Our Future is in Good Hands

I was telling a friend of mine that the millennial generation seems to continually take a little bit of a beating. At VenueConnect, I heard some comments about work ethic, about not wanting to pay their dues, and about wanting a perfect balance with work and life. These words were generally uttered with disdain as if, “The nerve of someone just out of college looking for these things. Don’t they know it doesn’t work that way? This generation ….”

My friend suggested that when we were in our 20s we wanted everything, too. I reminded him that all I remember wanting was to be able to afford better beer in the fridge. But I admitted that my memory might not be totally clear on that. Regardless, he made me stop and realize that while I am at the back end of the baby boomer generation and have a lot of those typical boomer traits, who am I to judge what’s right or wrong? After all, I have certainly questioned whether spending 60-80 hours a week at work is too many and whether my relationships have suffered as a result. Besides, there are usually many ways to get something accomplished, and how presumptuous am I to think mine is the best one?

The other reality whether any of us curmudgeons like it or not is that this coming generation is our future. By 2025, millennials will make up 75 percent of the work force according to our VenueConnect keynote speaker, Betsy Meyers. Further, as we learned in the session on capital improvement this generation is impacting design of our venues with more craft beer (which is not really a bad thing), large open areas for socializing as opposed to great views of the game (which draws casual fans and utilizes under-performing spaces), and phone-charging stations. Great Wi-Fi is essential, and many of us are either already upgrading our systems or planning to. These are our customers now and into the future, so we only benefit from embracing this generation and its needs.

The millennials are here. In fact, as part of the Upstart Emerging Leaders program this year at VenueConnect I was able to meet many of the 30|UNDER|30 award winners. Those I met are all engaged in our industry and have the same desire to make an impact that we all had when we were young and that many of us still have. They are working on their own continuing education and growth and will be the leaders of our industry one day in the not too distant future. However, they are not willing to sacrifice everything else to accomplish that.

I don’t know. But somehow that does not seem like such a bad thing. Maybe the world could use professionals that know how to turn off work once in a while. Maybe we could all benefit from seeing people that are as passionate about their friends and families as they are about work. Balance may seem like too much to ask, but as we have all learned by now, you never get what you don’t at least ask for.

From talking to these emerging leaders, I feel like our future is in good hands and I am excited to see where it will go. The 30|UNDER|30 and the other Young Professionals in our industry have a lot to offer. They want to enjoy the journey, but that does not mean they are not serious about the job they have been asked to do. They want to do a good job, but are not afraid to question the status quo. And maybe that is our dilemma. We are the status quo. Maybe we don’t like being questioned. Hmmm. Interesting problem, but I guess we are going to have to find a way to get over that.

Change is constant. We either adapt or become extinct. The Millennial generation is bringing change. We have all had to change before, and we will be able to change again. We all love this industry, or we would not be involved with it. We will figure it out just like we have always done when faced with a challenge. I even suspect that many of us will come to love the coming generation of employees and customers as much as we have loved those that came before. Our experience with their passion should be unstoppable. Maybe we can change the world together. Maybe we can even learn how to use all our vacation time to see our friends and families.

(Image: Orange Photography)