PDX Death Cafe at the Q Center
A write up of PDX Death Cafe at the Q Center
By Holly Pruett
Report from PDX Death Café 6:
Half Day event with art and storytelling
At The Q-Center, May 4, 2014
The 6th PDX Death Café took place on Sunday May 4th from 1:30 to 5:30 at the Q Center. This was part of a half-day event which included a gallery of “death ephemera” and a storytelling hour, followed by the Death Café.
Who Came:
As this chart illustrates, there was a more even age distribution than at some other Death Café events.
About 80 folks attended overall. 50 participants filled out an evaluation following the Death Café; out of those, 29 were first timers. 10 guests had heard about the event from a friend/personal referral, 10 reported they heard about the event via internet/facebook, 9 via the Q Center & *eRa*, 1 through their church, and 18 did not comment of referral source.
Gender Reporting: 4 Trans, 28 Females, 1 Gender Queer, 11 males, 4 not responding
About the Experience:
The most frequent descriptors from participants included: Interesting, Open, Informative, Peaceful, Awesome, and Refreshing. Scintillating was used for the first time-what a word!!
Comments about the event structure:
-great physical space, yummy treats, friendly & welcoming people
-having moderators being speakers made the connections deeper
-could you provide Kleenex ?
-I liked that I didn’t feel pressured to participate
-Please share your literacy & documentary death resources on website & facebook
-a candle or two would be nice
-too much time between stories & death café discussion (x 2)
-the Q Center is great
-loved the story telling
-liked the open room and tables like a giant bridge game-but I was curious about what was going on in other rooms?
-so amazingly organized!
-Maybe lower lights
Comments on facilitation – most were positive:
-great, open & honest
-it is difficult to navigate many personalities & beliefs but they did great
-both did a great job of keeping the conversation flowing & contributing themselves
-great time –great person
-very good, respectful, and sensitive
-top banana!
A few participants provided constructive feedback on ways that facilitation could be improved:
-they talked too much with too much data, not enough listening. I spoke up and got back to sharing
-both were non-verbal-they should have shared stories
-suggest they tread lightly-let the conversation flow
-a little too much of his own story
The “Death and Dying Ephemera” Gallery was not highly utilized. Only four participants brought contributions t display. Evaluations reflected this: The Storytelling portion was truly enjoyed and many were disappointed (& or confused) about the “art” aspect-wanting more. If incorporated into future events, this will need more attention to recruit a broader array of folks to participate.