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Future's Forum

Future's Forum 2023

Thank you to all who attended the 2023 Future’s Forum (May 10-12, 2023) in Brookfield, WI.

“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence—it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”

Peter Drucker

Nearly 70 visionaries, representing funeral home owners (both family and corporate), suppliers, educators, association leaders, allied professionals and others, gathered for the 2023 NFDA Future's Forum. Last held in 2002, this year’s NFDA Future's Forum came together to explore what the funeral service profession might look like over the next five to ten years. 

Strategy and innovation experts Paul Schoemaker and Jim Austin facilitated the conference with highly interactive sessions, bringing forth diverse perspectives and practical ideas on how to prepare for the future, to see sooner and act faster.

In the months to come, NFDA will share the findings from the 2023 Future's Forum through publications, on social media, during the Leadership Conference and Convention, and more ... stay tuned! 

A Future’s Forum at a glance:

Who attends:

Historically, NFDA has invited approximately 70 of funeral services’ best thinkers to participate in this special strategy workshop to explore the many changes affecting the profession. The group is diverse, including funeral home owners representing independent and corporate entities, suppliers and professionals from other deathcare and related sectors to ensure we are getting the necessary perspectives.  

What’s covered:

In the course of two days, this elite group of funeral service professionals explore, discuss and strategize about the many changes affecting the profession and how the profession can prepare for the future. The past two Forums were moderated by Paul Schoemaker and Jim Austin.

What’s next?

The 2023 Future’s Forum may be over, but we still have much to talk about.  NFDA intends to hold these meetings every three to five years, so stay tuned for the next event. The 2023 Leadership Conference included a Future’s Forum Panel discussion.

Watch for the following post-event activities resulting from the Future’s Forum:

  • Executive Summary (August 2023)
  • Article in The Director (September and October 2023 issues)
  • Brush with Death Podcast (date TBD)
  • Webinar (Q1 2024)

Click on a link on the left to learn about the 2023 Future’s Forum.

What did participants say about the future of funeral service?

Let's hear what participants had to say:

As someone who provides both professional education and consulting for funeral service professionals, it was incredibly valuable for me to consider where education and business needs can usefully intersect. I'll add that as an academic and scholar, it was also fantastic to see facilitators who are themselves highly academically credentialed; too often, "education" provided for funeral directors isn't necessarily coming from people with actual ethos / educational grounding in the topic, so this was both refreshing and bolstered the credibility of the facilitators, who were fantastic.

Dr. Sara Murphy | Faculty at University of Rhode Island

 

I was impressed that the NFDA put together this forum. I learned many things to help me with the growth of my business and hopefully the improvement of our industry. 

Milton Heard | Hart’s Mortuary

 

 

 

Great job on participant list.  Interaction among attendees was definitely the most valuable part of this seminar. 

Kathy Kelley | Answering Service for Directors (ASD)

 

 

Funding in part provided by a grant from:

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