Over at Chronosphere you'll find a weighty set of posts that aim to provide a foundation for critiquing cryonics at the organizational level of achieving consistently good cryopreservations, and the development of professional organizational cultures and processes - such as record-keeping - required to support that goal. All industries require ongoing initiatives that provide solid, constructive critiques of present practice, for otherwise how are the participants to progress and improve themselves?

You be the Judge: Understanding and Evaluating the Quality of Human Cryopreservations from Cryonics Organization Literature and Case Report Data, Part 1:

The goal of this series of articles is to equip the reader with the tools necessary to make an accurate assessment of the quality of care cryonics patients, both individually and as a group, are receiving from their respective cryonics organizations.

You be the Judge: Understanding and Evaluating the Quality of Human Cryopreservations from Cryonics Organization Literature and Case Report Data, Part 2:

In a very real sense, that care starts the moment the member/patient experiences his first contact with the cryonics organization that will ultimately cryopreserve him. The tenor of that first contact will likely determine the nature and course of the member's subsequent interaction both with cryonics and his cryonics organization. If cryonics is presented as a developed product that is costly but nevertheless fairly routine, say like buying a home or an automobile, that's very likely how it will be subsequently be treated. If, on the other hand, there is heavy emphasis on the lack of infrastructure to provide help in an emergency and the need to exercise both personal responsibility and personal preparedness, outcomes will likely differ - at least statistically, if not in each individual case.

You be the Judge: Understanding and Evaluating the Quality of Human Cryopreservations from Cryonics Organization Literature and Case Report Data, Part 3:

not only is it important that those caring for the patient know what is expected of them, the cryonics organization must also know what the family/caregiver's needs are, both logistically and psychologically. Cryonics is unfamiliar territory for family, and the procedures attending [the preparatory period immediately prior to cryopreservation] can perturb what in many cases will be a fragile emotional and psychological equilibrium in the patient's home life. Organizations that fail to establish rapport, and work to ascertain and meet the needs of the patient's family, risk non-cooperation, obstruction and even litigation. Seemingly small details, such as protecting flooring or furniture from water damage, or arranging for a few minutes of private "alone time" with the patient before he is removed from the home or care facility after acute stabilization, can mean the difference between heartfelt assistance, and bitter belligerence from the next of kin.

The quotes above hit some of the points I have had in mind in past years when discussing the need for cryonics organizations to (a) become more professional in character, and (b) form up a better product offering for customers, one that provides more in the way of service and guidance than is presently the case. That theme continues into the last of the four posts, linked below.

You be the Judge: Understanding and Evaluating the Quality of Human Cryopreservations from Cryonics Organization Literature and Case Report Data, Part 4:

Nevertheless, the real solutions to the problems discussed here are not easy, because they demand the acquisition of professionalism, knowledge, and skill in the context of cryonics as medicine. I personally believe that Jerry Leaf and I came very close to doing that in the decade between 1981 and 1991. But we failed. Why we failed will be discussed at a later time. Suffice it to say that the problem of maintaining professionalism is a nettlesome one in medicine, engineering and other demanding disciples that are vastly more developed than cryonics is today, and there will be no quick fixes.

"No quick fixes" is a conclusion I agree with. Nothing worthwhile is quick and painless to achieve, and even small industries change slowly when it comes to company cultures. The only reliable path to faster change involves money, as change follows rapid growth in the number of paying customers in any human endeavor. Unfortunately that growth remains elusive for cryonics providers, just as it has throughout that past decades. From where I stand, I'd say that the best near-term path to the goal of transformative growth in revenue lies in developing spin-off technologies in cryobiology and related fields - but that's an opinion offered without any great insight into the inner workings of the industry as it exists today. It is simply taken from the standard business texts: if you've consistently failed to achieve good growth with option A, then perhaps it's time to try options B, C, and D.