Kelly Baltzell, MA, and host of this seminar, is the founder and creative force behind Beyond Indigo, a website focusing on grief located at www.beyondindigo.com , www.grieving.com and www.death-dying.com since 1996. With expertise in the Internet and mental health care arenas, Ms. Baltzell brings to Beyond Indigo experience gained through her work for companies such as iVillage.com and America Online.

Ms. Baltzell has her Masters in Counseling and Psychology. She worked as a practicing therapist counseling patients of all ages. Building on her interest in the then-budding Internet, she became the Site Manager for Online Psych, a pioneer producer of mental health content and community for America Online.

At Online Psych, she managed the staff and resources to design and deliver customized independent mental health programming for the AOL Health Channel. As a result of her ability to identify business opportunities and implement effective marketing strategies, Online Psych was able to reach up to 4 million page views per day and this was when there was little internet usage! With persistent contact with AOL, Ms. Baltzell skillfully promoted Online Psych and attained placement on AOL's Welcome Screen.

Because of Online Psych's overwhelming success, the company was merged with iVillage.com, The Women's Network. iVillage.com, impressed with Ms. Baltzell's talents, hired her as Director of Interactive Health and later promoted her to Executive Director of Health. At iVillage, she effectively managed the day-to-day operations of three diverse online properties, creating new business partnerships and opportunities for the company. She recruited, trained, and motivated a diverse team of 15 professionals. Her dedication and initiative generated over 18 million page views per month for iVillage.com.

When the opportunity arose, she began to focus full-time on Beyond Indigo, making it one of the premiere websites for grief support information. With 65,000 visitors a month, Beyond Indigo is listed in Forbes Best of the Web for the last eight years for death, dying, and grief support.

Ms. Baltzell is dedicated to building support and community. This dedication has led her to develop expertise in the development of Internet support. She is an accomplished professional with a proven record of performance and leadership in both the Internet industry as well as the mental health field.

Byron S. Farquer, DVM, is a Boettcher Scholar, and graduated from Colorado State University with honors, in 1991. He completed advanced research projects in veterinary medicine and assisted in the development of academic programs for use in the professional veterinary education program at CSU.

With a portfolio of experience that includes veterinary hospital ownership and advanced marketing and business education, Dr. Farquer is a recognized expert in ownership transition planning and practice valuation. He is a published author and a frequent international lecturer on business development, profitability, and small business brand marketing.

He is a founder of SmartStart Practice, a mini-MBA business program for medical professionals, and is president of Simmons & Associates Pacific, Inc. a practice appraisal and brokerage firm. He serves as V.P. of Strategic Growth for emebaVet, a digital signage company specializing in medical office education. He serves on a number of industry advisory boards and is an original Charter Member of the Association of Veterinary Practice Management Consultants and Advisors.

Dawn Fisher is a graduate of Indiana University, earning B.S. and M.S. degrees in Education. For the past 27 years, she has literally “lived and breathed” the funeral business as the wife of a funeral director. She and her husband own two family funeral homes in North Central Indiana. Their oldest son recently joined the family business as a third generation funeral director. They also have three younger children.

Since 2006, Dawn has worked with the Beyond Indigo team, bringing an awareness of the challenges funeral homes face in an ever-changing market. Through her own life experiences, including the loss of her father during her teen years and the death of a son, Dawn understands the value of funeral service and aftercare from a very personal point of view. The family-owned funeral home today is definitely “not your grandfather's funeral home” so to speak, and Dawn is full of ideas to help you use your website to grow your business and open your “cyberdoors” to exciting new opportunities.

Susan K. Manley is Program Director in Continuing Education at Bradley University, where she coordinates programs for professionals and retirees. Sue teaches computer and writing classes at Bradley. She is responsible for the computer literacy of many members of our Institute for Learning in Retirement. Sue's students give her high praise for her knowledge, patience, and ability to explain computer skills. Sue holds a B.A. from the University of Illinois and an M.A. in English from Bradley University, where she teaches business writing to undergraduate students.

Terri Reid, CEO of Reid and Associates, is a Marketing/Public Relations professional with over twenty years of experience. Her client list includes Honeywell Sensing and Control, Honeywell Industrial Measurement and Control, URS, CTS Communications, The Quaker Oats Company, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois, Chicago Research and Trading, and the Chicago MLS Board of Realtors.

During the past five years, Terri has concentrated her efforts in the funeral home industry working in marketing with a number of funeral homes across the nation, from Florida to Washington. She has been published in The Director and was a speaker at the IFDA Spring Convention in 2005.

She has been published in a number of national publications including The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, Cessna Pilot Magazine, and Sensor Magazine. She has written technical articles, medical articles, physician columns, wellness articles, how-to articles, and feature articles for daily, weekly, and monthly periodicals. She is the author of two books on folklore of Stephenson County, Illinois.

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This seminar is approved for Continuing Education Units (CEUs). [More]

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