The International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association’s 2013 Convention & Exposition, April 10-13 in Tampa, Florida, set new attendance and exhibit records. The convention drew 2,176 total attendance and 512 supplier booths, both all-time high figures.
The breakdown for the 2013 attendance numbers is as follows:
- Total cemetery, funeral home, crematory and allied business representatives: 931
- 22 percent representing combination cemetery/funeral home operations
- 25 percent representing stand-alone cemeteries
- 32 percent representing stand-alone funeral homes
- 5 percent representing stand-alone pet loss providers
- 16 percent “other,” including insurance agents, mortuary school faculty, representatives of industry associations and others
- Spouse/guest registrations: 173
- Press passes and speakers from outside the industry: 11
- Exhibitor and supplier registrations: 954
Attendees classified their positions as follows:
- Owners: 42 percent
- Managers: 48 percent
- Staff: 10 percent
- Final purchasing authority: 61 percent
- Make purchasing recommendations: 36 percent
- No purchasing authority: 3 percent
The convention hosted 138 international attendees and exhibitors representing 22 countries outside of the United States.
Attendees rated the event highly, with 88 percent indicating their overall Convention experience was “excellent” or “very good” and 80 percent indicating they “definitely” or “probably” will attend the ICCFA 2014 Convention, April 8-11, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Among the comments:
- “Excellent convention. Lots of new ideas and ways to implement them to our business.” Moray Jamieson, Jamieson’s Funeral Services, Glenboro, Manitoba, Canada
- “It was a great convention. Most talks were very good, keep up the excellent work. I have been coming to the ICCFA conventions for 40 years and you still manage to hit home runs! See you next year.” Gregory Easley, Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Omaha, Nebraska
- “ICCFA is doing a great job and I am proud to be a part of this association.” James DeCastro, Diocese of Tucson Catholic Cemeteries, Tucson, Arizona
- “Great job by the entire organization providing a social and learning environment. It was meaningful and memorable experience. Thank you to all who put in the effort!” Mark Ivey, Ivey Funeral Home/Rose Hill Burial Park, Hamilton, Ohio
Exhibitors rated the overall Exposition an average of 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. Asked about their plans for the 2014 Convention & Exposition, 90 percent indicated they planned to exhibit, 7 percent were undecided and only 3 percent indicated they did not plan to exhibit.
