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 by
Jacqueline Monahan
jaxn8r@msn.com
Photos by Judy Thorburn
The
Boomers Show at the Sands Expo Center
On October 6 and 7, the Sands Expo Center hosted an exhibition aimed
exclusively at Baby Boomers and their specific needs. If you were born
between 1946 and 1964, The Boomers Show had you in mind; all your
interests and concerns wrapped up in one showroom with boats, hot tubs,
and gas barbecue grills.
No, you’re not old, you’re a boomer! There are more of you on earth than
any other age group. You’ve reached a certain age; you’re probably
poised to retire soon, with more than your share of disposable income.
You’re interested in good health accompanied by good looks, investing
for the future, and seeing the world. There are scores of people here
that would like to talk to you.
At your disposal were anti-aging pills and potions, financial advice, 18
–hour lipsticks, diet shakes, waterless cookware, trips to Nanjing and
Costa Rica, huge RV’s (sell your house, live on the road!) and free
screenings galore: vision, cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure to name
a few.
Product samples were available from many booths, and some even came
without the required sales pitch or data capture (here, fill this out to
be included on our marketing list..er...drawing). I declined a skincare
sample because it came with a required follow-up phone call later in the
week - too Big-Brotherish for me in my advancing senility.
There was a prostate booth, (their gadget looked like a cross between a
sex toy and a squid), a dental whitening booth (they’ll do ya right
there for $199 and the ability to smile in ultraviolet light for 30
minutes in front of gaping strangers), and a booth dedicated to
capturing all of your lovely retirement dollars in various funds.
Subjects of interest that were covered by various speakers included
second careers, investing in foreign countries, travel, and time
management, although this boomer would have been most interested in a
time machine. The best I could do was to visit some of the makeup booths
and pray.
The Field of Dreams sports memorabilia booth could boast living legend
Pete Rose, who was on hand to autograph merchandise and chat with fans.
Alongside Rose was actor Anthony Burton (Rocky IV) full of show biz
anecdotes with a ready smile.
Richard Simmons, known as Hollywood’s Celebrity Fitness guru, proved
that his methods work for the masses by leading several workout routines
without breaking a sweat. Mindful of the demographic, Simmons stayed
upbeat while tailoring the movement so that larger and more sedentary
boomers could easily join in. The energetic Simmons can get you
motivated just by being around him. See his interview by fellow
columnist Dianne Davis on this website soon.
Richard Simmons Aerobic Workout Session
Photo by Stephen Thorburn
Ed Begley (St. Elsewhere, Six Feet Under) showcased his Begley’s Best
line of products at the show, with all proceeds going to the Coalition
for Clean Air.
The first noteworthy booth I visited featured a homemade soda machine
from Got Soda?, Inc. Starting with a glass of water, the machine lets
you carbonate to your heart’s content, then add a concentrated flavor
(mine was diet pink grapefruit) to come up with a customized healthy
soda alternative that is unbelievably good.
CVS had one of the largest and most comprehensive booths. They conducted
all of the health screenings, issued Extra Care savings cards on the
spot, gave out goodie bags including a 7-day pill box, and snapped
pictures of every interested party as a free souvenir (and to remind you
of their photo processing centers).
The www.Pogo.com booth had one
mission and that was to have fun. The sound of their spinning prize
wheel could be heard throughout the aisles as attendees tried for prizes
that included hats, T-shirts, manicure kits, first aid kits, key chains,
dice, video games and memo holders. They were promoting their free
computer game website, boasting a monthly boomer hit of four million.
These nice people, most of whom were not boomers themselves, kindly let
us old folks spin as many times as we wanted and trade prizes for
others. It was one of my favorite booths – each of the five times I
visited.
Especially generous was publisher Harper Collins, who gave away several
books to each visitor. The three I have are soft cover novels with big
print as befits a bi-focaled boomer. The woman at this booth moved a lot
of free merchandise, and visitors could be seen hoisting multiple
volumes away with them as if they were mad librarians – not a sight one
often associates with Las Vegas.
Event executive producer Jon Bogart was overheard saying, “Fifty’s the
new 30 and sixty’s the new 40.” If that’s true, I was much too young to
attend and will now have to run off to acquire a tongue stud and hip hop
ring tone.
For further information and a list of all exhibitors, please visit:
http://www.boomersshow.com
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