Will Baby Boomers Significantly Impact the Funeral Industry?

    The baby boomers are considered somewhat of a prized commodity by many within the funeral industry. Essentially the theory is that over the next few years there will be a growth of deaths as the boby boomers die. Hence current marketing is attempting to tap into this desirable market.

    Yet I question this notion, maybe the baby boomer generation will push death rates up, but will it really be a notable rise?  In this post I explore the rising deaths of baby boomers and whether this might be as significant for the funeral industry as assumed.

Changing Society & Technology

    I am very busy lately so I don't have time to write a post. Instead I will quickly discuss something which continues to come up every now and then, and while not directly about the funeral industry iy relates to the industry.

   People comment about the changing nature of society, specifically how technology is making us less social.  To me this is a simplistic and incorrect argument; nothing has changed much really.  This is an old issue that has been brought up time and time again, as the web comic xkcd so nicely demonstrates.  You can view the comic in full below.

What the American Funeral Says About the Australian Industry

    The concept of the American funeral comes from the Australian funeral industry, it is because of the industry that it has a presence.  Which I find amusingly ironic in a sense, how the American funeral is considered an ever-present threat to the Australian funeral, and yet it can only exist directly because of the Australian funeral; without the Australian industry there would be no American funeral.

Does the American Funeral Exist?

    Does the American funeral actually exist?  In short "no",  and yet at the same time it does.  The American funeral is an interesting thing which says a lot about the Australian funeral industry, and Australian society on a broader level.  In this post I continue my theme of 'American funeral' and look at if it really exists.

The Negatives of the American Funeral

     In this pervious post I discussed at the definition of the American funeral, the five key points which make up our understanding of this concept as the Australian industry uses it.

    Just the idea, the notion and nothing more, of American funerals is a source of anxiety and concern with those in the Australian funeral industry.  I have found an actual and ever present worry that the Australian industry will "slip" into American styles.  So let's look at what is so bad about the American funeral as viewed by the Australian industry.

Ageism in the Industry & The Funeral Friends

    Ageism is quite common within the funeral industry, I have found only a few places where it doesn't exist.  So no one company is at fault really, no single company, group, or person is ageist.  Instead it is an industry wide thing, ageism is an aspect of the funeral industry and not of funeral companies.

Origins of the American Funeral

    The American funeral has an interesting history, which is unfortunately difficult to follow and mostly based on rumours and anecdotes.  It is not a new idea by any means, but is one which has changed over time.

Defining the American Funeral

    The 'American funeral' is a very important concept for the Australian funeral industry, it is talked about and referred to heavily (both directly and indirectly) by those within the industry.  Without doubt it is very important to discourse within the industry, and yet it is poorly explored or even defined, which only leads to an unhealthy discussion.

    As such I will spend some time digging deeply into this important yet overlooked topic, finally exploring it and giving it the time it deserves.

Guest Post - Is Death Taboo?

    Recently I received a guest post from someone who has submitted a guest post in the past on their experiences with the hearse.

    This time they submitted a rather interesting post about the taboo of death, aggressively questioning the way and reason  society perceives death as taboo.  This post got me thinking, especially as the 'taboo' of death is directly relevant to my thesis.  So you can read their post and my reply below where we discuss whether or not death is really taboo.

Upright Burial

    The concept of burying coffins standing up (vertically rather than horizontally) is by no means a new one.  This is an older idea and one brought up every so often, but it is about time I gave my own personal thoughts on the matter in a short post.

Short History of the Australian Funeral Industry

    As part of my honours research I have been looking into the history of the funeral industry, which might be interesting to a few people.  In doing so I have also discovered many sources are long and dense, or difficult to find.  So here is a short summary of what I know so far, everything in one place, and put simply!

The Rookwood Picnic

    The picnic was a huge success, exactly what I hoped for in ever way, it was a small but great gathering of fun people in a casual way.  In total only five people attended, but everyone was great fun and added something to the conversation and dynamics.  We had a nice variety of people from very different backgrounds.  There was even one person who had never worked in the industry but was keen on joining it.

    The weather forecasts had warned of afternoon rain, yet it was already raining by the time I got up.  Not a great weather for a picnic, but the place was under cover and the rain was only light, so I was not too worried.  In the end the rain turned out to be a mixed blessing.  As due to the building design the rain gently fell off the roof into the little pool, creating a very nice background trickling and sloshing sound.

    Having enough food is always important for functions, you want too much so people do not feel uncomfortable eating as they please.  In this instance we were spot on, there was more than enough food to share, and also a decent diversity of food.

    We all sat on a blanket in the middle of the building, it was not exactly the most comfortable but it was certainly acceptable and good fun.  Despite the rain we managed to create the picnic vibe while staying dry.  The discussion was also quite good, ranging in topics but focusing on the industry as everyone there had a real interest and passion for the industry.  We shared experiences of what it is like to work funerals, funny stories and company information.  Everyone had a good time, and we were there from 11:00 to just after 16:00, so five hours all up.

    Overall I count this as a huge success, the numbers were low and weather bad, yet we all managed to have a great time.  So I will be trying to organise more casual events in the future, from cemetery walks to specialty museum visits.




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    Below are some pictures of the where we had the picnic in good weather for anyone interested, as it really is a unique, interesting and nice place.  A very modern place which downplays religious imagery, it was built by a Catholic organisation and yet has no crucifix.  Perhaps an indication of where things are going.

Picnic in Rookwood

    I am organising a small and casual picnic in Rookwood for the last weekend of January.  It is a simple event open to anyone and everyone with a personal interest in the funeral industry.

    For the specific details read the post below!

Death & Funerals: Sex

    In these series of posts I will be looking informally at the taboo nature of death and funerals.  This post explores how death and funerals are like sex in our avoidance of them.

Death & Funerals: Life

    I have put together four articles looking at specific aspects of the taboo nature of death.  They are only short and rather basic, written more for fun and to brainstorm than to actually put something 'proper' together.  Basically I have been trying to read through some 'heavy' stuff.  Like Merleau-Ponty's "Phenomenology of Perception", which is an incredibly dense book.  So I felt like something a bit fun and light for a change of pace.  After all, it's the time of year when we should be relaxing a little and having fun!

    This post focuses on the separation of life and death, how this appears simple and clean.  But is actually blurry and loaded with controversy.

Heavens Address; Facebooking the Dead

    InvoCare recently held a training session at W.N.Bull for something called "HeavensAddress" for all conductors.  Basically 'HeavenAddress' is a social media site for deceased and families or friends of the deceased.  HeavensAddress is an independent site, but heavily supported by InvoCare.  So obviously they want their funeral directors to use it and get it rolling.  It is actually not a bad site, or a bad idea, although I still have mixed feelings about it.

    The site allows people to leave messages or tributes for the deceased.  It lets people to still send their condolences from anywhere at any time.  This is mainly for people who could not attend the funeral, or speak to the family directly.  Families and friends are able to upload photos and videos of the service or of anything else they want.  They can stream the service live, over the internet.  This is all great for social networking.  People can actively participate in the service instantly form anywhere in the world.

    Looking at the most visited postings we can see the average age of the deceased, and it is quite surprising.  The average age is only 63.2 for the top ten, and 20.2 for the top five (as of Feb 2012).  It should be noted that in the top ten most visited is one person who is 84 and the oldest I can find on the site.  While we may not find this particularly surprising in and of itself we should look at a larger picture.  The average life expectancy in Australia is 79.3 for men and 83.9 for women (Australian Bureau of Statistics 4102.0, Mar 2011).  Many listings are for those who were not much older than 40 and many are for either infants, children or young adults.  It is clear that the average age of the deceased on HeavensAddress is lower than the life expectancy, significantly so with the five most viewed listings.  As to what this might mean I have no idea, I just find it fascinating that the majority of the deceased on the website are lower than the life expectancy.

    You can search the site by name of the deceased, funeral directors and crematoriums or cemeteries and all listings are accessible to the public.  Overall HeavensAddress is an interesting concept and offers great opportunities to explore the industry.  I am really curious to see how, or if, it will take off and last.  And what this means for the funeral industry.

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