Posts Tagged ‘National Funeral Directors Association’

AFE Early Bird Registration Deadline Looming

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Hong KongIn its third year, the Asia Funeral Expo (AFE) 2010 is an event that the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) jointly organize with Vertical Expo in Hong Kong. AFE features funeral industry products and services, from caskets, burial vaults, urns to memorial products, embalming equipment, incineration equipment, cold storage equipment, software for virtual funeral services, garments, cosmetics, memorial products, hearse, funeral products for pets, cemetery services, and education and training services for professional funeral practices.

Almost 2,000 buyers from 43 countries attended the 2009 show that featured 150 exhibitors, including 6 from the U.S. About 50 percent of the exhibitors at the 2009 show concluded sales on site. For the 2010 show, funeral industry professionals from Mongolia, Malaysia, West Indies, South Africa, Singapore, Philippines, China, the U.S. and many European countries have already confirmed their attendance.

Hong Kong’s demographics and shortage of land suggests an increasing demand for funeral services. Cultural preferences notwithstanding, adaptive U.S. service providers will be able to help meet this demand. Hong Kong’s population is aging fast: 12 percent of the population is aged 65 and above at 871,600 in 2008. This number is expected to exceed one million by 2015 and two million by 2025.

A series of seminars on the funeral industry will run concurrently with the trade show.

There are 2 types of registration in AFE 2010:

1. Expo & Conference

  • Full Access of 3 Show Days
  • Conferences
  • International Reception and other networking activities
  • Site Visit (venue and facility to be confirmed)
  • Free Show Catalogue
  • Free Business Matching Services
  • Free Market Intelligence
  • Registration Fee: USD 450 / person

Register on or before 26 Feb 2010, you can enjoy an Early Bird Special Rate USD 349 / person! If your group consists of 10 people or above, please contact ASE directly for special arrangement.

2. Expo only

  • Full Access of 3 Show Days
  • Free Business Matching Services
  • Free Market Intelligence
  • Registration Fee: USD 50 / person
  • If you cannot complete the registration online, please kindly fill in the Visitor Pre-Registration Form and send it by email (afe@verticalexpo.com) or fax (+852-2528-0072).

Contact us for more details:
Email: afe@verticalexpo.com

Tel: (852) 2528 0079 Mr. Eric Chow (Hong Kong)
(852) 2528 0275 Ms. Lainie Man (Hong Kong)

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2010 NFDA Resource Catalog Available

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

CasketThe National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) has released its 2010 Resource Catalog. Packed with essential tools to help funeral directors strengthen their business operations, educate staff and enhance service to families, this year’s catalog features product sets on a variety of topics, including business operations and aftercare, which offer savings of up to $50.

In addition to consumer brochures, a wide variety of informational and educational materials and specialty NFDA items, the catalog features NFDA Home Study courses that enable funeral directors to earn continuing education (CE) hours without leaving their home or office. Presented by trusted experts and approved for CE hours by the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice and most state licensing boards, Home Study courses are available in book, CD (audio), CD-ROM (audio and visual) and DVD formats. NFDA members can purchase many Home Study courses for less than $100, which includes the product (e.g., book, CD) and CE question set.

This year’s catalog features nine new Home Study books that are accredited for up to 10 CE hours:

  • Building Customer Loyalty From the Inside Out (10 CE hours). Practical tips and compelling examples that provide powerful guidelines for creating customer loyalty. Author: Debra J. Schmidt.
  • Capitalizing on Kindness: Why 21st Century Professionals Need to Be Nice (10 CE hours). Five powerful tools, based on kindness, that can help ensure individual and business success. Author: Kristin Tillquist.
  • The Eight Building Blocks for Creating a Sustainable, Closely-Held Company (10 CE hours). Challenges family-business owners to move outside their comfort zone to create and sustain business success. Author: D. Wayne Rivers.
  • Family Business (10 CE hours). Learn about the knowledge and skills needed for the successful management of family businesses; illustrates ways to achieve sustained growth and continuity through generations. Author: Ernesto J. Poza.
  • 100 Ways to Motivate Others (10 CE hours). In an entertaining style, this book presents proven ways to motivate staff members, thereby ensuring business success. Author: Steve Chandler.
  • Boom! 7 choices for Blowing the Doors Off Business-as-Usual (10 CE hours). Presents seven key life choices to help professionals put enthusiasm and passion back into their work and their workplace. Author: Kevin and Jackie Freiberg.
  • Think Like a Marketer (10 CE hours). Presents a new approach to marketing to help business owners ensure marketing gets done and gets results. Author: Lauron Sonnier.
  • Understanding Your Suicide Grief (10 CE hours). Helps those left behind understand their normal and necessary, yet unique, grief journey. Author: Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.
  • Cry Until You Laugh: Comforting Guidance for Coping with Grief (10 CE hours). Blends gentle humor with practical advice for the bereaved and the professionals who support them; confronts myths about grief. Author: Richard J. Obershaw.

In addition, funeral professionals will find several 2009 NFDA Teleconferences, Web Seminars and convention workshops presented as Home Study courses:

  • “Ethical Thinking in Today’s World” (4 CE hours). Explores ethical responsibility and the benefits of ethical behavior; provides guidelines to help funeral directors make the ethical choice. Presenter: Chris Kuhnen.
  • “Does Formaldehyde Cause Cancer? How NFDA’s Formaldehyde Best Management Practices can Protect You” (4 CE hours). Reviews recent findings on formaldehyde health risks; reviews NFDA’s Formaldehyde Best Management Practices; includes information about new, toxin-free embalming products. Presenters: Carol Green and Edward Ranier.
  • “FTC Funeral Rule Staff Training” (4 CE hours). Provides an overview of the FTC Funeral Rule compliance requirements, with special attention given to phone inquiries, third-party merchandise and avoiding violations during “undercover shops.” Presenters: T. Scott Gilligan and Craig Tregillus.
  • “GPL Funeral Packages – Doing Them Right” (4 CE hours). Explores the ways funeral packages can be presented to consumers in a manner that is compliant with the FTC Funeral Rule. Presenter: T. Scott Gilligan.
  • “With the Push to Cremate: 5 Reasons to Encourage a Viewing and Ritual” (4 CE hours). Reviews ways funeral directors can communicate the value of viewing and ritual to families that choose direct cremation. Presenters: Susan J. Zonnebelt-Smeenge and Robert C. DeVries.
  • “Prepare for the New Employment Regulations” (4 CE hours). Reviews major employment regulations with which funeral homes must comply; special attention given to common violations. Presenter: Stephanie Peters.

The 2010 NFDA Resources Catalog was mailed with the February issue of The Director, but funeral professionals can also download a PDF from www.nfda.org/resources or call NFDA at 800-228-6332 for a free copy. All NFDA resources, including the new Home Study offerings, can be accessed and ordered by visiting www.nfda.org/resources or calling NFDA at 800-228-6332.

NFDA is the world’s leading funeral service association, serving 19,000 individual members who represent more than 10,200 funeral homes in the United States and internationally. From its headquarters in Brookfield, Wis., and its Advocacy office in Washington, D.C., NFDA informs, educates and advocates to help members enhance the quality of service they provide to families. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.

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National Funeral Directors Association: Update on Haiti Assistance Efforts

Sunday, January 31st, 2010
A Haitian boy receives treatment at a MINUSTAH logistics base.

A Haitian boy receives treatment at a MINUSTAH logistics base.

The members of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association (NFD&MA), the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), the Casket and Funeral Supply Association of America (CFSA) and the Monument Builders of North America (MBNA) express their heartfelt sympathies to those affected by the earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12. The associations’ members also wish to express their deepest concerns over the treatment of those who died in the earthquake.

The Haitian government has taken control of the mortuary response in Haiti and has neither asked for nor authorized assistance from any government or private organization. The heart-breaking images of those who died being placed in mass graves are shocking, and the members of NFDA, NFD&MA, CANA, CFSA and MBNA believe the people of Haiti deserve better. They have lost so much and are experiencing a variety of emotions as they struggle to survive; seeing people who may be family or friends being put in mass graves only compounds their grief.

The associations are also worried about the fate of American citizens and individuals with dual Haitian and American citizenship who died in the earthquake. As of January 23, the Department of State reports that the identities of 45 American citizens who died in the earthquake have been confirmed. However, thousands remain missing. There are concerns that the remains of these missing individuals may be placed in one of the mass graves or may forever be lost in the rubble. The news story “Relatives of Americans Missing in Haiti Angry,” from The Washington Post (http://bit.ly/6snn87), sheds light on the pain and anguish these families are experiencing.

Said NFDA member Michael Gunderud, of Krowicki-McCracken Funeral Home in Linden, N.J., “The events in Haiti have left many funeral directors eager to assist families ship identified remains to the United States. We have been called upon to fulfill a duty, yet remain helpless in our efforts. Such a situation should be addressed with aggressive action, and it [is] disheartening that [I am] unable to perform the duty that I was called upon to do.”

There is a tremendous willingness within the funeral service, memorialization and mass-casualty response communities in America — both government resources, such as Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams, and private resources, such as the hundreds of funeral directors who have volunteered to travel to Haiti  — to assist the Haitian government with the respectful treatment of the dead. The members of the funeral service, memorialization and mass-casualty communities are willing to help the Haitian government with all those who died in the earthquake — regardless of citizenship — so that, where possible, they can be returned to their families for a dignified funeral, burial and memorialization.

Funeral and deathcare professionals have stepped forward in a number of natural disasters — from Hurricane Katrina to the earthquake and tsunami that impacted Southeast Asia — and have reunited thousands of families with the remains of their loved ones, affording them the opportunity to have funerals or memorial services. The funeral service and memorialization community believes it can do this for Haiti, and all nations that saw their citizens die in the earthquake.

Funeral directors are entrusted to care for the living through the respectful and dignified treatment of those who died. The outpouring of humanitarian relief from the United States to the people of Haiti is to be applauded and admired, for it is desperately needed; however, in not taking swift action to care for those who died, this country fails to offer a fully compassionate response.

The members of NFDA, NFD&MA, CANA, CFSA and MBNA call on those in the federal government who are leading this country’s response in Haiti to take swift action by urging the Haitian government to allow the funeral service, memorialization and mass-casualty response communities in the United States and around the world to assist with the respectful and dignified treatment of those who died in the earthquake.

Please visit www.nfda.org/haiti for the latest news and information on the mortuary response in Haiti. This Web page will be updated daily or as new information becomes available.

Funeral service professionals interested in volunteering in Haiti may call the National Funeral Directors Association at 800-228-6332. NFDA staff is collecting contact information in order to keep interested parties abreast of ways they might be able to assist the federal government and funeral service professionals in Haiti, should their service prove necessary. NFD&MA members may call 800-434-0958 to place their name on their association’s volunteer list. MBNA members may call 800-233-4472 to place their name on their association’s volunteer list.

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NFDA, CANA & NFD&MA Reach Historic Agreement to Lobby Congress Together in 2010

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Advocacy Summit, Washington DC

Advocacy Summit, Washington DC

On November 18, 2009, representatives of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) and the National Funeral Directors & Morticians Association (NFD&MA) met in the nation’s capital to establish a unified position on key federal issues that will serve as the focus of joint congressional visits during NFDA’s annual Advocacy Summit in Washington, D.C., this year.

Skip Mikell, chair of the NFD&MA Legislative Committee, facilitated the daylong meeting, during which the group identified more than 15 issues facing funeral service at the federal and/or state levels. After unanimous agreement on the top-five critical federal issues facing the funeral service profession, the three associations prioritized those according to importance and relevance to current congressional activities: Codification of the Supplemental Security Income/Medicaid funeral/burial exclusion; the Bereaved Consumer Bill of Rights Act of 2009; reform of the federal estate tax; affordable healthcare; and a tax deduction for indigent funeral/burial costs.

NFDA, CANA and NFD&MA representatives also agreed that focusing on a maximum of three issues would prove most effective during the upcoming joint congressional visits. Recognizing that the current session of Congress might also complete some of these issues, the group will therefore determine which three top issues their collective members will discuss with their elected officials closer to the Advocacy Summit in March 2010.

In advance of NFDA’s Advocacy Summit, March 8-10, the three associations will coordinate and set up state-based delegations across their respective memberships and schedule meetings with members of Congress. Thus, for the first time, members of three national funeral service associations will lobby members of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate together and provide a powerful, unified voice on the key issues impacting funeral service.

CANA President Bill McQueen, CFSP, said: “The Cremation Association of North America is pleased to participate in the NFDA Advocacy Summit and to work with NFDA and NFD&MA to develop a united voice on issues before the funeral service industry. Coordinating our positions on legislative and regulatory issues serves the industry and the public.”

Skip Mikell, chair of the NFD&MA Legislative Committee, said: “The NFDA Advocacy Summit provides an opportunity to see, firsthand, how our national government works and have a chance to participate in the process. This year, the attendees will represent the united voice of funeral service in America.”

Attendees at the November 18 meeting included: (from NFDA) President William Wappner, President-elect Patrick Lynch, Advocacy Committee Chair Pat Lanigan, CEO Christine Pepper, Senior Vice-President – Advocacy John Fitch and Director of Political Affairs Lesley Witter; (from CANA) Executive Director John Ross; and (from NFD&MA) President Ernest Adams; Legislative Chair Skip Mikell and Billie Watson Hughes.

For more information about NFDA’s 2010 Advocacy Summit or to register, please visit www.nfda.org/advocacysummit or call 800-228-6332.

NFDA is the world’s leading funeral service association, serving 19,000 individual members who represent more than 10,200 funeral homes in the United States and internationally. From its headquarters in Brookfield, Wis., and its Advocacy Division office in Washington, D.C., NFDA informs, educates and advocates to help members enhance the quality of service they provide to families. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.

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NFDA 2009 International Convention & Expo Set Records

Monday, January 11th, 2010

Casket

The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) 2009 International Convention & Expo, October 25-28 in Boston, Mass., drew 6,056 total attendees and 365 exhibiting companies. Moreover, anticipation for next year’s event in New Orleans resulted in the association selling more than 61 percent of the NFDA 2010 Expo floor in just three days.

The breakdown for the 2009 NFDA International Convention & Expo attendance is as follows:

Total attendance: 6,056

  • Attendee registration: 3,918, the highest in more than a decade, which includes:
    • Non-licensee/spouse/guest registrations: 721
    • International funeral service professionals: 304, representing a record 41 countries outside of the United States
    • Mortuary student/spouse registrations: 178
    • Exhibitor/supplier registrations: 2,138, representing 365 exhibiting companies

Attendees classified their positions within funeral service as follows:

  • Owners: 54.3 percent
  • Managers: 22.2 percent
  • Staff: 14.5 percent

In addition to owning/operating a funeral home, attendees indicated that they also own/operate the following businesses:

  • Monument company: 48.3 percent
  • Crematory: 47.4 percent
  • Cemetery: 33.5 percent
  • Insurance company: 25.4 percent
  • Flower shop: 19.1 percent

Other data concerning NFDA’s 2009 International Convention & Expo:

  • 60.0 percent of attendees indicated they make purchasing decisions on the NFDA Expo floor
  • 57.3 percent of attendees intend to make a purchase one to three months after NFDA’s convention; 15.4% intend to do so four to 12 months after.
  • 77.1 percent of attendees indicated they are either very or somewhat more likely to buy products and services from companies that exhibit at the NFDA Expo.
  • 23.0 percent of attendees offer green funerals
  • 17.7 percent of attendees offer pet services
  • 13.4 percent of attendees own/operate a community/family center
  • 27 media outlets covered NFDA’s 2009 International Convention & Expo, including representatives of the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, Exhibit City News, the Financial Times, FOX, and Tokyo TV.

Said NFDA CEO Christine Pepper, CAE, about this year’s convention: “Despite challenging economic times, record numbers of funeral professionals attended NFDA’s premier annual event to discover practical solutions they can immediately implement in their businesses to increase profitability, secure their future and better serve the evolving needs of families.”

During this year’s convention, exhibitors and suppliers were given the opportunity to select exhibit space for NFDA’s 2010 International Convention & Expo, October 10-13 in New Orleans, La. In just three days, 155 suppliers exhibiting in Boston purchased 61.6 percent percent (44,800 sq. ft.) of the available exhibit space for next year’s gathering in “The Crescent City,” another record for the association. In addition, 11 exhibiting companies increased the size of their NFDA Expo space.

For more information about NFDA’s 2010 International Convention & Expo in New Orleans, including information for businesses interested in exhibiting at the world’s largest annual funeral service exposition, please visit www.nfda.org/NewOrleans2010.

NFDA is the world’s leading funeral service association, serving 19,000 individual members who represent more than 10,200 funeral homes in the United States and internationally. From its headquarters in Brookfield, Wis., and its Advocacy Division office in Washington, D.C., NFDA informs, educates and advocates to help members enhance the quality of service they provide to families. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.

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