|
INDUSTRY NEWS Handicapping the New 110th Congress When the first session of the 110th Congress convenes in Washington, D.C. during the first week of January, more than the majorities of both houses and committee chairmanships will have changed from Republican to Democratic Party control. The agendas pushing various issues, including consumer protection and business regulation, will also move in a new direction. One of the big questions for funeral service is whether the so-called "Dodd Bill" will be introduced again into the Senate. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), sought to codify the FTC Funeral Rule, that is, turn the agency regulation into a federal statute, and to add other requirements to funeral homes, cemeteries and related sellers. The Dodd bill had been introduced into two previous Congresses, the 107th and the 108th, without any action taking place on the legislation. However, during those times the Democrats were not in the majority. Currently, a number of Senate committee chairmanship assignments have been made that could affect the progress of such proposed legislation. For example, Sen. Dodd will chair the Banking Committee. The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee will be chaired by Sen. Ted Kennedy with Dodd the next highest ranking Democrat on the committee. The HELP Committee would most likely review the Dodd bill and move it forward. The Senate Special Committee on Aging will be chaired by Sen. Herb Kohl (WI), a fourth term incumbent who was re-elected two weeks ago with an impressive 67% of the vote. Six years ago, the Aging Committee under the chairmanship of Republican Sen. Charles Grassley held two days of hearings on funeral industry sales practices. While nobody can predict the legislative priorities of the new majority party at this point in time, Democratic majorities have often provided a forum for consumer activists and business critics. ICFA PAC Picks the Winners Following up on the October 24th edition of ICFA Wireless, all Congressional candidates supported by the ICFA PAC won their election campaigns. The PAC gave equally to 12 Democratic candidates, 12 Republican candidates, and one independent candidate. The fledgling PAC is barely three years old but has managed to raise nearly $85,000 in contributions from ICFA members. The members of Congress who extended their hospitality to ICFA members during their Capitol Hill visits in February were among the recipients of PAC contributions, with the exception of Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), who resigned in September. Check Out New Business Contingency Plan for Pandemic Flu The University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) has recently updated its "10-Point Framework for Pandemic Influenza Business Contingency Planning." Perhaps the most comprehensive business planning tool in preparation for a catastrophic event, the CIDRAP document was developed in conjunction with 19 business professionals representing a wide spectrum of industry sectors and relevant job functions. The document can be obtain by visiting the CIDRAP Web site at http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/biofacts/index.html ICFA NEWS Treasure Island Room Reservation Deadline: December 12 Time is running out to book your hotel room for the 2007 Wide World of Sales Conference, January 17-19 at Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. You must reserve your room at Treasure Island by December 12! After that date, the ICFA cannot guarantee you the discounted room rate or that you will be able to secure a room. Treasure Island has reduced its prices exclusively for ICFA members to only $109 per night on the peak conference nights, Wednesday and Thursday, and $189 per night through the weekend. Located at the heart of the Vegas Strip, Treasure Island offers a health spa, tropical pool area, several restaurants and lounges and a shopping promenade. Visit their Website at http://www.treasureisland.com to learn more! To book your room, call Treasure Island at 1.888.503.8999 and use Group Code ICFA07. The deadline to register for the conference at the Early Registration Rate is also December 12. For conference program information and to register, visit www.icfa.org/sales07.htm; or call 1.800.645.7700. 2007 Convention & Exposition: Fun for the Whole Family Bring your family along for the the 2007 Convention & Exposition, March 20-23, 2007, at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. There's something for everyone at this luxurious hotel, which is located directly on the Vegas Strip and offers a 135,000-square-foot casino, a world-class spa, a shark reef and a plethora of shops and restaurants. Your spouse will enjoy this year's Spouse/Guest Program—a cooking demonstration with world-renowned chef Rick Moonen. The program will start on Thursday, March 22, at 10:30 a.m. with a cooking demonstration at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino's rm seafood, which will be followed by a delicious four-course seafood luncheon. This is a "can't-miss" event for seafood lovers and anyone who enjoys cooking! Learn some new cooking techniques from one of the world's best chefs and enjoy the feast that follows while catching up with friends. Rick Moonen is executive chef and owner of New York City's rm, and has earned critical acclaim, including three stars from The New York Times and four stars from the 2005 Mobil Travel Guide. He has moved to Las Vegas to personally oversee his newest venture, opened in January 2005. Moonen is also the author of "Seafood Without a Doubt," a practical hands-on guide to cooking with fish. Please note that a separate ticket is required for this event. For more details on the 2007 Convention & Exposition and to download a registration form, visit www.icfa.org/ac07.htm. Get Recognized! ICFA 2006 KIP Awards Do you have a unique program or product that adds character and meaning for your families? Does your staff go above and beyond to provide personalized service? Get recognized for it! ICFA's Keeping It Personal (KIP) Awards program was designed to recognize innovation and excellence in personalization in the cemetery and funeral service profession. Entries must be received by December 8 for consideration for the 2006 award. Last year's Grand Prize Winner was Edward Horn, director of sales and marketing at St. Michael's Cemetery in East Elmhurt, New York. Horn and his staff created a memorial for the Queen's firefighters who died on 9/11, inscribed with Memory Medallions containing the stories and photos of all those listed. Their touching tribute to the NYC firefighters earned them a first place in the Most Personalized Service or Memorial category and was selected as the Grand Prize winner. St. Michael's Cemetery was recognized at the 2006 Annual Convention & Exposition, in ICFM Magazine, on the ICFA Web site and in press releases. Edward Horn received a free registration to 2006 Convention & Exposition. Next year, this could be you! The entry deadline is December 8, 2006. ICFA members are eligible for entry in the four categories: Most Personalized Service, Best Practice/Personal Touch, Innovative Personalized Product (for suppliers) and Special Events. For contest guidelines and to download an entry form, visit www.icfa.org/kip.htm. ICFA Offers $232 Music License for 2007 2007 Music Licenses are available through the ICFA for just $232. Membership is open to any company in the cemetery and funeral service industry in the United States. Companies that held Music License Memberships in 2006 will soon receive invoices for renewal. Companies that wish to purchase a new membership may do so by calling the ICFA at 1.800.645.7700. The Music License Membership fee covers music licensing with all three licensing agencies: BMI, ASCAP & SESAC, for the calendar year 2007. There are no added fees. Last Chance to Register for Todd Van Beck's Seminar There are still some spaces left for Todd Van Beck's final seminar in Albuquerque, New Mexico, December 1-3, at the Wyndham Albuquerque Airport Hotel. Just two weeks remain until the seminar! This is your last chance to get certified in the Advanced Principles of Quality Funeral Care. The Advanced Seminar in Quality Funeral Care shows funeral home owners, managers and employees how to apply the principles of quality funeral service at their firm to result in better service to families, strengthened relationships with families and higher visibility in the community. Attendees receive a disk filled with materials to take back to the community and apply immediately to their work. Space is limited, so register now! For complete program details and to register online, visit www.icfa.org/vanbeck_06.htm and follow the registration instructions; or call 1.800.645.7700. CLASSIFIED ADS Grow Your Business with FuneralHomes.com FuneralHomes.com—the Funeral Director's Resource for Effective Customer Acquisition. We connect At-need and Pre-planning consumers with Funeral Homes in their area, you are missing out on business! Position your Funeral Home at the top—Call us at 1.800.208.2580 to start receiving business today. www.FuneralHomes.com. New Opportunities Await You! People preplan for many reasons. Chief among them is peace of mind. Now you can offer your families additional peace of mind through the Omega Assured Return Plan, a service option offered through Inman Shipping Worldwide. Inman Shipping Worldwide has been the recognized leader in the deathcare industry for the repatriation of human remains, from anywhere in the world, for over 30 years. With society traveling more and more today for business, vacations and even health care in distant cities, death away from home is becoming more common. When death occurs 100 miles or more away from an individual's legal residence, all the necessary services for returning the deceased to their home are covered for those enrolled in the Omega Assured Return Plan. The Omega Assured Return Plan is the logical companion for cemetery, funeral and cremation prearrangements. An ideal supplemental product, the Omega Assured Return Plan provides another opportunity to maintain contact with your client families. A simple enrollment form and onetime payment will provide a lifetime of coverage for this valuable service. Expand your selling portfolio and earn generous commissions. No license is required. To find out how you or your company can offer the Omega Assured Return Plan, call our toll free number at 1-888-889-8508 from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM Eastern time Monday through Friday or send an email to omegareturninfo@yahoo.com. Reach Thousands of Cemeteries and Funeral Homes With Your Classified Ad!
And more ... For a limited time, ICFA members can purchase the McQuaig Job Survey, the McQuaig Word Survey and the McQuaig Self-Development 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/pdf/mcquaig2.pdf 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. Join today! The 2007 Music Licenses are available for just $232, 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 Alliant Insurance Services, 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 Linda Budzinski at lacorn@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. |
