Press release -

Social Media Week: Death, Digital Demise, Community & Digital Legacy

During Social Media Week, London 2013 ‘Death, Digital Demise, Community & Digital Legacy’ will explore society’s changing attitudes and behaviour in relation to ‘end of life’ and mourning. It will be examined from the context of todays’ connected world from a number of differing perspectives.   This year’s SMWLDN’s theme is: ‘Open & Connected reflecting on the global impact of social media and its role as a catalyst in driving cultural, political, economic and social change’.

Death, Digital Demise, Community & Digital Legacy has been tailored to investigate the role of social media in relation to end of life and how death and bereavement is being disrupted by technology. This will occur through a series of reflective and thought provoking presentations. The evening will commence and finish with networking, music, drinks and nibbles.

Event Speakers

James Norris is the CEO & Founder of DeadSocial. DeadSocial is the social networking tool that enables us to create a series of messages. These are saved and then only distributed across the social web (currently supporting Facebook & Twitter) upon death. James will give an overview as to how death, grief and preparing for death have changed as a direct consequence of social media.

www.DeadSoci.al

Jon Underwood founded Death Cafe in 2011 based on the work of Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz. Death Café’s are places where people talk openly about death and loss in a non-judgmental setting. Tea and cakes are served as standard. Death Cafes attract people from walks of life, nationalities and creed. Since 2011 there have been nearly 200 death cafes across the globe.\

www.DeathCafe.com

Dr Aaron Balick will explore death in today’s digital society referencing Freud’s work in relation to mourning, grief and time. Dr Aaron Balick is a UKCP registered integrative psychotherapist who provides one-to-one psychotherapy in London. He is also BBC Radio 1′s resident psychotherapist on Sunday night’s ‘The Surgery’. Aaron will explore death and grief from a multitude of different perspectives in relation to our fragmented yet connected world.

www.mindswork.co.uk

Stuart Arnott founded Mindings to help those suffering from dementia and loneliness. Mindings is a tablet application that helps those who may feel lonely and venerable receive media from various social networks, SMS etc directly to a tablet or connected device. The content is then displayed in a simple and clear way. Stuart will probe why technology is often overlooked as a way to combat loneliness, dementia and end of life care. Stuart will provide practical advice on how one can combat this based on the experience he has attained.

www.mindings.com

Lawrence Darani is a terminally ill adult philosopher & existentialist. His teachings and methodologies are largely inspired by Irvin D. Yaloms approach to Death. Since being diagnosed with a lung disease Lawrence has focused many of his workshops around “what specifically is it about death that frightens us”?  Lawrence taught the BACP Diploma in Counselling at an East London College and is an experienced counselor who runs his own practice. Also as an ex Community Worker. He has run many workshops on community empowerment and currently runs his own training company Bread & Roses.

www.breadandrosescommunity.co.uk

Jack Rooke is a young artist who attempts to dissemble death and grief through spoken word.  Jack will deliver a short piece in-between each speaker’s session. Jack delves into the exploration, confusion and disruption that death and fear can have on one’s life. Jack’s work draws on his experiences from his memories as a child to experiences gained as an adult. Jack is a resident artist at the Camden Roundhouse, an ambassador for the male charity CALM.

www.jackrooke.tumblr.com

Event Partners

This event has been organised and by curated by DeadSocial. Death and end of life is often overlooked within the digital realm, the objective of the event is to evoke awareness and evoke digital enlightenment.

www.DeadSoci.al

‘Death, Digital Demise, Community & Digital Legacy’ will take place in the main hub at the Camden Collective. This collaborative working space provides desk space for a number of innovative startups, businesses and creatives.

www.camdencollective.co.uk

Drinks and nibbles for the event will be supplied by Levertons Funeral Directors. Levertons are one of London’s oldest Funeral Directors in the UK and established by John Leverton in 1789.

www.levertons.co.uk

Tickets for this event are available here: http://socialmediaweek.org/london/events/?id=83139

Press wanting to attend should email info (at) deadsoci.al for further information and be first to attain high quality images from the event.

Literature  from the National Council for Palliative Care & Dying Matters will be freely available. Dr Aaron Black’s latest book; The Psychodynamics of Social Networking (released during Social Media Week) will also be on sale.

Related links

Topics

  • Health, Health Care, Pharmaceuticals

Categories

  • digital death
  • digital demise
  • digital legacy
  • social media week 2013
  • james norris
  • mindings
  • mindswork
  • radio 1
  • psychotherapist
  • bread and roses
  • death cafe
  • social media week london
  • event
  • conference
  • social media
  • end of life
  • deadsocial
  • smwldn
  • social media week
  • jon underwood
  • integrative psychotherapist
  • dr aaron balick
  • ukcp
  • stuart arnott
  • jack rooke
  • camden roundhouse
  • levertons funeral directors

DeadSocial was launched in March at ‘South by South West’ (SXSW) in Texas this year before being announced as finalists in the ‘London Web Summit’ Startup Competition. DeadSocial is a free social networking tool that enables us to say "goodbye" in our own time and in our own unique way.

Contacts

James Norris

Press contact Founder +44 7868823055