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ICFA 2007 Wide World of Sales Speakers
 John Bolton, CCE, is general manager for Alliance Funeral Group in Maryville, Tennessee. Previously, he was general manager for Heritage Family Cemeteries Inc. in Johnson City, Tennessee. John has conducted seminars and training for the states of Tennessee and North Carolina, Service Corporation International, Equity Corporation International and the ICFA. He is a past president of the Cemetery Association of Tennessee and serves on the board of directors for the Virginia Cemetery Association. He holds a master's degree in education. John received his Certified Cemetery Executive in 2004 and graduated from the ICFA University in 2005.
 Rahsaan Brown is the owner of Blue Nebula Consulting in Calumet City, Illinois, a sales and marketing company specializing in training and developing cemetery and funeral service sales professionals. The company has contracts with several major cemeteries and funeral homes in the Chicago area. Brown is a licensed life insurance producer with the state of Illinois and is certified as a facilitator for Franklin Covey's time management course "Focus: Achieving Your Highest Priorities."
 Michael Burke has 24 years experience in cemetery/funeral operations, sales management and landscape architecture. He is the executive vice president of advance planning and marketing for the Palm Mortuary Group in Las Vegas, Nevada, which handles 6,400 calls per year. During Burke's career, he has managed many locations nationally in total operational and sales fields with Carriage Services, The Loewen Group, and three major independent firms. He is the chancellor of ICFA University.
 Clift Dempsey is president of Dempsey Funeral Services based in Cartersville, Georgia. Dempsey Funeral Services owns and operates 6 cemeteries and one funeral home in Georgia and Alabama. Mr. Dempsey grew up in the cemetery profession and is a third generation cemeterian. Mr. Dempsey is the Past President of the Southern Cemetery and Funeral Association and twice Past President of the Georgia Cemetery Association. Mr. Dempsey also owns Heart to Heart Enterprises, an Aftercare Services company specializing in the Funeral and Cemetery profession. He is a member of the ICFA, SCFA, GCA, Death Care Management Council, a Deacon in his church and works with the Boy Scouts of America.
 Patrick Downey, CCE, is president of The Downey Group. Previously, he served as sales manager at Palm Mortuaries and Memorial Parks in Las Vegas, Nevada, and at Memorial Park in Memphis, Tennessee. He is a past president of the ICFA and a member of the ICFA Sales & Marketing Committee.
 Kevin Gaffney, is director of sales and marketing at Spring Grove Cemetery & Arboretum in Cincinnati, Ohio. Previously, he worked for The Forethought Group consulting with funeral homes and cemeteries throughout the United States. In 2000, Gaffney received the Daniel A. Hillenbrand Award as representative of the year. He also helped Forethought roll out its cemetery offering in 2002 and 2003.
 Brett Gaither, is executive vice president of National Prearranged Services Inc. in St. Louis, Missouri. He has recruited and trained more than 1,000 counselors/managers for the funeral service and cemetery industry. He developed an effective national training program for sales counselors and a manager training program on how to recruit, motivate and retain successful salespeople. These training courses show funeral directors how to effectively build their market share to increase preneed sales. He is currently conducting continuing education classes on preneed sales for funeral directors in 13 states.
 Scott Ginsberg, known by many as "that nametag guy," wears a nametag 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, to encourage people to become friendlier and more approachable. At just 26 years of age, he is the author of three books, an international professional speaker, a regular columnist for several online and print publications and has been featured in Ripley's Believe It Or Not.
Ginsberg has been interviewed for The Today Show, CNN Headline News and USA Today, to name a few. He has been quoted as an expert in Cosmopolitan and The Wall Street Journal, and his materials have been adopted in publications for Coca-Cola International.
 Doug Gober, is an executive vice president for The York Group in Kenner, Louisiana. He began his funeral service career more than 20 years ago as a sales representative for the Batesville Casket Company, where he won numerous sales awards and served as a consultant on national marketing and merchandising programs. He holds a business degree in accounting at the University of Alabama, and he became a CPA specializing in industrial audits and corporate taxes. Gober has been a pioneer in developing the York Merchandising Systems.
 Mike Hays is regional vice president of Lincoln Heritage Funeral Planning in Louisville, Kentucky and president of Mike Hays & Associates in Lithia, Florida. Previously, he was vice president for advance planning with Keystone Group Holdings Inc. in Tampa, Florida. He is a licensed funeral director who has served hundreds of bereaved families, and he is an experienced salesperson and sales manager who has worked directly with more than 200 funeral homes and 40 cemeteries to install or improve preneed systems. He holds a master of divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary.
 Thomas B. Holland, Ph.D, is vice president of sales for Assurant Preneed, responsible for development and implementation of sales, marketing and training programs throughout Canada and the United States. Formerly, Tom worked for The Liberty Corporation as director of training and national accounts development. He has held positions as agent, account executive, sales manager, district manager, regional training director, regional sales director, director of conservation and training director - field development. Tom is a certified pre-planning consultant and has held life and health insurance licenses in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri and Illinois. Before joining the insurance industry, Tom spent five years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
 Christine Toson Hentges, CCE, is vice president of cemeteries for the Tribute Companies Inc. in Hartland, Wisconsin. A fourth-generation cemeterian, she is president of the Wisconsin Cemetery Association and represents the Cemetery Consumer Service Council in the state of Wisconsin. She has served on the ICFA Board of Directors.
Dean Lambert is director of marketing for Homesteaders Life Company in Des Moines, Iowa, where he has spent five years in preneed marketing/corporate communications. For 10 years, he has been in funeral industry marketing. Lambert has a total of 17 years in business to consumer marketing experience.
 Scott Love is an executive search and management consultant and is author of three books: "Sell to the Top," "The Recruiter's Adventure Book" and "I Learned It in the Boy Scouts--Leadership Secrets for Managers." He is an Eagle Scout and a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, and he has trained thousands of military officers and sailors on progressive leadership methods.
 Rob Meredith is regional vice president for the preneed division of Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance, based in Portland, Oregon, where he has helped countless firms and counselors boost sales. Meredith grew up in the industry, helping his parents with their family firm in Indiana. He earned his bachelor's degree from Ball State University and attended the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science.
 Gwen Mooney, CCFE is director of pre-planning services for the Jon Deitloff Funeral Centre in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is vice president of the ICFA Education Steering Committee and is chairman of ICFA's Sales and Marketing Committee. Prior to joining Jon Deitloff in July 1999, Mooney was a preneed sales manager at a funeral home in Dayton, Ohio, and worked in the sales department at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. She graduated from the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science with a bachelor's degree in mortuary science and is a licensed funeral director, embalmer and insurance agent.
 Tony Ramirez is principal and chief executive officer of Toerbis Insurance and Services in Canyon Lake, California. His company works extensively with the Hispanic community in California and five other states.
Rick Rico is manager of funeral operations for Palm's Eastern location. A 32-year resident of Las Vegas, he has helped thousands of families and trained many Palm employees. Always on the cutting edge, Rico's 15 year tenure with Palm started in preneed sales and evolved into funeral home management. His understanding of the ever-changing cremation market and experience have made him an expert in the cremation arena.
 Mike Uselton, CCFE, is managing partner of Remembrance Services of Florida LLC and Gibraltar Remembrance Services Inc., which own and operate funeral homes, cemeteries, and crematoria in Southwest Florida and Seattle, Washington. Prior to this, he served as managing director of Mideast Markets for SCI and previously vice president of funeral home operations for Gibraltar Mausoleum Corp. Uselton is the current president of the Funeral & Cemetery Alliance of Florida, where he has served on the Board for several years, and he is a member of the ICFA Sales & Marketing Committee.
 Kathi Wells is a senior trainer with Forethought Financial Services in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In this role, as in her previous position at Assurant Preneed, Wells has responsibility for assisting owners and managers in establishing and maintaining successful preneed programs, including recruiting, interviewing and hiring the right people and bringing the right blend of marketing programs to their communities. She also works directly with counselors, training them in new skills and coaching them through their daily tasks. She holds a master's degree in human resource management and training.
 Gregg Williamson, CCE, is executive vice president of marketing and sales at Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary in Whittier, California. He is a licensed funeral director, a cemetery broker, and a Certified Cemetery Executive. Williamson is vice president of the ICFA Products and Services Steering Committee and is a graduate of the ICFA University. He is a member and a former chairman of the ICFA Sales & Marketing Committee.
 Bruce Young is the Director of Marketing at Inglewood Park Cemetery. He has been with the company since February of 1991. He was the top sales person in 1991 and 1992. He managed a sales group before becoming the Director of Marketing. Prior to joining IPC, Bruce was a Human Resources Professional and the former advisor of the Human Relations Commission appointed by the late Tom Bradley, former Mayor of Los Angeles. Bruce has a B.S. in Sociology and a Masters in Business from Arizona State University and the University of Phoenix. He was a three-time PAC 10 Champion wrestler for ASU. Bruce also speaks fluent Spanish.
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