{"id":17788,"date":"2013-05-08T20:26:03","date_gmt":"2013-05-08T20:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lern.org\/?p=1349"},"modified":"2021-08-02T12:22:03","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T17:22:03","slug":"great-programming-for-the-55-crowd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lern.com\/lern\/great-programming-for-the-55-crowd\/","title":{"rendered":"Great programming for the 55+ crowd"},"content":{"rendered":"
Don\u2019t call them seniors\u00a0and don\u2019t expect\u00a0them to want ordinary\u00a0programming.\"iStock_000014538668Large<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
T he 55+ crowd is\u00a0more active and demanding\u00a0than ever\u00a0before and, that\u00a0means there are now\u00a0more opportunities to\u00a0deliver to them high\u00a0quality, original programming\u00a0that delivers\u00a0a great return on\u00a0investment.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Greg Milano, the recreation\u00a0supervisor for\u00a0the Los Altos, Calif.\u00a0Recreation Department,\u00a0said programs run by\u00a0his department do well\u00a0because they incorporate\u00a0camaraderie,\u00a0learning, activity and\u00a0variety.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
Tap into the social aspect<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u201cThey always want to hang out,\u201d\u00a0Milano said. \u201cThey are here for social\u00a0reasons, so we start by getting\u00a0them into the center and then go\u00a0from there.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Milano has found a great way of\u00a0getting the 55+ crowd into the center\u00a0for the first time is by offering free\u00a0workshops or seminars, either onsite\u00a0or at the nearby Los Altos library.\u00a0This tactic serves as a marketing\u00a0double-whammy as it reaches users\u00a0of the library who might not be\u00a0familiar with the Recreation Department\u2019s\u00a0programming.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Milano said the department uses\u00a0this tactic about once a month, usually\u00a0to promote a new class.\u00a0Another way the Los Altos Recreation\u00a0Department focuses on the\u00a0social aspect of recreation program,\u00a0is by actually basing some programs\u00a0around social events.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Milano said the Monday Night\u00a0Football program, which organizes\u00a0weekly football viewing get togethers,\u00a0is very popular with the 55+ crowd.\u00a0Weekly lunches and other regular,\u00a0casual activities also are popular\u00a0draws, Milano said. The program\u00a0also offers regular poker games,\u00a0bridge tournaments and iPad and\u00a0Mac tutoring sessions that raise\u00a0awareness of the other programming\u00a0and activities available.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Keep it fresh<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Milano said Los Altos, which offers\u00a0about 200 classes per quarter, adds\u00a0new programming each quarter that\u00a0is either geared to the 55+ crowd or\u00a0is great for adults of all ages. They\u00a0take suggestions from their best customers,\u00a0teachers and the community\u00a0at large.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Milano said the new Dog Grooming\u00a0101 class is a result of taking\u00a0suggestions from the program\u2019s best\u00a0customers, and has already proven to\u00a0be a very popular addition.\u00a0Ethnic cooking classes, singing\u00a0lessons and even a class on raising\u00a0backyard chickens are also among\u00a0the program\u2019s successful new additions\u00a0this year.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re not offering what you\u2019re\u00a0looking for, let us know and we\u2019ll\u00a0start looking for it,\u201d Milano said.\u00a0\u201cWe don\u2019t want people to say \u2018This\u00a0is the same old thing,\u2019 when they\u2019re\u00a0looking through our course catalog.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As LERN recommends, Los Altos\u00a0uses a new class logo next to each\u00a0new class in every catalog.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Reach your audience\u00a0Reaching the diverse and important\u00a0audience is a bit different for every\u00a0program, but Milano said his program\u00a0counts on a regular newsletter\u00a0to inform people about new classes,\u00a0events and other news.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThey look forward to the newsletter,\u00a0they love it,\u201d Milano said.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Los Altos also reaches their 55+\u00a0demographic through email marketing,\u00a0but Milano said they try to limit the\u00a0number of emails they send each week.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Use what you\u2019ve got<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When you\u2019ve got something good\u00a0going, your program should capitalize\u00a0on that and expand the course or\u00a0event to fit the interest.\u00a0Bocce ball had always been popular\u00a0at Los Altos Recreation, so bocce\u00a0ball leagues were a natural fit, Milano\u00a0said.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThey are really into the physical,\u00a0networking and social aspects of it,\u201d\u00a0Milano said.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now, every year, the winners from\u00a0the senior bocce ball league plays a\u00a0big game against the winner of the\u00a0Los Altos city league and hundreds\u00a0of spectators come out for the event.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The recreation department plans it\u00a0and provides lunch for everyone, MIlano\u00a0said.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cEveryone loves it, they\u2019re socializing\u00a0and they\u2019re not sitting down,\u201d\u00a0Milano said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great event.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t call them seniors\u00a0and don\u2019t expect\u00a0them to want ordinary\u00a0programming. T he 55+ crowd is\u00a0more active and demanding\u00a0than ever\u00a0before and, that\u00a0means there are now\u00a0more opportunities to\u00a0deliver to them high\u00a0quality, original programming\u00a0that delivers\u00a0a great return on\u00a0investment. Greg Milano, the recreation\u00a0supervisor for\u00a0the Los Altos, Calif.\u00a0Recreation Department,\u00a0said programs run by\u00a0his department do well\u00a0because they incorporate\u00a0camaraderie,\u00a0learning, activity and\u00a0variety. Tap into<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lern.com\/lern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lern.com\/lern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lern.com\/lern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lern.com\/lern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lern.com\/lern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lern.com\/lern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18927,"href":"https:\/\/lern.com\/lern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17788\/revisions\/18927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lern.com\/lern\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lern.com\/lern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lern.com\/lern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lern.com\/lern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}