Business Forum

Aging Means Business: Design for a New Age

Friday, November 18th, 2011
9:00am - 5:30pm
Sheraton Boston, Constitution Ballroom A
39 Dalton Street
Boston, MA 02199

Sponsored by MetLife Mature Market Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, and Microsoft
Student Design Contest Sponsored by Eskaton

Aging Means Business is an annual one-day event that brings together the nation’s brightest, most successful minds, to share breakthrough ideas, innovations, and market strategies for success in the older adult consumer marketplace.

Expect to be inspired by an eclectic mix of business, design, and aging experts, learn from highly visual and industry-focused interactive sessions, and connect with your peers in unique co-creation and networking events.

View the agenda here.

The conference culminates with the announcement of the winners of the Student Design Competition and an exhibit hall reception.

Pre-registration is now closed. Registration will be available on-site.

For the FIRST 50 STUDENTS: Enter Promotion Code AMB11S on final page of online registration for a 50% discount (this offer is sponsored by MIT)

For travel and hotel information, click here.

Confirmed Presenters to Date

	Gretchen Addi is the location lead for IDEO San Francisco. Her projects have included: future work environment scenarios for Accenture; redesign of the atrium experience for SFMOMA; an exploration into the future of healthcare through the patient and family experience; international interviews and observations around automotive, cosmetic and home care products; and customer profiles for a financial services start-up. She also works to inform IDEO better in the design of products, services, and spaces for an aging population. Prior to IDEO, Gretchen worked for various large and small design and architecture firms in the U.S. and abroad on a range of retail, commercial, and healthcare projects.
	Majd Alwan, PhD, is the Vice President of the LeadingAge Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) and a noted researcher and authority on aging-services technologies.  Dr. Alwan is responsible for creating and leading a network of technology companies, providers, and research institutions focused on technology solutions for an aging society.  His research interests encompass designing, validating, and evaluating the outcome of monitoring systems and assistive devices that address the needs of seniors and their caregivers.  Prior to his role as Vice President of CAST, Dr. Alwan worked at the Medical Automation Research Center (MARC) at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, as an Assistant Professor and Director of the Robotics and Eldercare Technologies Program.
	José Colucci, PhD, is Director of Health & Wellness for IDEO Boston, and has been with the firm since 2000. Jose’s interests range from medical and scientific instruments to product strategy and trends in science and healthcare. He’s authored many patents and written on topics from the biotech revolution to design innovation. Recently, he’s been researching and speaking about aging and its implications for the design of products, services, and society. Prior to joining IDEO José worked for high-tech companies mainly in healthcare and a number of design consulting firms. Jose has training and experience in both Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design, and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering (USP and University of Illinois).
	Joseph F. Coughlin, PhD, is founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab. He is one of Fast Company magazine’s "100 Most Creative People in Business” and was named by The Wall Street Journal as one of “12 pioneers inventing the future of aging and how we will all live, work and play tomorrow.” His research seeks to understand how demographic and social trends, human behavior and technology converge to drive future innovations in business and government. He also consults to governments, financial services, consumer products, transportation, retailers, IT and health firms worldwide.
	Valerie Fletcher, MA, is the Executive Director of the Institute for Human Centered Design, an international educational and design non-profit organization based in Boston with a mission to advance the role of design in expanding opportunity and enhancing experience for people of all ages and abilities. Fletcher writes, lectures, and works internationally. She oversees projects ranging from the development of a global, web-based collection of case studies of universal design in the built environment to user-expert research in cultural facilities, national parks, and service businesses. Her research focus is on social and environmentally sustainable solutions for classrooms, workplaces, and homes. Fletcher is a Special Advisor to the government of Singapore and to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, is a trustee of the Boston Architectural College, and co-chairs the Executive Committee of the Design Industry Group of Massachusetts. The Boston Society of Architects awarded her the Women in Design award in 2005.
	Katherine Freund, MPP, is the founder of the Independent Transportation Network®(ITN), and President of ITNAmerica®. She served on the Advisory Committee for the 2005 White House Conference on Aging, as a National Transit Institute Fellow, and for ten years on the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on the Safe Mobility of Seniors. Katherine was featured in the Wall Street Journal as one of the “12 People Who Are Changing Your Retirement,” and has received numerous awards, including the AARP Inspire Award, the 2006 Maxwell Pollack Award from the Gerontological Society of America, and the Archstone Award for Excellence in Program Innovation from the American Public Health Association.
	Mary Furlong, EdD, is president and CEO of Mary Furlong & Associates (MFA), a strategy, business development, marketing, and public relations firm geared to drive new opportunities for clients in the baby boomer and senior markets; prior to launching MFA, Furlong founded the nonprofit organizations SeniorNet and ThirdAge Media.  In these roles, Furlong has guided the 45+ market strategies of leading corporations and nonprofit organizations, which include AARP, First Republic Bank, FirstSTREET, Wellcore, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, United Health Care, Caring.com, and Verizon.  She has appeared on CBS, PBS, NPR, and NBC’s Today show, and her expertise has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Business Week, Fortune, People, and Fast Company.  In 2007, her book, Turning Silver into Gold: How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace, was published by Financial Times Press.  In addition, Furlong is the Dean’s Executive Professor of Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business.
	Stuart Greenbaum is Eskaton’s Vice President, Public Relations and Brand Management. His role is to promote and protect the integrity of the Eskaton brand and corporate identity; develop partnerships and media opportunities to enhance the organization’s objectives; and direct a comprehensive multimedia campaign to communicate Eskaton’s spectrum of aging services and resources. Greenbaum joined Eskaton in January 2009 and prior to this provided public relations counsel to state and national institutions for more than 30 years. He is a graduate of Pepperdine University and California State University, Sacramento.
	Michael W. Hodin, PhD, serves as Executive Director of the Global Coalition on Aging. He is also Managing Director at High Lantern Group and Adjunct Senior Fellow at The Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to his current roles, Hodin was a senior executive at Pfizer, Inc. for 30 years, leading its International Public Affairs and Policy Operations. Hodin has written and lectured extensively on foreign policy subjects at Columbia, Georgetown and Oxford Universities and is the author of “U.S. Foreign Trade Policy: The Case of Steel.” He holds a BA, cum laude, Cornell University, M.Sc.in International Relations from The London School of Economics and Political Science, and M.Phil and Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University.
	Matthias Hollwich, SBA, is a registered European Architect and principal of the New York-based architecture and concept design firm Hollwich Kushner, which specializes in upgrading man-made environments.  One of the firm’s current projects is BOOM!, a retirement community in Rancho Mirage, CA, geared toward LGBT elders.  He also is a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he recently organized “New Aging: An International Conference on Aging and Architecture.”  Additionally, Hollwich co-founded the architectural social networking site Architizer.  His work has been featured in Wallpaper, The New York Times, Bauwelt, Dwell, and Architectural Digest.
	Jody Holtzman has more than two decades of experience helping companies develop and implement competitive strategies and achieve their strategic market goals. At AARP he leads AARP's new Thought Leadership efforts which support the organization's new brand positioning around a focus on living, not just aging, and for people 50+ to live their best life. Previously, Jody led AARP's research, competitive intelligence and strategic analysis functions. Prior to that, Jody was AARP's first Director of Strategic Analysis and Intelligence where his team provided forward looking and actionable insight about AARP's external environment in support of senior management decision-making. Jody is a member of AARP's Leadership Team and Brand Council.
	Emi Kiyota, MArch, PhD, is an environmental gerontologist and organizational culture change specialist who currently consults long-term care facilities in implementing person-centered care practices.  She has conducted pre-design programming for senior housing, addiction treatment centers, and hospitals in the United States and abroad, and recently has dedicated her energies to developing aging valued community projects in Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Ivory Coast.  To this end, Kiyota is leading a group of like-minded colleagues in creating a new not-for-profit, international organization entitled Ibasho, embodying the Japanese concept of “a place where one feels a home being one’s self.”
	John Migliaccio, PhD, is Director of Research at MetLife's Mature Market Institute (MMI). Prior to joining MMI, John was President of Maturity Mark Services Co., an international strategic planning, marketing, and market research consultancy firm. Dr. Migliaccio has served on the Board of Directors and chaired committees for organizations including the American Society on Aging, National Association of Senior Living Industries, and 50+ Housing Council of the National Association of Home Builders. He has also served on the Adjunct Faculty of the New School for Social Research Graduate School of Management and Urban Professions, College of New Rochelle, Fordham University and New York University. Dr. Migliaccio holds a Master of Education from Teacher’s College-Columbia University and a Master of Philosophy and PhD from Columbia University.
	Patricia A. Moore is President of MooreDesign Associates LLC. Moore is an internationally renowned gerontologist and designer, serving as a leading authority on consumer lifespan behaviors and requirements. For a period of three years (1979-1982), Moore traveled throughout the United States and Canada disguised as a woman more than eighty years of age. With her body altered to stimulated the normal sensory changes associated with aging, she was able to respond to people, products, and environments as an elder. Her clients include AT&T, Baxter Healthcare, General Electric, Honolulu Light Rail, Merck, OXO, and Seoul Design City Project. Moore is author of DISGUISED: A True Story, The Business of Aging (2012) and OUCH! Why Bad Design Hurts (in works).
	Jodi Olshevski, M.S., heads The Hartford Advance 50 Team, leading a team of corporate gerontologists who conduct primary research and deliver expert services across The Hartford Financial Services Group and to selected business. An expert on a wide array of aging related issues such as caregiving, eldercare, housing, and older drivers, Olshevski is co-author of the book Stress Reduction for Caregivers and has been interviewed widely by national and regional television and radio shows, including the CBS Early Show and NBC, and by national publications such as the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, and The Los Angeles Times. She has held an adjunct faculty position at Pennsylvania State University, and is a Visiting Scholar at MIT AgeLab. Jodi has a M.S. in Gerontology from the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of Southern California.
	Victor Regnier, FAIA, is a teacher, researcher and architect who holds a joint professorship between the School of Architecture and Gerontology.  He is a fellow in the American Institute of Architects and The Gerontological Society and served as USC’s Dean of architecture in the mid-nineties. He has published 6 books on housing for the elderly and received numerous awards for his scholarship. His research findings have been presented at over 200 conferences and 60 university symposia. As an architect he has consulted on over 400 building projects in 38 states, Canada, Germany and England.  In the last decade 50 of his projects have won national/state design awards. Professor Regnier is considered one of the world’s leading authorities on housing for the elderly.
	John Reinhart is CEO of the International Center for Long Term Care Innovation. He is a founding partner and creator of Commonwealth Leverage Group, a partnership of accomplished entrepreneurial executives focused on providing services to high-growth entities in healthcare and technology sectors. Prior to Innovate LTC, he spent three years as Executive Vice President, Clinical Solutions Group, for the publicly-traded Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc., which provides clinical software and other solutions to physicians. John also has several years of ‘Big Five’ accounting experience and is an accomplished deal maker.
	Donna Sapolin is Vice President, Editorial Director & General Manager of Next Avenue, an ambitious new public media initiative designed to hyper-serve and engage America’s booming older population. At its core, Next Avenue is a dynamic new website that provides in-depth information, perspective, and inspiration for older Americans. Sapolin has served as editor-at-large of the multi-media enterprise FLYP, editor in chief of This Old House magazine, and design and style editor at Food and Wine Magazine. Sapolin is also the author of two books, Country Living Decorating with Color (Hearst Books, 2002) and True Colors (Hearst Books/William Morrow, 1997). Sapolin is a graduate of Cornell University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts.
	Timothy Simard is Founder and CEO of Anthurium Solutions, a leading-edge, technology solutions company that provides breakthrough technology to solve large scale problems for “People and Work” in the 21st century. Using innovative platforms to ensure greater productivity, transparency, and reliability for companies, Anthurium Solutions helps clients identify their customers’ needs and create compelling solutions. Tim brings to Anthurium 25 years of experience in global management consulting focused on strategy and operations for emerging companies in high-tech, manufacturing, health care, and industrial products. Tim earned a Bachelor of Arts in business economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara with graduate studies in strategy and marketing at the University of California, Irvine.
	Louis Tenenbaum is a leading thinker, speaker and consultant on Aging in Place–the idea that our homes are the most desirable and economical place for housing and care.  Based in Washington, DC’s Maryland suburbs, Louis helps businesses, nonprofits and individuals formulate and refine design, strategies, marketing and programming for Aging in Place homes, products and age friendly communities. He began working as a carpenter and contractor, and was the first design build contractor specializing in home modifications for Aging in Place starting in 1991.  In 2010, Louis wrote Aging in Place 2.0: Rethinking Solutions to the Home Care Challenge, published by the Metlife Mature Marketing Institute.
	Hunter Tura, MArch, is president and CEO of Bruce Mau Design, Inc., a leader in breakthrough design thinking that applies design methodologies to a wide range of business and cultural organizations with challenges in need of creative solutions.  The firm’s recent collaborations include projects for the Oprah Winfrey Network, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and OCAD University in Toronto.  Prior to joining Bruce Mau Design, Tura was managing director at 2x4, Inc.; before that, he was a designer at Rockwell Group/Studio Red and principal of his own firm.  He has served on the design faculty of Columbia University and the Boston Architectural College.
	Gianfranco Zaccai, FIDSA, ADI, is co-founder and president of the global design and innovation consultancy Continuum. At Continuum, Zaccai is dedicated to exploring the power of design in relation to developing nations, and has engaged in development projects in Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, India and Chile. Continuum’s work has been featured in both national and international publications and has received global recognition, including a Presidential Design Award from President Clinton; the Compasso D'Oro in Italy; the Red Dot and IF Awards in Germany; and numerous awards from IDSA and Business Week. Zaccai is a Visiting Lecturer at the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy. Zaccai holds degrees in industrial design from Syracuse University and in architecture from the Boston Architectural Center.

For more information, including sponsorship opportunities, please contact Greg O’Neill at (202) 587-2842 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Sarah F. Wilson at (202) 587-2843 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Want to receive up-to-date information on aging and business?  

To view the agenda from last year's "Aging Means Business" forum in New Orleans, LA, click here, or visit last year's page.  You can also visit the AgingMeansBiz YouTube channel to watch selected presentations from last year's forum.

This event is part of GSA’s “Lifestyle Leads to Lifespan” conference, to be held November 18-22 in Boston, MA. An estimated 3,500 professionals in the field of aging are expected to attend, and the program schedule contains more than 400 scientific sessions featuring interdisciplinary research on aging.