There isn’t a precise consensus on which birth years mark the entrance of the Millennials, but you know who they are. They include the newest employees in the office and they can often be found giving technology tutorials to Baby Boomers.

In recent years there has been an increase in talk about generations mixing in the workplace. Many offices are a combination of Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers and Millennials (or Gen Y) trying to figure out how to work alongside each other in productive, efficient and enjoyable ways. What have you learned about the Millennials when trying to figure out how to manage your office? What can those lessons teach you about how to communicate with members in your association of that same age?

In our latest issue of White Space we covered tips for conferencing marketing to Millennials. Our tips are based on what we know about these young whippersnappers.

Marketing 101: Get to Know Your Target Audience

• They have advertisers bending over backwards trying to figure out how to communicate to this group. They don’t respond to traditional marketing efforts like previous generations.
• Millennials have grown up with technology. Cell phones and the Internet have affected the way they communicate, but also, how Millennials use technology has affected the development of many products and services.
• They are team-oriented. They enjoy acting as resources and mentors for each other.
• They have perfected the art of multi-tasking. On average they consume up to 20 hours of media a day, but accomplish it within only seven hours of actual clock time by using multiple media platforms at the same time. It’s not uncommon for them to be watching TV while uploading music to their iPod, texting friends, instant messaging friends, and checking in on their social networks all at the same time.
• They expect recognition. They grew up receiving awards and trophies not only for winning, but simply for participating.
• They believe they can make the world a better place. They will give time and money to causes, and in some ways are more charitable than other generations.
• How an organization cares for the environment and gives back to the community is equally – if not more important than the quality and price of whatever product or service they are offering.
• They are new to the professional workplace and need mentoring. Besides enjoying the personal attention of mentoring, they respect positions and titles and want a relationship with their boss and other authority figures.
• They have grown up playing video games. But we aren’t simply talking about Mario Brothers. As teenagers Millennials started playing Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG), which allowed them to form online teams with players all around the world and collaborate to complete complicated tasks. This reinforces the idea that Millennials are team-oriented, but it also shows that they have developed the necessary skills for complex, fast-paced team problem solving.

Check out our latest edition of White Space to learn how to take this information about Millennials and use it to better your communication with them.