Breakout Sessions
Jump to a Specific Session:
- Preparing Family Businesses for Change, Transition and Succession: Acting Now, Thinking Long-Term
- Speaking Their Language, Sharing Your Value: A Comprehensive Guide to Hospice Collaboration
- Building Better Cremation Experiences—No Matter Your Size
- Grief Awareness Training
Preparing Family Businesses for Change, Transition and Succession: Acting Now, Thinking Long-Term
Friday, September 4
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
(in-person and virtual livestream)
Ownership and leadership transitions are inevitable and critical transitions in the lifecycle of a family business. This presentation will approach those transitions, not as an event, but as a long-term planning process, that require open discussions, planning and time to develop over many years. Attendees will learn how to approach succession in a family business as a series of preparation plans, that include a long-term vision and short-term action steps in these five key action areas:
Preparing the owners.
Preparing the business.
Preparing the family.
Preparing the current CEO.
Preparing the NextGen.
Key Objectives:
- Understand why succession planning should begin long before a leadership transition occurs.
- Explore the five key areas of preparation for successful family business transitions.
- Identify practical steps to start planning for ownership and leadership succession.
Robert DeAngelis, Family Business Consulting Group
Speaking Their Language, Sharing Your Value: A Comprehensive Guide to Hospice
Friday, September 4
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
This comprehensive session equips funeral professionals with both the communication strategies and tangible tools needed to build meaningful partnerships with hospice organizations. Participants will first learn to understand the clinical mindset of hospice teams, develop compelling WHY statements that align with hospice values, and master the verbal and written communication techniques that resonate with busy healthcare professionals. The program then transitions into creating high-impact materials that demonstrate value and build trust, including Charity Care Certificates, Transfer Recommendation Cards, educational resources for hospice staff, and comfort materials for families. By combining strategic communication skills with practical, ready-to-implement tools, attendees will leave with a complete system for initiating contact, handling objections professionally, and establishing their funeral home as an invaluable resource to hospice teams. This session addresses the full partnership journey from making that first meaningful connection to maintaining ongoing collaboration through materials that hospice professionals will actually use and share.
Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:
- Communicate effectively with hospice nurses, social workers, and chaplains by understanding how they think and what they prioritize.
- Create a clear WHY statement that shows hospice teams how your funeral home's values match their mission of caring for families.
- Handle objections professionally when hospice staff express concerns about funeral home involvement or pricing.
- Write emails and follow-up messages that busy hospice professionals will read and respond to, plus know how to request time at their team meetings.
- Produce three ready-to-use materials that hospice teams will actually want and use, such as Charity Care Certificates and Transfer Recommendation Cards.
Lacy Robinson, Lacy Robinson, LLC
Building Better Cremation Experiences—No Matter Your Size
Friday, September 4
3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
(In-person and virtual livestream)
Cremation continues to grow but delivering meaningful experiences while maintaining profitability looks very different depending on firm size. In this candid discussion, Selected members from small, mid-sized, and large firms share how they structure and deliver cremation services, from direct to full-service offerings. G. Todd Walton of Welch & Cornett Walton Funeral Service, IN, Quinn Haisley Wheeler of Haisley Funeral and Cremation Service, FL and Carey Bliley of Joseph W. Bliley Company, VA explore operational efficiencies, arrangement processes, and the design of witness and viewing spaces, along with in-person and virtual experiences that resonate with families. The discussion will also address in-house versus third-party preparation, transferring remains to families, and how each firm adapts its approach based on scale. Attendees will gain practical insights, real-world examples, and lessons learned (including what didn’t go as planned) that can be applied immediately, regardless of firm size.
Key Takeaways:
- Learn how a small, mid-sized, and large firm structures cremation services differently and how to adapt proven approaches to your own operation.
- Discover practical strategies to balance efficiency, profitability, and meaningful family experiences across direct and full-service cremation.
- Explore ways to enhance the cremation experience through arrangement processes, facility design and virtual options—without overcomplicating operations.
- Gain real-world insight from peers, including lessons learned, common pitfalls and changes panelists would make today.
G. Todd Walton, Quinn Haisley-Wheeler, Carey Bliley
Grief Awareness Training
Friday, September 4
3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
(In-person and recorded)
Families remember how you made them feel. Research shows up to 87% return to the same funeral home because of the care they received. Grief awareness is more than compassion—it’s a skill that can be learned. Because genuine care doesn’t end when the service does.
Grief Awareness Training equips funeral directors and staff to turn everyday interactions into moments of healing and trust. Move beyond scripted condolences toward a calm, non-anxious presence. Learn how to stay grounded in grief steady, compassionate, and unafraid to meet people where they are. Families don’t need managed – they need to be seen. When funeral directors and staff practice grief awareness, they build trust, improve communication, professional presence, and resilience to compassionate fatigue.
Key Takeaways:
- Move beyond textbook responses toward empathy and listening.
- Challenge common myths and misconceptions about grief.
- Practice calm, confident, non-anxious presence.
- Learn ways to prevent compassion fatigue.
Lisa Orris, Grief Guide