By Chelsea Webster

We know that parking customers have many different needs. How do we cater to each group to maximize our customer loyalty and revenue? Does segmenting our offerings by age group produce results? If you’re willing to explore age segmentation in the parking industry, here’s a group with some unique characteristics that’s worth a second thought: Xennials.

What is a Xennial?

Xennials are a micro-generation that exists for those folks born between 1977-1985 (me!), bridging the gap between millennials (we embrace technology, have positive outlooks, and care about the greater good) and Gen-Xers (we had dial up internet and didn’t get cell phones until our 20’s). We grew up with an analog childhood and matured into a digital adulthood. The best line I’ve read describing xennials so far is “As we were growing up, technology matured along side us. We had time to get used to it and were still young enough to feel right at home with it.” Best of all, the existence of this peer group gives us the ultimate “I told you so” moment in emphasizing we are NOT millennials (Pro Tip #1: don’t talk to us like we are, as we really hate that).

How do Xennials Compare to Millennials, Gen X & Baby Boomers?

Age before beauty. Baby boomers – all 76 million of them in the US + 10 million more in Canada – are typically thought of as hardworking, team players, mentors, and being born into the right place at the right time; but also, not adaptable or collaborative. Gen-Xers, of whom there are 55 million in the US and another 7 million in Canada, are nostalgic geeks, adaptable, and good at problem solving; but are very individualistic and cynical. Millennials total 83 million in the US plus 10 million in Canada are very tech-savvy,…

By Chelsea Webster

What affects 1 in 3 Americans, costs trillions of dollars annually, and is a complete mystery to most people?

Why You Should Care About Cybersecurity

There are close to 400 cyber-attacks every single minute in the US, which affect 1 in 3 Americans every single year. It costs companies an average of $15.4 million annually to manage hacks against them, with total annual damage estimated at $6 trillion by 2021.

The point of these stats is not to make you paranoid, but to highlight how real, common, and far reaching cybersecurity threats are. It’s also to get you to take one more step in your thought process and connect cybersecurity to your vehicle – your connected car – knowing that online threats are targeting people everywhere. It should get you thinking about how many cars there are, how big a target market that represents for hackers, and what you can do to protect yourself and your vehicle.

The Connected Car

So, what exactly IS a connected car? A connected car is any vehicle that has wireless connectivity to the Internet and/or other devices, like a satellite or an auto manufacturer or another vehicle or pedestrian. A connected car collects, sends and receives information, processes it, and actions it or alerts the driver to information that requires human action. The image below from the Future of Privacy Forum is a great visual explanation of some of the components.

What Data Does a Car Collect?

Your vehicle is a nosey piece of machinery. It collects external data on traffic, road conditions, signage, markings, weather, and lots more. It also collects a boat load of internal data on you through cameras and microphones. That data can be anything from eye movement to driving habits. The connected car…