers, principal, ATV Capital; Sean Cunningham, director, strategic investments, Intel Capital; Michael Goldberg, general partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures (MDV); and Jeffrey S. Zimman, chief executive officer, Posit Science Corporation.

Breakout sessions in the afternoon will provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs to pitch their businesses to the venture capital community and provide a high level overview of the boomer technology and eldercare markets, along with targeted research and a case study of a successful technology product or service.

The afternoon agenda will also include a panel discussion by four nationally recognized business journalists who cover the boomer market. They will report on what they are learning in the field and how the business community can meet tomorrow's needs - both for consumers and for the bottom line. Participants will include Paul Kleyman, editor, Aging Today, the newspaper of the American Society on Aging; Carolyn Said, San Francisco Chronicle; Janet Kornblum, Lifestyles writer, USA Today and Jane Glenn Haas, Orange County Register.

The final panel discussion of the day will focus on how analysts are segmenting the boomer market and explain how they how they gauge the opportunities in health, travel, retail and online. Participating analysts will include Steve French, managing partner, The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI); Heather Hardwick, vice president, Menlo Consulting Group; Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst; and Joyce Reitman, Chief executive officer, Tux, Inc.

Event sponsors are: AARP, Intel Capital, North Castle Partners, Sun Microsystems, and Wells Fargo. The organization driving the Boomer Venture Summit is the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), at the Leavey School of Business at SCU.

For more information or to register, visit http://www.boomerventuresummit.com.

About the Center for Innovation and EntrepreneurshipThe Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University was established in 1998, at the Leavey School of Business at SCU. The Center's mission is to enhance the body of knowledge, teach the theory and foster the art of innovation and entrepreneurship. The Center adds a distinctive dimension to these studies and initiatives -- the blending of the lessons learned with the promotion of global entrepreneurship and social justice. The Center seeks to integrate both graduate and undergraduate students in its efforts, as well as faculty pursuing research in a variety of disciplines. More information is online at http://www.scu.edu.

About the Leavey School of BusinessThe Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University began in 1926, and was one of the first business schools in the country to receive national accreditation. Its undergraduate business program is recognized as one of the best in California, and its MBA program is ranked 10th in the nation among part-time graduate programs for working professionals. More than 80 percent of its 1,100 MBA student body are working professionals in the Bay Area.

About Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located in California's Silicon Valley, offers its 8,213 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus master's and law degrees. Distinguished nationally by the second-highest graduation rate among all U.S. master's universities, California's oldest higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. More information is online at http://www.scu.edu