The Optical Vision Site

Optometrist Builds Affordable SuperCar

David Alan OD translated his lifelong passion for cars into a custom car building company, Autosports. His dream: Build a an affordable supercare and after 3 years his dream has been realized. His cars go up to 220 mph. Read the full story at Automotto

David Alan OD Affordable super car

Top Optical Posts For July 2010

Seal Lion, Whales or Blimps Take Your Pick

Our top posts and hits for the month of July 2010. Seal Lion eyebrow tattoes took over from weird tattoed spider eyes which is actually our #1 post, if you can believe that.

The Optical Vision Site

1. /opti-fun/opti-wierd-seal-lion-eyebrow-tattoos/
2. /opti-fun/opti-wierd-tattoed-spider-eyes/
3. /education-and-events/eyecare-providers-50-or-100-american-express-gift-card-for-your-comment/
4. /customer-service/comments-are-rewarding-for-you-and-your-optical-business/
5. /marketing-social-media/greedy-optometrist-dont-like-competition/
6. /human-resources/top-15-reasons-to-fire-someone/
7. /marketing-social-media/pissed-off-consumer-site-double-check-your-reputation/
8. /lenses/polarized-sunglasses-dont-be-cheap/
9. /staff-training/optician-training-abo-study-guide/
10. /accessories/hilco-one-stop-shopping-for-all-your-optical-supplies/
11. /marketing-retail-strategies/full-price-eyeglasses/
12. /marketing-merchandising/use-fashion-forward-accessories-with-eyewear/
13. /eyewear/eyewear-trend-report-july-1-2010/
14. /marketing/strategic-alliancesluxotticaessilormacysvision-directalcon/
15. /sales/tips-on-making-your-eyecare-products-unique/

Johnny Depp Wearing Green Contacts In Mad Hatter

Optical Vision Resouces

Our sister site an optical wholesale directory, our #1 is Optical Surfacing Labs!

1. /optical-laboratories-surfacing
2. /lil-wayne-wearing-crap-sunglasses-in-dada-da-video
3. /warby-parker-vintage-styled-eyewear-with-a-purpose
4. /eyewear-niche
5. /johnny-depp-wearing-green-contact-lenses-as-mad-hatter
6. /optical-accessories-wholesale
7. /crap-eyewear-party-on-dudes
8. /eyewear-performance
9. /essilor-x-shamir-negotiations
10. /eyewear-core-product
11. /equipment-ophthalmic
12. /eyewear-vintage
13. /lucky-brand-kids-spring-2010-eyewear-collection
14. /tom-cruise-wearing-persol-sunglasses-in-movie-wichita
15. /masaki-matsushima-power-stone-eyewear-collection

Today Show Talks About Sunglasses

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

$50 Winner – Optical Business Comments are Rewarding

Northern Vision Eye Care Staff

CONGRATULATIONS to Shelley of Northern Vision Eye Care winner of a $50 gift card for commenting on the Comments are Rewarding – for You and Your Optical Business post. It was a difficult decision as far as picking a winner as we received a lot of helpful feedback on our blog – www.theopticalvisionsite.com. We did a summary of these last week – Optical Comments are Rewarding Update

We picked Shelley for out $50 Winner as she is a verified subscriber, and she gave us a lot of useful feedback as well as several new ideas for future posts and communication improvements.

Here are Shelley’s comments:

• I have been very impressed with your blog and have shared many of them in our office.
• We have been most interested in the product updates, such as the “designer” contact lenses. Also, the article about the lenses that survived being driven over was interesting.
• Since the look of frames is so important the patient, I think it would be nice to have some lens presentation tips in lay-man’s terms to make the patient place more importance on those.
• You have been quite thorough in covering a wide range of topics, though.
• I like the summaries you send in the emails as well as the links to each topic. Your summaries hook us, so we want to read more.
• It would be nice to see an option on your site to pass on a specific article to another person’s email address without requiring them to actually subscribe. I usually look through the summaries and then send the email to my optometrist telling her which one to look at, if any are pertinent to her. A link from that page would save some time and typing.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to make a comment – we always appreciate your feedback as it helps us to make our blog more useful and informative.

Save The Dates- Important Eyecare Events Coming Up

Vision Expo West Registration is Now Open. Sign up here for free exhibitor passes and remember the best and closest hotels go fast, better to not wait and make your reservations. October 7-9, 2010

The Prevent Blindness America Third Annual Swing Fore Sight Golf Tournament will be held in conjunction with Vision Expo West on Oct. 6, 2010 at the Bali Hai Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nev.  Individual golfers may sign up for $625 or foursomes for $2,500.   Event sponsorships are still available.  Those interested in participating may call Colleen Robbins at 312-363-6023 or crobbins@preventblindness.org.

Monterey Symposium in Monterey, CA is held November 5-7, 2010. Online Registration is now open. This is one of my favorite events of the year and a great opportunity to combine a little vaca with some fantastic education in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Meet your friends, bring a significant other, your spouse and your kids and I guarantee you will not regret it.

Laurie Guest Webinair By Vision West

September is Prevent Blindness America, The Coalition to Prevent Sports Eye Injuries and Liberty Sport, Inc have declared September as Sports Eye Injury Prevention Awareness Month in an effort to educate the public on the importance of wearing proper eye protection while playing sports. For more information on how to get the word out to your patients, contact Liberty Sport

August 12, 2010 11:30 PST 2nd Webinair With Laurie Guest on What do Mistakes in the Optometric Office and Dining Out Have In Common? Sponsored By Vision West. The reviews on the last webinair were great so hopefully all can attend, especially with Laurie’s fantastic reputation.

Remember to prepare for Back To School, which starts in mid August.

Ohio Optometry Practice Wins Transitions Growth Award

ohn Loesch and his staff

Dayton, Ohio-based optometrist John Loesch and his staff have earned the Highest Transitions Growth Award for their increase in sales of Transitions® lenses in the three months following their participation in the Academy for Eyecare Practices™, sponsored by Transitions Optical, Inc., in Columbus, Ohio.

Twelve Academy programs were offered in the United States, with 27 Ohio-based offices participating in the Columbus event. The programs provided doctors and their staff proven methods and communication tools for independent optometry practices to build profitable businesses, including educating staff and doctors about the importance of vision- enhancing eyewear. As a result, Dr. Loesch and his staff reported increased sales of Transitions, the highest increase in their area.

Transitions Solutions Team representative Alicia Sims (on right) presented Dr. Loesch and his staff – Janessa Hemm, Heather Homan, Annie Clark; and lab representative Debbie Sparks – with the award. To continue their success, the practice was also awarded advertising support from Transitions.

Hoya Announces Scholarship Winner Lauren Nelson

Lauren Nelson from the University of Houston College of Optometry, has been awarded a $6,000 scholarship from HOYA Vision Care, North America. HOYA representatives announced the winner at a luncheon honoring the grant and scholarship program’s 13 finalists during Optometry’s Meeting®, the annual meeting of the American Optometric Association and the American Optometric Student Association.

HOYA invited optometry schools in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico to participate in the grant and scholarship program. Students at each participating university wrote a case study that prescribed a HOYA product to solve a patient’s vision problem.

Faculty at each school chose the winning case study and $1,000 grant recipient. Lauren Nelson’s case study was selected, by Hoya’s ECP Advisory Panel, from all of the grant recipients to earn the $6,000 scholarship. Lauren fit a first time progressive lens wearer with the HOYALUX iD in a photochromic version of Hoya’s Phoenix material and included Super HiVision EX3 to help meet the visual requirements dictated by patient’s business and lifestyle. Lauren summarized that an Optometrist’s duty to the patient included meeting all of the patient’s eyecare needs from eye health down to clarity of vision.

left to right are: Rich Montag, Vice President of Sales for Hoya Laboratories; Mike Elton, Hoya Director of Professional Services; Dr. Greg Hicks, Hoya Director of Professional Affairs, Barney Dougher, President Hoya Laboratories; Lauren Nelson. Scholarship winner and 4th Year Optometry Student from the University of Houston and Dr. Judy Perrigin, University of Houston College of Optometry.

About HOYA Vision Care, North America

HOYA Vision Care, North America, manufactures and supplies ophthalmic lenses to eye care professionals located within the United States, Canada, and South America. HOYA manufactures a complete range of high-quality lens designs, coatings and materials under brand names like HOYALUX iD, SUPER HiVision EX3, HOYA Phoenix and others.

What’s New- With Eyecare Vendors

New and Updated Websites

• Amcon The Eyecare Supply Center launched a  New Website For Flourescenin Strips (www.fluoresceinstrips.com) – The purpose to spotlight Amcon’s line of strips and allow customers to requests samples of all diagnostics strip.
• Clearvision Optical -Designed for the optical professional, the updated site includes a host of new features to make life easier and a practice more profitable. Highlights of the newly-refined cvoptical.com include:- Newly-designed home page with news, offers and information-Instant (and seamless) access to all ClearVision catalogs – including new releases-Easy sign-up for money-saving online-only promotions from ClearVision For more information, please visit www.cvoptical.com You can also visit ClearVision on Facebook at www.facebook.com/clearvisionoptical Meet The Prez- Clearvision Optical president David Friedfeld featured on Growth Strategist- was last week and we heard it was great!
• Tura Updated their website as well- has the BBH collection on.

New Location

• Zyloware is continuing to grow in their new location- the new facility will open August 2, 2010 at 8 Slater Street, Port Chester, New York 10573. The customer service toll-free number (1-800-765-3700), the main line toll-free number (1-800-765-2121) will both remain the same as will all email addresses. Office hours will remain 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST. There is no interruption in service planned during the move.

Online Ordering

Visionease Also has CE online

Vision Ease Announces Online Ordering With Vision Web -announced its customers may now access and order stock lenses (finished and semi-finished) via two new online portals. The Vision-Ease Lens ordering portal and VisionWeb portal provide customers convenient stock lens ordering alternatives to phone and fax orders

Awards and Approvals

• Nanofilm DeFog is Preferred by US Coast Guard In tests Nanofilm Towelettes win approval for safety from the US Coast Guard.
• Shamir Lens Wins Hermes Creative Award for 3rd Year in a Row- Congratulations.

Free Marketing Materials

• Transitions New Social Media Guide- Getting Social: Social Media For Your Practice, to help eyecare professionals utilize social media to stay top-of-mind with patients and build their business. A follow-up resource to Transitions Optical’s original guide, Putting Your Practice on Facebook, the Getting Social guide provides more in-depth information about expanding social media outreach for an eyecare practice. The guide provides an overview of social media applications, offers guidelines for developing a social media plan and gives tips on the best practices for using social media to bring in new business. To help eyecare professionals stay up-to-date, the guide also suggests online resources for keeping up with the latest trends in social media. “Social media is an outstanding business tool for eyecare professionals because it provides a forum to personally connect with patients,” said Trish Boccuti, senior marketing specialist, eyecare professionals, Transitions. “Transitions is committed to providing eyecare professionals with resources, like this social media guide, to help them promote their practices and reach out to their communities with the message of healthy sight.” Getting Social: Social Media For Your Practice is available for download through the marketing tools section of Transitions Optical’s trade portal at Transitions.com/Pro or by calling

New Product Launch

Cocoons Sidekick

Cocoons New Sidekick give full low vision coverage.