2010 House of Commons Speakers: Traditional Memorials v Virtual Memorials
MAB have decided to hold the House of Commons as a biannual event which means there will be no seminar in 2011. Please email us at mab@oneismore.com to be added to our House of Commons mailing list and we will let you know when tickets are on sale for 2012!
The 2010 debate was a huge success. For more information, please read on...
The 6th Annual Memorial Awareness Board House of Commons Seminar took place on Thursday 11th of November, in the lower house of the Parliament.
The hot topic being debated this year was Traditional v Virtual Memorials, which most certainly sparked a discussion over a growing trend within the industry.
The seminar discussed the importance of digitalisation in the memorial industry and whether or not it is necessary to bring the industry up to date in such a cybernated world.
With more consumers moving towards memorialising online, the importance of facing the growing changes in the digital world, both traditionally and technologically, was acknowledged.
David Jones of Memorial Tags presented on the importance of offering a technological alternative to memorialisation due to the ever-growing online population. With the advances in technology, he argued that it is easier for families of loved ones to remember them by a digital code which is placed on a headstone, which can then download personalised multimedia to your mobile phone or computer. Jones insists, “Virtual memorials mean that memories and history never have to be forgotten.” His main point of discussion was that the memorial industry does need to be aware that these advancements in technology are happening and the industry needs to acknowledge and respond accordingly to the customer’s demands and needs.
When asked if he believes Memorial Tags will still be used in the future due to the increasing rate of technological discovery, Jones replied that he shall, “continue updating the software and ensure that, in some form, Memorial Tags will always be available to its customers.”
From another perspective, Harriet Frazer of The Memorial Arts Charity, who has spent the past 20 years putting people in touch with letter cutters and stone-carvers, stressed the importance of finding peace and solitude and “leaving your mobile behind” when visiting deceased loved ones. Harriet focuses on stone memorials and lettering to ensure the traditional sense of the memorialisation industry is kept alive. “A stone does not have to be elaborate and advanced to be special, but individual and personalised carvings are enough to give scope on what a person did, what they were, and what they meant to people.” She believes that finding and organizing the right stone for your loved one can help with the grieving process.
Although Frazer has strong values for the traditional methods of memorialisation, she accepts that technology is an important part of everyday life. One guest asked if Harriet would be against having a Memorial Tag on a stone that she had commissioned. She replied, “it would be the customer’s choice, I would have no say as to what they decided to do with their stone, however I would prefer it if the tag was on the back of the memorial!”
Although an abstract subject, the seminar showed that each and every industry is realising the potential of digitalisation and how no business or person is exempt from it. The friendly debate illustrated that both companies could potentially be used in conjunction with each other. Both speakers acknowledged and respected the others values and companies aims. Maybe there will be collaboration between the two in the near future!
The seminar, sponsored by Keith Simpson MP, brought together all sides of the UK bereavement and memorialisation industry. It proved a key opportunity to discuss how best we should continue to maintain better cemeteries in this time of electronic change.
Harriet Frazer of Memorials by Artists and The Memorial Arts Charity
Traditional Memorials: "Celebrating Lives with Enduring Works of Art"
David Jones of Memorial Tags
Virtual Memorials: "Memorial Tags - Linking Past, Present and Future Generations"