JIM FRONEBERGER: EDITOR Millennials During the 2<strong>01</strong>8 ICAS Convention, one of the hot topics of discussion during the education sessions was how to attract more Millennials to airshows. The Pew Research Center defines Millennials as those born between 1981 and 1996, so that generation represents people who are approximately between the ages of 22 and 37 today. The Millennial generation is important for a number of reasons, and most of these are not unique to the airshow industry. First and foremost, according to projections by the U.S. Census Bureau, Millennials are on the verge of surpassing Baby Boomers as the nation’s largest living adult generation. Millennials are projected to overtake Boomers in population during <strong>2<strong>01</strong>9</strong>, as their numbers swell to 73 million and Boomers decline to 72 million. Generation X (ages 38 to 53) is projected to also pass the Boomers in population by 2028. As the Boomer generation continues to shrink, we can expect Gen Xers and Millennials to continue to grow their influence on our society. According to Pew, Millennials already make up more than one-in-three American labor force participants, making them the largest working generation. The Millennial generation is also more ethnically and racially diverse, more progressive, more technologically-savvy, and more affluent than their predecessor generations were at the same age. Two bright and energetic 29-year-olds have even been elected to Congress - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Iowa’s Abby Finkenauer. For airshows, the importance of attracting the Millennial generation was captured clearly in the ICAS 2<strong>01</strong>8 Spectator Survey. For 2<strong>01</strong>8, the percentage of airshow spectators who were over age 55 was just shy of 25%. But over the preceding 20 years, the 55+ percentage had averaged closer to 18%. Our audience is aging, so we must attract a younger audience to be successful in the years ahead. The Baby Boomer generation represents people like me who were born between 1946 and 1964, so it’s easy to see why airshows are so popular with our generation. We grew up during the post-war aviation boom, saw the advent of the jet age, the space age, and Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the Moon. When we were growing up, our heroes were astronauts and test pilots, and aviation captured our collective attention like nothing else. For the more recent generations born from the late 1960s through the turn of the century, the advances in aviation and space technology were more evolutionary than revolutionary, and air travel became a way of life, not something that was exciting, new, and sexy. The revolutions for Millennials have been in computer technology, communications, and an explosion in entertainment alternatives. So, it’s easy to see why going to an airshow may not be as appealing to a Millennial as it has been to us Boomers. Baby Boomers also grew up in a post-war/cold-war era where patriotism and celebration of our military-might were virtually synonymous. Airshows are obviously one of the most visible displays of that brand of patriotism. By contrast, Millennials have grown up in a much more complex and diverse world order, leading to a broader and more nuanced view of what it actually means to be patriotic. All of these trends point to the need for airshows to adapt to attract a younger demographic, and ICAS 2<strong>01</strong>8 was full of great ideas: • Make your airshow a cool place for Millennials to go and be seen with their peers. • Learn how to market through social media. • Enhance food and drink options with healthier, Millennialfriendly choices, craft beer, and food trucks. • Stay ahead of the game and embrace innovation. • Seek sponsors that will attract Millennials. • Add experiential, engagement activities. • Embrace activities and events that work well with social media to show Millennials having lots of fun. • Shorten the flying portion of the show and add live music and other things Millennials like to do. • Do the unexpected to get more attention on social media. • Make sure your marketing plan is mobile-friendly. • Include Millennials on your airshow marketing team. That last point – including Millennials on your team – may be the best advice of all. But one thing I noticed at ICAS was that ICAS has the same problem as airshows in general. We are definitely an industry of Baby Boomers, and Millennials were certainly in the minority at ICAS. We need to change that and bring some new, younger faces into our business. We need our established performers to mentor newcomers and bring them along like Sean D. Tucker is doing with 27-year-old Johnny DeGennaro, the wingman for his new two-ship formation team. We need show producers and support service providers to do the same to bring a fresh new perspective to our business. Maybe we need to let our old Baby Boomer airshow die and create a new type of airshow to attract the next generation of airshow fans. www.airshowmag.com 6 January/February <strong>2<strong>01</strong>9</strong>
World Airshow News 33 September/October 2<strong>01</strong>8