For Immediate Release: January 3, 2023

Brookfield, Wis. – Individuals and families who prefer cremation may not understand the value of having a service. The 2023 National Funeral Directors Association’s (NFDA) Virtual Cremation Success Seminar, taking place February 16 and 17, will arm funeral service professionals with a better understanding of the needs of families that prefer cremation; the skills needed to convey the value of memorialization; and a better appreciation for non-traditional offerings, such as natural organic reduction and pet cremation. 

The Virtual Cremation Success Seminar will take place from 8-11:45 a.m. CT each day. During the seminar, attendees will learn from funeral service professionals who have found success in building the cremation side of their business and other experts:

• Conveying Value: Are You Prepared? presented by Mike Nicodemus, NFDA vice president, Cremation Services, and Melissa Posey Loose, NFDA training and development manager
• Communicating the Value of a Funeral with Cremation presented by Sara Murphy, Ph.D., death educator, University of Rhode Island
• How to be Successful in Pet Cremation, presented by Rick Harris, owner and licensed funeral director, Harris Funeral Home and Pets at Peace
• Cremation Liability: Protecting Your Firm and Your Families presented by Chris Farmer, NFDA general counsel
• The Dirt on NOR presented by Katy Houston, services manager, Return Home, and Brienna Smith, chief operating officer, Return Home
• The Contemporary Cremation Consumer presented by Mark Krause, president, Krause Funeral Homes and Cremation Services, and Jeannie Davies, Certified Life Celebrant and interfaith minister

The Virtual Cremation Success Seminar will be emceed by Gabe Schauf, a licensed funeral director, instructor with the Milwaukee Area Technical College Mortuary Science Program, and host of the NFDA podcast A Brush with Death. The seminar will also include live discussions and Q&A opportunities with all presenters and a fun trivia contest. 

Attendees can earn up to six continuing education hours during the Virtual Cremation Success Seminar. Registration fees are:

• First registrant from an NFDA-member firm: $219
• First registrant from a nonmember firm: $269
• Second registrant from the same organization: $195
• Student (accredited mortuary science program): $50

For complete details and to register, visit www.nfda.org/cremationconference or call 800-228-6332 (262-789-1880). Registration closes at noon CT on February 15. 

NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving more than 20,000 individual members who represent nearly 11,000 funeral homes in the United States and 49 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance no become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.

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Media Contact: Jessica Koth, 262-814-1536, jkoth@nfda.org