Enough

Some of my best friends are Millennials. But haven't we heard enough about their generation? Enough about what they eat and drive? Enough about who they like to sit next to at the office; how often they change jobs and how independent they are?.

Granted they're moving into the workforce in large numbers but this is far from the first generational transition we've witnessed. If the boomers and the Xers had the social media to tout their influence on the marketplace, the story would have been much the same.

Technology is the biggest change we're facing and all of us who are working are having to deal with it. And, as with any change, you either embrace it or watch it pass you by.  It's your choice. The Millennials are not making it happen. They have just grown up with it and are living with it every day. Researchers are already predicting the next evolution of Facebook and Twitter, which will be new to all of us in the same way.

Like every generation, Millennials have their music, their recreation, their jokes, their television shows and superstars. But none of that is new. Only the names are different than the past. The intervention of media is the cause of much of this chatter. They are feeding us on a strict Millennial diet, day in and day out. Consultants are said to be charging $20,000 a day to school major companies about employing Millennials. I'd like some of that action.

Don't get me wrong. These are smart, talented young people, who have had a very tough row to hoe through school and out into the working world. But to some degree every generation has had to face these challenges. And don't forget that Gen Z, born after the turn of the century, is already into high school and will soon be meeting the Millennials on their own turf.

I work with Millennials every day and many of them are students in the college classes I teach. It's not the generation that is unique. It's the individuals. That's where you see the bright spots. Take away the tablets and the smartphones and we're all much the same. This is the first digital generation and we can learn from them but we're teaching each other...and that's good. We all have our strengths.

Gen Z will be known as the Reality TV generation. The Kardashians showed up just about the time these kids were starting primary school. When asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, the answer was "famous". There's a sad quirk for you.

Millennials have run their course.  They're settling into their 30's. The playing field is leveling out. Let's not be more concerned about who they are than we are about who they are going to be. They are co-workers, parents and friends. Let's get comfortable with our next door neighbors and not get hung up about why  they like a good craft brew rather than a properly aged wine or that they are close friends with Rachel and Chandler.

When is the last time someone introduced themselves to you by saying, "Hi, I'm Jim and I'm a Millennial."? Enough with these labels.  Let's just move on. There are much more important issues facing us.

Blame it on Rio...

It's that time. On Friday, August 5, we begin the summer games of the 31st Olympiad. Rio de Janeiro will be the host and there's going to be trouble. I've worked on large scale events in Rio and many of its problems are insurmountable.

This will mark my 14th Olympiad, Summer and Winter, and I've seen the games from every angle, inside and out, top to bottom.  I've worked with the local organizing committees, the International Olympic Committee, local governments, sponsors and the athletes themselves.

No event has a longer history than the Olympics. They began more than seven centuries BC. The modern games got their start in 1896. Olympiad is the Greek word for the four year period between games. That's what makes this the 31st Olympiad.

Now that the brief history lesson is over, why is there going to be trouble in Rio? The main reason is that there is always trouble in Rio. Crime and violence pervade the city. The beaches and Carnival drown out the realities of what goes on in the city day in and day out.

One of our round-the-world sailing events had a stopover in Rio and we barely escaped with our lives. Boats were burned. Goods were stolen. Men were attacked and women were physically abused. The only response we could get from local law enforcement was that they were sorry and they would watch our compound more closely.

These problems were not politically motivated or terrorism related. They were purely uncontrolled lawbreaking delinquency. Jane has vowed she will never return.  She was frightened just to be on the streets. All of us stayed very close to "home".

Today, when you add in the political unrest going on with the ouster of the president coupled with the worldwide fear of terrorist activity and the Zika virus, it is very hard to believe that we will make it through the games without incident.

Jane and I spent time at the Beijing Olympics with the delegation from Rio who were there for planning meetings.  We shared with them our concerns about their city hosting the games.and their response was that the crime problems were not going to go away. Their only hope was that the athletes and the competition could be isolated with extreme security measures being taken wherever the games touched the city.

It's sad to me to think that the athletes from around the world will be penned up and led by security officials everywhere they go. Security for spectators will be no less scrutinized. The Sochi Olympics were controlled in a similar fashion but there was a war going on. Even the ever-present social unrest in China was less of a concern than what's about to happen in Brasil.

The Olympics began as a people's event among friendly countries. But increasingly, it's politics, warring factions and money that dictate the outcome of the games, instead of the competition on the field. My role will again be to help local organizers with sponsorship, international media relations and crisis communications.

Rio is a beautiful city and the vast majority of its citizens are welcoming to visitors. However, television may well be our first and safest avenue for watching the events. I hope for the best at the 31st Olympiad. But I am prepared for the worst.  Here's hoping.