For Immediate Release:
Dateline: Albuquerque,
NM
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
 Online Pandemic-Safe Events Taking Place at www.BeforeIDieNM.comLike many other in-person events impacted by the pandemic, the 4th annual Before I Die New Mexico Festival is going online as a virtual, safe experience. The four days of death-positive conversations and experiences will take place October 30 to November 2, 2020, at www.BeforeIDieNM.com.  Gail Rubin, CT, The Doyenne of Death®“Prior to the novel coronavirus, in-person death discussion movements and festivals were sprouting up across the globe. This pandemic has brought mortality issues to top-of-mind awareness, prompting people to learn about death and plan for end-of-life,” said Gail Rubin, CT, pioneering death educator and coordinator of the festival. The Before I Die New Mexico Virtual Festival has entertaining and educational elements. These include virtual field trips with prerecorded videos, daily online theater and movie events, book and panel discussions, and much more. Before I Die New Mexico Virtual Festival events include: - Daily Death Cafe conversations about mortality issues and questions
- Behind-the-scenes virtual video tours of the Office of the Medical Investigator, funeral homes, cemeteries and other interesting locations
- Lively panel discussions: “Millennial Morticians with ABQ Brews” (BYOB), “Funeral Directors on Working in Coronavirus Hot Spots,” “Prospects for Medical Aid-in-Dying in New Mexico,” “How COVID-19 Impacts Native American Funerals,” and “Where the Bodies are Buried,” all about cemeteries
- Daily book discussions with authors on a range of end-of-life topics, such as widowhood, medical aid-in-dying, and dealing with possessions
- Speakers and workshops on planning ahead, advance healthcare directives, new trends in death care, New Mexico culture around death, and the “woo-woo” sides of life and death
- Online live theater performances of short one-act plays related to mortality written by Los Alamos playwright Robert Benjamin with follow-up discussions.
- A VIP Halloween Experience, a Zoom party preceded by a box of Day of the Dead goodies delivered to your home before October 31.
Tickets for Before I Die New Mexico Virtual Festival events range from one-day passes for $20 to the VIP Experience at $100. Discounts are available through selected Festival sponsors. Tickets are now on sale online here. Learn more about all activities and events at www.BeforeIDieNM.com. The International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA) recognized the 2018 Before I Die New Mexico Festival with their KIP Award for Best Event. The festival is coordinated by Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist, the Doyenne of Death®, speaker and author of three books on planning for end-of-life issues, including A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die. Festival SponsorsThe Before I Die New Mexico Virtual Festival is made possible by: A portion of the sponsorship proceeds and ticket sales from the Before I Die NM Virtual Festival will be donated to 501(c)(3) charitable partners Fathers Building Futures, making “caskets for a cause” (www.FathersBuildingFutures.com), and Albuquerque’s Historic Fairview Cemetery, est. 1881 (www.HistoricFairviewCemeteryABQ.org). A portion of sponsorship fees may be tax-deductible as charitable donations. Festival sponsorship opportunities are still available by calling Gail Rubin at 505-265-7215. Like this:Like Loading...
Gail Rubin, CT, is author and host of the award-winning book and television series, A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die, Hail and Farewell: Cremation Ceremonies, Templates and Tips, and KICKING THE BUCKET LIST: 100 Downsizing and Organizing Things to Do Before You Die.
Rubin is a Certified Thanatologist (that's a death educator) and a popular speaker who uses humor and films to get the end-of-life and funeral planning conversation started. She "knocked 'em dead" with her TEDx talk, A Good Goodbye. She provides continuing education credit classes for attorneys, doctors, nurses, social workers, hospice workers, financial planners, funeral directors and other professionals. She's a Certified Funeral Celebrant and funeral planning consultant who has been interviewed in national and local print, broadcast and online media.
Known as The Doyenne of Death®, she is the event coordinator of the Before I Die NM Festival. She also hosts A Good Goodbye Internet radio show and produces Mortality Minute radio and online video spots. Her YouTube Channel features more than 450 videos!
Rubin is a member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, Toastmasters International and the National Speakers Association New Mexico Chapter. Her speaking profile is available at eSpeakers.com.
Gail Rubin has been interviewed about funeral planning issues in national and local broadcast, print and online media. Outlets include The Huffington Post, Money Magazine, Kiplinger, CBS Radio News, WGN-TV, and local affiliates for NPR, PBS, FOX, ABC-TV, CBS-TV and NBC-TV. Albuquerque Business First named her as one of their 2019 Women of Influence.
Sign up for a free planning form and occasional informative newsletter at her website, AGoodGoodbye.com.
|