MFDA 119th Annual Convention Attendee Registration

We have now opened registration for attendees at our 119th annual convention at the Depot in Minneapolis, on May 5-6, 2009. Go to www.mnfuneral.org to register on line at discounted rates or if you prefer (it will cost you a little more), you may download the registration form and mail it in with a check.

We have some new events this year:

• Women's Breakfast - $30.00 - Ticket Required
• Cinquo de Mayo River Boat Cruise down the Mississippi - $30.00 Ticket Required
• Young at Heart Party at Harry's Cafe and Bar - $30.00 Ticket Required

MFDA is pleased to announce that postcards for 2009 Convention exhibitors with registration instructions will go out on Monday. This years convention will be held at the Depot in downtown Minneapolis, May 5th and 6th and promises to once again be a full lineup. This will be our last year at the Depot and Minneapolis for a while, because we want to change things up a bit and go out of the city. We looked at many venues for convention and finally decided to take the convention back to St Cloud in 2010. The convention was last in St Cloud in 2001.

This year we are changing things a bit and offering Justin Zabor as our keynote speaker. He will talk about the "F" Words in Funeral Service. Justin is young and engaging as well as one of the original "Men of Mortuary Calendar" models. Justin is extremely popular as a speaker with other state Funeral Director Associations and Funeral Service Groups.

We are going to have 2 embalming sessions this year, one each day. In addition we will also have breakout sessions each day with a myriad of timely topics.

Complete details will soon be available on our website www.mnfuneral.org

Young Professionals Group Grows Stronger

The Young Professionals in Funeral Service Group met January 28th at McCoy’s in St. Louis Park. There was a group of 14, including three MFDA Funeral Directors. The group consisted mainly of U of MN students who provided suggestions for future meetings. Since they prefer to meet monthly, the next gathering is scheduled to be Wednesday, February 25th. Details of location, sponsor and/or activity are in the works. Please check the MFDA calendar for updates. So far, the YP roster includes 17 members.

MFDA launches new website!

http://www.mnfuneral.org

MFDA has been receiving great comments about the new website launched December 15th, 2008. New areas are Ask the Experts, and Blogs!

MFDA Hosts OSHA Webinar

We said we would do it and we did! We held our 1st webinar today, on OSHA Renewal Training. The webinar was attended by 30 people and included a slide show, interactive questions and a quiz at the end. Our guests were Dave, Tim and Marguerite from the DOH. The comments from attendees were very favorable, one attendee even said he was having breakfast in bed while training. Most attendees commented that they were happy they did not have to drive anywhere to get their training. Let us know what you would like to have as future topics for webinars!

MFDA creates blogspot

Even funeral directors can become technosavvy and use blogs to share information.

MFDA will be offering an OSHA webinar on December 2 and the 16th for any of you that still need to get your 2008 OSHA training.

MFDA will be holding roundtable discussions at White Funeral Home in Apple Valley on December 10, 5-7PM. Topics will include interest rates, and any other item you wish to inquire about or share with others.

MFDA is excited to announce that we will be launching our new website in a couple of weeks. The switchover will be seamless and is 99.9% ready to go. We are just making a few tweaks.

In addition we are getting ready begin our 2009 membership drive. Look for materials and instructions soon.

The MFDA Board met last week for their Winter meeting and approved the 2009 budget.