Workshops - Wednesday
7:30 – 9:30 a.m.
Anatomy of a Cremation Machine
Presented by CANA
Don Collins, B&L Cremation Systems, Largo, FL
John Raggett, American Crematory Equipment,Santa Fe Springs, CA
Steve Schaal, Matthews International, Pittsburgh, PA
Larry Stuart Jr., Crematory Manufacturing & Service, Tulsa, OK
Considering purchasing cremation equipment? If so, this is a must-attend presentation! Representatives from top manufacturers will share their knowledge about cremators all the way from the bricks to the smokestack. You'll come away knowing just what to look for and what features are available to you. Once it's time to buy the equipment, you'll be armed with all the information you need. (2 CE hours)
Mystery Shopping Funeral Homes: Inside the Mind of the Consumer
Georganne Bender and Rich Kizer, Kizer & Bender Speaking! St. Charles, IL
Looking at businesses through the eyes of the consumer is what retail anthropologists Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender do every day, and figuring out what funeral home customers really want is at the top of their mystery shopping list. To get inside the mind of the consumer, Kizer and Bender actually become consumers. To prepare for this NFDA presentation, they posed as various types of consumers and walked into funeral homes to see and experience first-hand what a consumer sees, hears and feels in the process of making funeral arrangements. In addition, they held funeral home-specific focus groups and one-on-one interviews with families. If you want to learn what customers expect from your funeral home, then you won't want to miss this customer-centric workshop! (2 CE hours)
Online Marketing for Funeral Service
Ron Browning, Funeral Home Resource, Fort Lauderdale, FL
With more than 54 percent of adults replacing the Yellow Pages with the Internet, it's more important than ever to understand the basic concepts of online marketing and website development. Funeral home and cemetery owners will benefit by getting a thorough understanding of the basic concepts of online marketing and an introduction to search engine optimization and marketing through Google, Bing, Yahoo! and website development. (2 CE hours)
Sponsored by Frazer Consultants
Upping Your Game: What to Do When the Competition Levels the Playing Field
Douglas Gober, Carriage Services Inc., Kenner, LA
You worked your tail off to create a marketable difference for your business and blazed a trail in your market. Now everyone in town is doing tribute videos, personalizing memorial folders and taking condolences from their websites. What's next? Hear from one of funeral service's leading evangelists about new opportunities to up your game and do more with the opportunities available in your market. (2 CE hours)
12 – 1:30 p.m.
Closing Session: Insights From JFK to RFK to OJ
Dr. Cyril Wecht, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Sponsored by Matthews International
What do John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley, Jon-Benet Ramsey, Laci Peterson, Chandra Levy, OJ Simpson and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy have in common? The watchful eye and sharp intellect of internationally renowned, highprofile forensic pathologist and attorney Dr. Cyril Wecht. Hear how he has been seeking social truth and justice for some of the world's greatest mysteries through pathology techniques. (1 CE hour)