I had the pleasure to interview Greg Varnum tonight on Y Talk Radio. Greg is 25 years old and is the Acting Executive Director for the National Youth Advocacy Coalition. NYAC is the national LGBT organization working with both youth and organizations to maximize the talents that young people have and to help them develop their talents for the future.

 

 Greg Varnum with NYAC [30:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I had someone ask me yesterday what I thought about the Miley Cyrus situation (like I am some expert on pop culture). But…I have to admit that I do follow pop culture closely, because it always offers insight into what some of the greater concerns are for Generation Y (and to me, it’s just fun to follow). While I know our pop tarts are not a true representation of “regular life”, their lives are blown up enough for us to learn a few things from them.

To be honest, as a parent who has had my ups and downs, I have to say that we will all never know the full story of what really went on during the photo shoot, nor would I ever want to pass judgment on the situation . When I look at the slideshow of the photo shoot, it appears to me that Miley and her family were very present and in control of the situation. And…the photos with the sheet show Miley at least wearing jeans underneath. It is also quite well known that Annie Liebowitz does not play it safe as a photographer, and she is a well-respected photographer. The Cirus family is smart…they’ve been doing this a long time, and my hunch is they knew a lot going into this, so I really have more questions than answers.

I would just leave this one question to all Gen Y’s to consider “If your actions, photos, facebook comments or e-mail conversations end up on the front of the newspaper (or in this case Vanity Fair), will you be okay with it?” Also…just know that our Gen Y’s brains are not fully developed until age 21, so even though our kids say they don’t want direction or advice from their parents, they will be grateful later on that you cared enough to step in and guide them along the way. As I always tell my kids who are all Gen Y’s…”I’m  a pain, because I love you. Would you rather I not say anything, because I don’t care about you?” They always say “No…I guess I would rather you care.”

“The biggest U.S. financial crisis isn’t the housing crunch. It’s the government debt bomb being planted by baby boomers to explode in the faces of their children and grandchildren.”

This is an interesting article in the Baltimore Sun.

It really has given me a great deal to think about. We have certainly created quite a challenge that Gen Y will inherit (along with trying to pay off student loans, pay for healthcare, housing and the escalating price of food and fuel). The article points to our $9 trillion in debt, which is going to leave us with very little resources to address our major concerns surrounding healthcare and education.

We need to get on this today! Start getting involved and doing your part to help out.  Contact your political leaders, and by all means…if you think a certain candidate can help the economy, please get out and vote in your primaries and for the national election. I don’t believe it’s fair for us to just sit and do nothing and let Gen Y carry the burden for us.

Jacci Schiff is an amazing Gen Y leader.  She hit the streets two weeks ago in Washington D.C. for Y Talk Radio to ask a few Gen Y’s about their views on the state of the economy.  Really insightful interview. Download the interview here.

Jacci is a pro with interview style podcasts and pulled this great snippet together in less than a week.  So, check out what she is up to.  And…if you are interested in having a professionally done audio interview like this one, contact Jacci through the Schiff Report.

The podcast below includes the above linked interview and a few other thoughts from Jacci about Gen Y and the state of the economy from a recent interview on Y Talk.  Thanks Jacci for all you are doing!

 

 Y Talk Economy [35:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Networking the Vote.

The article goes into detail about the use of social networking sites and cell phones to garner support from Gen Y in the election and also for future marketing and recruiting efforts. I’ll be curious to see how this affects the Millennials desire to get out and vote.

Millennials are telling their employers they want to give back…they don’t want to leave their values at home.

So…companies are doing it right.  They are giving Gen Y the opportunity to get paid to volunteer…and the company gets in on the good stuff as well.

Check out the article on WSJ: The Latest Office Perk:  Getting Paid to Volunteer 

Millennial Leaders 

An article appeared on the AP yesterday about Yoani Sanchez who is the author for the Blog Generacion Y in Cuba.  The site, which grabs 1 million visitors daily, offers visitors uncensored views about the Cuban government.  Yoani is actually a Gen X (she was born in 1975), and the blog is named Generacion Y after people whose names begin in Y, but this story is an interesting one and worth checking out.  Sanchez does offer insights into teen life in Cuba as well as some great rants.  The English translation version is here. 

• Gen Y is hit every day with stereotypes. They have been labeled as privileged, technology obsessed and avoid face-t0 face interactions. But hey, they are just like you and me. They want to hear from you — their boss, their manager, their co-workers. Most of them want to hear from their bosses everyday.

Well, here’s some of the things a Gen Yer can do

Read more

Last time I was here I wrote about how Gen Y doesn’t use radios. Now, I am realizing they don’t use TVs. Who needs them. Why not just hook up a big monitor to your Mac (which are more beautiful than PCs). That’s what my Y neighbors are doing. Gen Y is changing the home — changing what appliances, gadgets, etc. we use. 

I have e-mails and phone calls weekly from people asking me what they need to do to effectively market to Generation Y. The best advice I have is this: Check out Mr. Youth and do what they do! (or hire them to do it for you!)