Death Cafe write-ups
Columbus Ohio Death Cafe #2 Write up
Posted by Columbus Death Cafe/Lizzy Miles on Sept. 12, 2013, 8:38 a.m.
Eddie Izzard may ask you to choose between cake or death, but at the Death Café, you can have cake AND death (conversation). Twenty-one people attended the second Columbus, Ohio Death Café on August 23, 2012.
When asked what interested them about the Death Café, the attendees ...
First Death Cafe in the US! Write up
Posted by Columbus Death Cafe/Lizzy Miles on Sept. 12, 2013, 8:14 a.m.
Thursday night’s Death Café event in Columbus, Ohio was a pleasant way to spend the evening. Although it was hot and muggy outside, 13 brave participants came to gather with strangers to talk about death.
More than half of the attendees who RSVP’d ended up ...
Denver Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Anita Larson on Sept. 10, 2013, 11:12 a.m.
Highlights of Denver’s 1st Death Café
September 8, 2013
Welcome! Many thanks to Wy Livingstone and Wystone’s Tea for hosting Denver’s first Death Cafe and to Alex our wonderful server. Thank you to Larry Larson & Sherry McDowell for helping with signups, greeting guests and taking notes during the event. Intro about Death Café – what it is and what it is not. Visit www.DeathCafe.com to learn more of the history and find Death Cafes in other cities or countries.
Denver Death Café has a Face Book page here: www.facebook.com/denverdeathcafe Please like the page and post any thoughts, comments or resources ...
The 2nd PDX Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Holly Pruett on Sept. 9, 2013, 4:21 p.m.
Despite near 100-hundred degree weather, our 2nd PDX Death Café drew an astonishing 58 folks to the cool environs of Cyril’s at the Clay Pigeon Winery. You can see what participants had to say about the experience in the word cloud posted on our page (the bigger the word, the more frequently mentioned). Interesting, open, stimulating, comforting, honest, thought-provoking, and friendly were the descriptors that led the pack. Nearly everyone completed an evaluation form. All but two people indicated that they would consider attending a future Death Café and would recommend it to friends and family.
What We Served Up
§ We opened with some words by ...
The 1st PDX Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Holly Pruett on Sept. 9, 2013, 4:14 p.m. 3 comments
If asked to go indoors on a gloriously sunny springtime day to talk about Death, would you expect to describe the experience as fun, exciting, inspirational or enlivening? Those in fact are some of the most common words participants used to describe the first PDX Death Café, held April 28 at the Bijou Café in downtown Portland, Oregon.
The top descriptors volunteered by our 60 participants were: interesting, informative, enlightening, and educational – remarkable given that this event presented absolutely no content. No featured speakers, no presentations, no informational handouts. The format consisted exclusively of sitting with three or four strangers and sharing why they chose to come to ...
Death Cafe Boothbay Write up
Posted by Lynne Tobin on Sept. 6, 2013, 1:38 p.m.
Boothbay's 2nd Death Cafe was a great success. Five new people attended. Discussions centered on green funerals and home burials.
Everyone enjoyed cupcakes ornamented with skull rings.
So much to talk about, so little time!
Death Cafe in Glasgow Write up
Posted by FinalFling on Sept. 4, 2013, 10:55 a.m.
Review first published in The Drum on 7th August 2013.
Final Fling, the group which “aims to be to death what Mumsnet is to birth” took the unusual step of hosting a 'Death Café' event to market and promote its services. Final Fling describe the cafés as “an informal group discussion over a cuppa”.
The group is supported to talk about how their life experience informs their view of death and how their experience of death shapes their life. 25 Death Cafes have been held in six countries so far.
Maureen O’Brien, an Australian nurse who recently lost her father, went along to take on one ...
Death Cafe Petaulma Write up
Posted by Karen Garber, RN on Aug. 31, 2013, 11:29 p.m.
Aqus Café was packed with nearly 40 participants eager to share in the first Death Café Petaluma. After the local newspaper ran an article on the event, the RSVPs poured in. Unbeknownst to the facilitator, Karen Garber, an article also ran in several other community papers without mentioning an RSVP! Tables were set with flowering plants, boxes of Kleenex, and tent cards reserving them for Death Café attendees. Printed out lists of Questions for Your Consideration were distributed. Those questions can be found at the end of this entry.
Tables filled up quickly and conversation started to buzz before the event even started. A microphone was needed so ...
Perhaps 45 people were there for the DC event about 15 of which, like myself and my sister-in-law driver, did not RSVP and were a surprise to the hostess. The cafe had another 20-30 folk in the other end of the same room who were just random patrons.
Having said all that it was a lively group with many earnest but localized discussions going on. I watched the tables occasionally and noted postures that indicated to me that the folk involved seemed to be enjoying themselves. I heard no unusually raised voices or arguing at all.
Karen opened the meeting with a short statement about DC and a ...
Death Café New York City started off with soft jazz and carpeting, as 35 attendees entered the brightly lit basement of an IHOP (International House of Pancakes) in the West Village. The demographics (based on evaluations from 21 out of 35) showed a nice 50/50 split between males and females as well as a 50/50 split between the Under- and Over 50 set, with an additional attendee falling somewhere between 18-24 and another at 85+.
Faith/religion/beliefs included: Agnostic, Humanist, Atheist, Open-Minded, Jewish, Spiritual, Catholic, Buddhist, Interfaith, including a follower of Baruch Spinoza, the philosopher.
Serendipitously, we sat three film people together, one of whom ...
Death Cafe Atlanta Write up
Posted by Mark (Atlanta, GA) on Aug. 25, 2013, 7:53 p.m.
It was a beautiful day to be in Oakland Cemetery: blue sky and a warm day with just a slight touch of fall in the air. Thirty people showed up to participate in Atlanta’s 5th Death Café ranging in age from five months to 91. The spread of food included fresh fruit, cheese and crackers, vegetable tray, finger sandwiches, various teas and coffees, and of course a delicious cake with the Death Café Atlanta logo on it. Discussing death simply goes better with cake and a cuppa. Thanks to Crossroads Hospice Charitable Foundation for the grant that underwrites Death Café Atlanta!
Topics varied significantly from table ...
All-day Death Cafe Central Coast Write up
Posted by Gypsy Artemis on Aug. 23, 2013, 3:53 a.m.
Some Death Cafe stats from our all day Dying to Know Day event at Hatters on 8th August:
89% of those completing evaluations rated the event as "excellent" and 5/5! A further 11% rated it 4/5
89% of those completing evaluations rated their comfort level whilst participating as "excellent" and thus 5/5
78% of those completing evaluations rated the structure of the session as "excellent" (5/5) and 22% rated it as a 4/5
100% of those clearly answering the question said that attending Death Cafe affected their feelings about death &/or life
11% of those answering the question rated the overall facilitation of ...
Death Cafe Blue Mountains Write up
Posted by GroundSwellProject on Aug. 21, 2013, 8:52 p.m. 1 comment
It began with a book, and ended with a poem.
The first official Blue Mountains Death Cafe was true to the Blue Mountains style. There was fantastic locally-baked cake, a stunning backdrop of World Heritage wilderness, and twenty people who had come to talk about death.
I think we were all encouraged and perhaps a little surprised at how easily the conversation flowed up and down the long table, which was beautifully set with white linen and heirloom silverware, courtesy of the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre’s Lis Bastian.
The cafe was co-hosted by Kerrie Noonan, founder of the Groundswell Project and Dying to Know Day, and author ...
Friendly & Fearless Tucson Death Cafe Write up
Posted by tucsondeathcafe on Aug. 20, 2013, 3:13 p.m. 2 comments
JUNE
New place! New time! We outgrew our meeting room in Bookmans Used Book’s community space. We chose Monterey Court Café and Galleries as a new location. At our June gathering 23 people attended, including me and Cindy as co-facilitators. We kept the conversation the most open we had in any Café format, due partly to not knowing how things would go in the new setting and partly to being ready for a rest after two meetings in May!
We had nearly an hour of small group conversations at tables, with some people enjoying dinner and others, just drinks. Once people finished eating, the majority of the ...
Death Cafe - Millerton NY Write up
Posted by Death Cafe - Millerton, NY on Aug. 16, 2013, 10:09 p.m.
Thursday, August 15, 2013 What a wonderful evening for our first Death Cafe! The Death Cafe- Millerton NY welcomed 20+ guests ranging in age from 31 to 83, with the majority being women. Guests choose from tables of 3-6 seats, filled out a name tag and signed in. This table activity gave guests a chance to meet and greet each other. There were carafes of water and bowls of pretzels on the tables. There was delicious cake, fruit, cupcakes and beverages to nourish the body and lots of positive energy in the room to nourish the spirit.
At 7 pm Suzanne B. O'Brien, facilitator, welcomed everyone and ...