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INDUSTRY NEWS White House Conference on Aging Announces Top Issues For Congressional Attention The Fifth White House Conference on Aging met shortly before the holidays to make recommendations to the president and Congress concerning federal policies affecting the needs of seniors and related issues. While funeral issues were not the focus of the Conference, the final list of top 50 resolutions included two issues that may impact funeral service. Resolution nine asks Congress to modernize the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program. Under the current regulations, irrevocable burial and funeral plans are not counted as resources in order to obtain SSI assistance. Also, funds set aside for funeral and burial expenses, up to $1,500, are not considered resources for SSI eligibility. The second resolution, Number 52, urges Congress to enact programs to educate Americans on "End of Life" Issues. The two resolutions were ranked Number 30 and 35, respectively, out of the 50 by the participants in terms of importance. The final Conference Report will be presented to President Bush and Congress by June 2006. The Conference on Aging is convened every 10 years and originated in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy addressed the meeting to propose adding medical care for the elderly to Social Security benefits. Subsequent conferences were addressed by President Richard Nixon in 1971, President Ronald Reagan in 1981, and President Bill Clinton in 1995. President Bush apparently did not address the Conference on Aging this time. For more information, check the Conference web page at www.whcoa.gov ICFA NEWS Alert: ICFA Expands Convention Room Block; Expects to Sell Out Soon Due to high demand, the ICFA has added an additional 50 rooms to its block at The Venetian Resort, Hotel & Casino for the ICFA 2006 Convention & Exposition, March 13-16. Rooms are selling out quickly on the Convention's peak nights; all who plan to attend are encouraged to make their reservations as soon as possible. Contact The Venetian at 1.877.283.6423. For program details and to register for the 2006 Convention & Exposition, visit www.icfa.org/ac06.htm; or call 1-800-645-7700. New for 2006: Series of Advanced Seminars on Quality Funeral Care The ICFA and funeral director and educator Todd Van Beck will present a 14-credit-hour continuing education program at five convenient locations around the United States during 2006. The Advanced Seminar in Quality Funeral Care is a certificate program through which funeral home owners, managers and employees will learn how to apply the principles of quality funeral service based on the theories of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Deming's decades-long work with the Japanese created a quality revolution and changed the worldview held in the 1960s that "made in Japan" meant "junk" to, by the 1990s, "made in Japan" meant "high quality." The highly interactive Advanced Seminar in Quality Funeral Care will examine how to evaluate one's funeral home for quality service, will offer specific programs to increase visibility in the community and will show participants how to put the information to use at their locations. The seminar will be brought to the following cities in 2006:
Participants will receive extensive handouts and tools to take back to their locations, including step-by-step instructions for community outreach programs, as well as scripts and slide shows they can use to make informational presentations to groups within their markets. Each seminar also will include a networking reception, a lunch and two continental breakfasts. Funeral directors can earn up to 14 hours of continuing education credits. Todd Van Beck is dean of the ICFA University College of Funeral Home Management and is a funeral director with A.S. Turner & Sons in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a licensed funeral director and embalmer, author and lecturer, and is acknowledged internationally as one of the most insightful speakers in the funeral service profession. Van Beck has authored four books, dozens of training manuals and more than 300 articles. Additional information on the seminar and registration forms will be available in late January. Just Announced: ICFA Expands Symposium on Pet Funerals, Memorialization For families mourning the passing of a beloved pet, there often is nowhere to turn. Funeral homes and cemeteries have an opportunity to extend their services and their relationships with families by offering them a time and a place to grieve and remember. As part of its Annual Convention & Exposition, March 13-16 at The Venetian Resort, Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, the International Cemetery and Funeral Association has expanded its groundbreaking session on Pet Funerals, Cremation and Memorialization to a three-hour symposium. Four experts will address the growing demand for pet funeral and bereavement products and services, and the opportunities this presents for funeral homes and related businesses to meet a need within their communities. Attendees will learn concrete examples of how companies are successfully meeting this growing need, the latest consumer research, and marketing and merchandizing strategies they can use to help fill this niche. The presentations will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Symposium presenters are:
Wide World of Sales Conference: Get Away to Vegas This Week! Want to get away from it all for a few days? It's not too late to register for the ICFA Wide World of Sales Conference, January 12-13 at Treasure Island in Las Vegas, Nevada. What better way to have fun and to learn something new that just might help you fulfill those New Year's Resolutions to have a better and brighter 2006? With 10 hours of preneed sales and marketing education presented by more than 20 speakers, numerous opportunities for networking and a take-home "Survival Manual" to help you put the ideas you've learned to use, the Wide World of Sales offers the best opportunity of the year to begin taking your company's sales program to new levels of success. For conference details and to register, visit www.icfa.org/sales06.htm or call the ICFA Meetings Department at 1.800.645.7700. For hotel reservations, contact Treasure Island at 1.888.503.8999 and refer to code ICFA06. CLASSIFIED ADS Computer Software Do you know where all your information is? Are you tired of the same old options out there? Are you looking for more from your computer system? MACCSTM, from FPA Software, is the complete mortuary and cemetery solution, providing all the functionality and features needed to effectively manage and operate a memorial park and mortuary today. From pre-need sales prospecting all the way through interment (and everything in between!), MACCSTM provides an easy to use, flexible, and completely integrated system for a memorial park and mortuary providing funeral services. Consistent with our approach of providing a completely integrated solution, the MACCSTM Mapping module provides GIS mapping capabilities integrated in real-time with information in the MACCSTM cemetery property database. Mortuary case management, service tracking, cemetery property management, integrated mapping, accounts receivable, pre-need trusts, serialized casket inventory, complete reporting and forms management - MACCS has it all. Please feel free to contact us at 818-501-3390 or visit our website at www.fpasoftware.com/maccs to learn more about MACCSTM. Sales Director "This is a unique opportunity for significant income and long term career potential..." Our firm recently completed a comprehensive Master Plan for a large, historic cemetery in Illinois. The plan includes a new veterans garden, columbaria, mausoleum complex, estate lots and more. We are seeking an individual to develop and manage the sales team that will introduce the new plan to the community. Must be experienced in all phases of cemetery sales and have demonstrated team building skills. Fax or email your resume in confidence to: W. R. Toson, President, 262.367.9992 fax, billt@tributeinc.com email. Reach Thousands of Cemeteries and Funeral Homes With Your Classified Ad!
And more ... The ICFA Store allows members to purchase the latest ICFA resources and training products online. Some products are available for immediate direct download, including the newly released Wirthlin Report on consumer attitudes and article packages on cremation, cemetery and funeral home valuations and trust funds. The ICFA News Page takes you to sources throughout the world for industry news and updates. It brings you the most comprehensive selection of funeral service and cemetery news available anywhere, along with frequently updated general news items related to national and world events. The News Page reports the news before anyone else and is one of the most visited page on the ICFA Web site. Stop in each day and you'll see why. The Network is an online e-mail service that offers ICFA members an easy, free way to share questions and answers to everyday on-the-job challenges. Recent discussions have examined issues such as working with the Muslim community, distance between burial sites, direct mail marketing, the growing popularity of geocaching at cemeteries, recruiting staff and more. Ideal for smaller companies with smaller budgets. Join today! The ICFA Internet Expo is the largest online exposition in the cemetery and funeral service industry. Cemetery and funeral home owners and operators will find 300+ providers in more than 100 product and service categories. Exhibit space is provided as a free, exclusive benefit to all ICFA supplier and professional members. Check it out today! Need a labor relations and employment law attorney? Check out ICFA's HR Law Benefit program offering members no-cost telephone legal consultations, paid for by the ICFA via an exclusive retainer agreement. ICFA members now also have access to an attorney for tax-related questions regarding trust earnings, care fund allocations, capital gains, investments and more. The ICFA has retained Leslie Schneider, CPA, a tax attorney with Ivins, Phillips & Barker in Washington, D.C., for telephone consultations for up to 20 minutes with no obligation. To take advantage of this member benefit, call Schneider at 202.393.7600. The ICFA and Applied Merchant Systems of Chicago, Illinois, currently offer members a Credit Card Processing Program with a special low discount rate of 1.75 percent, with no per transaction processing fee. This new benefit makes it less expensive for cemeteries, funeral homes, memorial designers and related businesses to accommodate customers who wish to pay via credit card. For more information, call 1-800-675-6573. The ICFA Insurance Program, administered by Driver Alliant, allows members to purchase commercial property and casualty insurance -- including general liability, commercial property, automobile liability and physical damage, umbrella liability, professional liability, workers compensation, employee benefits and more -- at rates they probably would not be able to afford on their own. To advertise in the ICFA Wireless: The ICFA accepts limited advertising in the ICFA Wireless newsletter, a bi-weekly newsletter e-mailed to all ICFA members that are current on their dues and have provided a current e-mail address. For rates and to place your insertion, contact Kim Ferguson at kferguson@icfa.org or 1.800.645.7700. To unsubscribe from the ICFA Wireless: Send an e-mail with "unsubscribe" in the subject line to: wireless@icfa.org. Please include your name and company name in the body of the e-mail. International Cemetery and Funeral Association 107 Carpenter Drive, Suite 100 Sterling, VA 20164 1.800.645.7700 703.391.8400 Fax: 703.391.8416 www.icfa.org Copyright 2006 International Cemetery and Funeral Association. |
