TSFA Members Work Together to Raise Awareness at ICCFA
Funeral Convention
Austin, Texas – March 28, 2010 — The Texas State Florists’ Association has been
committed to support the success of Texas retail florists since its inception,
throughout its almost 100 year history. As part of this ongoing effort, TSFA
put together a team of members to represent our collective interests at the
ICCFA Convention, held March 10th through the 13th, 2010, in San Antonio,
Texas. ICCFA is the International
Cemetery, Cremation, and Funeral Association, based in Sterling,
Virginia.
The TSFA presence there was intended to promote awareness on the importance and
value of flowers in funeral and memorial service settings. Ms. Dianna Nordman,
Executive Director of TSFA, turned to Clay Atchison, TSFA member and Webmaster
of www.inlieuofflowers.info,
to secure a booth, without cost to TSFA, in the registration area for the
event. Their booth neighbors were representatives of the
Texas Funeral Directors Association.
Both as a florist, and as Webmaster for
Inlieuofflowers.info, Clay is committed to educating funeral service
professionals, and the general public, on the true value of flowers in
comforting the bereaved and bringing color, life and beauty to the funeral
setting.
Funeral directors who attended the ICCFA convention were drawn to the TSFA
booth, which was almost the first thing they saw after registration. “Many
really enjoyed speaking with us, and quite a few were struck by the visual
impact of the center display,” commented Dianna. “It was a lovely
cremation-based presentation, and many directors remarked that it gave them
ideas on how to use flowers to highlight the cremation urn. In fact, quite a
few said they had never thought of doing it that way – and they took photos to
take home to share with their staff members.”
Other TSFA members who were integral in the overall success of the TSFA effort
were Randy Reina, of Greenleaf Wholesale Florist, in San Antonio, who
provided all of the booth flowers. Both Greenleaf Wholesale Florist and
Virgin Farms were generous donors that helped to supply a rose to
convention registrants.
Other florists who were very important in the event were the employees of San
Antonio’s Spring
Garden Flower Shop who were involved in creating beautiful floral
displays for the TSFA booth, demonstrating the power, and beauty, of floral
arrangements in tribute settings. Additionally, they graciously offered to
complete the time-consuming process of breaking down the booth at the end of
the event. “We’d really like to say a resounding ‘thank you’ to these valuable
TSFA members –we simply couldn’t have done this without their help,” he
continued.
Despite the brevity of the event, everyone involved felt it was quite a
success. “I’m pleased TSFA was there, and I want to thank all who helped to
make this event come together so smoothly. I’m also pleased that TSFA, through
the focused efforts of our members, is reaching beyond the borders of Texas to
get the in lieu of flowers message out to funeral service professionals,
and the general public. I’m so very proud to be a part of that combined
effort.”
For more information, contact:
Dianna Doss Nordman, Executive Director
Texas State Florists’ Association
Phone: 800-375-0361
Clay Atchison III, Webmaster
www.inlieuofflowers.info
clay@inlieuofflowers.info
Phone: 361-575-2307
The Texas State Florists' Association, founded in 1914, is a professional trade
association for all branches of the floral industry including retailers,
wholesalers, growers, manufacturers of floral products and supplies, brokers,
shippers, importers, interior plantscapers, and others who service the floral
industry. The varied membership, bound together by common interests, also
includes students, retired florists, university professors and researchers.
TSFA represents and serves the floral industry in Texas and has members in
twenty six other states, Mexico and Canada.
InLieuofFlowers.infois
a website where you can locate the resources to select the perfect expression
of sympathy after the death of a loved one, friend or acquaintance. The wealth
of information on the site ranges from the tribute guide by relationship,
mentioned earlier, to a selection of bereavement poems and sympathy card
messages. There’s also a section covering sympathy etiquette, as well as a
compendium of funeral hymns, and a glossary of sympathy terminology.
In Lieu of... TSFA Works with Local Funeral Directors
 TSFA, wanting to develop a
better working relationship with local Texas funeral directors, exhibited at
the Texas Funeral Director’s Association Annual Convention this past June in
Corpus Christi, Texas.
TSFA’s Consumer Marketing Committee designed a booth featuring current trends
in sympathy work and spent two days interviewing funeral directors as they
visited the beautifully designed booth. The funeral directors were very
interested in discussing the development of positive relationships.
Jim Johnson AAF AIFD TMFA presented a design program that also was a credit for
the Funeral Directors continuing educational certification. Stressed during the
design presentation, was ongoing communication between the funeral directors
and the florists.
Ron Maxwell of Brown’s Funeral Home in Borger, Texas said “Mr. Johnson did an
excellent job presenting flowers and giving different looks from the
traditional to the unique presentation”. As the director’s visited the booth,
they mentioned the importance of understanding flowers and how they impact the
families. Presenter Jim Johnson said he felt this was “the first step in
building good relationships with the funeral directors through professional
communication at both the funeral director’s and florist’s convention. We are
each concerned about the personal feelings of our customer and that customer is
the same person for both the funeral director and the florist. There is a lot
of mutual ground to stand on.”
What did the funeral director’s like about the florists? “They work on holidays
with us”, “When the florist keeps track of what is sent”, “Our florists
personal service, they are willing to work the hours necessary to meet our
clients needs”, “When our florists calls to make sure the casket piece is
holding up”, “Florists are caring individuals. I can call at the last minute
and they come through”!
What did the funeral director’s want to change?
- Make sure the flowers are secure in the arrangements.
- Don’t make the casket pieces so high that they won’t fit in the funeral car.
- Showing up with deliveries at service times.
- Provide better descriptions of the flowers.
- Arrangements are too heavy to set up and haul.
- Please make the arrangement like the pictures.
- Please help us take the flowers to the cemetery or the home.
 Pam Fuller AAF TMFA,
Renee Dahl TMFA, Clay Atchison and Dianna Doss discussed the “In Lieu of
flowers” phrase with the directors. Hand outs with alternative phrases were
given the directors. Many directors use the in lieu of phrase because it was
easy; they were very appreciative of the suggested alternate phrases. Clay
Atchison, McAdams Floral in Victoria, Texas said “This is one of the best ways
(being at the funeral director’s convention) for TSFA to represent the Texas
florist within the funeral industry. TSFA’s representation at the convention
shows our dedication to improving the florist and funeral directors relations
for the benefit of the customer.”
Many companies and individuals helped TSFA with this very successful outreach
program. Thank you to:
Kay Berry, Books of Love, W.R. Goodin Co., Manual Woodworkers & Weavers,
Holbrook and Company, John Henry Company, Smithers-Oasis, InLieuofFlowers.info,
Southern Floral, Corpus Christi, Pam Fuller AAF TMFA, Consumer Marketing Chair,
Renee Dahl TMFA, Clay Atchison and Jim Johnson AAF AIFD TMFA.
This event shows the importance of each florist taking the time to talk with
their local funeral director. “Communication between you and the funeral
director should be your number one marketing strategy” stated Clay Atchison. It
is the Texas State Florists’ Association’s goal to help you build and sustain a
successful relationship with your funeral director.
TSFA Handouts at the 2007 TFDA Convention
For additional information on
In Lieu Of Flowers, please visit
http://www.InLieuOfFlowers.Info.
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