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Meet the Innovators: Mary Furlong, Expert on Entrepreneurship and the Longevity Market

Q&A With Leaders in Technology and Aging

We recently spoke with Mary Furlong, of Mary Furlong and Associates (MFA), a long time leader in helping entrepreneurs find opportunities and succeed in the longevity market.

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Q: Mary, we’ve known you for quite some time as an educator and leader in this space. Can you tell our readers a bit more about yourself?

A: My name is Mary Furlong. I’m a serial entrepreneur. I’ve built three companies focused on the 50+ market. My work is to improve the lives of older adults, using technology to support their needs, and reinstantiating their leadership in our society. [pullquote align=”right” cite=”Mary Furlong, Mary Furlong & Associates” link=”” color=”#69AE22″]”Every dissonance of aging is a market opportunity.“[/pullquote]

Q: So how did you get your start?

A: I started my first company, SeniorNet, in 1986. It was the first “social network” for older adults. My second company was called ThirdAge Media, a portal for baby boomers. Mary Furlong and Associates is my third company. It’s a consulting practice that helps companies navigate business strategy, development, financing, and so on, for the boomer market. In 2007, I published a book called Turning Silver Into Gold, on how to operate a profitable business in the aging market. I also produce the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit and the Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit.

Q: What do you think is going well in the aging and technology industry?

A: I think the momentum is going well in this industry. Steve Jurvetson of Draper Fisher Jurvetson talks about technology innovation, that it improves every day, and so does general enthusiasm for it. I think that’s very true. The demographics are there. What could change is the regulatory environment, for example, reimbursement for technology that helps keep people at home. Fewer trips to the emergency room is a good thing, because the cost of those visits is high.

Every dissonance of aging is a market opportunity. Smart people figure out those dissonances, and how to leverage the opportunities. So that’s exciting, because these opportunities are limitless, when you’re figuring out how to transform the quality of life for older people.

Q: If you could change something about this industry, what would it be?

A: It’s very fragmented right now, and that’s a challenge. And it’s a problem that there’s not enough attention given to low income. We need to get in touch with the reality of how much money is needed for people to finance their longevity, and solve the real problem of how do we get the costs down. I would also say that we’re not doing enough to facilitate the notion of older people as creators and producers, and not merely as consumers. How do we help them become part of the entrepreneurial force that transforms things?

Q: What advice would you offer to a new entrepreneur?

A: Write a business plan first. A short one. We have a couple of sessions at the What’s Next conference about this. Really figure out what is your niche, and what you can uniquely do in the market that will serve a need. What is your go-to-market strategy for the next six months? What is it for the next 18 months? Understand how you will distinguish yourself, and make the business work. Think about whether you should keep your day job while you build the business. This is the biggest challenge, because, as you know, not all new ventures are a success.

Q: How have you helped change the way we provide aging services?

A: We host two conferences every year. What’s Next Boomer Business Summit focuses on marketing and business development. Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit brings together entrepreneurs, with leaders in the field of aging, and the venture community, and is designed to teach entrepreneurs how to think through a business. This next one is our 26th conference. Doing this for so long, and bringing together so many people from different facets of the market, we’ve developed a business ecosystem focused on the longevity market. Now there are many other conferences that cater to this marketplace, but ours was the first.

We bring people together to help facilitate the conversation, to get more innovation in the marketplace. People needed a guide for how to bring products and services to the market, and to accelerate their traction. So what we try to do is calibrate how to help them refine their business model so it scales, and gets the right support and financing. We help them identify potential partnerships. We’ve helped companies raise money and get pilots done. Going to our conferences is like getting a mini MBA in the longevity market.

I’m out in Silicon Valley, where we look at aging as an opportunity, as opposed to Washington, where they look at aging as a liability. I like rephrasing the question, asking how will we improve the role of older people, helping them be creative, engaged, contributing in our culture, and enhanced by technology, as opposed to people who are draining the system. I’m a natural entrepreneur, and I’ve recently started calling myself a cartographer, helping people understand the landscape of this market, and helping them develop a roadmap for going to market.

Laura Mitchell Consulting is a strike team of marketing and growth strategy experts in the aging and technology industry. Know someone that we should feature in our “Meet the Innovators” blog series? Contact us at info@lmcllc.us and let us know!

Blog, Event

What’s Next for What’s Next?

An Afternoon with Mary Furlong: Behind the Scenes of the Renowned What’s next Boomer Summit

Laura Mitchell Consulting has been selected to bring our special blend of social media magic to this year’s What’s Next Boomer Business Summit, held this year in Washington, D.C. We’re delighted and honored to be part of this conference, the premier event of the aging and technology industry.

Today we’re talking with the brilliant mind behind the What’s Next summit. Mary Furlong is a serial entrepreneur, and a leading expert in entrepreneurship and the aging and technology market. She is the owner of Mary Furlong and Associates, a consulting company that advises firms in the longevity market, and that puts on this important annual conference. boomerlogo

Q: Hi Mary. Thanks for talking with us today. Can you tell us a little about the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit?

A: This summit was the first of its kind, and it’s the nation’s leading event for companies, experts, and thought leaders in the aging market. It brings together groups from every part of the industry to network and learn. We’ll have market overviews, industry analysts talking about trends in technology, in senior housing, in caregiving, in financing. We’ll have a pitch competition. It’s like getting a mini MBA in the longevity market.

Q: Who is it for? Who would benefit from attending?

A: It’s an intentional mix of entrepreneurs, investors, business development people for major organizations, top executives from non-profits, regulators, thought leaders, and industry analysts. We bring together people from tiny startups and from Fortune 100 companies, all

the players who are successfully targeting the largest and most lucrative consumer demographic in the world. And we also examine the perspectives of the millennials and their role in shaping boomer priorities.

Q: This conference is now in its 13th year. How did it come about originally?

A: Before I started my consulting company I’d already been in this business for 17 years. So I had a lot of relationships. The longevity market is growing. It’s sized at over $260 billion in the next four years, so just look at the enormous opportunity. I’d written a book on how to make a profit in this industry (Turning Silver Into Gold). I could see that people needed a guide for how to bring products and services to market, and to accelerate their traction. I could bring groups together, to help facilitate the conversation, and to get more innovation in the marketplace.[pullquote align=”right” cite=”Mary Furlong, CEO Mary Furlong & Associates” link=”” color=”#69AE22″]”It’s like getting a mini MBA in the longevity market.”[/pullquote]

Q: How has it changed over the years?

A: In the first year, we did print marketing, a brochure. We don’t do that anymore. Now we launched a video. Our email list has grown to 15,000. I keep saying that the longevity market today is where the Internet was in 1994. So if you’re getting out of school now, you’re coming into a market that is solely a growth market. It’s not like other markets that have hiccups, like Venezuelan oil, for instance. It’s immutable that there’s a large and growing group of older people for the foreseeable future.

There’s a phrase, “riches in the niches.” We point to people who find their niches to make money. Think of Lori Bitter, who is a marketing and development consultant, or Laurie Orlov, an industry analyst. Where are the places to make money serving this market? You can be a large technology firm, a non-profit, or a new entrepreneur, but it makes sense to pivot into the market and to really understand your customer. David Inns, the CEO of GreatCall, is someone who really knows his customer. So if you can have a conversation between experts like that, they all are drawing a detailed portrait of the consumer. It helps people understand who the customer is, how to reach them, and what are the riches in the niches. We’ve had people who used to be volunteers at the summit, who have gone on to launch businesses and have come back to the conference as attendees or speakers.

Q: This summit is such an important force in the industry. Why is it still the event to go to?

We work really hard to curate content, to select the leaders. We also have great facilitators. The conference is embedded with reporters who are covering age beat and know the issues. We have analysts to point you in the direction of the issues.

We have met so many people through the years, and they recommend new talent. So talent gets crowdsourced by people in the What’s Next community. We have a private client practice, and those clients point us to the more innovative things. We take each slot seriously in the program. Plus, there’s a legacy to this conference. People know to look for us if they want to meet an expert in an area, or find a technology they can take home with them. This year, for example, we have a group of people coming from a major senior housing operation in China.

We leverage by location, so this year, we’re holding the summit in Washington, DC, where we have many deep relationships. I’m out in Silicon Valley, where we look at aging as an opportunity, as opposed to Washington, where they look at aging as a liability. I like rephrasing the question, asking how we will improve the role of older people, helping them be creative, engaged, and contributing in our culture, enhanced by technology, as opposed to seeing them as people who are draining the system. And I’ve always felt that to really lead in aging, you need a DC strategy. There are many organizations in Washington that can help a technology company to pilot, or go to market.

Q: Is there a benefit for a newbie to the market?

A: For a new entrepreneur, we have sessions about creating a business plan, figuring out what is your niche, what you can uniquely do in market that will serve a need, and what is your go to market strategy. We help them refine their business model so it scales, help them find the right support and financing, and to identify useful partnerships. We’ve helped companies raise money and get pilots done.

I’m a natural entrepreneur, but I’ve recently started calling myself a cartographer. We help people understand the landscape, and provide a roadmap for going to market. They need to know what doesn’t work as well as what does. We help them sharpen the business model around what they want to do.
Laura Mitchell Consulting is a strike team of marketing and growth strategy experts in the aging and technology industry. To find out more, contact us at info@lmcllc.us.

Blog, Meet the Innovators

Meet the Innovators: Laura Mitchell, Marketing and Growth Hacking Expert, and Founder of Laura Mitchell Consulting (LMC)

Q&A With Leaders in Technology and Aging

Laura Mitchell is a veteran of the aging and technology industry and the founder of Laura Mitchell Consulting, cofounder of industry pioneer GrandCare Systems, cofounder of the 2011 AgeTek Alliance, creator of the renowned industry-wide Aging/Technology Webinar serie and the,host of the LMC “Meet the Innovators” blog series. Long ago, Laura adopted the philosophy that “a rising tide lifts all boats,” and that in a developing industry, we need to work together. This mentality was the inspiration behind this series. And today we’re talking with her.

Q: Who are you and what do you do?

A: I’m Laura Mitchell. I’m a marketing consultant, growth hacker, social media specialist and general aging/tech industry advisor. I started up my consulting business, Laura Mitchell Consulting (LMC), a year ago and I help small to mid-size organizations with online digital strategies, go-to-market plans, branding, websites, PR, writing, and really anything that helps businesses grow and increase awareness.

Q: How did you get your start in this industry?

A: It’s funny. In high school, I always assumed I would become a doctor, but I already knew I wanted to have my medical focus on the aging population. I never had a desire to be a pediatrician. I had been a primary caregiver for my great-great-aunt in high school, and I just really loved our times together. I went to UW-Madison fully intending to do pre-med and eventually become a geriatric physician. Well, life got in the way, as did organic chemistry, and I opted not to go the pre med route and instead study abroad in Germany (but that story is for another blog). Man, am I glad I didn’t pursue medicine and instead get to do what I do today. I was a founding member of GrandCare Systems in 2005, a pioneer and lead innovator in this space, and the rest is history. My life is exactly what I would have wanted it to be. I get to combine my passions for healthcare, technology, taking care of the aging population, and of course marketing.

Q: How are you helping to change the way we provide aging services? [pullquote align=”right” cite=”Laura Mitchell, Laura Mitchell Consulting” link=”” color=”#69AE22″]”Everyone can learn by listening to others, listening to caregivers and listening to the seniors.“[/pullquote]

A: I spent a lot of the last decade as a public educator, because (unfortunately) it was a necessary step in order for technology to be taken seriously. Now, I’m taking all of these passionate innovative companies to the next level by providing a strategic, seamless, integrated marketing solution to get them out there, through stories, testimonials, proven statistics and educational platforms.

But the question still often is, how do we get the messaging out? How do we gain trust? How do we gain credibility? I think in some ways what I’m doing is taking a look at the final goal and working back, developing a map for companies to get there.

Q: What do you think is going well in the aging and technology industry?

A: I think there are a whole lot of passionate folks who are in it for exactly the right reasons. They want to see the industry succeed. They want to see our aging population receive the care they need, faster, better, more efficient care, and at home if possible. They want to improve lives. You can tell, because they have been in this industry for years with so little recognition and pay back. The goal is to improve the lives of seniors and those who care for them. I still consider many of the folks I have met over the past decade to be some of the kindest, most passionate, most selfless, and most innovative people I have ever met. This industry will always be special to me, because there is so much heart and soul in it.

Q: What would change about this industry if you could?

A: I have to say, one of my constant struggles is listening to people talk about technology as “nice to have” and not as a necessity. It’s almost as though it’s a theater system or something. It is not taken seriously and it needs to be. I know technology is a huge change, a huge disruption, and that can be uncomfortable. But, we cannot simply ignore the fact that our aging population is going to outnumber caregivers and there won’t be enough brick and mortar to satisfy their needs. We need to stop having a few loud naysayers dictate how this happens. No more focus groups on whether technology is a good idea, or on whether folks are actually aging. These are decoys to deny that there truly is a substantial problem and that technology is obviously the answer to enabling our caregiving and aging population.

Q: What advice would you offer a new entrepreneur?

A: I would say that you need to listen to your heart when some of the financial guys tell you, “Nobody wants that,” or question ROI on something that is clearly valuable to an aging senior or an exhausted caregiver. I would also remind them to listen to others in the industry. I have seen very bright, intelligent and creative folks take a whole lot of money and eventually go out of business because they didn’t ever take the time to listen to what some of us have learned along the way. Everyone can learn by listening to others, listening to caregivers and listening to the seniors. Most importantly, there is a huge market. We can all work together. Don’t let hubris get in the way of making some strategic partnerships with other organizations or listening to your competitors.

Q: What’s next for you?

A: I am very excited to be attending the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit in D.C. I am on the social media team this year, and producing the “Mingle in a Minute” power networking event. I’m proud of my team, the expertise, passion, and creativity, and we’re continuing to grow. I look forward to working with more and more innovative companies in this space and really seeing all of us make a difference for the aging population. After all, the rising tide lifts all boats. Let’s do this together!

Laura Mitchell Consulting is a strike team of marketing and growth strategy experts in the aging and technology industry. Know someone we should feature in our “Meet the Innovators” blog series? Contact us at info@lmcllc.us and let us know!

Blog, Conference, Event

Networking Gets Personal at Boomer Summit’s ‘Mingle in a Minute’

We all know the power of networking and building relationships. We attend conferences not only to be educated, but to meet business contacts who can help our own brand grow. But, how do we quickly determine who we want to speak with at an open networking event? We have just made that much, much easier for participants at the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit.

Laura Mitchell Consulting is excited to announce that Mingle in a Minute is coming back to the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit. In this unique networking session, you’ll have 60 seconds to stand up and introduce yourself to a room full of high-quality individuals, prospects, and leads, and identify exactly whom you would like to meet.

Entrepreneurs looking for investors. Investors looking for deal flow. Startups looking for distribution. Like speed dating for business networking, come ready to speak efficiently and speedily about yourself, your company, and the deals you want to make. Join us for the ultimate speed networking session, and shine the spotlight on the most important brand in the room: yours!

This is one session you cannot miss. Only at the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit.

Mingle in a Minute is produced and moderated by Laura Mitchell of Laura Mitchell Consulting (LMC) and Brooks Kenny of High Lantern Group.

For more information about Laura Mitchell Consulting, please visit lmcllc.us.

Blog, Meet the Innovators

Meet the Innovators: Laurie Orlov, Industry Analyst and Founder of Aging in Place Technology Watch

Q&A With Leaders in Technology and Aging

In this, the latest in our ongoing series on innovators in the Technology and Aging industry, we spoke with market analyst and industry ground breaker Laurie Orlov, founder of Aging in Place Technology Watch.

Q: Laurie, you have been such a pivotal fixture in this industry. Could you tell us what your role is and how long you’ve been in this role?

A: I’m a technology industry analyst – describing and offering insights about the market of technology for older adults. I’ve been working as an analyst and writer in the aging and technology space since 2009.

Q: How did you get your start in this industry?

A: It was personal for me. I became interested in elder care because of my own experience. That led me to volunteer as an ombudsman for nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Florida. As I spent more time doing that, I became even more interested, and I decided to get certified in Geriatric Care Management through the University of Florida. While in school, I prepared a bibliography project about technology and older adults. It was fascinating and I really starting thinking this industry needs an analyst. I’d had many years of experience as an analyst in the IT industry, and I knew how it was done.

So I began blogging, wrote a market overview, gave my first speech, and started offering advice to clients. The not-so-secret to building that business is that I’ve been blogging a couple of times a week since 2008, and after a while in the same topic space, the content rises in the search rankings. Plus, I was talking about technology for older adults to businesses, and nobody else was really looking at this market and providing advice as to what it could and should be.

Q: So, what do you think it should be? What would you change about this industry, if you could?

A: One of the biggest issues is that both standards and integration between devices are lacking. That means that every one of the devices must be marketed separately. It’s not like firms are plugging their products into a standard network. If you think about an electrical outlet in the wall, the fact that you can plug an appliance or device into a wall is because the standards for plugs exists. You don’t have to buy a different end for each appliance, because these standards were determined a long time ago. But we don’t have those kinds of standards in technology for older adults.

With standardization, and more effective marketing to generate awareness, engineering costs would be reduced by volume. Once you have volume, you can develop more products. It could be that this is the year when we’ll finally see this happen. The healthcare industry has realized that there are financial benefits to keep people in their homes, because the penalties for readmissions are growing.[pullquote align=”right” cite=”Laurie Orlov, founder of Aging in Place Technology Watch” link=”” color=”#69AE22″]”You need to evaluate whether there’s a demand other than you and your own grandma.”[/pullquote]

Q: What do you see that the industry is getting right?

A: There are now products out there that serve the needs of older adults, and they are generally coming down in price, which is not only good but required. Some of the products are being integrated with healthcare services. The penalties for readmissions have been going up with the Affordable Care Act, so it’s apparent that providers are interested in avoiding admissions or having their patients readmitted to hospitals. The industry is really focused on that space now, and that’s a positive sign.

Q: As a market analyst, what is your role in the aging and technology industry?

A: I help technology vendors by positioning their products into categories and identifying the other entrants and where they fit. I speak about the importance of this market in webinars and at conferences, and I help to organize and categorize the market for those attendees as well. If there’s a new product being launched, my site provides a platform in which it can be announced, so people not only know it exists, but also know how to find it. I also give advice to new entrants, trying to help a company head off a potential marketing or positioning mistake, help them identify strategic partners, and help them see if the product they’re thinking about really is a valuable addition to the market place. Sometimes telling someone it’s not all that useful or that the category has failed can be the best advice they get. That’s what an analyst does: helps position products and services in the market.

Q: What advice do you have for new entrepreneurs?

A: I’d tell them to make sure they’ve adequately tested their product before broadly shipping it. I hate to see one company tell me they bought another company’s product, and when they tested it, it didn’t work. There’s no testing body for the technology in this space, so it’s incumbent on the company to test, and in multiple circumstances, which sometimes can be hard to do.

I’d also advise them to make sure they understand the competition. I have people come tell me, “We don’t have any competition.” That’s rarely true. Make sure you understand the ecosystem. Make sure your product can be part of a broader solution. Understand the trends in healthcare. A lot of people get started in this industry because of an experience in their own families, because of something that occurred with their parents or their grandparents. To me, that’s a good trigger, a really good motivation to get into this space, but that’s not the same as market research.

Over the years, the technology for older adults market has expanded. It’s doubtful that there’s much of a market for niche products that aren’t built around standards, or that aren’t already part of a consumer-ready product. There’s very little out there in the market for older adults that couldn’t be done on a standard platform, mobile device, tablet, computer, or existing home automation technology. There always a need for new software, and the need to integrate with other software, but this market doesn’t need a lot of new hardware devices. There are too many out there already. So I’d also advise that if you want to make an impact, use a platform that can be used for multiple purposes.

Q: What’s next for you?

A: I publish a new market overview every year, and the new one was just published. The purpose is to examine trends that haven’t been well-articulated yet, ideas that haven’t been shared yet. This is not a boring space. I’ll be working on new research projects, and working with new innovative clients. So it’s all new for me.

Blog, Conference, Event, Press

Laura Mitchell Selected for Social Production at Annual Boomer Summit

Laura Mitchell Receives Award, 2011

Industry marketing and growth expert selected to enhance digital presence for premier Aging and Technology conference.

WEST BEND, WI – Laura Mitchell Consulting (LMC) announced today that they have been selected to bring their online marketing and social media magic to the 13th annual What’s Next Boomer Business Summit in Washington, D.C. this March. LMC will be providing educational content through publishing a series of blog interviews and a producing stream of real-time conference highlights on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Nationally recognized as a digital health and growth strategy expert, Laura and her team will bring her veteran industry experience, technical expertise, and networking skills to maximize the conference’s success. Her live feeds will help local and long-distance attendees be in multiple places at once, enable more productive networking, and remind everyone why this show is such a critical industry event.

“I have been going to the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit for years, and it truly has paved the way for entrepreneurs navigating the aging space,” said LMC founder Laura Mitchell. “I’m excited that I get to attend this year from the production side. I love bringing people and ideas together to foster innovation that can improve the lives of seniors and their carers.”

Laura is a well-known fixture and pioneer in the technology aging-in-place market. She has been speaking and attending the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit for the past 6 years, and in 2011 was honored with the Flame Award for Innovation, making her a natural choice as a social marketing presence at the conference.

“Laura is a digital media expert with a clear understanding of the entire digital health ecosystem,” said Lori Bitter, marketing and development consultant with The Business of Aging, and this year’s conference co-producer. “Laura’s enthusiasm as a social maven in connecting people – both through networking and digital media – adds a palpable energy and expertise to our event.”

Previous attendees may know Laura Mitchell as a founding member of GrandCare Systems in 2005, a founder of the Aging Technology Alliance (AgeTek), a Louisville Innovation Summit board member, the 2011 Innovation Award winner, or as the creator and host of the first aging and technology webinar series from 2008-2011.

Laura owns a guerrilla marketing and digital health consulting firm called Laura Mitchell Consulting (LMC) and has been active in the digital health, aging, and technology space for over a decade. She has received accolades from many sources including Forbes, Dealerscope, AARP and the Consumer Electronics Association. Her awards include Top Women of M2M, Top 40 under 40 and Young Turks of CE. Laura keynotes all over the country on a variety of subjects including disruptive non-traditional marketing, technology in aging, and connected healthcare.

Blog, Conference, Event, Press

Your Backstage Pass to the Aging 2.0 PEAK Fireside Chat

In March, a high-powered group of innovators will put their heads together for a Digital Aging roundtable. Moderator and industry veteran Laura Mitchell will put four panelists, Pete Celano of MedStar, Charlie Hillman of GrandCare Systems, Myron Kowal of RCare, and John Rydzewski of Direct Supply, in the spotlight and find out everything they’ve learned through the years in the recently intersecting senior housing and technology industry.

The session will include shared stories, experiences, mistakes and advice for moving ahead in the aging industry.

Hosted by Aging 2.0 and sponsored by RCare, this reservation-only Fireside Chat is an event you won’t want to miss!

Here’s your chance to meet the forum:

Pete Celano is a 20-year healthcare industry veteran. He is the Director of Consumer Health Initiatives at the MedStar Institute for Innovation. Before this, Pete was the co-founder of two companies: BeClose.com and a software-as-a-service company in the x-ray space. As Director of Consumer Health Initiatives for MedStar, Pete is especially focused on making patient access more convenient and friction-free. A major area of interest is cloud platforms that can tie into the EMR, to drive new system revenue, reduce costs, improve outcomes and extend access. Another interest area is screening patients using evidence-based questionnaires, especially on the web and mobile. He has a BA and MBA from the University of Virginia, and has presented at a variety of meetings and conferences on Health Innovations, Digital Health, Mobile, Cloud Platforms and Access.

Charlie Hillman is the founder and CEO of GrandCare Systems, which designs computers for seniors. Charlie is a serial entrepreneur who has spent most of his career building companies based on disruptive technologies, including computer-aided design, and starting one of the first Internet-providers. A professional engineer with a degree from MIT, Charlie is a commissioner of CAST (Center for Aging Technology) and a frequent speaker at national and international conferences. Charlie and his company have received numerous awards for innovation, including the 2012 CEA Innovation Entrepreneur Award for Small Business of the Year, a double recipient of the SeniorHomes.com’s Most Innovative Senior Products Award, and AARP’s Sterling Award and Silver’s Choice Award for outstanding products to empower and improve the lives of seniors.

Myron Kowal is President and CEO of RCare, Inc. In his 30+ years of healthcare communications technology experience, he has been the President and Founder of Special Care Systems, a top-tier integrator of Health and Eldercare technology, and President and Advocacy Chair of Greater Rochester Partnership for the Elderly. Myron’s current focus is on new business development, new product development, and strategic relationships. He maintains a hands-on approach to business and maintaining a personal relationship with distributors, customers and the elders they serve. He is currently a member of LeadingAge and LeadingAge CAST, ALFA, AHCA/NCAL, and Corporate affiliate with Eden Alternative. He is active in his local community, and has a passion for fishing.

Laura Mitchell is the founder of Laura Mitchell Consulting, a company specializing in growth hacking and agile marketing. She is a pioneer and thought leader in the aging/technology industry. Widely recognized for her growth hacking and social media expertise, Laura speaks all over the country about aging, technology, marketing and other topics. She is a founder of the Aging Technology Alliance (AgeTek), a Louisville Innovation Summit board member, and the 2011 Innovation Award winner, as well as the creator and host of the first aging and technology webinar series from 2008-2011. She has received accolades from many sources including Forbes, Dealerscope, AARP and the Consumer Electronics Association. Her awards include Top Women of M2M, Top 40 under 40 and Young Turks of CE.

John Rydzewski is the General Manager of Technology Solutions at Direct Supply, where he is responsible for helping Direct Supply bring new technologies into the Senior Living space, focusing on the Internet of things, technology systems, wireless, wearables, resident monitoring systems, and other cutting-edge technologies. Before this he led the creation and implementation of Operations & Supply Chain technology for Direct Supply, investigating emerging tools and their applications in managing care. His current focus is on creating profitable growth through innovation, operations and business development. He also supports the organization through short- and long-term strategic planning, and serves as a member of Direct Supply’s corporate Executive Leadership Team.

The roundtable event is being held in conjunction with the LeadingAge Peak Summit in Washington, DC, a unique conference that brings together the highest-level executives and business leaders in the aging and technology industry, and fosters education, strategic thinking, and networking. The Fireside Chat is scheduled on the Sunday evening leading up to the conference.

For Reservations:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aging20-washington-dc-digital-aging-successful-technology-implementation-in-senior-care-tickets-22199669810

Fireside Chat Schedule
Where: Stone’s Throw Restaurant, Marriott Wardmann Hotel
When: 7:00-8:30pm, Sunday March 13th
7-7:30pm Networking/Registration
7:30-7:35pm Welcome & Introduction to Aging 2.0
7:35-7:45pm Opening Remarks by Myron Kowal, CEO of RCare
7:45-8:15pm Roundtable Panel Discussion, moderated by Laura Mitchell of Laura Mitchell Consulting
Panelists: Pete Celano (MedStar), Myron (RCare), Charlie (GrandCare), John Rydzewski (Direct Supply)
8:15-8:30pm Networking Cocktail Reception

General Admission from Feb 26 at 5pm – March 9th at 5pm

Last Minutes tickets available after March 9th, until 6pm on March 13th

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Direct Supply is the nation’s leading provider of products, services and eCommerce solutions to Senior Living. Their mission is to enhance the lives of America’s seniors by helping build, equip and run better Senior Living communities. Since their inception in 1985, Direct Supply has had a strong focus on technology, helping drive innovations to the Senior Living marketplace. Headquartered in Milwaukee, WI, Direct Supply also operates an Innovation Center on the campus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering to further foster a culture of technology and innovation. Direct Supply’s Technology Solutions division is the nation’s leading, trusted partner for Senior Living technology systems. A full-service solution provider, they focus on technology assessment, design, implementation and lifecycle management.

GrandCare Systems is a caregiving tool that is designed to reduce healthcare costs and improve outcomes by enabling designated family members, caregivers and healthcare professionals to remotely care for an individual in a residence, regardless of geographic location. It starts with a large touchscreen in the residence, which provides the individual with social communications, instructions, reminders and medication prompts. No computer skills are needed for the resident to fully engage in all of the touchscreen features.

The mission of MedStar Institute for Innovation is to catalyze innovation that advances health. It provides a broad innovation infrastructure to help MedStar’s 30,000 associates and 6,000 affiliated physicians invent the future by supporting inventors, fostering strategic alliances, innovation and creative thinking, and bringing together experts to help make patient care safer, more efficient, and higher quality.

RCare is a provider of UL 1069 tested wireless nurse call and personal emergency response systems for the entire spectrum of eldercare and senior living. RCare components integrate into a variety of healthcare communication systems to create efficient and verifiable responses to medical emergencies. RCare works together with distribution partners to build individualized, flexible and seamless systems to enhance professional caregiving teams and their residents.

Laura Mitchell Consulting is a strike team of experts providing agile marketing, growth hacking services and effective awareness strategies to businesses like yours. For more info, contact us at info@lmcllc.us.

Blog, Meet the Innovators

Help, I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Reach My Apple Watch!

Connected health, wearables, digital health, population data, and big data are all the rage right now. As the baby boomers reach retirement age, the market for technology to help the aging population gains momentum. Changes happen quickly. That’s why we’ve decided to produce a new #LMCTechTuesday Innovation in Aging Series to keep you, and ourselves, up to speed.

Who were the early players in this market? Who paved the way and shaped this booming connected health world? What happened before the rest of the world knew that this stuff even existed? Where did they get their ideas for products, for marketing, for financing their innovations? What did they learn along the way? What would they do differently? And most importantly, where are their visionary products and minds taking us tomorrow?

We decided to swing for the bleachers right away with long term care veterans Myron Kowal of RCare and David Inns of GreatCall. What’s after that? Watch for all your favorites: Charlie Hillman, Mary Furlong, Jill Gilbert, Laurie Orlov and many more.

“The series is dedicated to the groundbreaking innovators who paved the way for the aging and technology marketplace we see today,” said long-time aging/tech veteran and LMC founder, Laura Mitchell. “There is so much we can learn from the people at the forefront of the industry. These are the people with the vision to define and educate this market, setting the pace for the many complementary and necessary products and services that help so many seniors today. I have learned so much already and I hope you appreciate their wisdom as much as we do.”

A new interview will be featured every Tuesday on the Laura Mitchell Consulting blog with the hashtag #LMCTechTuesday.

What industry experts are saying about the LMC “Meet the Innovators” project:

“The Independent Aging technology industry is still very young and undeveloped. All of the industry participants need to work together to share ideas and help stimulate primary demand. By having these conversations and learning from them, we can all grow more interest and momentum in the space.” David Inns, CEO of GreatCall

“The past 10 years have felt like a sprint uphill, but I wouldn’t trade the experiences and relationships I and GrandCare made along the way. I feel like we’ve been a major player in redefining how people age at home. That feels good and what feels even better is that people are finally buying into the notion of using enabling technologies.” Charlie Hillman, Founder of GrandCare Systems

“People don’t understand how much has changed in the past 10-20 years in the nurse call and emergency response space. This series is critical to outline where we’ve come from, and where we’re going, on our quest for faster and better products and services to help the people we love.” Myron Kowal, CEO of RCare (Response Care)

If you are interested in this market and what the heavy-hitters have to say about it, follow the Laura Mitchell Consulting blog. Learn about the history, present and future of the aging technology industry directly from the insiders who have made this all happen.

Do you know someone that should be featured in “Meet the Innovators”? Contact LMC at info@lmcllc.us and let us know.

Blog, Meet the Innovators

Meet the Innovators: Charlie Hillman, CEO GrandCare Systems

Q&A With Leaders in Technology and Aging

In the third edition of our blog series on innovators in the Technology and Aging industry, we’re talking with Charlie Hillman, founder and CEO of GrandCare Systems. Below is an excerpt of our recent conversation.

GrandCare

Q: Thanks for talking with us, Charlie. Can you briefly explain who you are and what you do?

A: I’m Charlie Hillman, CEO and founder of GrandCare Systems. I make people’s lives better. At least I hope I do.

Q: How did you get into this industry?

A: It started with a personal need. My great-aunt Clara was living next door. She was in her late 80s at the time. We got along great. I checked in on her frequently, had her over for meals once or twice a day. But when she had a problem with her furnace, we didn’t know, because she didn’t want to bother us. A simple temperature sensor could have alerted me to the problem right away. Anyway, it started there, and evolved into something much more. Some of it comes from what I think I’ll need when I age. At some point I realized that, without an application of technology to our aging and healthcare challenges, our country, which includes my grandchildren, will be in trouble.

Q: How did you create your product?

A: I started it in the early 90s. Part of it was in my basement, initially. I’m an engineer. So I started tinkering with what would become GrandCare, using the existing level of technology, but always with a mind that things would improve. So I left some “fill-in-the-blank” areas, where I knew technology would likely show up to enable what I wanted to do, and that would make it affordable for everyday people to use. You always program for the next machine. We still do that. Those that program for present end up creating a product for the past.
[pullquote align=”right” cite=”Charlie Hillman, CEO GrandCare Systems” link=”” color=”#69AE22″]”You always program for the next machine. Those that program for the present end up creating a product for the past.”[/pullquote]
Q: What would you change about this industry?

A: I’d like to give the end user a little more say in what happens. I’d like to reduce the influence of people who are in this industry primarily for the money. This is an emotional and passion-driven industry. You can tell who has a heart and soul for changing the way we age, for the better.

Q: How is GrandCare changing the way we provide aging services?

A: GrandCare’s systems make it a lot easier for more people to worry about someone’s well being, including the family and the people themselves. Enabling someone to have more control over their situation, more influence over their own wellness, is extremely important, and really the only way we get significant improvements.

What’s interesting is that influencing people to take better care of themselves quite often has to do with where the advice is coming from. The system doesn’t have an opinion. It doesn’t have an emotional or irritable response to your behavior. You might not do something if your daughter told you to do it, even if you know it’s good for you, but you would do it when your system tells you to. And the best part is that GrandCare never gets tired of providing constant reminders.

Q: What’s next for GrandCare?

A: An expanded market penetration, once the government, and society as a whole, realizes this is the only way for the healthcare system to remain solvent. Our technology is enabling technology. It is a vehicle to provide better, faster and more transparent care. We need drivers such as nurses, doctors and caregivers using it to analyze vitals and activity patterns and to really influence patient behavior.

Q: What advice would you offer a new entrepreneur in this space?

A: There will be no lack of people telling you you’re wrong, that what you want to do can’t be done. Someone will tell you not to quit your day job. You have to shake it off. Have faith in yourself. Have faith in your vision.

GrandCare is the winner of the 2012 CEA Innovation Entrepreneur Award for Small Business of the Year, and is a two-time winner of SeniorHomes.com’s Most Innovative Senior Products Award.

Laura Mitchell Consulting is a strike team of experts in the aging and technology industry. Know someone that we should feature in our “Meet the Innovators” blog series? Contact us at info@lmcllc.us and let us know!

Blog, Meet the Innovators

Meet the Innovators: David Inns, CEO GreatCall

Q&A With Leaders in Technology and Aging

We recently had the opportunity to talk with David Inns, CEO of GreatCall. We’re sharing highlights from our conversation in this edition of our blog series on innovators in the Technology and Aging industry.

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Q: Hi David. Thanks for talking with us today. Can you briefly explain who you are and what you do?

A: My name is David Inns. I’m the CEO of GreatCall. GreatCall is leader in “active aging” technology and services that help older individuals stay independent longer.

Q: Can you tell me how you got started in this industry?

A: It was in 2006. I met an older couple, Marty Cooper and his wife, Arlene Harris. He’s the inventor of the original cell phone, a really interesting guy. They had an idea for a company to develop technology for older consumers. I’d just been going through a caregiving experience with my own parents and I thought it was a great idea, so I joined the company. We launched in 2006 with zero revenue, and now here we are today with over 1,000 employees and hundreds of millions in revenue.

Q: Wow, that’s awesome! So what was the idea for the first product?

A: Our original product was the Jitterbug cell phone. That was all about helping older consumers adopt cell phone technology. Our thinking has evolved over time, and now it’s about how we can help older consumers get connected in ways that help their overall wellbeing, for example by providing health and safety services, or like medication adherence, or telehealth services to help them stay healthy between doctor visits, or emergency concierge services. All these services and more can happen once you have the connectivity established.

Now, we have a whole portfolio of products we can put in the hands of older consumers, to get them reliably connected. So, if your mom isn’t ready for the latest smartphone, if it doesn’t make sense for her or she isn’t comfortable with it, then that’s not a reliable method of connection for her. Maybe a medical alert is more appropriate for her, or in-home sensors for passive monitoring. We want to help people find what they feel comfortable with, because that’s the best way to make it reliable for them. It’s not reliable unless they’re willing to adopt it, and want to continue to use it. That’s what we’ve become expert at.

Q: You’ve been in this industry for ten years now. Do you have some advice you could offer a new entrepreneur?

A: I’d tell them that the most common mistake is designing technology backwards: starting from the healthcare system, or from doctors, or from family caregivers, designing from their needs instead of from the needs of the seniors. You have to design for them. Companies try to put solutions that benefit these other stakeholders into the hands of seniors, without providing benefits to the older consumer, but there has to be benefit to them if you want them to adopt it, something that makes them interested and excited about engaging with it. And that’s the key. Once you have that, then you go from there to see how to get information that can help the other constituents.
[pullquote align=”right” cite=”David Inns, CEO GreatCall” link=”” color=”#69AE22″]”…the most common mistake is designing technology backwards: starting from the healthcare system, or from doctors, or from family caregivers, designing from their needs instead of from the needs of the seniors.”[/pullquote]
Q: If you could change one thing in our industry, what would it be?

A: I would eliminate a lot of the questionable players with unreliable product quality and nefarious marketing tactics, because they do harm to seniors. They cast a pall, generate a negative reputation across the whole industry, when this should be a positive, feel good industry. We get up in the morning and help seniors be healthy and live longer, which is a great mission.

Q: And what do you think the industry is doing right?

A: We’re innovating quickly. We’re attracting venture capital, developing new companies, new startups. In the past, I think companies sometimes tried to customize technology too much, when in fact seniors are increasingly adopting mainstream technology. But most mainstream technologies don’t offer much customer service to back it up, because millennials don’t want it. They’d rather get the product at discount. But older consumers want customer service. They need help getting the device setup. When they first run into a barrier, they need to be able to call someone, or else guess what? They stop using it. With older consumers, it’s critical to bring customer service back into the equation.

Q: So, what’s coming up next for Great Call?

A: We’re expanding constantly and rapidly in vertical services, which is what we can offer once you’ve been connected. So, for example we’ve added a caregiver app that can take information from the devices, analyze it, and provide it in summarized form back to the family on how Mom is doing. There’s an unlimited amount of services we can provide vertically that can help improve the overall well-being of seniors. 102 rX02

And we’re expanding horizontally into new product areas. Just recently we launched the Lively Wearable, a Bluetooth wearable device. Instead of a mass wearable designed for the average 20-year-old fitness buff, it offers daily challenges focused on activity recommendations for seniors. For example, we know that travel is a passion of our target market, so based on a travel theme, you can select a challenge you want to do. If you choose to tour the Roman Coliseum, that’s a 5,000 step challenge. It shows you pictures as you go. When you meet the challenge, it congratulates you, awards points, and notifies family caregivers. It does motion sensing and has fall detection. And if there’s a crisis, it includes a discreet button that you can press that’s connected to 5Star agents, who know who you are, where you are, your medical condition, and can contact your family or friends, or dispatch emergency services, if that’s what you need.

GreatCall is always innovating and looking at new methods of researching, developing, and selling services, and the Lively Wearable is an interesting example of that. Crowdfunding is obviously really popular right now, and so we felt it was important to get involved, to experiment and learn. We launched the Lively Wearable using an Indiegogo campaign, because we wanted to test and get feedback during the final development stages of the product and service, so that when we are ready for mass marketing, the product has the best chance of success. It’s one of the ways we’re continuing to look at things in different ways, continuing to expand technology for connecting older consumers.

Laura Mitchell Consulting is a strike team of marketing and growth strategy experts in the aging and technology industry. Know someone that we should feature in our “Meet the Innovators” blog series? Contact us at info@lmcllc.us and let us know!

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