Friday, April 10, 2015

Don't Lose Your Loved Ones a Second Time

March 28, 2015 - I started this post on March 28th but never posted it. So sorry, but here it is.



"It's a little like Facebook meets Google Maps but for Dead People" - Pacific Coast Business Times

That's part of the advertising on the brochure for a company called tombfinder.com. And it really is like the quote above says. 


Photo taken at the Tombfinder.com Booth
This weekend my sister Lisa and I are in San Luis Obispo for 57th annual conference put on by the California Association of Public Cemeteries. We arrived on Thursday and that evening there was a "meet and greet" put on by the vendors, one of them being tombfinder.com. 

A hosted bar meant the wine flowed freely. There were sharply dressed waiters cruising the room with trays loaded with different delicacies, Pot stickers with peanut Sauce, Teriyaki Beef Sticks, Cheeseburger Sliders, Sausage and Vegetable Kabobs and Sushi. There was also a buffet table set up with assorted meats and cheeses, various fruits and veggies, a beautiful assortment of olives and guacamole and mini taquitos.

While we gorged on the delicacies so graciously provided by the vendors, we toured the room stopping at the various booths set up by the vendors with their wares. One of them was the one I've already mentioned, tombfinder.com.

What caught my attention about them was the brochure they had on a table for interested parties to take with them, and the catchy slogan that said, "you've already lost your loved ones once, don't lose them a second time."


Front cover of Brochure. Those pearly gates open up.
Inside of Brochure
Back of the Brochure with their contact info
I thought this brochure was so clever and eye catching and modern...most of all modern. Funeral Service as a whole has always been stuck in the dark ages as far as I'm concerned. Not a whole lot of technology has been applied, but that is all changing. Fresh ideas and young minds see things in a different way. Not that funerals shouldn't still be respectful, but they should be a celebration of life. 

It was great to be around people that understand that. There were those there that had been in funeral services for years and had lots to teach the young ones coming in of course, but they also learned new things from the young ones. It was a lot of fun as cemetery conventions go. (The great thing was that in this crowd Lisa and I were still considered kind of, sort of...young!)

Of course Lisa and I have fun no matter what whenever we are together. Even surrounded by a bunch of cemetery folk! After we took the picture below we had dinner and then we danced the night away! Well as much as you can dance the night away when the dance ends at 9pm, but we took advantage of it and danced every single one!


We had some great food! Wish I had taken pictures of everything, it was all so delicious, but I did take a picture of some of my favorite things.

This is my absolute favorite dessert in the whole world!

Creme Brulee - with lovely berries
Lisa invented a drink that everyone was calling "The Lisa", it was 7 and 7 with a splash of cranberry juice and a twist of lime. She loved it and so did everyone that she made try it!


And pardon me for taking a bite of this chocolate cake before taking a picture of it, but c'mon...you're lucky I didn't just inhale it with no picture!


Poor Lisa had to attend classes and seminars and I got to go shopping and wandering around.

Here we are the last night of the convention, Lisa is have "The Lisa" during the hotels happy hour and I'm having a margarita, just to switch it up from all the wine I had been drinking.


That night was a long dinner and presentation of the new officers of the board and awards presentations and by the end all we wanted was to go up to our room and go to sleep...so we did!

The last day we were invited to the Tap-It Brewery in San Luis Obispo. We sat outside on their beautiful patio enjoying the gorgeous sun and a slight breeze, sipping our craft beers and enjoying a delicious BBQ. A perfect way to end a perfect weekend! Thank you so much Lisa for taking me with you!




 

4 comments:

  1. I recorded all the family (well at least the ones I care about) grave location coordinates with my GPS and then enter the coordinates in to Google maps satellite view, do a screen capture and send it to relatives trying to find a grave. On urban cemeteries with a good zoom you can usually see the correct grave stone.

    I never thought to make a business out of it.

    Looks like you guys had a hell of good time as usual.

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  2. Wow Sextant! You could have been a millionaire! We actually, they didn't look like millionaires at the conference, but at least you know you had the same idea. We had a hard time finding our paternal grandmother's grave when we went. We found our paternal grandfather and various uncles and aunts and cousins while searching but finally had to go to the cemetery office to ask and the lady there was so unpleasant!

    Lisa and I always have a good time. I think it's cause we have no filters...hahaha! We just do whatever and talk to everyone.

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  3. Who would have thought that you could have so much fun at a cemetary convention? I love it. Your sister is awesome. It sounds like the time my sister had a conference in Nashville and invited me to come with her. She even paid for my plane ticket and we had so much fun. Sisters are the best. I love that you are so close to yours.

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    Replies
    1. Sisters are the best! It doesn't really matter where we are as long as we are together we can have a good time! And I know how close you are to your sister as well :)

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