Turning 60: Empowerment and Disappointment

Lauren Traub Teton, photo by Lisl Steiner

60 is a Time of Empowerment

I am turning 60. It is a milestone. Turning 50 was not a big deal. It was more a time of confusion. My friends and I still felt and looked young. Changes were ahead. Life still seemed limitless.
Turning 60 is a time of empowerment for me. Life ahead has an expiration date. Friends are getting body parts replaced and taking lots of pills. It’s now or never for me to forge ahead and bring my ideas and visions to reality. This is the burst of vigor before the deep winter sets in. This is the last blast.

I was silenced in fourth grade by a favorite teacher after I very uncharacteristically and impulsively spoke out of turn about my enthusiasm for reading. It kept me from speaking up all of my life until now. I am healing and it is my time and age to speak.

Disappointed

It’s time to admit that I am disappointed with the way our society treats us. Don’t get me wrong, I have a great life. It’s just that I had hoped that my age group would be catered to, and our business and buying dollars would be valued and sought. Instead my age group is ignored, and often blamed for the woes of the world. We should be catered to and served in the marketplace! (video).


I created the concept and name “Twifties, the fun people around age 50 and up, years ago, in my 50s. If we could describe the “lively ones” determined to enjoy life, products could be designed to suit us.

I Did Not Go to Woodstock

The words “Baby Boomer” do not represent me. The age range is too vast and encompasses several disparate “age cohorts” as they say. The people most like me are what I call T-6, the 6 biggest birth years of the Baby Boom, from 1956 to 1961. I believe we as a group have needs that are not being met by the product-pumping machine that is our society. They want us to buy, but they offer us nothing designed especially for us.

I don’t see people my age or with my lifestyle represented in magazines or TV Shows. I have never seen a sit-com centered around people my age at the time. The products and services I want to buy do not exist, and so easily could. There is not even market research done specifically on my birth year and the surrounding ones. No one asks us or cares what products we want. How about using market research to steer product and service creation for T-6?

Convenience was a Cherished Value Growing Up
Politeness, etiquette, caring, customer service, simplicity, convenience and true relaxation are in short supply.  “No problem” is not the same as “you’re welcome.” Our lives revolve around a complicated expensive slippery breakable stealable hand-held computer communication device that takes hours of our time each day. Do we like it? Do we have a choice? Does anyone care?

I was raised and taught peaceful social protest at a young age.  My age peers may have been too young to learn to protest and now sit in quiet discontent, or perhaps don’t even notice their discontent as they are drugged by the tempting lure of personal electronics and unwholesome food. Mass shootings occur regularly and people hardly mention it. It is overwhelming, confounding, and we feel helpless and sad, so why talk about it?

Greed is Good??

Cosmetics and personal products and even our beds contain toxic ingredients and no one speaks. The products we are offered can make us sick. The pharmaceutical and health care industries boom. Simple solutions for health are not discussed in mainstream news. We were shocked in 1987 when Gordon Gekko declared “Greed is good.” Now greed has indeed become acceptable. Or are we just too distracted to notice and protest?

Let’s Share What Works

Loneliness is an epidemic. Much of the T-6 group is desperate for affiliation, that is activity companions. When we were young we hung out in groups. We want friends to do things with. It’s easier to meet people who like salsa dancing at the dance than to try to drag your friends. We have the means to make meeting people with similar interests easy. The Twifties Chill Spot is a booth or area at an event where Twifties who may have come alone can socialize comfortably with others. Let’s make it happen! 

We have a vast wealth of knowledge that we have accumulated and it can easily be shared now that we have the internet and time. At this time in our life let’s use our power to share what works. Let’s open small businesses that offer products and services to serve and delight our age peers and to the benefit of all. Let’s let our voices be heard to bring back the simple joys in life that we grew up with.

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Lauren Traub Teton is a conceptual visionary and has created: Twifties and VibeMatch, The Twifties Chill Spot, The Teton NameScale, SnowboardSecrets and more. Lauren Traub Teton represents and is the self-appointed spokesperson for the birth year 1956. She has a long list of wishing well products and services that would make her and your life better and probably be successful. She chooses to use a flip phone as her main phone for its elegant convenience and reliability, and a smart phone as little as possible.

Her vision is to gather the T-6 cohort together in real life and online, and to ask them what could be done to make their lives better, then share the data with those who are interested and capable of making it happen.

VibeMatch Machine is Here!

VibeMatch! Shutesbury

The VibeMatch Machine is Here!
More mixing = more fun for all!
 
It's been years in the making, and now it is here, and what a fun path it has been, first creating the idea of VibeMatch. Then through true VibeMatch, meeting Jake (on a dance floor!) who took my idea and turned it into this very fun machine which was created for party entertainment at parties and mixers to break the ice and help people meet! 

We have had the VibeMatch Machine at several parties, you can see pictures and videos from those parties on our Facebook page VibeMatch at Twifties.. 
We combined 2 of our favorite inventions in the name of that Facebook page. Twifties are the fun people around age 50 and up. 
But VibeMatch is for all ages!

How does it work?
The VibeMatch Machine reads energy through the user's hand. Using proprietary algorithms, it calibrates the results and correlates the vibration frequencies to a color. After the resulting color flashes on the machine, the user is given a sticker, to wear with their color, and their 2 secondary color matches. Now they have a reason to mingle and mix and talk to anyone at the party! More mixing = more fun for all!

And you can have the VibeMatch Machine at YOUR party!
It is great at: corporate parties, bar and bat mitzvah parties, sweet 16s, business mixers, dating parties, holiday parties, corporate retreats,
We work with party planners, caterers, event planners, corporate events departments, and anyone else you can think of!

Remember, there is ONLY ONE VibeMatch Machine!
Have it at your party or event and it will be remembered and talked about for years!!
We are based in Westchester County, NY.
Contact Lauren!  NY 914 764-0115
 

VIVA TWIFTIES! The Fun People Over 50

Hi, I’m Lauren, the founder of Twifties, the fun people over 50.

"Fifty is the new 20, twenty, fifty, TWIFTY!!"

 Products are Not being Made for Fun People Over 50

 I created Twifties because products are not being made for us fun people over age 50, products that would make our lives easier and better. I speak as a child of the 1950s, born in one of the 6 biggest birth years ever recorded in American history. 1956 to 1961 had over 4.2 million births, We are the first generation that grew up with advertising, and as serious consumers, and now very little is marketed specifically to us. Twifties is a brand, without a product. Twifties is a market that is not being served. What products do we need and want? I see lots of studies speculating, but I don’t know of any survey of our age group that has specifically asked that question.

There is Big Money

There is big money out there for the companies that unlock this market! For example, I extrapolate from sales figures from SIA, (SnowSports Industries America) that there are 280,000 or so snowboarders over the age of 50. Yet not a single company of the hundreds that make snowboard gear has thought to distinguish themselves by marketing to this niche. And so it goes in all fields.

What Products Would Make our Lives Easier?

What products would make our lives easier, and are not readily available? We grew up over half our lives without hand held technology, the last generation to do so. Our ways of thinking and learning and doing are not respected by the products we are offered. New is not always better. I need a technology wizard, always available to call or go on my computer remotely when I have a problem. Someone who is trustworthy and reasonably priced. And a way to easily manage the pictures on my computer and phone. An MS Word program that has the 10 functions we use most at hand, instead of having dozens of obscure functions obscuring the 10 useful ones?

Twifties need near vision eyesight, to read close up. Clothing to flatter our changing bodies. Clothing to travel with that has pockets, looks good, and doesn't need ironing. And when we find that clothing that looks good and works for us, we should be able to order it repeatedly online, because the sizes are consistent and the product is constantly available, with minor styling and color updates. Buying clothing and shoes online is one aspect of technology that I would embrace, except once I find a product I like, it will surely soon become unavailable.

What Else Would I Embrace?

What else would I embrace? TV shows starring characters we can identify with would be a nice change. We grew up with TV, and now we are invisible on TV. Hairstyles to flatter what we have left. ANY styles in fact. There are no styles or style leaders for our age group. From watching Star Trek as a child, I hoped the future would hold an easy to wear outfit that would make me look great! 

How about phones that have the basics that we need front and center, reasonably priced, and don't need charging every day. And a way to carry our phones and money safely and compactly for sports and general freedom of movement.

I Don't Want to Sound Cranky

I don't want to sound cranky, but from watching the Jetsons as a kid I thought my life would be easier now, and products to make it so are not evident. My Keurig coffee maker is the only thing I have close to the Jetsons’ kitchen equipment. Why is it that a restaurant countertop dishwasher can wash dishes in 5 minutes, and I have a huge box in my kitchen that needs to be filled with used dishes and takes 90 minutes of my hot water and electricity to do the same job? 

More things I wish for: someone to help me cull "stuff" in my house from 30 years of living here, and also stuff from cleaning out my parents' house. I used to be embarrassed by the amount of "stuff" but now I see that it is a common problem. We all have more stuff, and more is always trying to get into the house. My closet was designed for a person with a 1976 amount of stuff. My electrical outlets are placed for that time's needs too. Houses are still built that way.

Twifties are the Bull’s-Eye of the Target

Twifties are the bull’s-eye of the target of baby boomers. We are the fun active sporty people who do things, travel, and spend money. Music festivals these days are chock full of Twifties. We love to dance and grew up in the greatest time for dancing in the US ever. But we have few places to dance! We are the best looking group of older people that have ever existed in the US.

How can Twifties be better served by the commercial world? My vision is that excellent products to fill the needs of Twifties will be available. In my Twifties vision, these high quality ethical products at reasonable prices are already vetted and found successful by users, and if they fail in the future they lose their place in the Twifties Product Portfolio. Doing research for a purchase takes time and energy, let’s share what works and not reinvent the wheel.

Twifties World - Twifties Love to Socialize

Twifties love to socialize live, and in Twifties World, Twifties Activity Companions can easily be found through an app, so if you want to go to a concert and can’t find any of your friends to go with, the app will tell you who other Twifties going to that concert will be, or you can just meet at the Twifties Chill Spot for conversation and easy going companionship. Twifties dances and parties never have the music too loud, always have a secure place to park your bag and coat, and are smokeless and vapeless, inside and out. At Twifties parties, which are always free, the guests get gifts! Twifties Gifties! Like on the red carpet! Sponsors share great samples of their products and are eager to get them into the hands of the centers of influence Twifties who attend.

Twifties should be celebrated and coddled and catered to instead of being ignored. Viva Twifties!

Comment and join at Twifties.com on Facebook and visit www.Twifties.TV where you can sign up.

Stay Healthy Tips for Twifties

Here's one way Twifties can stay healthy.

Dr. Joseph Mercola has what he calls The World's #1 Natural Health Website.
The articles are researched and footnoted...and alarming.
On a more positive note, here are 12 health tips from one of his articles. You can read the whole article here.

Staying healthy excerpt from
Environmental Toxins Linked to Rise in Autism 
 
Organically-grown, biodynamic whole foods are really the key to success here, and, as an added bonus, when you eat right, you're also optimizing your body's natural detoxification system, which can help eliminate toxins your body encounters from other sources. Here are a dozen recommendations that will help limit your family's toxic exposure. Please remember that all of these become even more important if you're pregnant or planning a pregnancy, since your toxic load will be transferred on to your child.

1. As much as possible, buy and eat organic produce and free-range, organic foods to reduce your exposure to agricultural chemicals. Eat mostly raw, fresh foods, steering clear of processed, prepackaged foods of all kinds. This way, you automatically avoid artificial food additives, including dangerous artificial sweeteners, food coloring, and MSG.
2. Rather than eating conventional or farm-raised fish, which are often heavily contaminated with PCBs and mercury, supplement with a high-quality purified krill oil, or eat fish that is wild-caught and lab tested for purity.
3. Store your food and beverages in glass rather than plastic, and avoid using plastic wrap and canned foods (which are often lined with BPA-containing liners).
4. Have your tap water tested and, if contaminants are found, install an appropriate water filter on all your faucets (even those in your shower or bath).
5. Only use natural cleaning products in your home.
6. Switch over to natural brands of toiletries such as shampoo, toothpaste, antiperspirants, and cosmetics. The Environmental Working Group has a great database²⁰ to help you find personal care products that are free of phthalates and other potentially dangerous chemicals. I also offer one of the highest quality organic skin care lines, shampoo and conditioner, and body butter that are completely natural and safe.
7. Avoid using artificial air fresheners, dryer sheets, fabric softeners, or other synthetic fragrances.
8. Replace your non-stick pots and pans with ceramic or glass cookware.
9. When redoing your home, look for "green," toxin-free alternatives in lieu of regular paint and vinyl floor coverings.
10. Replace your vinyl shower curtain with one made of fabric, or install a glass shower door. Most all flexible plastics, like shower curtains, contain dangerous plasticizers like phthalates.
11. Limit your use of drugs (prescription and over-the-counter) as much as possible. Drugs are chemicals too, and they will leave residues and accumulate in your body over time.
12. Avoid spraying pesticides around your home or insect repellants that contain DEET on your body. There are safe, effective, and natural alternatives out there.

TVCOL - TV Channel Online Available to All - Try it Out Now!

TVCOL stands for "TV Channel Online" and it is the easy neat way to gather your content from different sites, categorize it, and display it online! Read more about TVCOL.

The interface, designed by internet entrepreneur Lauren Traub Teton for her own use is available to you so you can have your new website up and running in a week or less. You just figure out what content you want to show, and cut and paste! The look is clean and graphically pleasing unlike the cluttered chaotic look of so many websites today.

Ms. Teton says "I have over 300 YouTube videos with a million viewers, and I needed a way to make the videos available by category for easy viewing, so I designed this interface with the help of my web developer, Chris Sisco at CS Graphix. And it works great!"

Try it out now in a live sample.

The site is designed for these occasions:

   *If you have videos or articles of your own that you would like gathered and sorted by categories on a page/pages for easy viewing by your customers

    *If you have videos or articles about you and your business by others that you would like gathered and sorted on a page/pages for easy viewing by your customers (The content can be anywhere, since we are using links to it.)

    *People who have content and want a website up FAST (once you order the template and we set it up in a few days, your website can be up as fast as you can cut and paste the content.)

We currently have these TVCOL sites in use and the interface is a pleasure to use.

www.SnowboardSecrets.TV
www.SnowboardNews.TV
www.Twifties.TV
www.TwiftiesTalkRadio.com (new)

Contact us to try it out!
Try it out now in a live sample.
Read more about TVCOL.

Avon Theatre Hosts Twifties Party August 1

Avon Theatre Hosts Twifties Party Before the Movie, August 1

Stamford’s Avon Theatre is the spot for the Twifties Pre-Party before the rock and roll movie of “Bob Dylan and The Band,” Wednesday, August 1. The movie is the fourth in the “legends of Rock Live” series by film archivist Bill Shelley. Previous movies in the series have highlighted The Doors, The Grateful Dead, and The Allman Brothers.

Lauren Traub Teton of Pound Ridge, NY is the impresario behind the party and the creator of “Twifties” the fun people around age 50 and up. “I have been to the first three “Rock Live” films at the Avon,” says Ms. Teton, "and I have noted that it is an attractive and interesting-looking crowd of people who I would love to get to meet, and who seem like they would enjoy knowing each other. But at a movie, there just isn’t time. So I approached the Avon Theatre with the idea of throwing a little party before the film, and they jumped at the idea.”

The Twifties party at the Avon, 272 Bedford St, Stamford, CT is from 6:30 until 7:30, when the movie begins. Party admission is free with a movie ticket and all ages are welcome. Food will be supplied by Shelly's On the River Bar & Lounge and Spice Affaire Restaurant at the Hampton Inn and Suites at 26 Mill River St. in Stamford. The restaurant warmly welcomes the Baby Boomer and Twifties crowd.

An Avon Theatre membership table will be set-up at the event. New members will save $5 on the tickets and have a choice of membership gifts supplied by Twifties, including the Twifties Festival Kit which keeps the user’s water bottle handy in a sleek black shoulder bag with pockets for phone and keys.

Party attendance is limited due to space so participants should RSVP to Lauren@Twifties.com. Other Twifties events such as the Twifties Table at Whole Foods, can be found listed at TwiftiesCalendar.com and shown on this blog at http://twifties.blogspot.com/2012/01/twifties-table-whole-foods-market.html.

“The Twifties Movement” as she calls it, was started because Ms. Teton feels that the fun people of the Baby Boom are the bulls eye of the target of the consumers in this age group, and are not being catered to by advertising, marketing, or product design. “We control trillions of dollars in disposable income but are not pictured in ads for fun products like skis. But Toyota has leapt forward  and is totally ‘getting it’ in their new Venza automobile campaign showing baffled adult children who think their parents are dull or sleeping while the parents are out mountain biking and going to late night parties!”

 Ms. Teton looks ahead to having a website and an app where active Twifties can meet by zip code and find activity companions who enjoy the same pastimes, for examples:skiing, snowboarding, kayaking and music shows. She is looking for tech and business partners who can help make it happen. Twifties.TV is her video channel online filled with videos of fun trips and tips for Twifties. Twifties is putting together a “street team” of activists to help spread the word and is looking for a few volunteers to help out at this party. Contact  Lauren@Twifties.com.

Gathering of the Vibes Returns to Bridgeport, CT July 19-22

Gathering of the Vibes Returns to Bridgeport, CT July 19-22

Sunday is “Family Day” at the Vibes Celebrating CT Residents, Vets & Active Military

Kids 15 & Under are Free; Connecticut Residents, Veterans & Active Military Receive Half Price Tickets ($20)

Gathering of the Vibes’ School of Rock Teen Vibes Stage Returns July 19-22, 2012 

We have been attending Gathering of the Vibes for years and it’s always a blast! Check out our videos from last year here including the Best 2 Minutes of GOTV, and the dynamite performance from the School of Rock that still grooves me out!  Here and here . Also our up close and personal interview with the charming Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks from Vibes last year here. 

Here’s more on this year’s Vibes!! Don’t miss it!! There's a special offer for families, CT residents, and military personnel past and present!

BRIDGEPORT, CT – Sunday is “Family Day” at the Gathering of the Vibes, allowing families to attend the festival at a significantly reduced ticket price. Available only at the gate, kids 15 & under are free and all Connecticut residents and members of our military showing a photo ID will gain entrance admitted for $20. Family Day offers the ideal compromise between children’s need to have fun and parents’ desire to watch some music and catch up with old friends. 

Gathering of the Vibes, the Northeast’s premier camping, music & arts celebration, remains a pioneer in creating a truly family friendly festival experience. Last year, Vibes hosted 700 families & their kids – 1,800 children under the age of 15 were in attendance. This unique “community” experience is what ultimately separates Gathering of the Vibes from all other music festivals, using music to bring generations together. 

“In 2011, ‘Family Day’ turned out better than we ever envisioned. The positive ‘vibe’ was amazing, and the spirit of thousands of young people in attendance was palatable,” says Ken Hays, festival founder. “We want to continue celebrating family, our fellow Connecticut residents, and thanking the men and women who serve our country. ‘Family Day’ has become a great platform for us to do just that.” 

School of Rock Partnership & Teen Vibes Stage

The Vibes is pleased to again partner with the nationally acclaimed School of Rock organization. SOR is the leading performance-based music education program with schools located throughout the country, including Fairfield, Conn. The School of Rock Teen Vibes Stage will feature some incredibly advanced young artists, offer music lessons, and organize jam sessions for every age and talent group. For more about School of Rock at Vibes and a full All Stars schedule, please visit http://gatheringofthevibes.com/vibes-school-of-rock-teen-vibes-stage.

“The extraordinary talent of these School of Rock kids completely blew us away last year,” Hays. “To see these teens perform with clear focus and vision was inspiring to us all. Teens inspired by something other than video games and TV – there’s hope for future generations!” 

Kids Corner & Teen Scene

Celebrating its 13^th installment at the festival, Kid’s Corner, led by Gabrielle Fugere and Andy "The Music Man" Morse, is a clean, safe, fun, and exciting place for younger children. Kids Corner & Teen Scene is located in a shaded, tree lined area with plenty of space for having fun, with the Family Camping area situated nearby. For info on Kids Corner, Teen Scene, and families at the Vibes, check out: http://gatheringofthevibes.com/kids-families-2.

Sunday festivities kick off with the World Peace Prayer and Flag Ceremony (www.worldpeace.org), where children who have created special puppets at the Kids Corner lead a Mardi Gras parade to the Main Stage, where every country on Earth is recognized in a group prayer. This prayer, “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” is guided by 1960’s icon Wavy Gravy alongside James Dugan of The World Peace Prayer Society.

Gathering of the Vibes welcomed over 20,000 fans per day last year, despite record-breaking heat. With more than 160,000 Facebook fans, the festival continues to attract a diverse, multigenerational audience, affectionately known as the ‘Vibe Tribe.’ A full artist lineup and ticket details for this year’s four-day extravaganza is available at http://www.GOVIBES.com.

Seaside Park is easily accessible by public transportation and just 50 miles from Manhattan. Fans traveling from NYC and Long Island may take Metro North or the Port Jefferson Ferry. Shuttle bus service will transport festival attendees to and from the venue, local area hotels, the ferry, train, and bus stations. 

For complete and up-to-the-minute Gathering of the Vibes information, visit www.GOVIBES.com and follow Gathering of the Vibes on Facebook, Twitter, or check the message boards.