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Transparency, Governance, and the Future of Selected · On Deathcare

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_03: I am Tony Russo from On Deathcare,
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_03: and this is our Salon Edition,
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_03: where we talk with experts about a very specific topic and hash out some of the pros
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_03: and cons.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_03: In this edition,
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_03: we are talking about the merger of selected,
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_03: not merger, the purchase of selected by the National Funeral Directors Association.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_03: This is a story that I've been kind of covering and I had the opportunity
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_03: to interview several people about it.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_03: Not everybody who was invited was able to make it,
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_03: but we ran this and I think it came out really well and I'd like to do it some more.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: So let me know if you want to hear more of this or let me know if you have any ideas.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_03: I would love to do this As often as I can,
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_03: maybe once a month, maybe quarterly, as often as I can put it together.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_03: It was a lot of fun to do, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun to listen to.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_03: It'll be engaging, if nothing else.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: The other thing I want to say before we get started is there was breaking news
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_03: as we hit done on this recording.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: The Selected came out and said that before anyone considers even considers shows,
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_03: Voting no on this decision to
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_03: sell the club to the NFDA,
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_03: they should have a well-researched plan that they're willing to present.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_03: And one of the speakers on the salon that you're about to see,
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_03: Nathaniel Billow, he said, okay, I've got one and I'm going to present it to you.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: So That is all happening now.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_03: That doesn't invalidate what's about to happen,
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_03: but there's more stuff that will be out probably in the next two or three weeks
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_03: as this kind of drags on.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: But anyway,
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_03: I just wanted to do a quick introduction to what was going on here,
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_03: and I'll be back on the other side with a follow-up.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_03: But anyway, here's past Tony doing the introduction.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: So we were talking for a little while about like how to best handle the number
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_03: of people that wanted to talk and the number of issues that people brought up
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_03: at this recent meeting.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_03: And I was speaking with Nathaniel Billow and he was the one
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: who suggested we could get everybody together.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_03: So that's what we're trying now.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_03: We're going to do our best to make sure that it's as un-messy as possible,
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: but stay with us because there's lots of good stuff to talk about.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_03: And The thing that I like about this idea of having a group is so we should be able
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_03: to hash these things out just to kind of define the conversation.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: So that's why I want to start with Nathaniel.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_03: Talk to me about how,
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_03: how after the most recent meeting you decided that it was better to try to get more
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_03: of the word out among both members of Selected and of the NFDA.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, of course.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_02: And thanks for getting us together too, Tony.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I know the directors that are here today, they're good friends of mine.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: They're longtime Selected members.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: They're good people.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: The way this has been handled the last six weeks, I think it's been very nonstandard.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: And this is not the first merger that Selected's looked at.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's not the first big issue that we've looked at.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: But this is the first time that it's come from the top down.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's been rushed.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_02: There's not a lot of information that's been shared.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like we haven't even been given a forum to genuinely talk about this.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: The annual meeting that we had in Louisville last week, a lot of words to describe it.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: I thought it was nuts.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: I thought it was absolutely insane.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: We've kind of had to handle all of our communication through backdoor channels,
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: one-on-one, calling friends.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: I think you're to be applauded for the Shut Up and Pay Your Dues article.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: That really resonated with so many of our members.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: And when we got together in Louisville last week,
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: we were given 80 minutes to talk through the biggest decision in the history of
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_02: a 110-year-old association.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: So I just, I don't really have a lot of words.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'm shocked.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: I think many people on the call, they're here today, they're shocked.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: And this is just very, it's not selected.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: We've never operated this way before.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: For the first time ever in the history of the association,
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_02: the board members are not actively listening to their members.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: There's not kind of open dialogue.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: And that's really what makes selected what it is.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody being honest and transparent, having candor.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: And it was very telling at our association business meeting.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: I got up to propose a motion.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: And instead of the kind of motion being seconded, then we discussed it together.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: An attorney was hiding out online.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: And Piped in to say that the board has no obligation to listen to the members and
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: that any motion that we pass is non-binding.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: So it's purely ceremonial and it's just a resolution.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm glad we're getting together to talk.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: We have a couple more weeks until we can vote.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: I think the vote is going to be just so one-sided.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it has to be.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: But I still think there's many members that we need to talk to and get
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: the message out to and We just need to get together and discuss like we always have
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: because this isn't a hard issue to figure out.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_03: So I guess one of the questions I want us to start off with on
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_03: the floor is this is you said that you've had these kind of,
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_03: you know, meetings before where there are things at issue.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_03: How often?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_03: When was the last time somebody tried to propose something from the floor at
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: the annual meeting?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: Was it really weird that that happened?
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: Or was that something that happens every year and this is the first year
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_03: that they're like, yeah, we're not doing that anymore?
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I think this is the first time there's actually been a member to stand up
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: and kind of propose a resolution.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's not the first time, though, that members have expressed concern.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: We did a fairly big bylaw update in 2023.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: And that was almost like a black cloud over the association.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I think us members kind of realized that there were some storms on the horizon.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: But we had a special digital Zoom meeting in 2023 to talk about bylaws,
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: very similar to the special meeting we had.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like the board at that time at least listened to our feedback
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: and they adapted a little bit.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: But we've also not really been given the forum as members to talk about things
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: that we know need fixed.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we have multiple past presidents, past officers on the call today.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: We have longtime members.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_02: Selected is not perfect.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: There's things we need to fix.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: There's things we need to address.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's just always been kind of taboo to talk about it out loud.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's how a small problem becomes a big problem.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: And if we would have addressed this 15, 20 years ago, we'd be in a much different position.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited to hear what the rest of the guys on the call have to say about this
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: because they have more experience in selected than I do.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_03: I was just about to say, is there someone else who would like to pipe up or should I ask?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_03: Go ahead, Mr. St. Pierre.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: No, I agree.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: I believe that the board is doing what they feel is the right thing for the future
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: of our association.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: I do believe that they do a lot of good things in board meetings.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: They're handling A selection of maybe perhaps preferred partners,
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_02: making sure we're not in the red, going through a lot of things.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: But selected is an association of independent for your home owners.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: The member involvement shouldn't occur at the end of this process.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: It should be a part of the process,
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: especially for asking its members to give up its independence.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: I believe the board should have been presented some credible alternatives,
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: allowed the membership to compare them.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: But as Thane said there,
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: we were,
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: we were kind of on defense at this meeting,
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: you know, the board staff are there and on the stage.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: And even when they gave us three minutes to talk, they spent more than three minutes replying.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_02: It just,
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: every opportunity they had to share,
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: whether it be a Christine Pepper appearance or other strengths of NFDA,
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: it just was difficult to get the meaningful sharing that we wanted.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, if this transaction is strong enough to earn the member support,
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: greater transparency should strengthen the case for it, not threaten it.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_03: And Mr. Greco, you had something to add.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost like if I asked you, Tony,
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: to go on a blind date
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_02: and because you you're going to marry this girl
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: after your date.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm not going to tell you anything about her, but you really can't get another wife.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: So you might as well take, you know, so they gave us.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: No information, very little information, how this is going to affect the membership of Select.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: And they want to basically jam it down your throat.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: And my firm's 55-year member is Selected,
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: and I found out on the Internet of the proposed merger.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that was the thing that shocked me.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_03: That was what made it a story for me because, I mean,
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_03: usually press releases are not only just soft, but like they're oblique, right?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_03: They're like, everything's good and everything's fine.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_03: And this literally said, like,
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_03: we're not going to tell you what you're voting on, but you're going to vote on it.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_03: And that kind of shocked me.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_03: Mr. Taylor, you look like you had something you wanted to say.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: I went to this meeting and Really not knowing how I was going to vote.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason that I didn't know how I was going to vote is
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: that I didn't have adequate enough information to make a decision.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that's part of the issue here.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know,
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: the board took action and,
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: giving everybody the benefit of the doubt,
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think they did I think they did the best they could do within the framework
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: that was constructed for them.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: So there's that issue.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody talked about when they were notified.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a past president,
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: and I was notified during a call like this,
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: and they said, now we're going to take it public.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, when?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And they said, in an hour.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the first that I had heard about it.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: But the problem to me is there has not been Complete clarity about what the actual merger is.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: I made a reference in Louisville that a bit reminded me of Nancy Pelosi
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: in Obamacare saying, let's pass this so we can see what's in it.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: And we're kind of in that position.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: Am I saying unequivocally that a merger with NFDA is the worst thing that'll ever happen?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: No, but I'm certainly not saying yes either because I don't have enough information
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: to make a decision.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't misinterpret this because I'm not calling anyone childish.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: But when my children demanded an answer right now,
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_03: it's always no.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: That's a parenting 101.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_03: You need to know now?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_03: Then definitely not.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_03: Because I don't know what you really want.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_03: But it's certainly not going to be good for either one of us if we can't think
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: about it.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm not painting any of the participants in this exercise as childish or children.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: I just think we have a very serious issue.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I have to take a no position because I just don't like being put in the position
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: of having to vote on something else.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: So significant with as little information as we have.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so does anybody have...
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, go ahead, please, sir.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Tony, I'm Boyd Mott.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: We've been members and selected since the 70s.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: I am a fifth-generation funeral director in Balmer here in the New Orleans area.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: My children are the sixth-generation funeral.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: And we operate multiple funeral homes across multiple parishes here,
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: along with a rather large cemetery operation.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Growing up, I've been part of Selected.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: They used to have a school in Evanston,
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: Illinois, that my father sent me to many, many years ago.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: And between my dad and Selected,
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: that laid the foundation Of my funeral service career,
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: and it helped me understand the weight that is carried by a funeral director
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: when counseling families and also understand the weight that the owner carries along
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: with their staff.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: When we joined Selected,
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: another weight was put on our company to adhere to the standards of Selected.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: I do not believe anyone in leadership and selected or any of the members wish
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: to harm or harm to come to this association.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: But there's been a lack of transparency.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: And with that lack of transparency comes unintended consequences.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: And one of those consequences becomes trust.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so...
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: I counseled with my board member.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: I counseled with the leadership in Selected, which is Rob.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: And all of these people have done a yeoman's job throughout the years.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: But now we've come to a crossroads,
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: and we're being notified that decisions have been made without input,
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: From the membership, I took issue with the process.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: Selected board members,
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: to my knowledge,
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: have no,
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: zero, experience moving an association such as selected from point A to point B.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: If they do, I'm unaware of it.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: But there are many consulting firms,
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: good consulting firms,
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: that are available and could show all their credentials up on a nice stage for all
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: of the selected members to see.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: And they could flex and show we've moved successfully all of these from here to there.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: And we're confident that we can do the same for selected.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: And they should be saying things like, in fact, we've pulled the membership.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: And from the members' voice, we have listened.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: And these are the non-negotiables.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: These are negotiables.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: And these are the other things.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: And based on the feedback from our membership, we have developed Some paths.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: And the membership should be able to look at those paths, Tony.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: And if the board wants to flex,
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: somebody from the board could simply stand up and say,
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: we recommend path A, B, or C, pick one.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then the discussion begins on convincing the membership because we have buy-in.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: They've heard us.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: All of our concerns have been pushed up on the board there.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then maybe the membership would buy in.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: But instead they show up and they said, everybody, we've got a bus out front.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody get on board.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: No, there's no talking.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Just get on board.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, where are we going?
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: We're not really sure.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: Will we be the same when we arrive as we were when we got on the bus?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: Things are going to be different.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: Well, in what way?
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: We're not really sure.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, who is going to be in charge of our future?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: Where's our future lie?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: We really don't know.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: But we have talked to consultants, and we've talked to several consultants.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: We've talked to our own, and we've talked to consultants from NFDA.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what did they say?
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Based on what they said, we think this is the best path.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know,
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: when the president gives the State of the Union address on television,
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: every selected member is capable of hearing and making their own decision
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: on what was said.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: Don't hide the address.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: Turn the TV off.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: You can't hear that.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Turn the TVs on tomorrow and pick the station you want to hear,
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: and you're going to hear a different message.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: Because CNN's going to have a different message than Fox and ABC and CBS and any pick a network.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: If you got 40 channels, you'll have 40 different takes on what you heard.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe what you heard...
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: You're biased a little bit because you may have your own agenda.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so like every day, if you're on a red team, you hear the president's address one way.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: If you're on a blue team, you might have a different tackle.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's that process, Tony, that disturbed me the most.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: And if we get to the same place, I'm okay.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: But I want to do the work.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm willing to do the work.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone on this forum is smart enough to do the work.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I think if the transparency would have been there when selected leadership looks
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: from the stage out onto the seats in the auditorium for the meetings,
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: there would be more seats occupied in the future.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: If they would have gone about it a different way,
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm afraid friends,
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: colleagues,
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: longtime confidants are not going to be seated next to me or to some
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: of these fine gentlemen that are with us today.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: And those are real, genuine, heartfelt concerns.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_03: You pointed out two things that I want to start to talk about.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_03: The first is that until I started covering this industry,
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: it had never occurred to me that there were professional executive directors,
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_03: like that there were companies that hired executive directors and then outsourced.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_03: And then I spoke,
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_03: I think Delaware is,
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_03: a lot of states have an executive director that works for a company
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_03: that executive directs.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_03: Which I thought was super cool, but I had never heard of before.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_03: But the other thing that is really interesting to me, and I'm not 100% sure.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_03: So someone mentioned that Christine Pepper was there.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_03: And has anyone talked?
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like, did they say, trust us, we went through the other processes?
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_03: Or did they say, this is where we started and this is where we ended up?
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_03: That's what I'm not clear about.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_03: Go ahead, Mr. St. Pierre.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they state that they have spoke about the association management company model
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: or AMC model.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: And I brought it up very transparently that it's an option.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I even threw out a company's name, but trust me, I have no feel one way or the other.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: I just wish And what Boyd shared,
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: that getting up with an ABC option,
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: perhaps,
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: Association Management Company A gave us a written proposal
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_02: and Association Management Company B. I mean,
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: quite honestly, Tony,
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: since this meeting took place,
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: I even had a state association come to me and say, hey,
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: I wish we had an opportunity to give a proposal to run Because we could do it with
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: the current board of directors that Selected has.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it just,
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: that's what I'm saying,
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: is the discussion of this and the transparency of it would bring us more options.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: We are not financially insolvent.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: They said five years from now, they think we're going to be in the red.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, everyone you see on this call could be in the red in five years.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: And we stop and we pivot and give some serious examination to our businesses
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: before we say, well,
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: we look like we're going to need to sell this thing,
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: which I've always said is the exact antithesis of this organization.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: We don't sell out.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: We solve problems and we work together as an association.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: Please go ahead, Mr. Trimble.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: The transparency is the important issue, and we've all addressed it.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: My concern when they first announced it,
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: and like Glenn, I heard about it an hour, half an hour before they went public.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Apparently all the board of directors called the past presidents in each of their groups.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: But they told us that they had a memorandum of intent.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Apparently the board has seen it,
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: but they said two attorneys,
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: our attorney and NFDA's attorney,
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: both told them they couldn't share it with the members,
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: which raises a question, what's in it that we're being asked to vote on?
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that's my main concern.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: I agree with Glenn.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to say going with NFDA is totally wrong at some point,
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: but we don't know that it's totally right either.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: My other concern, they first announced that there would need a two-thirds majority to pass.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, I've heard this.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then they came out and said,
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: no, the attorneys have told them that just 51% is all they need.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: At the town hall meeting,
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: I asked the board to reconsider whether they're required to have at least 51.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: They could certainly ask for a two-thirds.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because with a 51-49 vote, nobody wins.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody's totally convinced that it's a major decision.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_03: And Mr. Taylor, you
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: had something to say?
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go down a bad path here, perhaps.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: But it was cumulative during the course of the conference itself.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: What was cumulative was this sense that we were in a controlled environment.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: And it really, really was controlled, orchestrated, choreographed.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that's unfortunate because it doesn't speak to the camaraderie
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: and interpersonal relationships we've always had as an organization.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody was just, hmm, what's going to happen next?
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: And again, and I agree with Eric and maybe some others of you, something needs to be done.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: But let's look at other alternatives.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: And what I wonder about,
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: or would like to have discussed,
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: but the time wasn't there,
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: what consideration was given to restructuring the organization itself to meet
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: the current parameters?
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: And perhaps that was done, but we don't know it.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_03: Nathaniel, you wanted to say something.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_03: Go ahead.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I just want to unpack the 67 versus 51 percent, the measure.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_02: Nothing has been in writing.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: The entire cascade since July,
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was July 29th,
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: was all one-on-one discussions with the board, the board scheduling meetings.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: It was all done in secrecy.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: We're not getting a lot of official emails.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: We're not getting official letters.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: We don't have anything we can really believe in.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: So we went off the 67% number that the board communicated to us,
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: and that's what their attorney told them.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: And then day one of the annual meeting,
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_02: whispers in the hallway,
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: It's only a simple majority of 51%,
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: which by the way,
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_02: those of us that did our research,
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: I know Paul St. Pierre and I, we talked to our attorneys, it's 51%.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: That's what the law states in Washington, D.C.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: But when pressed upon it in front of the entire membership in the town hall,
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: and I can't remember if it was Mr.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_02: Trimble or Mr. Branson, they just asked him, what is it?
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_02: Is it 67% or 51%?
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: And we had to tease it out of them to get the answer.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: They declared that it was only 51%, and they said,
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: We're deeply sorry.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: We apologize.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: We've had bad legal help,
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_02: and it's been pretty difficult since our attorney left us in the spring.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_02: So sorry.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_02: And they said they might look at it.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: They said they may change it back to a two-thirds majority.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_02: But at the end of the day, that doesn't matter because the law states it's 51%.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_02: So if they're wrong on this and they don't know what they're doing to even pass the measure...
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: Begs the question, what else do they not know and how qualified are they?
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_03: Mr. Branson, who we cannot see, has said that he'd like to speak.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_03: I'm going to light him up.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_03: Go ahead, sir.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_02: I apologize for not being visible, but everybody knows I'm still the bald guy from Indiana.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: When I talk to Rob, and since no one on our board, I don't think they're acting maliciously.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: They feel that this is the best interest of
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: So I went to Rob and said, Rob,
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: do you have any idea what this is going to look like or what that's going
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_02: to look like if we do merge?
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: No, not yet.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_02: So I went to Christine Pepper since they brought her in.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_02: She also doesn't.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: So it is the Not one person involved
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: in selected independent funeral homes would sell their funeral home
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: and not know what the future holds for them or their organization.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what they're asking us to do.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_03: I want to follow up on that and kind of address a question to the group.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_03: What I have written down here is how did it get this far?
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I covered the NFDA election, which was interesting for a change.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_03: There was a little mudslinging and all sorts of stuff.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_03: But during the process of just talking to everybody and how...
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_03: It's really kind of seems I'm not a get along to go along guy.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if you know that about me,
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_03: but it seems that there's a lot of get along to go along in the leadership.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm just wondering, how did it get this far?
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_03: So how does it get to the point where it goes from everything's fine to we have
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_03: to sell next month?
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_03: It seems like there's been Without accusation at all,
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_03: it seems like maybe the boards haven't been as engaged and they're like,
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_03: okay, well, what do we do?
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, we do.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_03: I've covered small municipalities.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_03: I've covered government.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_03: And there are lots of times where I can see that the executive is running the show
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_03: and the guys that were able to get elected are kissing the baby's.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_03: And that's fine until something really bad happens and then everyone on
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_03: the board is like, well, we don't know.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_03: The guy told us to sign the thing, so we signed the thing.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm curious if that's any part of this, if you know.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_03: I'm on the outside here.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_03: Go ahead.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: So, Tony, I'll address that briefly.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: I believe in the last couple of years, the board members are selected.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: The ones that have, you know, look, they volunteer their time.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: They're not getting paid.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: They many times put their businesses and their life on hold to show up
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: to do their job at Selected.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: Rob's been with us a long time, very long time.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: And there's been many,
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: many years where the incoming president,
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: president-elect,
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: other board members have been very strong individuals, strong personalities.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: When they walk into a room, you notice them.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: They command the attention of others.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: This has been one of the great things about Selected for many, many, many years.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: Some of that has been lacking in the last couple of years.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: And not to say that The people serving aren't great men and women.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure they've done something right or they may not have been invited
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: to what we consider an elitist group.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: We think we're the brightest and the best and we live and die by that
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: and we share our knowledge.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: And, uh, I,
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: I just think, uh,
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: what you're saying is, is, is, is,
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: is part and partial correct that, uh,
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_01: our association director, uh,
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: you know, I,
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: it's clearly that,
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: they're writing scripts, uh,
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: people are going to the podium and they're reading and they're moving
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: the meeting along, uh, timely and nicely.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: But, uh,
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: There's some younger people,
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: and I'm not wanting to say that younger people are the problem.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Many younger members have been part of our solutions in the past.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: But there is a sense that the last couple of years,
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: the board members that have been elected,
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: and good for them because they stand up and I'm an old guy and I've Pushed back
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: a little bit saying, no, the time's not right.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's my father's health or maybe my kids,
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm training them or I'm buying a business from family.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: There's always a reason and the timing's never good, right?
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: But these people have stepped up, but they are young and I think they've been led.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: I think Definitely Rob's leading the charge, and I think everybody believes in Rob, trusts Rob.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: He's been there a long time.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_03: I'm going to get to you, Mr. Bill,
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_03: in a second,
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_03: but I want to hit on something that you said,
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_03: because this is one of the things that also occurred to me.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_03: Without making a dig at all,
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_03: if you guys are the best and the brightest,
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_03: then you shouldn't need someone else to tell you how to run your business.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_03: That's not something that the NFDA should do for you then.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_03: That seemed like an open and shut case to me.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: It goes like this, Tony.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone on this call and everybody in select that I think is very, very bright.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: But
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: as good as I think I am in my business space, in my family, we're a legacy funeral home.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: We've been around for a long time.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: If and when a major crossroads is faced by a firm,
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: that firm would be wise to call in a consultant to vet what we see as the issues.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes you're going to learn that there's unintended consequences or other things.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: And ultimately,
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's a sounding board to confirm your convictions or to challenge your convictions.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so, yes,
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: everyone in this organization can stand on their two feet,
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: but many consultant companies exist in our space to help intelligent,
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: smart business owners understand.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: Move forward.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_03: Is that fair?
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no, absolutely.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_03: But it is something I think needs to be addressing.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_03: Go ahead, Mr. Taylor.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_00: I hold a dubious distinction of having been president of Selected and president of OGR.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: That speaks to my own mentality, but nonetheless.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: And...
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: Serving in that kind of position in those types of organizations,
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: and it's applicable to other types of organizations,
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: wherein the leadership,
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: the elected leadership,
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: is fundamentally volunteers,
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: but there needs to be somebody to execute the decisions they make.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that's not illogical.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: But what I've learned is we're just passing through The board,
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: the officers are passing through for whatever tenure they happen to have.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: And staff,
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: who is really doing the heavier,
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: heavy lifting,
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: maybe not the decision making,
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: but the heavy lifting, is going to be there when we come and when we go.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just, it's a bureaucracy of associations, not unique to selected at all.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, yeah, no.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: Not at all.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: But I do think that that is a factor that
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: actually the leadership provided from
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: the membership is just transient.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so that is an issue.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I would just point out that Thane is correct that the law is the law,
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: but the opinion was rendered by attorneys from both sides that wanted the deal
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: to happen.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead, Mr. St. Pierre.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I agree with Glenn with what he said there.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: And with Boyd on the perceptions of the executive director kind
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_02: of keeping things flowing as people go in and out.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_02: Some of my concerns after this meeting was finding out
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: that there were several people that applied for the board for current seats held
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_02: by other board members with much more experience.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: Much more,
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_02: clearly more,
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: involved in all assets or all sides of our association,
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_02: yet were passed over from members that were a year or two and selected.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_02: That makes me wonder and question as a member,
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_02: were they picked on there to help make this go through,
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_02: to help make this happen,
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: or recommended by the current executive director to make things happen?
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry, let me stop you for just a second and throw the brakes on.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_03: Only because I'm just discovering this now.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_03: There's not an election.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_03: There's an appointment to the board.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's a difference between selected and NFDA.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_02: Bring everybody.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_03: I think anyone who's not in selected is just hearing that now.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_02: NFDA elects their officers.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_02: We have kind of a, they interview and are selected to be on the board.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't know what process they went through last time or in the last couple
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: of years,
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: but I will say I was very disappointed that At this convention,
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_02: that during the town hall meeting, I didn't hear from the president of Selected.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, the president's supposed to be the face,
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_02: and the chairman of the board is to help run governance.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't hear from the president of Selected one time, and it was just disappointing to me.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_02: Very disappointing.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_03: Go ahead, Nathaniel.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I just,
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_02: for perspective,
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_02: I know for Glenn and Eric,
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_02: Paul, my dad, serving on the board of Selected was really...
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_02: I think the high watermark of their time in the funeral profession was a way to give back.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I just think about all the qualifications,
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_02: the experience,
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_02: everything that they had done,
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: the decades of giving back, the decades of generosity.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_02: This kind of committee that selects board members,
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_02: I think that the process worked for many,
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_02: many years because we had qualified board members,
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_02: we had qualified officers,
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_02: and It's really just within the last few years that the makeup of
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_02: the board has changed.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_02: You could argue maybe that they were looking for fresh eyes
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_02: and they wanted new blood or young blood in there on the board.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean, I look at our two outgoing officers.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_02: We sponsored one of them into membership.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_02: Our outgoing president was only a member for about 10 years.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_02: I know she's been very engaged her entire time,
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_02: but she's only been in the association for a decade.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I look at some of the other directors that they have on there.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_02: All good people,
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_02: all smart,
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_02: they're friends of mine,
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: but they don't have the credentials that like Glenn Taylor and Eric Trimble
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: and Chip Billow and Paul St. Pierre have.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_02: A few of the directors that just came on board recently,
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_02: like two of them have only been a member of the association for a year.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_02: And so the funeral professional on the board anymore,
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_02: people that are willing to speak up and speak their mind.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's important to hear from the past presidents we have here today.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_02: Just what's your take on governance?
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, when it came to tough discussions or big decisions, how did you guys handle that?
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think the mood was in the room?
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_03: I'm going to get Mr. Taylor first because he's been chomping at the bit.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_03: And then we're going to go to Mr. Trimble.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_03: Go ahead, Mr. Taylor.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_00: I want to caution everybody on this call and everybody that's going to be
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_00: in this discussion that, uh,
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think care has to be exercised to assure that these are not personal attacks
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_00: against anyone.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_00: The board we have is the board we have.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: How they got there,
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: I can't speak to,
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_00: but I am pretty well convinced that they have done what they thought was right
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_00: within the construct in which they found themselves.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know,
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_00: with all due respect, Boyd,
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: ours is a fifth generation firm,
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: which means either we're terribly committed or not very ambitious.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_00: to rein ourselves in maybe just a little bit,
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_00: that this doesn't become a previous version anywhere at all.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_00: But I do think that this whole process has been carefully orchestrated.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_00: Carefully control.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: And you have to wonder why in light of the fact that we're unable to get many of
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: the answers that we'd like to have.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead, Mr. Tramble.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: I was going to speak to the board selection.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: I was on the nominating committee a couple times.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: We interview those who apply to be on the board.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: And the effort is always made
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yet qualified people and engaged people to apply, that doesn't always happen.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_00: They have to come from the group whose seat is up for election,
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_00: and we interview everybody who applies and then make the best selection we can
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: of those candidates.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_03: I wrote down here, engagement, question mark, question mark, exclamation point.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_03: Is there an engagement problem that is underpinning this?
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_03: And is it a question of if I'm going to have to do this myself,
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_03: I'm going to need as compliant a board as possible because no one's jumping up.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_03: And so now I have to hire another person to do something that the board used to do.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_03: And now I have to hire another person to do something that the board used to do.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_03: Is any of that going on?
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_03: Because I genuinely don't know.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_00: I think the problem of our reduced membership and The loss of some larger firms and
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_00: the gain of some smaller firms is reflective of that.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: It affects that even more than the dues because it's the participation.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_00: The larger firm can afford to send staff to meetings and be involved.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_00: The smaller operator doesn't have the time.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: He might have the interest,
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_00: but doesn't have the time To attend as many meetings and be as actively involved.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, Mr. St. Pierre.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, to add to that,
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_02: I think where we're at right now,
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_02: that's what Eric just said speaks to,
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_02: I wish that the board had an opportunity to say, let's look at our governance.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_02: You know,
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_02: right now our board members are dispersed by groups or regions in the country
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_02: to be inclusive of Every area.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_02: I think that one of the things we should have done
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_02: before hitting this NFDA button is to consider that governance.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_02: Is that the best model to be representative?
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_02: Or do we get the 10 best people we can get or the eight best people that have an interest?
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you look at things like NFDA,
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_02: you might have two people from the same state two years apart in line.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_02: Those might be the best ones that are interested.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_02: But for us to expect we're going to get
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_02: We might not have one there, but we're settling.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think re-examining that as one element of governance would have been a better step.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_02: Excellent.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_03: And in the interest of making sure that we take up as little time as possible,
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_03: I'd like to keep this at an hour.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_03: So let's go around the horn quick with thoughts, final thoughts and suggestions.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_03: And then if we have some time at the end, we can...
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_03: Tackle one more question.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_03: But again,
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_03: I'll start with Nathaniel and I'll just run it all the way around,
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_03: if you please, sir.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, of course.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_02: And then I do want to clarify as well that I don't think any of this is personal.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_02: I'm friends with many people on the board.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_02: I love them to death.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think this is just business.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: And we talked a little bit earlier about building consensus and capacity and trust.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I think one of The headwinds that the board is facing is because so many
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_02: of their members are so new, they just don't know the membership.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_02: They don't know who's in the association.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_02: They don't know the history.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_02: They don't have an appreciation for precedent.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's constituting a little bit of some of the hard burn that
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_02: the members have is we just don't have the ties and the relationships with
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_02: the board.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_02: My biggest take, and I shared this at the Steve McLaughlin
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that how this has been handled over the last six weeks is a case study
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_02: on how not to build trust and unity.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's how to spread the vision.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_01: Tony, you know, Nate said it the best that there's got to be a solution.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_01: And if we're on the wrong side of the vote or the right side of the vote,
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_01: there's going to be a solution one way or the other.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the day, the fallout from the vote could be meaningful.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: The association could implode from within.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't want to see any of that.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm friends with these gentlemen, these leaders in funeral service.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_01: We break bread together.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_01: We have shared intellectual property for generations.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_01: And
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_01: All of those things we discuss in private that we share,
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_01: that we word about,
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_01: our management comparatives,
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_01: all our intellectual property that we've done,
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_01: all the things that this association has been greatness.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_01: To provide data and information.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I just hope and pray that we're going to find a path, the right path.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_01: They were actually straight up.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_01: Are you willing to pump the brakes and pull back?
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_01: And they were quick to say, no, this is going forward.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_01: Aboard.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, get on board or get out the way, huh?
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm anxious to see what's going to happen and where it's going to go,
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_01: but I enjoy sitting next to all these gentlemen and many more
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_01: at these selected meetings in the private and personal remarks and conversations or
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_01: the treasure chest of why I pay my dues.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's unlike NFDA.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's different.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: Mr. Greco.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_02: I would have to say that I'm a member of Selected and a member of NFDA,
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_02: two different organizations.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_02: I think the main thing of the Selected is the relationships that I have built
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_02: or my firm has built over the last 55 years, especially with my study group.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's a group of guys.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_02: The relationships are like brothers to me.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_02: And that is what Selected was all about.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_02: I don't see that happening as much as if we get morphed into the NFDA.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not convinced at all.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_02: I have an open mind.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_02: But I was a no vote prior to the town hall.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm a very big no vote after the town hall.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_02: Because I've been on a lot of boards in my lifetime and this board reminds me of
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_02: a board that takes a lot of direction and votes unanimously on just
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_02: about everything they do.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_02: Excellent.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_02: And Mr. Bratz?
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_02: You know, my hope is that Selected will come out stronger with all of this.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_02: My hope is that we'll see our membership come out as a resounding no.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like John just said, I was a no vote going into the town hall and even a stronger no vote now.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_02: But again, my hope is that we'll see...
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes you kind of, I'm not saying this is rock bottom, but maybe this is.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_02: I mean,
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_02: maybe this is the wake-up call that we as selected independent funeral homes needed
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_02: to figure it out.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_02: And like Boyd said, we do consider ourselves the best of the best, and it's what I rely on.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_03: Excellent.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_03: And thank you for Showing up here and taking one for the team,
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_03: even though you couldn't be in a comfortable place while you did it.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_03: So you get extra credit.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_03: Mr. Taylor.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_00: I was not a firm no going into this past conference in the town hall, and I explained why.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_00: But I became a firm no during the process because it just is so open-ended.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_00: That there's no sense of finality,
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_00: there's no sense of direction of what's going to happen after this,
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_00: should this occur, which I don't think it will, but if it does, then it does.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_00: But I also think that it's vital that someone,
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_00: some of us,
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_00: and I'm not talking about just this group,
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_00: has a plan, some sort of thought or plan to put into place.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_00: When it doesn't pass.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_00: I think what we're really looking at here,
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_00: and maybe this is just an impetus that we needed,
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_00: although none of us wanted,
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_00: that we may have to take this association apart block by block
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: and put it back together again that meets today's circumstances,
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_00: today's membership challenges, and today's professional environment.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's one thing for us to say, no, don't do this.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I think we also have an obligation to say,
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_00: but I'll help, I'll work on making it what it needs to be today.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not talking about just this group.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about everybody.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_03: Excellent.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you very much.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_03: And Mr. Trimble.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_00: Tony, thank you for giving us this forum to this.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_00: I have two comments.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_00: One is we're all grieving.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_00: Selected members are grieving.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_00: We're facing a loss.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know,
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_00: we're You've got a bunch of stages to go through,
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_00: denial and anger, bargaining maybe where we are now.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm certainly depressed.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully we'll get to acceptance one way or the other.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_00: But the point is,
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_00: we all know that those facing a loss grieve differently after a sudden death
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_00: than they do after a lingering death.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_00: And we were denied the opportunity.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_00: To know that our patient was on hospice,
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_00: if you will,
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_00: and grow with that,
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_00: learn with that,
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_00: experience that,
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_00: when suddenly now it's a sudden death and our reactions are a lot different.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_00: My second comment is that for over 100 years,
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_00: selected,
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_00: NSM previously and selected,
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_00: have Promoted the value of independence,
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_00: and that's been everything we've been about.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_00: And now we're being asked to go corporate.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a total change in the philosophy of everything that Selected stands for.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, at the risk of being too self-referential, I think I wrote, it's literally in the name.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_03: And Mr. St. Pierre.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_02: I'll keep it simple to not try to overlap too much what anyone said.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_02: I do appreciate Glenn and many others that came into this with maybe a no
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_02: but wasn't sure and was listening.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's great.
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_02: But a no vote has never been a vote for the status quo by any means.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_02: I mean,
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_02: we're trying to vote to just examine other ways to modernize and strengthen selected
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_02: but preserve its identity and independence.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_02: It's that simple.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_02: We're not trying to protect the past from change.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_02: We're just and I think a lot of people think some of us.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_02: I think we're trying to keep our association as it was.
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_02: No, this is a good wake-up call.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's important.
• 51:57
  SPEAKER_02: We need to examine some other paths and build forward like Chris said.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_03: Excellent.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, and we'll get a final thought from Mr. Taylor and then begin to wrap it up.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_00: For many,
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_00: many years,
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_00: our company's slogan was,
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_00: and I just thought of this today, was Honoring Tradition, Respecting Change.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_00: You have to be able to do both.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_00: But you can't deal with change as effectively if you don't have the experience of tradition.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's very well put.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_03: And I think we're going to wrap it up there.
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you guys very much for making time.
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_03: For those of you, this is a Friday at lunchtime.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_03: This is probably the only time these guys have an hour to themselves.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_03: And I appreciate you guys all making the time to come.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_03: This salon
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_03: edition has been an On Deathcare production,
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_03: written, edited, all the things by me, Tony Russo.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_03: Please subscribe wherever you're listening now.
• 53:03
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• 53:08
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• 53:09
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• 53:13
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• 53:17
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• 53:28
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• 53:35
  SPEAKER_03: And again,
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_03: as I mentioned in the beginning,
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_03: if you have any ideas for salons,
• 53:39
  SPEAKER_03: if you have three or four or six people that all have different takes on a topic,
• 53:45
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• 53:48
  SPEAKER_03: So you can reach out to me in the show notes.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_03: You can respond to the email that you got this from,
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_03: or you can email me at By Tony Russo at gmail.com.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_03: That is B-Y-T-O-N-Y-R-U-S-S-O at gmail.com.
• 54:01
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks so much for listening and we'll check in with you next time.