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INDUSTRY NEWS ICFA, Industry Groups Participate in Pandemic Influenza Conference Last week, representatives from the ICFA participated in a two-day "Fatality Management Pandemic Influenza Working Group Conference" at Fort Monroe in Hampton, VA. The Association was represented by Past President Robert A. Gordon, Sr., CCFE, and General Counsel Robert M. Fells. Also participating were representatives from NFDA, CANA, funeral service companies, and several federal and state agencies including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services. The group received briefings on various aspects of a potential flu pandemic affecting the United States and worldwide. Attendees were divided into working groups to develop action plans based on a fictional scenario of a flu outbreak that affected a certain percentage of the population, with an assumed fatality rate of a percentage of those affected. White papers discussing the recommendations of each of the working groups are in the process of being drafted and should be available within thirty days. The so-called "bird flu," technically known as H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, is a viral respiratory infection that afflicts some of the bird population overseas but has not mutated to infect humans. According to media reports, the only known human cases are due to individuals who have handled infected birds without wearing protective gear. To date, there has been no transmission of this disease from human to human. However, officials are concerned that over time the strain may mutate with other more common forms of influenza and thereby infect a large number of people. It is estimated that a potential infection of the U.S. bird population due to migratory patterns may be anywhere from six months to one year away. As a result, the federal government is working with state agencies and with the private sector to implement action plans to respond to potential developments. ICFA members will be kept informed of these activities. For more information, contact Bob Fells at ICFA headquarters; 1.800.645.7700. Reviewing Preneed Contracts for Potential Major Disruptions in Personnel, Services Of the many issues discussed during last week's Pandemic Influenza Conference, there was some concern expressed by industry representatives of disruptions in servicing preneed contracts in the event of widespread illness or mass fatalities in an area, regardless of the cause. The provisions of a typical preneed contract may not anticipate scenarios where, through the fault of neither party, events beyond the control of the funeral or burial provider would render performance of the contract impractical if not impossible. Of course, the same issue would be present in at-need arrangements as well. Many types of business contracts outside of the funeral profession contain a "force majeure" or "Act of God" clause that excuses performance by the parties without liability where events such as civil unrest, labor strikes, governmental regulations, acts of war, terrorism, fires, storms, earthquakes, or other acts of God render performance impossible, impractical or inadvisable. Given the widespread impact of Hurricane Katrina last year, in addition to the potential consequences of a flu pandemic or other catastrophes in the future, ICFA members are urged to discuss with their legal counsel the advisability of adding a "force majeure" clause to their preneed agreements. FTC Holds First Funeral Rule Compliance Conference on April 6 in Dallas, TX The Federal Trade Commission Southwest Region's Office is holding the first Funeral Rule Compliance Conference on April 6 to give funeral providers guidance on provisions of the Rule. The Funeral Rule Offenders Program will also be reviewed. The Conference will be held at the Dallas Bar Association's Belo Mansion, located at 2101 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75201. Although there is no charge for this event, advance registration is required and seating is limited to the first 80 registrants. For more information or to register, interested parties should contact FTC staffer Jannette M. Gosha at 214.979.9377; fax 214.953.3079, or email at JGOSHA@ftc.gov. ICFA NEWS 2006 Convention & Exposition is a Smashing Success! ICFA's 2006 Convention & Exposition, March 13-16 in Las Vegas, Nevada had something to offer everyone. Attendees appreciated the added value brought to this year's Convention with extra breakout sessions and more than 30 speakers in all areas of the cemetery, funeral service and memorialization profession. The Convention & Exposition was rated highly on evaluation forms. Some of the comments included:
ICFA Elects New Leadership for 2006-2007 The ICFA elected new leadership during its 2006 Annual Convention & Exposition, March 13 - 16 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 2006-2007 officers are:
ICFA Announces Recipients of Certification Awards The ICFA presented its prestigious executive certification awards during its Annual Convention & Exposition, March 13 -16, in Las Vegas, Nevada. A Certified Cemetery Funeral Executive (CCFE) designation was awarded to:
For information on how to apply for the ICFA certification program, visit www.icfa.org/pdf/ccebrochure.pdf New Member Benefit: Counselor Applicant Assessments "You can train a turkey to climb a tree, but it's easier to hire a squirrel." The ICFA has teamed up with The McQuaig Institute to offer members a deeply discounted price on preneed counselor hiring and development tools through the McQuaig Job Survey, the McQuaig Word Survey and the McQuaig Self-Development Survey. The Job Survey helps employers analyze the behavioral requirements for any position and provides a list of targeted, job-specific interviewing and reference-checking questions to elicit relevant examples from the candidate's history. The Word Survey is a proven pre-employment tool used by many companies in the cemetery and funeral service profession to evaluate potential preneed counselors as well as candidates for other key roles. The 20-minute survey can be taken online or on paper at the interview site. Applicants' answers help employers determine whether they have the natural temperament for selling: Can they telephone prospects? persuade others? deal with rejection? Based on survey results, the tool provides the employer with specific interview questions to further assess the candidate's qualifications. The Self-Development Survey can be used for new and long-term staff to increase employee effectiveness and develop leadership skills. It provides employees with specific action items to help them leverage their strengths and minimize their developmental areas. Members can choose to use all three tools or select one or two. For a limited time, ICFA members can purchase each survey for just $100 per assessment, a savings of up to 50 percent off the regular price. The member discount offer expires December 31, 2006. Companies assessing more than 100 candidates per year are eligible for additional discounts. For additional information, visit http://www.icfa.org/docs/mcquaig.doc and http://www.icfa.org/pdf/mcquaig.pdf. For questions and to sign up for the program, contact Michael Gravelle at The McQuaig Institute at 1.800.387.5455, ext. 361, or mgravelle@mcquaig.com. ICFA Women's Forum Now Accepting Applications for Mentoring Program The ICFA Women's Forum has developed a mentoring program to provide support for young professionals in the cemetery and funeral service profession. The mentoring program will provide a network for career-minded individuals to develop and thrive within the company and in their professions. The ICFA will match interested applicants with personal mentors—people who can encourage them in their professional and personal growth. Companies participating in the program will benefit not only by being recognized as an organization that supports employee development but also through the incorporation of new ideas into their company. Mentoring programs have been proven to result in higher retention rates of career-minded staff and increased levels of employee moral. The ICFA is now accepting applications for both mentors and mentees. The program is open to all individuals employed by ICFA-member cemeteries, funeral homes and related businesses. For more information about the ICFA mentoring program and how it can benefit you, click on this link: www.icfa.org/pdf/article_1.06.pdf To download an application form for mentors, click here: www.icfa.org/pdf/mentor.pdf To download an application form for mentees, click here: www.icfa.org/pdf/mentee.pdf For questions, call 1.800.645.7700. Quality Funeral Care Seminar to be Held in Atlanta April 7-9 Atlanta, Georgia, will be the site of the next Advanced Seminar on Quality Funeral Care, April 7-9 at the Hilton Atlanta Airport. The first seminar was held this past weekend in Chicago, Illinois with 18 participants. The event received 100 percent "excellent" ratings on the post-conference evaluation forms. Among attendee comments:
It is not too late to register for any of the four upcoming seminars, including:
ICFAU: The Profession's Top Learning, Networking Event The 2006 ICFA University will be held July 21-26 at the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee. ICFAU is a five-day intensive academic program designed for cemetery and funeral service professionals and offering five colleges: Cemetery Administration & Management, Cremation Services, Funeral Home Management, Land Management & Grounds Operations and Sales & Marketing. With a college campus setting, ICFAU encourages extensive networking and idea sharing among students and faculty. Funeral directors may earn up to 24.5 hours of continuing education credits while residing and dining on campus. Classes are taught by top cemetery and funeral service professionals as well as business and economics faculty from the University of Memphis. Copies of the ICFAU program with the complete class schedule have been mailed out to all ICFA members. The program and registration form are also available on the ICFA Web site at http://www.icfa.org/icfau06.htm. CLASSIFIED ADS Sales Director Does a cemetery with 2.5 million visitors annually sound like your kind of sales opportunity? We certainly agree and are currently seeking an individual to develop and manage a sales team for this exceptional property. This historic cemetery in central Illinois has recently completed a comprehensive master plan involving the development of a mausoleum complex, veterans garden and columbarium, private estates and more. Our objective is to develop a professional sales team to introduce these new programs to the community. If you are versed in all phases of cemetery sales, have a proven track record of accomplishment, and are seeking a genuine, long-term career opportunity, send your resume in confidence to: W. R. Toson, President, 262.367.9992 fax, billt@tributeinc.com email. Service Corporation International—Chicagoland Market SCI offers you much more than a job and far more than a paycheck. We know what matters in your life and in the lives of the many people whose needs we meet every day. As the largest provider of funeral and cemetery services in North America, SCI is where you want to be within our industry. We are seeking within our growing market:
Cemetery For Sale Large 30 acre cemetery in metropolitan Atlanta, GA. Yearly interment average of 155 burials. Beautifully maintained by professional landscape firm. Highly focused on pre-need. Undeveloped property still remaining. Owner ready to sell. Contact Idtmw@aol.com or call 866-269-0681. Sales Manager Large, progressive cemeteries in Wisconsin seeking Sales Managers to take teams to the next level of sales as well as help us grow our entire company to a new level. Positions available in Milwaukee or Green Bay, Wisconsin; each with a wide variety of unique market options. Must be able to display strong leadership and public speaking skills as well as prove previous sales success. Our sales managers are expected to contribute to the sales volume of the team as well represent our family owned and operated facilities in a highly professional manner. Send resume to Christine Toson Hentges at christieh@tributeinc.com. See locations at www.pinelawn.net and www.forthoward.net. 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. Reach Thousands of Cemeteries and Funeral Homes With Your Classified Ad!
And more ... The 2006 Music Licenses are available for just $220, no additional fees. Covers ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Any U.S. funeral home, cemetery or related business is eligible for membership as a Music License Member. Join today! 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. |
