Dale-Time

The NFDA/CANA Convention in Chicago wrapped up on October 26^th. I was there for 4 days and attended as much as I could during that time. Here’s my take on the event as a whole.

The Convention Floor and vendors –  The layout was good and easy to navigate. There were lots to see but not a whole lot in new stuff that I was interested in. Hearses and Limo’s aren’t that important to my business anymore because with a cremation rate over 60% we rarely go in procession to the cemetery anymore, so I didn’t look at any of them. There were at several dozen suppliers of cremation urns. Many were very interesting but rather pricey and unfortunately my market doesn’t really go for that kind of thing. The big casket suppliers all had great displays and good looking products. It all comes down to price, delivery and presentation though. Can they deliver the product when I need it and can they help me present the product to the customer? Each has their plus points as they try to figure out how to influence the Funeral Director.

 There were the off beat casket folks that seem to attract the attention of the press but are rarely there for more than a few years. Here are a few pictures. I’ve seen stuff like this before; pictures on the caskets, Wicker caskets for green burials, odd shaped caskets, cowboy themed, camouflage interiors, just to name a few. We tried a few out a number of years ago and people would look at them on our floor and say that’s cool, but then choose a traditional design. So we never got any more.

There were a number of cremation jewelry folks who had some nice stuff at affordable prices that I think can meet some of my client’s needs. We just need to make better displays in my funeral home so the public can see what’s available.

Then there are the folks who are sure they have created the greatest thing ever to hit funeral service. They’ve never presented at a convention and they get stuck in the far reaches of the floor with a simple booth and don’t really know how to talk to folks. I try to stop by and let them give me their pitch just on the rare chance that they may have hit on something. But usually it’s something that’s not that unique or that I’ve already been doing. This year there were several folks who were doing digital register book kiosks. They did some nice work on the software and touchscreens but I’ve had computer kiosks in my lobby for 3 years whose guests book are already integrated with custom register books.

This year’s NFDA technology winner was a digital sign for the lobby. It was nice but pricey. And it seems to me that a wall mounted 32 inch flatscreen TV with a USB port and a flash drive loaded with a few graphics that rotate as a slide show will do the same thing for about $300.00.

 The new Alkaline Hydrolysis machine was impressive looking. I really do believe that it will become widely accepted within 10 years. By that time the price of the unit will come down and make it a viable option for cremation operators to start replacing their retorts.

The one product that I really liked and will be purchasing in the near future is the large format inkjet printer offered by Lexjet at the convention. This unit and the accompanying software will allow us to make poster size photo collages for families at a reasonalble price. One of the things that families spend lots of time on is putting those boards together and then when the service is over the photos get divided back up again. With this any one that wants a copy can get them.

On my next post I’ll talk about a few of the seminars I sat in on.

I’m Dale Clock. Thanks for listening.