This is a blog about attracting the new workforce, so this journal would not be complete without talking about Senator Barack Obama.

The  latest issue of Fast Company trumpets the man who has become well known for having Gen Y groupies.  The cover reads The Brand Called Obama and shows us a photo of a young presidential candidate who is striking a thoughtful, confident pose.  He is certainly rock star quality, and this was evident in the college tour interview with Chris Matthews last week.  College students were screaming at the top of their lungs, grabbing for him...trying to reach out and touch him.  It reminded me of the Beatles or Elvis Presley in concert as the crowd of both young women and men fainted from an overdose of passion and excitement.

You may be reading this and asking "What in the world does this have to do with attracting the new workforce?"  My answer:  "Everything!"

Senator Obama is showing us exactly what it takes to appeal to Generation Y, and he is showing us the shift we are all going to be called to make in the next few years to make way for a new generation.  He is creating a new brand, a new movement, a new era.  So, let's look at Obama's recipe for success:

1) Obama has leveraged the internet to create a viral campaign (and has leveraged it to the nth degree...his website alone is vibrant and open).  Obama made a very smart move by hiring Chris Hughes, one of the brains and co-founders of Facebook to help him organize his online campaign (duh...that's a no-brainer, but who else thought of this?...No one!).  The other candidates have tried to catch up to this brilliant online campaign, but they have just not been able to do it.  As we all know, Millennials love online social networking, and Obama knew this out of the starting gate, launching his campaign on You Tube before going to traditional media.

2) Obama is using the contest approach to attracting Generation Y.  The Obama camp has been using the "Dinner with Obama" campaign to entice people to donate to his efforts.  By donating even $25.00, your name went into a drawing for a tiny chance at having dinner with the superstar.  Gen Y LOVES a contest...very cool indeed.

3) The website and messages are updated throughout the day.  I subscribed to Obama's mailing list, and I have been quite impressed with how quickly his team is able to disseminate information and election results (within minutes of the final votes being counted).

4) Obama turned down an invitation to attend an AARP event this past summer in order to attend an Usher concert.

5) YES WE CAN!  These three words are music to a Gen Yer's ears.  Millennials live with the belief that they can do anything/be anything.  Obama is speaking their language.

6) Obama's own heritage represents a cross of both Caucasian and African American, Christian and Muslim.  Generation Y values diversity, and Obama is the epitome of a cross of cultures and backgrounds, which makes Gen Y feel quite at home around him.

7) Ready for change?  Obama is saying this over and over again.  Millennials live, eat and breathe change, from the many jobs they hold to the ring tones they use to the clothes they wear.  They even change the name they are called frequently (one day they are Gen Y, the next day the "Thumb Generation" and then on to the Net Generation...it's good to have options and a variety of names, depending on Gen Y's mood).

So...look at this list.  While this may seem like a study in political strategic agility, I like to think that this list symbolizes much of what we need to know about how to attract Gen Y.  From my perspective, the strategies you use to get their vote, their purchases or to get their brains into your company are really all one in the same.