Death Cafe Practitioners Page
Hi,
I've been running a death cafe for about a year now and I feel like the conversations have gotten stale. So, I'm looking for some ideas on what others have done to bring life to their death cafe.
I have more questions that I'd like to hear about how other leaders handle, but I'm not sure who'll read this and who'll return a response.
Susan
Seeking New York City residents interested in holding Death Cafes
Posted by Martin G. on March 25, 2015, 12:25 p.m. 1 comment
I've learned about Death Cafe from a friend and practioner in the Bay Are - California. I'm seeking to learn more about hosting a Death Cafe or series of Death Cafes in the New York area as I see there's been a scarcity of them here. Thank you!
Funeral directors at death cafes
Posted by Death Cafe Warkworth on March 16, 2015, 11:55 p.m. 2 comments
I am about to hold my first Death Cafe in a few weeks.
I've been approached by some funeral directors who want to attend in a group. My initial thoughts are that this is not the target audience, but then I think just because they work with death I can't assume they feel comfortable or are experts talking about it. Secondly, I want to avoid the potential scenario of pushing a service or product. So I'm just wonder if any one else have had funeral directors attend? How did that go, how did you manage it?
Do you administer surveys at your Death Cafes? If so, have you tabulated the data? Would like to compare results...
Hi,
I've been asked a lot lately about whether it is ok to film or interview people at a Death Cafes. Our guide is not very clear about this so I wanted to say a bit more.
In the right conditions it is possible to:
- Film or audio record an Death Café taking place
- Record an interview people before and after the Death Café
Guidelines concerning the right conditions for recording at Death Café are as follows:
- Firstly the Death Café host and facilitators have to be ok with it. If you’re the organizer and someone asks to record at your Death Café and you’re not comfortable with it then feel free to say no. It is entirely at your discretion if this takes place
- If you’re ok with this then the next thing to consider is the comfort of attendees as Death Cafes rely on being a safe setting to talk about death and dying.
If you’re planning to record the actual Death Café then attendees should be informed in advance. They should never turn up to be surprised by someone wanting to record the actual Death Café unless there is an option for them not to be recorded
- If someone is not recording the actual Death Café but rather looking to interview attendees before or after, then attendees don’t necessarily need to be informed in advance. However they should be informed about what’s going on by the host, ideally upon arrival.
- If people record at Death Cafes then please ask them to share the recordings with us via the website.
That’s it! If you have any thoughts about how this guidance can be improved please say and I will look to improve it.
Jon
Hi we re about to have a local Death Cafe and would like to hole it in out Hospice, what are the thoughts about this? does it send out the right message?
Hello All,
We are about to run our first DC in Narberth, West Wales and I am wondering if anyone has a poster or flyer template and/or a logo we could adapt and use please?
If so, please could you contact me at :
Many thanks
Karen and Heather
Payment for Death Cafe facilitators
Posted by Jon Underwood on Dec. 29, 2014, 10:57 p.m. 11 comments
Hi,
I'm sure the holiday season is not the best time for this but I need to raise something :)
Our guide to running your own Death Cafe (http://deathcafe.com/how/) is clear that Death Cafes are not for profit. Organisers can ask for a suggested donation if they like, but Death Cafes never have a ticket price. This seems comfortable and appropriate to me.
However our guide does not say anything about payment for facilitators or organisers of Death Cafes. Recently, there have been a number of incidences of people being commissioned to run Death Cafes in return for payment. I have also seen a compainy advertising Death Cafes to organisations as a training exercise for their staff.
As this affects Death Cafe as a whole please could you share your views on what is appropriate in relation to this.
It seems to me that there are 3 main options:
1. hosts should be able able to get paid as much as they want to run Death Cafes in accordance with our guide
2. only being paid a certain amount is acceptable (if so how much?)
3. hosts should not be paid to run Death Cafes
All options would need to be consistent with the guidance we already have i.e. any costs should never be passed on to attendees e.g. as a ticket price.
Also some context is that running Death Cafe (and in particular the work that I do) is currently unfunded. Is it appropriate that some proportion of funds raised would contribute to this?
Please do share your thoughts and I will draft something in accordance to post in our guide.
Thanks,
Jon
i just wrote up a question and don't know if I sent it before I finished. So I will pose the quetion again. The editor here wants to send a reporter to our first ever death cafe in Ontario OR to "cover the meeting", should I allow that with stipulations concerning confidentiallity of the participants or should I have her interview me? Also let her know a jounalist is welcome to participate in the discussion if they identify themselves as a jounalist, and that the things said in the meeting are confidential?
Hello,
My name is Luisa Ruiz and I am interested in starting a Death Cafe in Mexico City.
I've read everything in the website and I really like the idea.
I will start looking for a venue and in the next few days I will upload my profile.
A question I have is how many days in advance should I post the information about the Death Cafe.
Thanks
Luisa Ruiz
"Hi, I just found out about this concept--the Death Cafes--and I see thelistings online--all over the world, but not one near me--in the Dallas, Texas area. I would like to attend, but don't have the energy to start one up. I wonder if there are any other interested in starting a Death Cafe in the Denton County or Dallas County area--north Texas. Thanks so so much!."
Hello - I am writing from Love Productions, an award-winning British factual television company. We are developing a documentary that we hope will raise the awareness of assisted dying in the UK and worldwide. We are looking to speak with people living in the US who have the Death with Dignity Act in your state or are thinking about moving state in order to use act.
Participant pushing shamanic traditions
Posted by nancyreecejones on Nov. 13, 2014, 12:11 p.m. 4 comments
I've been facilitating a Death Cafe group in NW Montana for nearly a year and a core group of us have formed a supportive community. One regular participant is deep into Shamanic tradition and always brings it up--now he wants to bring a CD to share with others. His perspective is interesting and thoughtful but some find it dark/disturbing. How do I manage this? Thanks
Nancy Reece Jones
Hi, I've attended a couple of Death Cafes and am now hosting my own this Sunday. I was wondering if anyone has a typed up file for the intro to be read out at the start of the cafe and also for the (loose) discussion guide ideas? I'd really appreciate if you could post a copy here or email cara.lavan@gmail.com with it.
Many thanks.
Cara
I am new to Death Cafe. I am preparing to host my first one. I am a community engagement facilitator & I was already organizing a discussion on death when I heard about Death Cafe. It made sense for me to align my event with the Death Cafe model, so I am joining this unique global movement .
Initially I was not going to do RSVPs but on reading some recent comments I am wondering if I should change my thoughts on this. I live on an island of 10,000 population.
Any comments?