OGR’s PROGRESS 2025 Conference Sets New Standard for Innovation and Collaboration in Funeral Service

Indianapolis (May 14, 2025) – The International Order of the Golden Rule (OGR) proudly announces the resounding success of its signature event, PROGRESS, held May 6–8 at the historic Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside, California. This year’s conference marked a transformative milestone, uniting independent funeral professionals and suppliers from around the world under a bold new vision of innovation, adaptability, and forward momentum.

“PROGRESS is more than a name—it’s a call to action,” said Wendy King, CAE, CVA, Executive Director and CEO of OGR. “This year’s event embodied our commitment to advancing the profession and fostering a community dedicated to excellence.”

The 2025 gathering welcomed attendees from 13 states and six countries, creating a vibrant and diverse community focused on shared learning and progress. The conference offered optional excursions such as a wine tour of Temecula’s renowned vineyards, a guided visit to Forest Lawn Cemetery in Covina, a tour Thomas Miller Mortuary & Crematory, and a historical exploration of the Mission Inn Hotel’s famed catacombs. 

Educational programming began with the OGR Annual Business Meeting, setting the stage for two days of learning and networking. The opening keynote, “Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth,” offered insights into Disney’s customer service excellence and leadership strategies, providing attendees with actionable takeaways to enhance their own practices. The opening keynote, sponsored by Matthews Aurora Funeral Solutions, was followed by an interactive session on AI and ChatGPT with Dr. Rich Yeuh (University of California, Riverside). Education continued with “Fostering the Future: Industry-Education Partnerships Supporting Funeral Service Students and Staff,” featuring speakers Shivon Ozinga (Forest Lawn Cemetery) and Jolena Grande, CFSP, A.S., B.S., M.F.S., M.S., (Cypress College) to discuss the importance of collaboration between educational institutions and the funeral service industry. This session was sponsored generously by The Dodge Company.

The second day of PROGRESS began with “Navigating the Evolving Landscape of Funeral Service: Hiring, Retaining, Motivating, and Team Development for Business Growth,” a dynamic panel featuring Gregory McClary, CFSP (Chapel of the Chimes Funeral Home), Larnique Mickens, MBA, CFSP, CCSP (Heritage Mortuary, Inc.), and Keysha Licea (Thomas Miller Mortuary & Crematory). The panelists explored innovative solutions for staffing challenges specific to independently owned funeral homes. They emphasized actionable strategies such as wellness programs, mentorship pathways, and purpose-driven job descriptions, all aimed at building compassionate, high-performing teams that support long-term growth.

A high-energy marketing session followed, titled “Future-Proof Your Funeral Home: Marketing for 2025 and Beyond,” broken into three distinct topics. Welton Hong (Ring Ring Marketing) demystified online marketing tactics for funeral homes, emphasizing the power of search optimization and pay-per-click advertising for at-needs, and social media for preneed. Ryan Thogmartin (DISRUPT Media) expanded on this by sharing proven techniques for creating engaging, effective content across digital platforms. Mary Barnett (Another Brilliant Idea) closed the session with a compelling presentation on using empathetic, AI-powered marketing tools to boost engagement and conversions without losing the human touch.

A highlight of the event was the Golden Circle Celebration Dinner, sponsored by Homesteaders Life Company, where OGR recognized individuals and firms that exemplify the highest standards of professionalism and compassion in funeral service. The celebration also marked the official induction of the 2025-2026 Board of Directors and included a record-breaking fundraiser for the OGR Foundation to provide scholarships for mortuary students to attend OGR programming such as PROGRESS and the Future Leaders Forum. 

The conference concluded with a session from Justin Zabor, CFSP, (The Zabor Funeral Home) titled “Funeral Arrangements to Die For.” This session focused on elevating the funeral arrangement conference, offering advanced communication and rapport-building techniques that foster trust and client satisfaction. Justin’s session served as a fitting finale to the event—grounding attendees in the human-centered mission of funeral service while empowering them with tools for measurable improvement.

OGR is grateful for the continued support and partnership with the sponsors of this year’s event, which include Access Financial Group, Air Essentials, Inc., ATTEND, Full-Circle Aftercare, Funeral Home Gifts, Garfield Refining, Homesteaders Life Company, Matthews Aurora Funeral Solutions, Nomis Publications, and The Dodge Company.

“This reimagined conference represents our shared commitment to growth, excellence, and continuous innovation,” said Kim Hunter, President of the OGR Board of Directors. “We are excited to build upon this momentum and continue shaping the future of funeral service.”

OGR is excited to announce that PROGRESS 2026 will take place in Louisville, Kentucky, from May 5–7, 2026. The event promises to build on the success of 2025, offering new opportunities for connection, education, and advancement for funeral professionals across the world.

For more information about PROGRESS and the International Order of the Golden Rule, please visit www.ogr.org/PROGRESS.

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About the International Order of the Golden Rule

Since 1928, the International Order of the Golden Rule has been the leading professional association dedicated to promoting high ethical standards and outstanding service of independently owned funeral homes in the funeral and memorialization profession. OGR members represent the elite in the industry, consistently providing compassionate and personalized care to families in their time of need. OGR is headquartered in Indianapolis. For more information, visit www.ogr.org.

I don’t know where I first heard the saying, “Perfection is the enemy of progress”, but it always sounded somewhat strange to me until I really took the time to see what the cliche meant.  To me, it says that we all want progress, but if we wait until the time is perfect to move in that direction we will never move. . . . because the time will never be perfect.

I thought of the saying last week when the United States and Great Britain announced a preliminary deal on trade and tariffs.  When you look at the deal, neither side got every thing that they wanted — the United States got neither Great Britain’s weakening of standards on food imports nor did the United States get a finalized deal on how Great Britain’s digital services taxes will be levied on some of our large technology companies.

And, Great Britain did not get the tariff on automobiles brought into the United States dropped to its pre-Trump level of 2.5 % and had to settle at 10% — down from the Trump tariff number of 27.5% on automobiles but not down as far as they would have liked.

Those are just a couple of examples. . . but, if the countries had waited to hammer out those examples, it was probably likely that no deal at all would have been struck by now.  Therefore, I would argue “not perfection, but progress”.  And, as I’ve thought of my life experiences — you just don’t get any progress if you wait for perfection. . . . . I wish somebody would tell both political parties that. . .

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Over my entrepreneurial career I’ve also taken the slogan and changed it somewhat to say, “Perfection is the enemy of profitability”.  And, that is something I always had in the back of my mind when the thought process turned to change or enhancement of my funeral business.

For instance, if I waited for the interest rate to be “perfect” in my view I probably would never have added on or built new facilities.  If I waited to have the “perfect” staff situation I probably would have missed out on several great employees whom I hired when the “timing wasn’t perfect”, but the employee was.

There is a lot of decisions that one must make when they are operating a small business such as a funeral home.  Today’s article is just a reminder that the timing may never be “perfect” when you have to make some of these decisions.  However, that is okay. . . . the good business operator will fit that decision into the circumstances before him at the time and mold the decision into the fabric of the business operations.

So, if you are looking to buy, sell, expand, hire, or make any other business decision just know that the time will probably never be “perfect” to do so. . . . . and waiting for that “perfect” time will probably be your enemy.

Related — Here is an article on the USA-Great Britain tariff agreement as it was first announced.

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