Cast Your Vote Now! NFDA Innovation Award Will Be Presented at 2014 Convention

Innovation abounds in the Expo Hall at the 2014 NFDA International Convention & Expo.

The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) is looking to funeral service professionals to help select the recipient of the 2014 Innovation Award. Established in 2009, the NFDA Innovation Award recognizes and promotes creativity, innovation and excellence among funeral service suppliers and vendors. The winner will be announced on October 13 during the Opening General Session of the NFDA International Convention & Expo. The NFDA Convention will take place October 12-15 in Nashville, Tenn.

Earlier this year, funeral service vendors and suppliers had an opportunity to submit a product or service that became commercially available after January 1, 2013, for consideration in the 2014 NFDA Innovation Award competition. A distinguished panel of funeral directors evaluated the 27 entries and selected five finalists:

• Aurora – BeRemembered.com: Launched in April 2014, BeRemembered.com is the first online community initiative in funeral service that enables consumers to record their life story in their own words and plan their end of life celebration. An individual’s story and plans can be shared with family, loved ones and a funeral professional who can bring their “last goodbye” to life.
• Duncan Stuart Todd – Custom Embalming Stations: When unique conditions call for unique solutions, Duncan Stuart Todd can work with funeral homes and educational institutions to create an efficient and functional embalming workstation that is not found elsewhere on the market.
• funeralOne – Life Tributes f1Cloud Storage: The new Life Tributes f1Cloud Storage is a new way for funeral professionals to complete personalization projects. The f1Cloud lets you create, edit and share personalization projects on any computer with internet access; every project created is saved on fueneralOne’s safe, secure network.
• The Dodge Company – DodgeSeal: DodgeSeal is the first, easy to use, clear elastomeric sealant designed to effectively seal wet or dry tissue and orifices – including the throat, nasal cavity, stomas, eye enucleations, wounds and more – to eliminate post-embalming leakage.
• FrontRunner Professional – The Total Business Solution: Funeral directors often have to enter information about a decedent and his or her family in multiple places. Total Business Solution integrates a firm’s management, marketing, website and memorialization software into one powerful single-data-entry solution.

Funeral professionals have until September 14 to visit www.nfdabizexchange.org/innovationaward, read more about the finalists and other entrants, and vote for the product or service they believe is the most innovative of the year. Votes will be combined with the judges’ scores to determine the winner of the 2014 NFDA Innovation Award.

Discover More Innovative Products and Services in the NFDA Expo Hall
The Expo Hall at the 2014 NFDA International Convention & Expo is the world’s largest funeral service trade show and features the newest and most exciting products, services and innovations from around the world. The Expo Hall will be open on October 13 and 14 from noon to 5 p.m.; and on October 15, from 9 a.m. to noon.

The International Pavilion is a one-stop international resource in the Expo Hall for finding answers to questions about funeral service around the world, including repatriation. More than a dozen countries and funeral service associations will be represented, making the International Pavilion a must-visit area for anyone who is doing business with funeral directors in other parts of the world or wants to learn more about repatriation and global funeral customs.

NFDA will recognize the funeral service suppliers that have the best booths in the Expo Hall, as determined by attendees’ votes, in the Best of the Booths contest. Attendees will have an opportunity to vote for the booths they think are the most creative, use the best visuals, have the most enthusiastic staff and have the best giveaways. Attendees can pick up a ballot in the Expo Hall. The winners will be announced during the Closing General Session on Wednesday, October 15.

The NFDA International Convention & Expo is the world’s largest gathering of funeral directors and helps attendees achieve more in their businesses, communities and lives. The latest information, including details on how to register for the Convention and reserve hotel rooms, can be found by visiting www.nfda.org/nashville2014 or calling 800-228-6332. Those who wish to attend convention can save up to $100 on the registration fee when they register on or before September 5.

NFDA thanks its 2014 International Convention & Expo sponsors:
· Platinum Sponsor: Federated Insurance
· Gold Sponsors: Batesville, Frazer Consultants, NGL Insurance Group, Physicians Mutual
· Silver Sponsors: Aurora, Bass-Mollett Publishers, Carriage Services, Facultatieve Technologies, The HELPCard, Homesteaders Life, Live Oak Bank, Madelyn Company, Messenger, Nomis Publications Inc.
· Bronze Sponsor: Clear Point, Doric Products Inc., Forethought Financial Group, Hunter-Warfield, Jefferson Gardens, Love Urns, Wilbert, Wuxi ANA
· Contributors: funeralOne, Global Mortuary Affairs, Heavensgate

NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving 19,700 individual members who represent more than 10,000 funeral homes in the United States and 39 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 to 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.