This year’s OFSA conference will be held at the beautiful Hockley Valley, a boutique resort just 45 minutes north of the GTA. More details will be released soon…
Nestled in the corner of the Niagara Region just beyond Niagara Falls, the picturesque Niagara-on-the-Lake epitomizes old town charm. Beyond the quaint old town, explore the area’s several wineries, breweries and distilleries, world class theatre at the Shaw Festival, important historical landmarks, and stunning waterfront views.
Local Restaurants | SHAW Festival Tickets | Wineries | Breweries | Spas | Bicycle Share
Monday September 25, 2023 | |
Board of Management Meeting | |
Golf Tee Times Available | |
3:00pm | Welcome & Keynote Speaker |
4:30pm | Past Presidents Meeting |
6:00pm | Adamo Estate Winery Dinner & Wine Tasting |
Tuesday September 26, 2023 | |
Breakfast with Professionals | |
Education Sessions | |
Students & Supplier Session | |
Lunch with Students | |
OFSA AGM Meeting | |
OFSA Presidents Banquet & Service Recognition |
Queens Landing Vintage Hotel
155 Byron Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake
Website: Queens Landing Vintage Hotel
Address:
155 Byron Street,
Niagara-on-the-Lake,
ON, L0S 1J0, Canada
OFSA Group Rate $244 per night available from Sept 11, 2022 – Sept 16, 2022
Included: Parking – Pool – Steam Room- Fitness Room – Mini fridge – High-speed Internet – Bathrobes – Local Shuttle Bus
Limited space call OFSA for room options. 905-637-3371 |
OR
Call: 905-468-2195
Lessons from an Improbable Olympic Journey
What does it take to inspire your team and foster deep commitment? In this keynote, you’ll experience a rollercoaster journey full of insights on working through uncertainty, forging self-leadership, blasting through doubt, staying resilient, and building and inspiring team trust from one of the fastest Olympians ever to go from his parents’ couch to the Olympic podium. Jeremiah Brown challenges common notions of what it means to lead and be led in the pursuit of excellence, how to adapt to forces outside of one’s control and stay the committed when the pressure is on, all while encouraging a healthy dose of self-compassion and humility. Using vivid real-life Olympic setbacks, failures, and ultimate success, Jeremiah illuminates the true measures for success in the face of any competitive setting.
Jeremiah Brown: Olympian, Author, Creator
Jeremiah Brown won an Olympic silver medal as a member of the Canadian men’s eight rowing team at the London 2012 Olympic Games. A former commercial banker with a big dream, he is one of few Olympians ever to have started learning his sport only four years before winning a medal at the Olympics.
Jeremiah’s book, The 4 Year Olympian, spent five weeks as the #1 bestselling sports memoir in Canada. His story has been featured on CBC, CTV, Roger’s Sportsnet, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and USA Today. A top keynote speaker, Jeremiah has helped thousands of people find the courage to reach their goals and overcome the psychological traps and emotional pitfalls that lie hidden along the way.
9:30 – 12:30 – Interactive Keynote
CEC – 3hrs Category A
Presenter:
Scott Kress,
Keynote Speaker and Author
Scott is a highly accomplished leadership and team development trainer, author and keynote speaker. He is also a highly accomplished wilderness guide. He was recently elected to the College of Fellows of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society and is one of only 33 international Polar Guides in the world.
Title– Achieve the Outrageous
In this interactive team building session Scott will provide a mix of activities, models, tools and strategies that will provide you with the following results:
1:30 – 2:30 Education Session
1hr. CEC – Category A
Presenter:
Heather Kiteley,
President and CEO of GFD
Title – Innovative Preneed Solutions
Heather has always had a passion to connect with people and shape the future of pre-need services. With the remarkable shift in innovation and technology it is her prime duty as a pre-need advisor to serve and educate the pre-need community.
Heathers vision is to help funeral homes across the country improve their operations and ultimately grow their business.
GFD was created by a passionate group of bereavement service professionals in 1961. GFD has since evolved into a vibrant, Members based organization that has expanded to include bereavement professionals across Canada. Whether we’re investing & monitoring bereavement funds, providing Member support, or helping the public
understand and pre-plan their last wishes, GFD is dedicated to the growth and vitality of the Canadian bereavement sector.
3:30 – 5:00 Team Building Session
1.5 CEC – Category A
Facilitator:
Summit Team Building
Title -Step Up – Build a Prosthetic Device
To understand a man, you’ve got to walk a mile in his shoes, whether they fit or not.” It’s hard for most of us to imagine coping with a disability in a developing country with little or no support. But this is the reality for thousands of people around the world.
Through a connection with a children’s hospital in Kijabe, Kenya, this program will have your team step up to compete, to perform and to help our global neighbours by providing much needed prosthetic devices.
Participants will be divided into teams to complete in a variety of challenges that will earn points and parts for the final prosthesis assembly. Each challenge will be followed by discussions that will link experiences in the workplace.
9:30 – 10:30 – Education Session
1 CEC – Category A
Presenter:
Warren Weeks, Media Specialist
Title – Funeral Media Training 101
For more than 26 years, Warren has been empowering spokespeople across Canada and around the world, teaching them how to conduct strategic, disciplined media interviews – whether they’re trying to get positive media coverage, dealing with a contentious issue or managing a full-blown crisis.
Along the way, he’s helped people from hundreds of companies from nearly every industry to improve the quality of their media coverage. This includes a few OFSA members that have found themselves in need of some media guidance.
In this 1-hour session Warren will discuss what to expect in the process and how to navigate the interview with confidence and ensure your funeral homes best interests are served.
11:00 – 12:30 – Education Session
1.5 CEC Category A
Presenter:
Todd Reinholt, Funeral Educator
Title: Creating Ambience – Our Unspoken Messages to Families and Guests.
Todd is a licensed funeral director, funeral celebrant, and grief recovery specialist. He promotes a future for funeral service and is the founder of Life Celebrants International.
93% of what we communicate to families as funeral professionals is communicated without words. Our appearance, body language, and general environment convey clear messages about staff and your services.
In this session Todd will illustrate the importance of being aware of our non-verbal communication and share examples of the messages we send and how to be continuously aware of their potential impact both good and bad.
Wednesday September 14, 2022 @ 3:30PM
Queens Landing Hotel – Grand Georgian Meeting Room
Session Summary:
We spend time and attention ensuring that we protect the people that we serve from harm: we are diligent about infection control, strict about confidentiality and mindful about boundaries. However, as helping professionals, we do not often turn that same level of attention towards our own well-being – particularly when it comes to protecting our emotional and mental health. Research shows that without adequate emotional protection, we risk our health, our relationships and – ultimately – our ability to do this work.
This webinar provides practical and easy-to-implement strategies to help staff and organizations protect themselves from the consequence and challenges of high-stress, trauma-exposed work.
Session Summary:
We all encounter people we find difficult, and typically conversations with them leave us feeling stressed and frustrated. This workshop explores what is happening in those exchanges and demonstrates how people can adapt their strategies to bring about more productive conversations with those they find difficult. Individual approaches for dealing with difficult people will be discussed, with an emphasis on understanding and adapting one’s approach to create different results. Participants will explore how to deal with patterns of passive-aggressiveness, resistance, and chronic anger, and how to begin to change difficult patterns using a straightforward, five-step approach.
Wednesday September 22
9:00am -10:00am
Session Summary:
Speaking with impact on platforms like Zoom, WebEx and Microsoft Teams can be a daunting prospect. How do you project confidence and instill trust when you’re not in the same room as your listeners? How do you generate emotion when you’re speaking through a webcam? In this one-hour online seminar, Andrew Musselman of Fluency will offer tips to overcome these challenges, so you can achieve engaging, influential online communication and win your virtual audience.
Key Take-Aways:
Wednesday September 8, 2021 (10am-11am) Online
Wednesday September 8, 2021 (3pm-4pm) Online
Key Tools to Safeguard Your Well-Being.
(Diana Tikasz)
Wednesday September 15, 2021 (3pm-4pm) Online
Dealing with Difficult People.
(David Jung)
Wednesday September 22, 2021 (9am-10am) Online
Speak with Presence and Influence Listeners Online.
(Andrew Musselman)
Wednesday September 22, 2021 (3:30pm-9:30pm) In Person
Wednesday September 29, 2021 (3:00pm-4:30pm) Online