This week was the first time I have taught for a Chamber of Commerce crowd. Riverside has weekly “Business in Action” meetings where the Chamber arranges for other members to come in and speak on topics of their expertise. Being a board member for the Public Relations Society of America (IE Chapter) and the Riverside Chamber, I was asked to come and speak on a topic. “Web 2.0: Why is far more important than how” was the title of my 20-minute talk.

In the room were around 30 people. A few young faces dotted the crowd dominated with those 40 and over.

The meeting started with introductions. Each person stood up, introduced themselves, and answered the question: “What is web 2.0?”

Probably 80% of the crowd had no idea what web 2.0 was and didn’t even try. Those that did talked about things like interaction and technology. That’s a good ratio considering I belong to several marketing-specific organizations and I am still floored at the lack of acceptance and understanding of technology and change in the industry.

From the introductions, I knew there would be one issue. An architect in the back of the room when answering the introduction question quite boldly stated: “I have real job. I don’t have time for web 2.0.”

I started in on the talk. Much of which centered around the book “Groundswell.” To this day, it’s the best web 2.0 books I’ve ever read as it focuses on the “why” and not the “how.”

I sprinkled the presentation with facts and charts to cater to those more numbers oriented and to cement certain points. I threw in humor by covering a few examples of web 2.0 in action including the Digg.com story, the Streisand Effect, and even showed a screen shot of the Comcast guy sleeping on a customer’s couch waiting for Comcast tech support.

The architect in the back continued to heckle me. Here I was, up early, giving my time (for free) in the name of helping small businesses, and this man was actually heckling me. I tried to ignore his jabs and sneers but he certainly wasn’t shy and his boldness was irritating.

I jumped into a story about Second Life and how builders had used the site to create spaces for potential clients to walk through thinking that it might cater to this man’s industry and get him to at least warm up to the idea. Yeah, it didn’t work. He made another snide remark and I continued with the presentation.

He continued to interrupt and I finally said something along the lines of:

“Sir, I don’t have anything to sell here. And, I’m not for hire. I’m here to help you. I can’t wait till you’re up here speaking.”

That was enough to shut him down for the rest of the talk. I didn’t understand why he didn’t leave if he was having such a bad time.

There were several people in the audience clearly enjoying the material. I rushed through the content that could have easily taken over an hour and then started to answer a few questions. With one question remaining until we adjourned, an older woman was selected as the last question.

“Um, how old are you?” she asked with a slight smirk and I knowing full well she was doing this to put me in my place.

“Actually, I’m 33 today,” I answered. The audience glazed over her intended insult to wish me happy birthday and thanked me for taking the time on my birthday to come out.

I rarely get down on myself but I must admit I was a little saddened and my ego was slightly bruised. In a thirty minute window, I was told by two of my elders that not only was what I was doing not worth while, it was childish and for those without anything better to do.

After the talk, the architect approached me and mentioned having “friends” in his business not getting work because they did drawings by hand. Ah Ha! It wasn’t that he disliked me or my talk; he hated what I stood for. Change!

Having worked in his field, everyone I ever worked with did drawing in autoCAD. I’m not sure if he truly had “friends” dealing with the issue or if it was his business that was suffering because of competition from tech savvy architects. Regardless, that statement better framed what had really occurred between us.

This interaction caused me to pick up Retiring the Generation Gap by Jennifer Deal. I had actually purchased it previously but this whole situation had me asking questions. Why were older generations so difficult to communicate with at times? How could they be so indifferent to changes? It affects them too, right?

In the book, Deal draws on a study of 3,200 people surveyed by the Center for Creative Leadership in San Diego. This study was conducted to sort out issues between generations.

Nothing I read was much of a surprise. The study found that despite what people might think, all generation have much of the same needs and aspirations. In a list of 40 questions, all generations found family, integrity, achievement, love, competence, happiness, self-respect, wisdom, responsibility, and life balance to be the most important.

What stood out to me was: 1) Everyone wants respect and, 2) No one likes change.

The book talks about older people with experience wanting to be acknowledged as authority figures. In the room were probably 25 people with a good 20 years of running a business under their belt. All of them had more business experience and life experience than I. Who was I to come in and tell them business is changing?

The book also talks about young folk and our desire to be heard and understood. I work very hard at what I do and what I know. I was hoping to share something with them, to be heard, and to somehow make a difference. Some of it landed. For a few, I missed horribly.

Many Boomers are set to retire and the vacancies they leave will be many. I’m not so arrogant to think I don’t have something to learn from those that have come before. I too will have generations below me nipping at my heels in a matter of years. I know I will want their respect.

This entire day reminded me of the continued need for collaboration and inter-generational understanding. We need older generations to not fear us as change agents. At the same time, young professionals must take great care to honor those that have come before. Their guidance, wisdom, and experience, if shared, will better shape our future and guide our decisions as young professionals. Our understanding of the changing world and technology has the potential to translate their wisdom and experiences into lasting legacies (the ultimate form of honor and respect).

The potential synergy is great if we can get beyond the generational gap. I’m working on it.

(photo Joi)