NFDA Austin Convention 2013 - Mevisto

Mevisto, a business that transforms a loved one’s ashes  (if dead) or hair (if living) into individual synthetic gemstones, caught Comedian Mr Billy Connolly’s eye at the convention. Saphhires or rubies can be artificially created using the deceased cremated remains. They are based in New York but receive orders internationally.

NFDA Austin Convention 2013 - ‘Have the Talk of a Lifetime’

Speaking on a personal and professional level to attendees at the convention were Dr. Thomas Long and Thomas Lynch, co-authors of The Good Funeral book.  They made two important keynote speeches, the final one focused on society and how it deals with dying, death and how we, the funeral industry servants, can better serve the dead, dying and bereaved which was a nice focus considering the very important and timely launch at this year’s convention was the Funeral and Memorial Information Council’s ‘Have the Talk of a Lifetime’ awareness campaign.

A national and grassroots campaign the ‘Have the Talk of a Lifetime’ awareness campaign is focused on motivating families to have a conversation about life, what they value most and how they wish to remember and be remembered. Linda Darby, the National Concrete Burial Vault Associations rep to FAMIC summarized it very well saying  “I can’t ever remember a time in my professional career in which a group of key funeral service organizations have united around a common goal and developed a campaign of this nature”. The campaign will include brochures, videos, advertisements on and offline, social media and an informational website.

NFDA Austin Convention 2013 - Design for Death

One of the most exciting ventures that the convention launched this year was the Design for Death competition, which invited entrants from all over the world to think creatively about funerals and memorials. Over 1,300 entries from over 90 different countries entered the worlds first ever competition of its kind. The winning concepts were on view to everyone at the convention center.

The Lien Foundation, ACM Foundation and the NFDA organized the competition collectively. Mr Lee Poh Wah, CEO of the Lien Foundation said “The designers have interpreted the needs of our generation with sensitivity and empathy. Their innovations and styles give us new ways to relate to death and dying. Their designs not only invite us to reflect on our mortality, they provide what we seem to be yearning for in death and in life – meaning, engagement and fulfillment.” More info can be seen www.designfordeath.com

NFDA Austin Convention 2013 - Moon Memorials

An interesting concept called Moon Memorials were providing onlookers with quite an array of merchandise from arrows and stress balls to the aforementioned dried ice cream. Neapolitan was the flavor and although I was told it was ‘delicious’ I personally like my ice cream wet! Aside from their distracting merchandise the concept of Moon Memorials intrigued me – they plan to launch the first mission to the moon carrying the ashes of 800 people as part of an outer space life celebration. The only problem I have is that this business is not yet up and running as a result of funding and also their website is unavailable currently. Not a good sign all in all but I do like the idea.

NFDA Austin Convention 2013

Well what to say about the NFDA Convention in Austin, Texas

They say everything is bigger in Texas and as a friend of mine says ‘go big or go home’ - this certainly seemed an appropriate description for what I witnessed at the 2013 National Funeral Director Association’s International Convention in Austin, Texas. From water burials to mushroom suits and comedian Billy Connolly to dried edible ice cream the show more than catered for everyone’s taste.

And when I say everyone I truly mean it – there were stands that sold pashmina scarves, hats, handbags and gold, silver and copper jewelry – nothing to do with the funeral industry at all. There was a facial youth serum on sale - I don’t know if they realized the irony of that product.

Below are some photos of the show and over the course of the next week or so I will give you guys my take on the various stands I encountered.

The Disney Files - Jerry Orbach aka Lumière

Jerome Bernard "Jerry" Orbach (October 20, 1935 – December 28, 2004) 

American actor and singer, he was well known for his roles as Detective Lennie Briscoe in Law & Order from 1992 to 2004, Harry McGraw in the hit series Murder She Wrote 1985–1991 and as the voice of Lumière in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

1992 64th Annual Academy Awards LIVE performance
(If it wont play click here)

Perhaps not as commonly known, Orbach was also a noted musical theatre star. Prominent character roles that he originated include El Gallo in The Fantasticks (the longest-running musical play in history), Chuck Baxter in Promises (for which he won a Tony Award), Julian Marsh in 42nd Street; and Billy Flynn in Chicago.

In early December 2004, it was announced that Orbach had been receiving treatment for prostate cancer which he had been living with for 10 years previous. He died at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York on December 28, 2004.

The day after his death, the marquees on Broadway were dimmed in mourning, one of the highest honors of the American theatre world.

One of his wishes while he was alive was to have his eyes donated after his death. In death he helped two people – one who needed correction for a nearsighted eye and another who needed correction for a farsighted eye.

Seamus Heaney Poem

“Human beings suffer,

They torture one another,

They get hurt and get hard.

No poem or play or song

Can fully right a wrong

Inflicted and endured.

The innocent in gaols

Beat on their bars together.

A hunger-striker's father

Stands in the graveyard dumb.

The police widow in veils

Faints at the funeral home.

History says, don't hope

On this side of the grave.

But then, once in a lifetime

The longed-for tidal wave

Of justice can rise up,

And hope and history rhyme.

So hope for a great sea-change

On the far side of revenge.

Believe that further shore

Is reachable from here.

Believe in miracle

And cures and healing wells.

Call miracle self-healing:

The utter, self-revealing

Double-take of feeling.

If there's fire on the mountain

Or lightning and storm

And a god speaks from the sky

That means someone is hearing

The outcry and the birth-cry

Of new life at its term.” 

― Seamus Heaney