I just did my first radio interview for Generation Blend, on the Small Business Advocate show with Jim Blasingame (link to be posted as soon as I get it). Jim is a great interviewer and did his best to drag the story out of me, but as much as I tried to be crisp and prepared, I'm not sure I came across clearly with the three messages to help small businesses navigate across the technology divide:

Use your looser approach to technology as a recruiting advantage. Small businesses rarely have complex IT policies governing how their people work. This makes them much more fertile ground for adopting emergent social computing applications and collaboration, and gives "digital natives" more opportunity to add value. Millennials looking to have immediate impact in the workforce will prioritize these kinds of opportunities, giving small businesses a competitive edge in the hunt for talent.

Spread tech knowledge with cross-generational teams. Keep an eye on the tech tricks your younger employees are using and encourage them to share them in one-on-one conversations with older workers. This can also be a great way to teach younger workers the tricks of the trade by learning from experienced colleagues.

Leverage community training resources to build competency with older and returning workers. Small businesses don't have the training resources of large corporations, but community-based organizations can help. Look for ones that specialize in digital literacy, not just computer training. The goal is to help older worker and those coming to the workforce from non-traditional information jobs become comfortable with communication and collaboration so that they can express their talents fully.