This audio conference will be presented by Lauren Larsen, a 25-year marketing veteran with nearly 10 years experience as a National Blood Donation Advocate, consultant, and frequent keynote speaker. She will discuss the challenges of and strategies for targeting and retaining the 16 — 22 year-old donor base, drawing on "best practices" she has seen implemented at a variety of blood centers during her 7-year speaking tour across the U.S. Larsen will also offer "food for thought" in the form of applicable approaches to young adult marketing that industries unrelated to blood collections employ and demonstrate their applicability to blood donation recruitment and retention. If the recession and downsizing of corporations has negatively impacted your collections (it has), can products like Pepsi-Cola, Nintendo video games, and college textbooks help us make up for those losses? Answer: they can!