How to Successfully Introduce Your Families to the Book of Memories™

I’m going to start this with a story—and I promise to keep it short. Last September, my estranged father died, and his wishes were carried out by a local funeral firm he had designated years earlier. A few days after I heard of his passing, I went to their website to leave a message of condolence for my dad’s wife, using the Book of Memories™ the firm had created as part of their service to her.

It was a sad sight. No one had left a message, had placed a donation, or sent flowers to his widow. His profile image was there, but no one had uploaded any additional pictures of him. I honestly felt no one had ever visited the site but me.

Fortunately, we’ve all also seen the opposite situation; where a Book of Memories™ is an active, engaging, and healing place. With lots of messages of condolence, pictures, and sweet stories to read of times past, a Book of Memories™ can really be a very meaningful testament to ‘a life well-lived’, for years to come.

Do You Know Who Owns Your Obituaries?

An obituary is a story of the loss of a loved one written for the bereaved. When reading the obituary in the local newspaper or online, family and friends are comforted in knowing that their loss was significant. Their loved one mattered & lived an earnest life. They want others to be notified so they can say goodbye to their loved one and celebrate a life well-lived.

“A good obituary gives more than the barebones details, mere lists of beloved family and friends, funeral arrangements, etc. A meaningful obituary tells a bit of a story, gives the world a glimpse of that person who once lived a vibrant life,” Mary Brenzel of The Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University said. “The stories in obituaries convey the noble, the ordinary, the great and small ways in which a person touched our lives.”

4 Reasons to Join Us for the 2014 Funeral Technology Workshop Cruise

On March 2, 2013, the Oasis of the Seas, the Royal Caribbean cruise ship which was our home-away-from-home for the previous 8 days and 7 nights, docked in Ft. Lauderdale. Slowly we walked off the ship, calling out our farewells to one another.

But, not all was doom and gloom. Happily, as we walked down the gangway, we were already making plans for next year’s Funeral Business & Technology Workshop cruise. That’s when the beautiful Allure of the Seas will be bound for the Western Caribbean ports of Labadee, Haiti, Falmouth, Jamaica; and Cozumel, Mexico with another great group of funeral professionals. With already 20 cabins booked from last years attendees, we hope that you will add to that by joining us for the 2014 Funeral Business & Technology Workshop cruise!

Who to Meet and Where to Eat at the ICCFA Convention This Week

Are you doing your laundry, making lists of last minute things you need to buy or do, and packing your bags—destination, Tampa, Florida? I know a few folks here at FrontRunner who are busy doing exactly that; all in preparation to attend the 2013 ICCFA Convention and Expo. I know they are going to be really busy on the Expo floor, but I also know “my” team—they are going to make the time to enjoy some of the fine dining available there!

FrontRunner & Continental Computers Team Up to Bring Single-Data Entry Solution!

[Press Release]

FrontRunner Professional and Continental Computers announces a strategic Development Partnership to release the new “Total Business Solution” — powered by Directors Assistant.

The partnership pairs FrontRunner’s industry-leading websites, personalization capabilities, revenue generators and strategic marketing initiatives with the power and performance of Continental’s Directors Assistant software to create a single, tightly-integrated product that will elevate funeral service software to its most advanced level yet.

How to Really See into the Future of Funeral Service

In the Beginning

Sitting down to write is a lot like taking a road trip without a map. You know your intended destination, but little else—and part of the fun lies in not knowing exactly what you’ll encounter along the way—or how your intended destination can change unexpectedly. Here’s an example. I originally titled this post, It’s Time to Tighten Your Skate Straps, and meant to address the insights of Rick Baldwin’s (past President of CANA and the Florida Funeral Directors Association) guest post on Alan Creedy’s website, How to be Exceptional in the New Normal. Yet, the more I thought about Rick’s salient points, the more I realized that the essence of the issue is more about being able to accurately predict the future of your funeral firm, in your demographic…rather than relying on the wide-scope predictions of others.