Topics to be covered in the breakout sessions are:

Risks and rewards of being an entrepreneur    Strategies for identifying/selecting potential business opportunities   Desirability of taking skills/aptitude tests to ascertain how your skills/abilities could be best applied   Develop a business plan or business concept statement   How to evaluate a business concept

Create a personal vision   Explore funding support   How to overcome fears/concerns and real/artificial barriers   Conduct research on what would be the competition   Review networks of friends/acquaintances and develop an Advisory Board/Planning Committee

Breakout Leaders include:

Helen Dennis–nationally recognized leader on issues relating to aging, employment and retirement; consultant, author and speaker on aging issues; weekly columnist on Successful Aging reaching 1.3 million readers; co-author of Los Angeles Times bestseller Project Renewment: The First Retirement Model for Career Women

Fred Mandell–former financial services executive who built leading marketing and sales businesses and ran a multi-billion dollar investment company; author, nationally collected sculptor and painter and catalyst for personal change; featured in the Public Television Series “Boomers: Redefining Life After 50” and in numerous national newspapers, magazine and TV media related to leadership, change and creativity, including Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Conference Board, and Money Magazine

Greg Merrill–President & CEO of National Older Worker Career Center (NOWCC), former Chairman of NOWCC Board of Directors, extensive experience in non-profit management and advocating for older Americans; previously spent 19 years with AARP

Rick Moody–Director of Academic Affairs for AARP, also serves as Senior Associate with International Longevity Center–USA and as a Senior Fellow of Civic Ventures; author of over 100 articles and numerous books including Human Development Policies for an Aging Society; former Chairman of the Board, Elderhostel