Gen-Y this, Gen-Y that, for Pete’s sake, it’s NOT about us! We aren’t the decision makers, we aren’t the new revolution we’re not everything you’re making us out to be!

Generally, the assumption has been that the Gen-Y has been taking social media and networking by storm. The truth is, we’re the growing portion, but by no means are we the controlling factor or the vast majority.

In 2009 a PEW document showed some interesting stats on Twitter.

Nearly one in five (19%) online adults ages 18 to 24 have ever used Twitter and its ilk, as have
20% of online adults 25 to 34. Use of these services drops off steadily after age 35 with
10% of 35 to 44 year olds and 5% of 45 to 54 year olds using Twitter. The decline is even
more stark among older internet users; 4% of 55-64 year olds and 2% of those 65 and
older use Twitter.

The thing to take into account is that, yes the Gen-Y range is the growing range, but the combined weight of the other ages outside of Gen-Y is greater.

On Facebook, the stats are similar according to Quantcast.

• Ages 13-17 represent 22% of the total
• Ages18-34 represent 42% of the total
• Ages 35-49 represent 20% of the total
• Ages 50+ represent 12% of the total

Again, we represent a good portion but the combined weight of outside of Gen-Y is larger.

What does this mean for your marketing and your point of view?

Stop focusing on just that generation. While we can represent a good portion of the online network we can never forget that being able to teach someone else is also key. A generation older than us can also go online and search for a business on Google, or find a way to communicate via Twitter or Facebook.

Over at A New Generation, Kristin Dziadul (@KristinEDziadul) said,

The rise of video has certainly become a trending theme for Generation Y today since we are seen as the “Me” generation who wants to be the focus of attention, loves technology, and likes to be socially active. For instance, I have been seeing an increasingly large number of people on Facebook sending simple videos to friends, even just to say hi.

And she is 100% correct, the thing is, it isn’t just about Me, or my generation. It is about everyone connected. Everyone being able to communicate to one another and be able to share with each other and teach our parents our bosses what this new media stuff is all about.

There is an opportunity that so many marketers are overlooking by focusing just on Gen-Y and our addiction to being in front of a screen.

Let me know what you think!

Image by Gizwomack

Related posts:

1. You’re Wrong About Gen-Y
2. “Screw Google”
3. You Can’t Get Everyone

I have been in Rome since December 24th, after supposing to have arrived on the 23rd (See: Open Letter to Iberia) This has by far been one of the better trips I have made in my time in Europe. An enjoyable environment with food for the stomach, sights for the eyes, and the best variety of people visiting I have ever seen, but I digress.

Primo Giorno – Day One

After arriving and getting settled into my mother’s Aunt’s apartment located on Via di Porta Angelica. We decided to walk towards St. Peter’s Basilica, a whopping 2 minute walk.

My friends have expressed their jealousy of this time and time again, I still simply consider myself lucky.

After a quick walk around the square we hopped on back to the apartment for dinner. Later, we both prepared ourselves to attend “Midnight” Mass. In reality it finished around midnight, the mass began at 10PM. I took my seat little realizing I was seated next to the Ambassador of Sweden to the Holy See, a really kind gentleman.

Mass proceeded as normal, so I thought until I got home that evening and read that the Pope had been attacked by a mentally unstable young lady. I had no idea what the gasps and further applause were until reading the news.

Otherwise, that quite concludes day one.

Sleep.

Secondo Giorno – Day 2

Christmas Day! Sleep in, wake up late, and enjoy the fruits of Rome. That was the plan for the day! And man did it turn out well. After walking around the square with my aunt, we parted ways as I went out on foot to see what I could find.

Now, I have always been an advocate of what I call. “getting-lost tourism”. I don’t plan out an exact route, just a general idea of what I want to see, then find the alleyways to get there and see where I end up.

It’s the best way to see a city.

I passed by Castel Sant’ Angelo, as it is such a great place with much history. Unfortunately the interor was closed. It is Christmas after all.

After walking around town a bit, it’s time to head back for dinner. We go to her favorite restaurant Roberto’s (good luck linking that one up). I order Gnocci just to spite my brother, it’s his favorite Italian dish. For second course, lamb. I’m going to skip the details on the food here simply because words won’t be able to describe how content I was.

Instead here’s a picture of the gnocci:

So yeah it was good!

Later that night I met up with my friend Marisa, from Spain who happened to be staying in a hotel just around the corner with her family. She has a DSLR, better than my P.O.S. Nikon Coolpix…(nothing against Nikon). I managed to take about 150 shots in just about an hour, surpassing what I’ve taken in 4 current days, as soon as I get some photos I’ll put them up. We walked around, took pictures and had a plain ‘ol good time.

Sleep.

Terzo Giorno – Day 3

Today’s Mission – Trevi Fountain & the Pantheon

I woke up to a very, very rainy day. It didn’t much please me for a day I figured I would be walking around a lot. Sure enough I just donned my rain jacket and hit the streets. I was rather surprised to find how many tourists were out despite the rain. I trekked through the streets and the alleyways to arrive at the Pantheon.

Much to my avail, it was closed. Granted it is the day after Christmas, but I figured a church would be open. Turns out it isn’t. Therefore, it was time to take a couple quick pictures of the outside and head off to the Trevi fountain.

More alleyways and sights to see on the way there. The best part is that when you’re walking in all of these alleys you find the best shops. Clothes, wine, chocolate, restaurants with maybe the best food you will ever find, and all of it is right there within reach (if you have the money. Not me). I arrived at the fountain and there it was in all it’s splendor.

I personally never understood why people spend 30 minutes, an hour, multiple hour, viewing sculptures, architecture, art, etc. My opinion is that when you see it you see it. Check the details that matter to you and move on.

I snapped my photos of the fountain, saw the horses, the sculptures and the intricacy of the designs in the columns. I then made my way home. I didn’t want to be in the rain, my feet were wet, and I was starting to get hungry. All of those combined were about to make one grumpy Greg.

I went home and had dinner. This made me happy.

Sleep.

Cuarto Giorno – Day 4 Getting lost at it’s finest

I decided that today was a good day to go visit the Colosseum. My aunt told me that near there was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the Forum.

I arrived on the bus at around noon. Saw what needed to be seen, like I said I’m a quick tourist, it makes me sad sometimes because I see things way too fast for my own good. Which in the end makes my writing seem non-descriptive but hey, if you don’t like it, don’t read.

Therefore, here’s another picture.

I then made my way to the Colosseum after going out the back way of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This made me lost. I actually managed to go off of the small map I had. I’m glad I have a good sense of direction. I was forced to walk all the way around the forum, and walk half way back to where I came to get to the Colosseum.

Now, I don’t like paying for archaeological sites (or any museum, site, anything really), so I didn’t go inside. I was forced by my own conscience to enjoy the Colosseum from the outside.

I then proceded to walk 45 minutes home.

Dinner.

Posted via web from Greg’s posterous

Related posts:

1. Letters from Denmark

This past weekend I took a trip to Denmark with 8 of my closest friends here in Alicante. This is my story for your reading pleasure.

As I was sitting in my room my blank gaze is broken by the sound of the most annoying telephone ring in the world, so naturally I pick it up so it’ll shut the hell up. I answer to the sound of – “Hey, wanna go to Denmark for 14€ Round Trip?”

I can’t think of anyone who would pass up that offer…

A few weeks later 3 days from leaving we decide we still don’t have places to stay, car to rent, food, or any idea really of what the plan was for the trip.

One van, 120€ of food, overweight bags, and one flat rented in Ribe later we’re hopping onto a RyanAir flight out of the Alicante airport en route to Billund.

3 hours on the flight bumming our time not digging into our food, for lack of running out later, games of Uno, the plane arrives safe and sound into the Billund Lufthavn. Now this is the first time I have traveled within Europe to another country, I literally had to do a double take that I didn’t need to get a visa stamp into my passport, after all it is an international flight. I was rather disappointed in the fact that I would be unable to have that nice stamp saying I have according to their government been in that country. So just continued walking through, and to the car rental stoop. Here is where I’m finally nervous, because this car is our lifeline of the trip, without it…we get nowhere. Why? Because the online rental said you had to be 26. Our oldest driver, 22. Sure enough online rental ≠ rental company. 9 Person van, here we come baby.

Jam packed, music full blast, we head down the road in the Danish dark on our way to Ribe, the first stop.

We finally get to the Ribe Byferie to our flat. For nine college kids this place was like a gold mine. Comfortable beds, a kitchen, terrace, a shower was nice, we started to unpack the food and get settled in. The girls were nice enough to start the nightly family dinner; Jamón serrano, jamón york, cheese, toasted bread, this was a feast for the gods in our eyes.

We sat around like a big happy family and got our selves a few beers before seeing what the Ribe nightlife had to offer.

Hours of dancing and a few more beers we head home to call it a night and see the town by light the next morning. We’re out of the flat by 10 ready to walk downtown. We park the car and start walking. A quaint town with an obvious ancient viking influence and a sense of community. A town where you can walk to every dead end and corner, and still not see everything, because everything there is to see isn’t just the obvious location. It’s like an unending treasure hunt.

We start our way to Århus (pronounced ouhrhus) and notice it get’s dark at about 4:15PM we decide it will be a very long night. After arriving at our hostel, where we get a half-assed cushion and a nasty floor for more than an elegant flat, we go walk around Århus. Not into an hour after being in the city that we walk into the local catholic church. You know, to see what Nordic influences effected had on churches.

Speaking Spanish we’re warmly invited by another native to the tongue to coffee and cake. Utterly confused we followed this lady into the belly of the church. We’re sat down warmly and served coffee and marble cake. We’re joined by about another 10 Spanish speaking people realizing we had decided to see this church directly after one of their two Spanish masses a month. As they thought we were with them the whole time they understand that we had just gotten there and didn’t want to deceive them. The half hour we passed was great, with the company of a community, inviting us into their doings because of a common language.

It’s time to be on hour way. After a while we’re again, in a bar waiting for our friend’s friend to meet us and tell us some great places to see.

You’ll see a common theme here, we usually end up the night at some new Danish pub, to see what the local wildlife has to offer.

The next day we decide to see two things. The old-town market, and the deer park.

Old-town market… cost money… 5 hopped the fence, 4 stayed back to not hop fences. I leisurely took the latter, to go see an old windmill, and an green house past of the university. Going from desert to intensely tropical then back out into 40º cold isn’t fun on the head but it does provide some cool trees and butterflies!

The deer park took us a bit of driving around, and asking those who spoke English how to get there.

Finally found it and spend about an hour playing with the deer, letting them eat carrots and apples out of our hands while we fed them. If there’s one thing you do in life, feed a wild animal, not a petting zoo animal, a wild one where the animal makes the choices.

We decided that our hostel was a piece of shit, and had to go to Aalborg and rough it there. We drove an hour out of Åruhus to Aalborg, and finally found a hostel site that offered us a cabin of 6 people for nine. Instead of forcing us into 5 & 4. This way we all sleep in the same building and keep the body heat well adjusted.

After another fulfilling dinner of jamóns and sandwiches, we go check out the bars. I order a Hoögarden beer, one of my favorites by taste. My friend sees a couple of cute blonde girls and decides it’s a good idea to convince one of them it is his birthday and should take a picture of all of us. She tells him that it’s her birthday too, and out table of 9 should join them. This makes the guys happy.

Beer’s become too expensive, and we decide to head back and keep the laughs going back in the hostel cabin.The night ends with a really long deep sleep.

After waking up on our own time, and checking out it’s time to see Aalborg by day. It definitely beats Århus, but not the quaintness of Ribe. We finally get back to the car and get driving back to Billund to catch the flight home.

We’re surprised at the airport by my roommates parents.

They were nice enough to drive us home.

Image by keeshu

Posted via web from Greg’s posterous

Related posts:

1. Letters From Rome pt. 1

One thing I notice is the vast amount of articles coming around that are talking about interviews, their processes and their tips. I want to give a different perspective; try doing the same thing everyone else is from a different country. It actually makes it a lot tougher, even though you might not think so.

My Problem

If you follow my blog you realize, I’m currently studying in Alicante, Spain, my 3rd year of my international business major. As much as I am loving it, it makes apartment hunting and job hunting for the upcoming summer and school year much more difficult.

As much as I would love to send in a snail mail copy of my resumé or give a quick ring to the HR department of wherever I would like to apply, it financially isn’t that feasable. Doable, just not reasonably. The benefits of using some direct contact methods that help by being stateside:

• You usually get to talk to someone, and if you’re anything like me thats much more reasurring than sending your resumé into the black hole of the online database.
• The advantage of the company receiving a physical copy of your resumé shows not only your persistence but your will to succeed and advance in the working world

The Realization

The first step is realizing you have a problem. When you get stuck in a difficult situation, you probably already know it. So understanding that you are in this pickle is naturally the first thing you need to do. Then after that you can begin focusing on ways to rectify, and make the problem one that is almost non existent.

The Solution

Anticipation. The simple fact that you can anticipate these problems make the solution much easier. My Suggestions:

• Skype: If you haven’t found the many many benefits of Skype yet, I suggest giving it a try. Should you be called for an interview you have an economical and practical way to conduct a phone interview on the cheap, especially if YOU have to call.
• Google Voice: 2 benefits here: Recorded transcriptions and a proper phone number where you can receive a transcribed voicemail in case you get a call back.
• LinkedIn: The online resume: get connected, get out there, and get known.

Naturally, I’m still going through my application process for this summer, but as more develops and more comes my way, I’ll be more than happy to clue you in on my tips. If you have any please leave them in the comments.

Image by Ben Heine

BenHeine.com

Posted via web from Greg’s posterous

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1. Acing the Interview
2. Interview with Tony from Zappos
3. Outliers

First, I would like to begin by saying that although my home institution (Appalachian State University) has so far done an excellent job as far as my study abroad has been. However, there are many things that they left out when it came to long term study abroad and the needs of the Embassy and Spanish government.

Requirements for Student Visa – Consulate General of Spain, Washington DC

1. Must come in person to solicit the Visa. If under the age of 18 Must have and authorization letter from Parents (Notarized)
2. Schengen Visa Application (PDF)
3. Passport (Original and 1 Copy)  – Should be valid for whole term of stay, with at least one open page for the affixation of the Visa.
4. 1 Recent Passport Size Photo – On white background
5. Acceptance letter (Original & 1 copy) from receiving institution. – This letter should be addressed to the Consulate General, also should include proof of medical insurance in Spain.
6. Method of Sustinence ($$$) – A University declared letter of Financial Aid, Proof of Scholarship, or a notarized letter from the parents guaranteeing proper monetary sustinance.
7. “Express Mail” Envelope – for delivery of Visa once Arrived
8. Payment – Cash or Money order in the amount of $100USD for US Citizens.

For More than 6 Months the following is needed

1. Police Record- May be obtained at your local PD. (Original & 1 Copy)
2. Statement of Health – (Original & 1 Copy) – On letterhead from your doctor certifying you are in sufficient medical health to travel.

The previous two documents I highly recommend you getting apostilled. This can be done by researching your local Secretary of State.

Secondly

If you are staying in Spain for more than one semester, you will be required to obtain a type of student residency card. The following is what I did for my region, you can easily find how to do this in your region by going to the Ayuntamiento of your local town/city (this can be easily Googled). What you need for your residency are:

1. Epadronamiento – What is done at the ayuntamiento; a sort of proof of address. For this you need: Proof of address, copy of passport, and copy of the Visa.
2. Application for the residency card – I found this through my university’s visa help. Your unique university may have this service also, if not check at the Local Police Department of your town/city and they may help you.
3. Finger Prints
4. 15€ Payment

With that, you wil go to the Police Department follow their steps with the Application Form, and deposit the 15€ in the bank account they indicate. This card will arrive after one month.

My university told me none of these things and the research for me was hard to come by without getting it first hand from the Bureaucrats. I hope that what I have told you helps you with the government part.

Posted via web from Greg’s posterous

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Firstly I would like to apologize for not having posted in such a long time. That comes with the fault of trying to find a place to live, and settling bureaucratic stuff with the University here in Alicante, Spain.

Now for the fun stuff, moving here to Alicante has been a great ordeal. My friend told me she had found a flat for us and when I arrived I went to go see it… it was a total dump, disgusting, old, moldy, and I think mouse poop everywhere. The landlady had also overbooked the flat so I had to stay with her for about 4 days. This will make me seem like a horrible person, but I did what I had to. I found a place to live at the Villas Universitarias, right across the street from the University. Trouble came when I had to leave, because how do you stay with your landlady for 4 nights and tell her you’re not gonna live in her flat anymore? So conveniently she wasn’t home when I had to leave so I just walked out, and told her son I would send them money as soon as I could to compensate for their hospitality and kindness. From what I heard, she was rather pissed off that day…

At this point in time, I have my course registration tomorrow and a meeting with the Business Dept. Adviser to plan out the semester. The have to go get MORE passport size photos for my residency card that prolongs my visa (per se) until June 2010 when I plan to return to the US.

Besides the deal with the landlady things have been great! Please check out the photos of Alicante so far on Facebook.

Also, check back for a post on studying abroad in Spain details, like things to have at the embassy, and how to make sure everything is squared away with your Universities.

Posted via web from Greg’s posterous

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