{"id":1123,"date":"2016-05-31T11:27:43","date_gmt":"2016-05-31T11:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/?p=1123"},"modified":"2016-05-31T12:21:03","modified_gmt":"2016-05-31T12:21:03","slug":"the-digital-legacy-conference-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/2016\/05\/31\/the-digital-legacy-conference-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"The Digital Legacy Conference 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sandy Weatherburn,\u00a0\u200eFounder & Director at Social Embers <\/a>Digital estate management<\/em><\/p>\n

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My pledge for Dying Matters week<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

This weekend I attended the Digital Legacy Conference <\/a>in Hackney, London, which was held at St Joseph\u2019s Hospice.<\/p>\n

The conference was organised by The Digital Legacy Association<\/a> (DLA) to raise awareness of issues surrounding death and dying that are becoming increasingly important in society. It concluded a week of campaigning by ‘Dying Matters’<\/a> to encourage more people to talk openly about end of life issues.<\/p>\n

The conference was opened by James Norris<\/a>, founder of the DLA and of Dead Social,<\/a> and James outlined some of the aims of his projects and how he got involved in this area.\u00a0Chairing the event was speaker and funeral celebrant Peter Billingham, who runs Death Goes Digital<\/a>, a company formed to give advice to the funeral industry about using digital technology. Peter spoke knowledgeably about\u00a0some of the\u00a0changes that are happening at funeral celebrations, including live stream funerals and photography, acknowledging that some are quite unusual and he gave us some interesting anecdotes.<\/p>\n

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James Norris opening the Digital Legacy Conference<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gary Rycroft was the next speaker. He is a solicitor and also works as a trustee for the National Council for Palliative Care, and the Dying Matters Coalition; both organisations promote awareness of death and bereavement issues. He told us about the Law Society Wills and Equity Committee<\/a>, who produce guidelines for solicitors in relation to the law governing wills, succession and mental capacity, and he outlined how\u00a0new thinking is now required with regard to digital assets.<\/p>\n

Jane Harris Edmonds spoke to us very movingly about the death of her son Josh. She outlined how this lead to her current work \u2018The Good Grief Project’<\/a>. We learned from Jane how through making a film<\/a> of her son\u2019s funeral, she was able to create both a physical<\/a> and a digital memorial <\/a>site for him, and this is still providing comfort to her and Josh\u2019s family and friends. \u2019Beyond Goodbye\u2019 <\/a>is a digital tribute to her son and \u2018Postcards to Josh\u2019 <\/a>still provides an opportunity for all those who knew him to share their feelings, memories and new experiences. Music, photographs, postcards, videos and words are all used to create a way for everyone to contribute in their own preferred way.<\/p>\n

Mark Taubert, an NHS Consultant Physician in Palliative Medicine, spoke next. He started his talk by observing how Jane had demonstrated\u00a0that both physical and digital spaces can be used simultaneously and creatively\u00a0to remember someone. He went on to tell us about an open letter he had written in a BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care blog post <\/a>to David Bowie about the late singer’s death and last months. His letter thanked Bowie for the awareness he had raised by what must have involved meticulous preparation for the last weeks of his life, knowing that his illness was terminal. He spoke about the profound effect the album Blackstar and Bowie’s music more generally had had on him and many people that he worked with, and referred to it as a \u2018a work of death art\u2019. His letter became widely\u00a0talked and blogged\u00a0about\u00a0on social media, in the press and on TV, after being shared by David Bowie\u2019s son Duncan and highlighted the work of palliative care professionals.<\/p>\n

We were also pleased to connect with many others who attended the conference.\u00a0St Joseph’s\u00a0Hospice made\u00a0us feel very welcome and this very poignant memory tree at the bottom of the stairs reminded us of how many different ways we can remember those who\u2019s lives have now ended.<\/p>\n

The Digital Legacy Conference is an annual, not for profit conference by the Digital Legacy Association. To find out more click here<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Memory Tree at St Joseph’s Hospice<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sandy Weatherburn,\u00a0\u200eFounder & Director at Social Embers Digital estate management   This weekend I attended the Digital Legacy Conference in Hackney, London, which was held at St Joseph\u2019s Hospice. The conference was organised by The Digital Legacy Association (DLA) to raise awareness of issues surrounding death and dying that are becoming increasingly important in […]<\/p>\n

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