TikTok It Don’t Stop & COVID Curse Words | 4M #23
Welcome to the twenty-third edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, where we’ll serve up bite-sized, easily-digestible nuggets of the deathcare news you need to crush conversations in the week ahead. Bon appetit!
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A fancasket idea!
Think podcasts and TikTok are just for hipsters and broadcast majors? Think again! Both are excellent ways to educate your community and expand your audience, and anyone — even you — can do it. Niles, Michigan funeral director Steve Wickens and family service advisor Deb Millen of Halbritter Wickens Funeral Services* started a podcast and TikTok channel earlier this year, and it’s growing with every installment. And before you assume Wickens is a millennial, just know that he has more than 30 years of funeral service under his belt, so you can do the math. Wickens told a local news outlet that the goal of the podcast — which is oh-so-cleverly named “The Podcasket” — is to educate people about deathcare and the funeral service. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be doing a podcast,” Wickens said. “But it’s been interesting and fun. We’ve had great support from people. It’s that type of thing that encourages you to keep going.” Way to go, Wickens!
*Full disclosure: Halbritter Wickens Funeral Services is a client of Connecting Directors parent company DISRUPT Media.
Dignity’s in debt
Dignity Plc, a UK funeral conglomerate with more than 800 rooftops and 3,000+ employees, is seeking financial relief after the pandemic “disrupted” its business. According to Reuters, Dignity has asked its lenders for a waiver of its financial covenant, which requires an earnings-to-total-debt-service ratio of 1.5. Their current ratio, 2.09, was calculated after Dignity ended 2021 with a profit of $60.3 million — a loss of nearly $20 million over 2020’s profit of $81.9 million.
Bodies are backing up, and it’s not all due to COVID
Medical examiner offices across the country are facing backlogs that are truly (ugh … we hoped this next word would die with the pandemic…) unprecedented. Maryland has seen a 400% increase in caseloads over the last few months; 240 bodies are currently awaiting autopsies. New Hampshire and Washington state are reporting similar situations. Surprisingly, it’s not all COVID’s fault. Instead, staffing shortages, rising violence, and drug overdoses are also to blame for unexpected or unexplained deaths requiring the medical examiner’s opinion. So not only are funerals being delayed; it’s also affecting prosecutions.
FAKE NEWS!!!!!
Fake news, misinformation, opposing viewpoints, call it whatever you want- it’s everywhere! In fact, we’ve even heard people say, “live streaming funeral services is so difficult!”
Well well well, Get some mustard and a little bit of bread, cause that’s bologna!
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Two things funeral homes need in 2022 are visibility and increased call volume. MemoryShare provides both of these things as well as a team of REAL people you can talk to if you ever run into trouble.
Don’t believe the lies! Learn more about MemoryShare today!
