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INDUSTRY NEWS ICFA Approves "Emergency Licensing" Policy Statement in Preparation for Potential Mass Fatalities Today ICFA President Thomas G. Roberts, CCE, announced that the association has approved a policy statement to encourage the enactment of state laws for the emergency licensing of funeral directors, embalmers, and crematory operators who are validly licensed in other states. Currently, a few states have enacted such laws but most have not. The policy statement anticipates a critical shortage of licensed funeral professionals due to natural disasters, terrorist attacks, war, or widespread disease such as the potential for a pandemic avian flu attack. The ICFA Government and Legal Affairs Committee reviewed the draft policy and recommended its approval to the Executive Committee. Subsequently, the Executive Committee, which is chaired by President Roberts, approved the statement on behalf of the association. The Executive Committee is authorized to act in lieu of the Board of Directors in between board meetings and, due to the relative urgency of the issue, prompt action was taken. Similar "Emergency Licensing" statements are also being considered by other national trade associations and it is hoped that a joint statement might eventually be issued on behalf of all of the associations that are members of FAMIC, the Funeral and Memorial Information Council, which functions as an umbrella group for many of the national associations representing the funeral services professions. The full text of the ICFA-approved Emergency Licensing policy statement can be viewed at www.icfa.org/icfanews.htm#policy Religious Cemeteries: U.S. Court Reverses Bankruptcy Court's Finding of Diocesan Ownership Following up on reports of a similar case in the January 17, 2006 edition of ICFA Wireless, the U.S. District Court in Washington State has reversed the findings of a federal Bankruptcy Court that had held that property operated by parishes such as churches, schools, and cemeteries, are owned by the Diocese and should therefore be considered assets of the Diocese for bankruptcy proceedings. The issue of ownership was raised after the Dioceses of Portland, Oregon and Spokane, Washington filed separately for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy as a result of a large number of claims by individuals alleging abuse by priests. In reversing the Bankruptcy Court ruling, the federal district court held that the Diocese of Spokane held the properties in a "resulting trust" on behalf of the parishes and, therefore, the parishes are the true owners of the properties, not the Diocese. The case, Committee of Tort Litigants, et al. v. Catholic Diocese of Spokane, et al., was announced on June 30. ICFA NEWS Last Chance to Register for ICFA University! ICFA University kicks off this Friday, July 21, at the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, with a Welcome Reception and dinner, followed by five days of classes and networking. Registration forms continue to be accepted through the close of business on July 19, and on-campus housing is still available. Choose from five colleges encompassing every area of the funeral and service profession: Cemetery Administration & Management, Cremation Services, Funeral Home Management, Land Management & Grounds Operations and Sales & Marketing. To see the complete program schedule for ICFAU and to download a registration form, visit www.icfa.org/icfau06.htm; or call 1.800.645.7700. Limited Number of Rooms Available for 2006 Fall Management Conference Hotel rooms for the 2006 Fall Management Conference, October 4-7, at the Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa in Albuquerque, New Mexico, are filling up quickly. All rooms outside of the ICFA room block are sold out, and a very limited number of rooms are still available within the block. Those who are planning to attend are encouraged to make their reservations at the Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa as soon as possible. Call the hotel at 1.800.233.1234 to book your room. Refer to Code G-ICFA. If rooms are no longer available, please call the ICFA at 1.800.645.7700 for a list of nearby hotels. Be sure to make your travel arrangements soon as possible. An estimated 780,000 guests will be traveling to Albuquerque for the International Balloon Fiesta, so everything from hotels to plane reservations to dining reservations will book up quickly. To register for the Fall Management Conference or to view the conference schedule, visit www.icfa.org/fall06.htm; or call the ICFA at 1.800.645.7700. Call for Presentations for the 2007 Annual Convention & Exposition The ICFA will host its 2007 Convention & Exposition, "Expanding Your Horizons," March 20-23 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Convention Planning Committee invites individuals who are interested in presenting workshops to contact the ICFA with their proposals by August 14, 2006. In particular, the committee is looking for speakers on topics related to cemetery, funeral home and crematory management; new technologies/hardware of the future; and funeral customs of other cultures. Complete guidelines for proposal submissions can be found at www.icfa.org/docs/ac07_proposals.doc. Questions? Call Linda Budzinski at 1.800.645.7700. Call for Applications to ICFA Board of Directors Service on the ICFA Board of Directors offers members a chance to learn about and participate in the leadership of the association, and is a meaningful way to give back to the organization and to the cemetery and funeral service profession as a whole. The ICFA's Nominating and Elections Committee is currently inviting members to apply to run for the ICFA Board of Directors. The committee will narrow all applications received to 12 nominees, which will be reviewed and approved by the board at the ICFA Fall Management Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 4. Information on the 12 candidates will then be distributed to the membership, which will vote during the ICFA Annual Convention & Exposition in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 21. The top eight vote recipients will serve three-year terms. To apply, you must be a designated representative of a Regular (Cemetery, Funeral Home or Allied) Member in good standing or you must be an Individual Regular Member in good standing. The deadline to apply is September 1, 2006. Applications can be obtained by calling 1.800.645.7700 or by downloading the file at www.icfa.org/pdf/2007_icfa_board_application.doc. Funeral Care Seminar Coming to Washington, D.C. Todd Van Beck's Advanced Seminar on Quality Funeral Care is among the most valuable educational experiences available to funeral service professionals. Participants learn practical principles relating to quality funeral care in a small-classroom setting, taught by one of the most highly demanded speakers in the cemetery and funeral service profession. Terry Branson from Forest Lawn Funeral Home in Dallas, Texas, attended the conference in Portland, Oregon. He says, "Excellent seminar—Todd's unique way of teaching through story-telling and humor enables you to absorb a huge amount of material while having fun. Without a doubt, the best industry related seminar I have ever attended!" Washington, D.C., will be the site of the next Advanced Seminar on Quality Funeral Care, September 15-17 at the Hyatt Dulles Hotel in Herndon, Virginia. The first three Seminars in Chicago, Atlanta and Portland were well-received, with 100 percent "excellent" and "very good" ratings for the overall seminar on the post-conference evaluation forms. Two seminars remain in 2006:
2006 Annual Convention Audio CDs Now Available Seventeen of the presentations from the 2006 Convention & Exposition are now available for purchase as audio CDs from the ICFA. To order, call 1.800.645.7700. If you attended the 2006 ICFA Convention, you will receive a 30 percent discount if you place your order by September 1. The following presentations are $18 for members and $28 for non-members:
ICFA, McQuaig Offer Tools to Optimize Staff Hiring and Development The ICFA has teamed up with The McQuaig Institute in Toronto, Canada, to offer members a deeply discounted price on staff hiring and development tools through the McQuaig Job Survey, the McQuaig Word Survey and the McQuaig Self-Development Survey. Each survey is available to ICFA members for just $100 per assessment, a savings of up to 50 percent off the regular price. The member discount offer expires June 1, 2007. Companies assessing more than 100 candidates per year are eligible for additional discounts. The following tools are available for purchase by ICFA Members:
CLASSIFIED ADS Mortuary Manager Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary located in the Los Angeles, California area is searching for a Mortuary Manager. The ideal candidate will possess a minimum of five years experience as a Manager/Assistant Manager including a minimum of three years of staff management. Must be computer literate and be a licensed Funeral Director. Licensed Embalmer preferred. We offer competitive salary and benefits. Please email your resume to hr@hillsidememorial.org or fax your resume to (310)342-0467. 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 ... 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 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. |
