Episodi
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At Kates-Boylston's Dec. 10 HR & Leadership Forum, we will explore strategies for funeral professionals to retain top talent and enhance preneed programs.In this bonus epiusode, we speak with Wanda Sizemore, onboarding specialist at Envision Strategic Partners, about how she built her career as a preneed sales expert and her goals for the upcoming talk.
You can register for the Dec. 10 here.
Click here for complete show notes.
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In this episode, we cover key industry developments including a preview of Matthews International's earnings, the impact of funeral home consolidations, and the looming Federal Trade Commission rule changes.
We also explore unique stories like a Japanese coffin café and delve into the challenges facing a Pennsylvania funeral home company as they navigate financial difficulties.
Join us as we unravel these stories and more, offering insights and commentary on the death care industry. Whether you're a funeral director, cemeterian, mortuary professional, or simply interested in the evolving landscape of funeral service, this episode has something for you.
Holiday subscription special.
Four Years in, Anthemâs Will Andrews Is Still Willing to Make Big ChangesMatthews Earnings Preview
FTC Report
Coffin Cafe
Monument Company Fiasco
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Episodi mancanti?
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In this episode of Funeral Service Insider, Tom Nondorf, editor of American Cemetery & Cremation, speaks with Domenic Antinucci, a program manager at Brownyard Group, about the specialized insurance needs cemeteries and crematories contend with. Antinucci also discusses how personal experiences and an unlikely career path enriched his appreciation for death care.
On Specialized Insurance for the Funeral Industry: "We launched this in 2017 because ... there was not a carrier that specialized in 10 to 15 lines of coverage in just cemetery, crematory, and funeral home risks nationally."
On Mishandling During COVID: "COVID brought to light a lot that could go wrong in a cemetery that is overwhelmed or not ready to manage the unfortunate amount of deaths that occurred in that amount of time."
On Managing Cemetery Hazards: "However they are managing their cemetery or their daily duties for their staff (it is important) that their staff keep an eye out for any potential hazards âwhether it be a divot in the grass or a sinking of the grass from a recent burial â and to mark it with a marker.â
On Cemetery Safety Concerns: "I would suggest as much as possible, depending on their budget and availability, install as many security cameras as possible because we all know there could be some bad actors out there."
Be sure to click here to listen and then subscribe to get show notifications. Also, check out our âIn Case You Missed Itâ video series.
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Welcome to the latest edition of ICYMI from Funeral Service Insider. As always, we are here to keep you informed about the latest funeral service happenings and trends. Here's what we have on deck this week.
New Jersey License Changes
CANA Announces Dues Increase
Barbara Kemmis Podcast
Green Burials Return to Billings
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Welcome to the latest edition of ICYMI from Funeral Service Insider. As always, we are here to keep you informed about the latest happenings and trends within the funeral industry. Here's what we have on deck this week.
Special Holiday Subscription Prices
Both SCI and Carriage plan big 2025 acquisitions.
Post-Cremation Memorialization Mixup
Cemetery Association Names Board and Officers
A Different Call to Serve the Dead
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Kates-Boylston hosts the Advances in Funeral Innovations conference Nov. 12-13 in Houston. Over two days, attendees will hear about some emerging trends and best practices for running their operations. In what follows, we speak with Darren Crouch, president and CEO of Passages International Inc.
Click here for complete show notes.
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This Week on FSI: The Podcast
In this episode of Funeral Service Insider, we speak with Jennifer Lares, a âMortuary Mary Poppinsâ who brings training (and continuing education units) on-site for funeral homes. We also explore how social media can responsibly showcase professionalism while evolving consumer needs demand personalized service over traditional offerings.
Click here for complete show notes.
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Welcome to the latest edition of ICYMI from Funeral Service Insider. As always, we are here to keep you informed about the latest happenings and trends within the funeral industry. Here's what we have on deck this week.
Welcome to the latest edition of ICYMI from Funeral Service Insider. As always, we are here to keep you informed about the latest happenings and trends within the funeral industry. Here's what we have on deck this week:
Holiday subscription special.
SCI Earnings
Carriage Earnings
Manitoba Cemetery
Georgia Body Case
Tribute Technologies
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Barcley Cadet discusses his upcoming presentation of "The Evolution of Talent Recruitment," at the upcoming Kates-Boylston Advances in Funeral Innovations conference Nov. 12-13 in Houston, Texas. In this bonus episode, he speaks about internal versus external recruitment teams and the changing landscape of recruiting for funeral service.
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Titan Casket Introduces âMortâ the Plushie Casket
Unclaimed Remains-Related stories:
More Than Just Unclaimed Remains
Moving Day at the Mausoleum
Unclaimed Remains Get a Catholic Disposition in New Hampshire
M&A
SCI Scoops up Failing Restaurant Property
Gray Mortuary Merges with McAfee
Industry News
1Director Wins 2024 NFDA Innovation Award
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In this episode, we speak with Peter Quakenbush about his journey as a proponent of conservation burial. Aiming to create a conservation burial site in Michigan, Quakenbush ran into opposition from some of the townspeople, and, eventually, the town outlawed cemeteries to keep him from opening one. After a recent win in court, he talks about the projectâs history and of the long road forward.
Click here for complete show notes.
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Welcome to the latest edition of ICYMI from Funeral Service Insider. As always, we are here to keep you informed about the latest happenings and trends within the funeral industry. Here's what we have on deck this week:
Advances in Funeral Innovations Conference
Precoa Acquires Life-planning Brand Everplans
Cody Gortmaker: Triple Threat Funeral Director
BC Gets More Green Burial Space
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Kates-Boylston hosts the Advances in Funeral Innovations conference Nov. 12-13 in Houston. Over the course of two days, attendees will hear about some emerging trends and best practices for running their operations. In what follows, we speak with two representatives of National Guardian Life Insurance Company. Melissa Posey Loose is the assistant vice president of marketing communications for NGL and Kenn Peterson is NGLâs vice president of lending and business development.
They will present, âCulture: Your Businessâs Ultimate Superpower,â which is a look at an alternative approach to innovation. We spoke with them recently about what they hope to accomplish with their talk and what attendees can expect.
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Welcome to the latest edition of ICYMI from Funeral Service Insider. As always, we are here to keep you informed about the latest happenings and trends within the funeral industry. Here's what we have on deck this week:
Advances in Funeral Innovations Conference
Australian Funeral News
Deeley Honored for 50 Years of Funeral Service
Disclosure Fine for Iowa Repeat Offender
Gricoski Sells to Hummel
Koch Joins Grau Funeral Homes
Funeral Directors Life Approved to Sell Preneed Life Insurance in Virginia
Alix and Elevia Join Forces to Integrate Estate Settlement Into Aftercare Support Services
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We speak with funeral director Tim McLoone and Professor Sara Murphy, who includes death-care and LGBTQ+ issues among her special areas of interest.
Their journey began with a chance encounter at the 2019 NFDA convention, which led to the creation of the Deathcare Proud event series â an annual gathering to show support and provide visibility for LGBTQ+ professionals in funeral service. This episode covers the organic growth of Deathcare Proud from a modest meetup to whatâs becoming an anticipated event backed by influential sponsors.
We discuss the motivation behind their initiative, the importance of creating safe and supportive spaces, and the broader implications for diversity and inclusion within the profession.
Selected quotes from the episode:
Support for Queer Professionals in Funeral Service: âWe realized there really is a need for not only support for queer folks in funeral service (because it is such a prevalent profession for folks who are identify as LGBTQ+), but also as a means for them to be able to come together in fellowship and camaraderie in what is often a very closed off profession that has a lot of inherent discrimination." â Sara Murphy
Social Justice in Death Care: "I think when we saw that there was an absence of support for the people in this profession who make up this beautiful, diverse rainbow community and that people in positions of power and organizations weren't really doing anything to bring them together or to celebrate them or to validate them, you know the social justice warriors are going to say, âWell, then we're going to do it ourselves.ââ â Sara Murphy
Creating Safe Spaces: "There are people who come to our events who are not out, but who know that they are safe in that space, whether they want to be out to us or not." â Sara Murphy
Networking Moment: âI started talking to Sara about my feelings about the LGBTQ+ community and funeral service and all that. We both looked at each other and were like, âWell, thereâs something here,â and I had already planned on approaching this mutual friend of ours ⊠about the lack of seeing anything relating to the community in really any publications or anything like that.â â Tim McLoone
Discussing the Future of Death Care: âWe hope to really have some of those conversations â with folks whoâve come consistently, with folks who have been to our talks, with people who still want to see more happening in this space â to see where we can take Deathcare Proud. Maybe itâs to a whole other level besides just meetups.â â Tim McLoone
Be sure to click here to listen and then subscribe to get show notifications as soon as theyâre available. Also, check out our âIn Case You Missed Itâ video series.
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Welcome to the latest edition of ICYMI from Funeral Service Insider. As always, we are here to keep you informed about the latest happenings and trends within the funeral industry. Here's what we have on deck this week:
Kates-Boylston hosts the Advances in Funeral Innovations conference Nov. 12-13 in Houston. Over the course of two days, attendees will hear about some emerging trends and best practices for running their operations.
Busy at Better Place: Better Place Forests is getting a fair bit of attention following a merger, a positive funding report, and a glowing feature.
Partnering Up: Anthem Partners announced a preneed deal with Premier Preneed Marketing and National Guardian Life. It was the latest in a number of consolidators finding new preneed partners.
NOR Legal and Possible: A funeral home owner in Delaware announced his business will partner with Recompose to fulfill NOR requests for families until regulations allow for him to provide it onsite.
New President: Mid-America College of Funeral Service has announced the appointment of David Hess as the new president.
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In this episode, we speak with University of Cincinnati professor of social work Jennifer Wright-Berryman, a seasoned mental health and suicide prevention researcher with a long-standing commitment to improving understanding of the death-care experience for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. During her extensive research, she discovered a scarcity of resources and support specifically directed towards LGBTQIA+ individuals.
Her efforts include analyzing the websites of funeral homes to identify those that had explicit signaling that they welcomed LGBTQIA+ individuals. Based on that work, Wright Berryman and her colleagues are developing a website that evaluates funeral homes and lists those that are LGBTQIA+ friendly.
Their work aims to ensure everyone has access to dignified and inclusive death care services without fear of discrimination. In this episode, we discuss the recently launched website, EqualDeathCare.org, and the scope of this project, which includes a directory of verified LGBTQIA+ friendly funeral homes. https://www.equaldeathcare.org
Selected quotes from the episode
Educating Funeral Homes: They say, âI never thought that I would need to put something on my funeral home website that signaled, whether it be a little pride flag or a graphic of a same-sex couple holding hands.â Theyâve never really given much thought to the fact that not signaling could mean that someone may not walk in your front door because they fear discrimination.
Rising Mortician Classes: This new cohort of mortuary science students that are coming up are going to be savvy with technology. Theyâre going to be savvy with their values envisioned around who their customers can be and who their customers are.
Inclusive Partnerships: If youâre not listed (on the directory), that means that either A. we havenât found you yet (and please reach out to us because we would be happy to have a discussion about putting you on the website), or B. your website isnât clear enough.
Be sure to click here to listen and then subscribe to get show notifications as soon as theyâre available. Also, check out our âIn Case You Missed Itâ video series.
Show Web Page: https://www.kates-boylston.com/podcast/
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Welcome to the latest edition of ICYMI from Funeral Service Insider. As always, we are here to keep you informed about the latest happenings and trends within the funeral industry. Here's what we have on deck this week:
A Big "What If?': In case you missed the last podcast, we spoke with Tyler Anderson of Precoa about treating your website like you treat your funeral home.
Bought not Closed: Whether you're Park Lawn or a sole owner, keeping the public informed about transitions is also a chance to remind them who you are.
More Transitions: A new GM at a family funeral home and an owner celebrates becoming an employee.
A Win in Court: The Las Vegas, New Mexico, City Council voted to uphold the planning and zoning committee's decision to allow Gonzales Funeral Home to install a crematory attached to its existing building.
Crematory Fined: A Breckinridge Circuit Court judge imposed the maximum civil penalty against Cloverport Funeral Home and Kentuckiana Funeral Service.
Click here for all the ICYMI stories from Funeral Service Insider.
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