Top 10 List
The 2024 GIA Annual Conference in Detroit was definitely one we’ll all remember. Here are the top 10 reasons why:
1. We returned to the place of our birth! GIA was started in 1982 at a meeting in Detroit, and it was great to catch up with some of the OGs (Original GIA Guys) like Bob Eckardt and Tim Wintermute.
2. We celebrated our age diversity and enjoyed breaking the taboo of asking each other our ages as grownups! Attendees were invited (but not required!) to put age stickers on their nametags and to cheer when they heard their decade called. People ranged from their 20s to their 80s. The stickers ran out so fast some of us had to get creative - i.e., 23 + 22 = 45!
3. We felt exceptionally safe. It’s not every year that a presidential candidate decides to stay at our hotel. While we didn’t get to see Kamala Harris, we did get to see the canine Secret Service agents on their lunch break in the dog park.
4. We met more people. We asked people to sign up for a spot at one of four restaurants hosting Community Dinners. Each dinner had a trained facilitator from Fremont Area Community Foundation who knew just how to break the ice, helping us forge new friendships and laying the groundwork for new partnerships. For those who couldn’t commit so far in advance, we had an, “I didn’t sign up, but now I’m hungry” sign to help people connect.
5. We launched our new publication, Better with Age: A Guide to Funding in a Longevity Society. The Guide is intended to help funders identify the intersections of aging and other funding priorities; provide an introduction to the aging landscape, including sociodemographic data and key public and private funding streams; and highlight evidence-informed investment opportunities to move us toward a more age-integrated society. We hope you will find this resource useful in championing aging with your personal and professional networks.
6. We learned about the current state of aging and health policy, including how the elections could impact Medicare, Medicaid, and the Older Americans Act, to inform our funding decisions and advocacy priorities.
6. We danced to an incredible Motown band and some of us sang karaoke. A few of us sang it very well. Others… not. If you missed my rendition of Guns and Roses’ Patience (in the “not very well” category), you’ll just have to come to Long Beach next year.
8. We went out to see innovations in affordable housing, dementia programming, autonomous vehicles, and the arts. Attendees were inspired by the site visits, and the Thome Rivertown, Hannan Center, May Mobility, and Detroit Institute of Arts were among the most frequently mentioned conference highlights.
9. We stayed in to experience arts and culture created and supported by some of our members. Luke Sciutto (C-TAC) supplied us all with adult coloring books. Marilyn Raichle (Maud’s Awards) exhibited her mother, Jean McFee Raichle’s, paintings and signed copies of her new book Don’t Walk Away. Susan Law (I’m Still Here Foundation) shared paintings by her husband, John.
And our friends from Fundación Navarro Viola presented “Mirar en Grande,” a virtual photography exhibition that celebrates the diversity of aging and intergenerational connections in Argentina.
10. We listened to the stories of older Detroit leaders whose aging journeys have been shaped by the city they love. Thanks to Satori Shakoor of the Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers, Thomas Stallworth, Phyllis Edwards, and A. Nzere Kwabena.