Funeral Words

Convention Time!!

This will be my first "blogging" convention and I have no idea how the time schedule will work out for me in Chicago. I will post what I can when I can during the week (no promises how much) and then next weekend I will put up a more complete summary of my experiences.

Just keep in mind that I will seek out the fringe and the different (you can wait for the print magazines for the regular stuff). I want to point out those Passionate Possibilities that might just lead to a better consumer experience in the future!

Never forget---CONSUMERS MATTER---they get to make all the final decisions, not us.

Always Always Always Think Local

Look at Wal-Mart quickly and you might think they basically run the same store plunked down in thousands of different locations across the country. Same name, same logo, same colors, all these things tend to trick the mind into thinking the merchandise and pricing must be the same wherever they turn on the lights.

Merger Mania--Are You Prepared???

This summer we have seen huge shifts in the casket company landscape. Down south Aurora purchased Delta, then Matthews/York purchased Milso and just last week Batesville signed a definitive agreement to purchase Yorktown. Mergers and acquisitions, M&A, as they label it on Wall Street. Tens of millions (often enough billions) of dollars moved around from pocket to pocket all in the chase for "synergies" and "economies of scale" and "strategic integration", to name just three of the magic phrases bandied about by the M&A experts of the world. There’s only one problem. M&A rarely works. Just read this quote.

"When asked to name just one big merger that lived up to expectations, Leon Cooperman, former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs’ Investment Policy Committee, answered.

Mike Flynn Photos

I have just posted a selection of photos from Mike Flynn's time with DMORT following Hurricane Katrina. Take a look. Mike spent two weeks in the Biloxi area assisting with the recovery efforts. You will find a link in the left hand colum of this page. Or follow this link it will take you there directly: Katrina Photos

Avian Flu, Time to Begin

Bird flu. Seems so strange to even put the words down on the screen but we as funeral professionals have lots to think about here and we should begin the process now.

I know this issue has lurked around in the back of my mind for months. The outbreaks and subsequent destruction of 10s even 100s of MILLIONS of chickens and other poultry in Asia. Killed to elimnate the continuing chance of interaction between the avian incubating population and humans. I paid attention but then I let it slip away. This time, though, I've started to hear credible people talk about the possibility of 10s of millions of human deaths in the United States alone. THAT got my attention again and this time I'm going to talk about it--A LOT.

We don't get bird related illnesses all that often. The biggies like small pox hang out in pigs but every once in a while a bug will jump from birds to humans. In the case of H5N1 (as it is know in medical circles), it has crossed over and killed human beings. Small outbreaks thus far and only a small chance that the disease moved from person to person. Most of the deaths occurred with poultry workers. At the same time the death percentages were high with humans. In one outbreak mentioned, half the people infected died. That's right, half.

Avian Flu Info on MSNBC

I have located an entire section of the MSNBC web site dedicated to Avian Flu reporting. You can find it at the following link:

Avian Flu Reporting -- MSNBC

Avian Flu Link

I have added a permanent link to the Centers for Disease Control web page which covers H5N1 (Avian or Bird Flu). There you will find a clearing house of information regarding the current status of the disease and the current efforts to fight and control outbreaks.

Either click here: CDC Avian Flu Information

Or you will always find the link in the left hand column of this site under "Links and Info".

This is serious stuff. Start talking with your public health officials now.

BT

Podcasts in the Mainstream

Never heard of a "podcast"? Well it is time you got this little media firestorm on the radar screen. It will impact the way funeral directors do business, particularly in urban areas. Don't miss the opportunity to stand out.

In Short, podcasts are audio programs formatted in the same way as online digital music (MP3s files in other words). College students and other cutting edge media types have used this form to create audio diaries and other forms of entertainment which friends and peers download over the web and then listen to on their MP3 players.

Thing is, I just saw that the New York Police Department has started to use podcasts as an alternate means to get out public service announcements and other important information! Podcasts have already gotten into the mainstream.

Katrina Clean-up Thoughts

Today I read an article in the Boston Globe. It asked the question whether the Katrina Disaster qualified as a "uniquely southern" event. You can read the article here--Boston Globe: Southern Exposure.

I know we in the funeral profession will have little say in the grand matters of reconstruction along the gulf coast. Nevertheless, I think it important to put a few words out there. You never know who's reading or who is listening, so let me throw in my ten cents.

Sin and Damnation--Continued

I had the great privilege of corresponding with Steve Levitt and Stephen Dubner, co-authors of the book Freakonomics. You will find a link to the book down on the left hand side of your screen. If you have any interest in stretching your thinking about society and how it works, getting under the hood so to speak with a down to earth mechanic, these two get the job done. Highly recommended.

I had sent the two authors a copy of the Sin and Damnation essay I posted earlier on this site. I got a couple of good questions from Stephen Dubner which pushed me to broaden my thinking and follow through with a more complete reply. Here's how it went.

Stephen Dubner:

Two things that strike me: I'm unconvinced of a correlation between people fearing hell and people holding funerals. In my mind -- and I may well be wrong here -- a desire for heaven rather than a fear of hell is as strong a motivator. Which leads to my second thought:

I'm also unsure that fewer Americans, per capita, believe in hell now than they used to, and I'm almost certain that just as many people as ever believe in heaven.

And my reply:

I agree that the desire for heaven has played just as significant a roll as the fear of hell in the decision to hold a funeral. As with any other emotion driven activity, a yin/yang admixture of love and fear combine to promote behavior, in this case the use of ceremony to assure the attainment of one (heaven) over the other (hell).