January's New Topic: Positive aging and community innovation

Since the beginning of the recession about six years ago, it has been the fervent hope of many to find ways and opportunities to bring industries and jobs to their states and cities. Although the job market may be improving, in some areas (like Sarasota) there is still a desire for more. That’s where people like Tom Esselman come in.

Esselman spent the past 22 years working for Hallmark Cards, Inc. in Kansas City, Mo., including a five-year stint in the United Kingdom with Hallmark International. Known for a number of breakthrough initiatives at Hallmark, his most recognizable were greeting cards that play music when opened as well as recordable greetings. His keen sense for innovation drew him to Sarasota where this past June, he was hired as President and CEO of Institute for the Ages, a Sarasota-based company that plans to take advantage of the county’s most underutilized resource: its aging population.This past Tuesday, Jan. 15, Esselman spoke to an audience of a little under 100 people in the Mildred Sainer Pavilion as a part of the New Topics, New College guest speaker series. New College’s president, Dr. Donal O’Shea, introduced him to the crowd, and then Esselman began to explain what Institute for the Ages (or "i4A" as he likes to call it) is, and what it will be doing to help expand and develop Sarasota.

“We’ve got the nation's largest percentage of people over 65, and an even larger percentage of people over 85,” Esselman told the crowd. “Some folks from the EDC [Economic Development Corporation] of Sarasota County got together with a research company called RTI [Research Triangle Institute] and some local members of the community and said, ‘We’ve got an idea! Let’s get together an organization that can help advertise and market the fact that this is the coolest place in the world to come, because we’ve got a bunch of old people!’

“Kind of quirky, kind of crazy […] but that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” he explained.

The key, Esselman said, is about innovation---about bringing together different ideas, some old and some new, and figuring out how they can impact an untouched and unconsidered demographic for companies.

“It’s not just acting on behalf of driving economic development,” Esselman added. “Yes, that’s what we’re here to do. We are here to create opportunities. But it’s also about the need to engage and immerse ourselves in those true, authentic, unique stories of all the people that make up the older community.”

His presentation broke down the Institute’s approach to new ideas into three school topics as a throwback to their New College host: Philosophy, Physics/Chemistry and History.Philosophy focused on developing a dream, from the beginning hint of a thought or plan, to the visualization of what it can become and finally making that dream a physical reality. Esselman pointed out that in the 1990s there was a realization that the world’s populations were getting older and older, and researchers began publishing work that highlighted aging as more than just degeneration. The Institute for the Ages plans to use that information as a way to recognize new opportunities for people as they continue to age.

Physics and Chemistry discussed clarity and accountability, balancing the big concerns and topics with the smaller ones, as well as creativity and collaboration. Esselman described how the Institute will attack different problems facing Sarasota’s aging population by building up their strength and stamina through taking on smaller projects with community support before attempting larger, national problems.

In the final topic, History, Esselman spoke about how the community can learn so much and move forward by looking into the past. He mentioned how innovation itself relies on hope and the belief that, in the end, everything will connect and come together with success.

“With that in mind, we created the mission statement for the Institute: The i4A will transform aging by embracing the authentic voice of the older adult,” Esselman said.

The presentation included many inspirational quotes and sound bites that Esselman used to enhance the effect of his own words on the gathered audience. Though the Institute is fairly new, it has received over $2 million dollars in government and private grants, as well as individual donations, to kick-start their work. In conjunction with RTI, the Institute is also creating a community panel to inspire more individual involvement in the Institute for the Ages.

Following his speech was a short question-and-answer session as well as a wine and cheese reception donated by Mattison’s.

Esselman is obviously very enthused about where the Institute will take Sarasota, so we will all just have to sit back and see if his dreams become the town's reality, too.

- Click here to check out the calendar and upcoming speakers at New Topics, New College.