"Microtrends" Audio Book Review by Audio_Al -- Your discussion appreciated!

Title: MICROTRENDS

Author: Mark J. Penn with E. Kinney Zalesne
Mark J. Penn Credentials:
· CEO, Burson-Marsteller
· President, Penn, Schoen and Berland
· Pollster of the Year, American Association of Political Consultants
· NPI Fellow, New Politics Institute
· Key advisor to President Bill Clinton and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
· Key advisor to Bill Gates and Microsoft for the past six years
· Key advisor to Michael Bloomberg for his mayoral campaign in New York City

E. Kinney Zalesne, first learned to spot trends with Mark J. Penn on the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election campaign. She has served as a White House Fellow with Vice President Gore and Counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno. She has also been President and Executive Vice President of two national social-change organizations — College Summit, which helps low-income youth go to college; and Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

Narrator: Brett Barry – Professional voice-over artist with substantial credits in commercials, promos, audio books and narration.

Unabridged:
Number of CDs: 10
Number of Hours: 12
List Price: $39.98
Downloadable: www.audible.com

Abridged: N/A

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Publication Date: September 5, 2007

Hardback/Paperback: Hardcover, 425 pages, from Grand Central Publishing, Copyright 2007

Synopsis: Mark Penn, the man who identified "Soccer Moms" as a crucial constituency in President Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign, is known for his ability to detect relatively small patterns of behavior in our culture-microtrends that are wielding great influence on business, politics, and our personal lives. Only one percent of the public, or three million people, is enough to launch a business or social movement.
Relying on some of the best data available, Penn identifies more than 70 microtrends in religion, leisure, politics, and family life that are changing the way we live. Among them:

· People are retiring but continuing to work.
· Teens are turning to knitting.
· Geeks are becoming the most sociable people around.
· Women are driving technology.
· Dads are older than ever and spending more time with their kids than in the past.

You have to look at and interpret data to know what's going on, and that conventional wisdom is almost always wrong and outdated. The nation is no longer a melting pot. We are a collection of communities with many individual tastes and lifestyles. Those who recognize these emerging groups will prosper.
Penn shows readers how to identify the microtrends that can transform a business enterprise, tip an election, spark a movement, or change your life. In today's world, small groups can have the biggest impact.

Other Background:
"The ideas in his book will help you see the world in a new way." (Bill Clinton)
"Mark Penn has a keen mind and a fascinating sense of what makes America tick, and you see it on every page of Microtrends." (Bill Gates)

Audio Sample: www.HachetteAudio.com, www.audible.com

:shrug: