Housing symposium will feature head of AARP as keynote speaker

William D. Novelli, executive director of AARP, will be the keynote speaker for the 2002 Seniors Housing Symposium, Building for Boomers & Beyond, to be held May 1-3 at the Caribe Royale Re-sort in Orlando, Fla. according to a news release from the National Association of Home Builders.

The annual symposium, sponsored by the NAHB's Seniors Housing Council and the NAHB Research Center, will ad-dress the changing demands and the im-pact home buyers aged 55 and older will have on the housing market.

Novelli was appointed executive director and chief executive officer of AARP earlier this year by the AARP Board of Directors.

At the time, he was serving as associate executive director of public affairs for the organization. Novelli is the co-founder and former president of Porter Novelli, the worldwide marketing communications firm.

He also served as executive vice president of CARE, the international relief and development organization, and as president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Building for Boomers & Beyond is designed to meet the needs of the wide spectrum of participants in the seniors housing market, including builders, de-velopers, financiers, architects, planners, marketers, and sales professionals as well as those who are new to this rapidly expanding segment of the housing market.

Educational sessions will offer thought-provoking and practical instruction on such topics as planning, design, financing, construction and marketing for active adults, independent living, and retirement and resort communities. The line-up of instructors will feature experts from some of the country's most successful building and development firms in the field, along with many of the in-dustry's leading consultants.

The symposium also will offer a variety of information and networking op-portunities, including an exhibit hall of the latest products and services targeted to the industry and bus tours of trend-setting seniors housing communities.

Approximately 3.2 million members of the baby boomer generation will turn 55 this year, representing the first wave of boomers that will cross this significant threshold over the next 15 years and create an unprecedented demand for all categories of active adult housing. NAHB estimates that roughly 20 percent of its 205,000 members will be involved in some form of active adult, seniors housing over the next two to three years.