The Family Plot Blog
Funeral Home Marketing with a Sense of Humor
Can a traditional family funeral home in a Bible Belt conservative community actually market its services with humor? Not only is it possible, it can be wildly successful. Brad Speaks, President and CEO of Speaks Family Legacy Chapels in Independence, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City, presented "Breathing Life into Funeral Home Marketing with Facebook, TV and a Sense of Humor" at the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) 2014...
Event: Nov. 25 OASIS Austin Book Club Meeting
The Austin Book Club meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month. On November 25, Gail Rubin, CT, author of A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don't Plan to Die, will be on hand to discuss the book and answer questions. Newcomers are more than welcome! The meeting will take place 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. at the Albuquerque OASIS offices, 3301 Menaul Blvd. NE, Suite 18. Call 505-884-4529 with questions.
Short Talk on Jews and Cremation
This photo of a billboard appeared on my Facebook feed recently. It reads, "Being cremated is my last hope for a smoking hot body." A lot of people want to get a smoking hot body these days. The national cremation rate in America keeps creeping upward in the 40% plus range. The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) projects the U.S. will reach a national 50% average by 2015. Traditionally, Catholics and Jews resisted cremation,...
Event: Nov. 19 Hospice Conference Presentation
Gail Rubin, CT, presents "Laughing in the Face of Death" at the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA) conference on Wednesday, November 19, 2014 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Laughter breaks tension over serious topics such as death and funerals. Funny films can open the door to discussing advance care and pre-need funeral planning, helping families reduce stress, minimize conflict, save...
Sweeping Up at the End of the 2014 NFDA Expo
Many people don't realize how hard funeral directors work to keep their homes and chapels sparkling clean for the visiting public. Yes, vacuuming is part of their responsibilities (although it's probably not in the job description when an opening is advertised). Just as the 2014 National Funeral Directors Association expo was coming to a close, I passed the booth for Bissell's BigGreen Commercial sweepers. I could not believe my eyes! Ralph...
Grateful Glass Incorporates Cremated Remains
As burial trends decline and cremation trends rise, how appropriate that Grateful Glass is based in the old Atlas casket factory in Philadelphia. Atlas went out of business about 15 years ago and the space has been re-purposed to house multiple artists producing interesting work. Grateful Glass has a unique product that was considered for an NFDA Innovation Award. The "Un-Urn" is artist Matthew Olian's contemporary take on a traditional urn....
Move a Heavyweight Easily with a HoverMatt
One of the hazards of being a funeral director is lifting dead weight - literally. As a greater number of Americans become obese - over 350 pounds - a greater number of back injuries from lifting such heavy bodies is a real threat to health and safety. The HoverMatt® Air Transfer System from HoverTech International is designed to help both emergency medical technicians and funeral directors move your bigger people out of a home setting and to...
Remembrance Frame Urn/Memory Box
One way to keep the cremated remains of a loved one around, without an urn shouting, "These are cremated remains!" is with a Remembrance Frame Urn/Memory Box. These are custom picture frames with a hidden storage box in the back. The front area can be personalized to hold a photograph, memorabilia and an "In Memory" plaque. The storage area in the back of the frame can discreetly hold cremated remains or store other memorabilia. Remembrance...
Ash Scattering in Israel by Aley Shalechet
Israel is the Holy Land for Christians, Jews and Muslims. At the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) convention and expo, Aley Shalechet (which means Autumn Leaves in Hebrew) offered Americans the opportunity to have at least part of their mortal remains buried or scattered in the Holy Land. Aley Shalechet works with funeral homes to offer the service to families who perhaps wish to keep the majority of a loved one's cremated remains...
Roberts & Downey Chapel Equipment
Pulpits for churches, register stands and registration desks at funeral homes, processional urn carriers and funeral biers -- there is a company that makes such specialized furniture, and they are regulars at the NFDA convention. Rick Roberts and his wife started Roberts & Downey Chapel Equipment in Argenta, Illinois (near Decatur) in 1986. The family-owned business makes hand-crafted wooden furniture for funeral homes and houses of worship...
My Gene Jewel Puts DNA into Jewelry
It used to be making gemstones out of cremated remains was the new thing. Now the DNA of a loved one can be made into a highly personalized piece of jewelry. Australian Mike McKew started My Gene Jewel in 2013, shortly after he graduated from university. He attended the NFDA convention as a first-time exhibitor. My Gene Jewel first obtains a hair sample. A laboratory extracts the DNA from the hair follicles, purifies the DNA and tags it with...
News and Notes: NFDA and Create a Great Funeral Day
Today is the 15th annual Create a Great Funeral Day. This "holiday" was started by my esteemed colleague Stephanie West Allen to help get the funeral planning conversation started. You can read more about Stephanie and Create a Great Funeral Day in this blog post. The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) convention and expo in Nashville October 12-15 was a real eye-opener! You've probably rarely or never thought about the business end...
Life.VU Social Media Platform for Memorialization
One of the online services displayed at the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) convention and expo was Life.VU. You can see in the video below that Life.VU provides an attractive way to memorialize someone - or perhaps all the attractive photos of actor Paul Walker in the demo swayed my judgement. Life.VU offers funeral directors a social media technology platform that focuses on celebrating life. It provides an online way to give...
Event: Nov. 18 Jewish Funeral Traditions Presentation
Many Jews and their interfaith partners don’t know what to do when a death in the family occurs. That’s about to change with an upbeat free presentation called “Jewish Funeral Traditions on Film,” presented by Gail Rubin and held by the Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada on November 18. Attendees will learn Jewish traditions related to death, funerals and mourning through humorous film clips from movies including The Cemetery Club, My...
T-Shirts to Treasures Memorial Quilts
As the name implies, T-Shirts to Treasures™ takes the old clothing of the deceased and turns it into a memorial comfort quilt. The company can use just about any fabric to make a keepsake quilt: jeans, ties, T-shirts, button-down shirts, hats, you name it. What a handy way to get a loved one’s old clothes out of the closet yet still keep the favorites around! The quilt can be used as a casket cover, in place of a funeral spray of...
Passare End-of-Life Management Platform Selected by Krause Funeral Home
Krause Funeral Homes Selects Passare End-of-Life Management Platform to Improve Family Online Experiences Innovative Funeral Leader Begins Platform use to Serve 1,300 Families Annually With Greater Convenience, Simplicity, and Service Quality SAN FRANCISCO, CA October 28, 2014 Passare, Inc., a trusted and relevant source for End-of-Life planning and management, today announced that Milwaukee-based Krause Funeral Homes has selected the...
Sorella Luna Ceramic Urns at NFDA
There are urns, and then there are Sorella Luna urns. These handcrafted ceramic creations from Deruta, Italy, are pieces of art that also happen to make great urns. Sorella Luna means Sister Moon. Deruta has the hardest clay in Italy, so these ceramic pieces are extremely durable. Each one is hand painted, and every style can be rendered in a desired color scheme. It takes 12 weeks to produce a custom urn, so if you want to have a memorial...
Charms for Memorial Services from Vilmain
Celebrants like to give memorial items to all attendees to take home as a remembrance of the deceased. With the growing number of life celebrations (as opposed to funerals), the Vilmain gift company came to the NFDA convention to offer funeral directors pocket charms and tokens that could make special remembrance items. Tokens include angels, crosses, Buddhas, Stars of David, peace signs, peace doves, supportive sayings, and New Age and Celtic...
DNA Memorial Saves Genetic Information
Funeral directors regularly make a point of telling families that cremation is an irreversible process. It also destroys all genetic history and medical markers contained in the person's DNA. If a loved one is buried, and the family decides they want to get DNA from that body later, disinterment is costly, both financially and emotionally. That's why it's important for those in the funeral business, who are usually the last people to be in...
Anointing Stone Memorials from Israel
The Stone of Anointment is located at the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Each year, tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims visit the church and prostrate themselves on this stone. They regard the Stone of Anointment as sacred. Christian tradition holds that after Jesus was crucified, his body was laid out on this slab of marble. Joseph of Arimathea washed Jesus' body,...
Event: Oct. 27 Talk “Doctor How Long Do I Have?”
Having a serious healthcare conversation with your doctor takes effort to ensure clear communications. Learn how to ask questions, be involved in treatment decisions and prepare for end-of-life issues by watching dramatic and comedy films depicting doctor-patient-family conversations. The McLeod Branch YMCA welcomes the public to attend Gail Rubin's free one-hour presentation, "Doctor, How Long Do I Have?" Films include Patch Adams, The End,...