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

Opening Eyes with Santinelli

Jaysun Barr from Santinelli with participating athlete Mark

We like to bring you reports of our sponsors that are involved in programs that help with the vision requirements of those in need. It is good for the industry as well the people given vision assistance. It helps bring awareness of vision care to the general public and we encourage all in the optical industry to get involved with “Opening Eyes” for those in need whether in a big way like Eyes of Faith Optical who give back 10% of total sales or like Santinelli featured here in our post below who are heavily involved in the Special Olympics or even in a small, local community event one day a year. It is all good.

Today we are featuring Santinelli’s participation in the 2010 National Special Olympic Games held in Lincoln, Nebraska by providing lens edging equipment for the Opening Eyes portion of the Healthy Athletes program, while several company associates volunteered their time and services. Through the program, a total of 564 pairs of prescription eyewear were distributed to athletes.

According to the Special Olympics organization, research has shown that among Special Olympics athletes, 68 percent have not had an eye examination in three years and 37 percent are in need of eyeglasses. Opening Eyes provides diagnosis for vision related problems, as well as corrective and protective eyewear all free of charge. At the end of the screening, athletes receive a certificate detailing their vision needs and follow-up referrals for health care providers in their home areas, if needed. Athletes are also taught how to take better care of their eyes.

Two Santinelli lens edging systems were humming all the way through with company representatives Rick Noonkester, Jaysun Barr, Steve Ruef, Henry Bode and Donald Rosene processing the several hundred jobs for the athletes. Santinelli International has been a supporter of the Special Olympics games for over 12 years.

Great Job Santinelli!

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

The Eyecessorize Blog and $5 Sunglasses

We recently posted about the Today Show’s feature on sunglasses and the need to let optical consumers know the differences between low priced sunglasses and high priced sunglasses – Polarized Sunglasses – Don’t Be Cheap. We think that The Eyecessorize Blog has a great response to this and other reports as well. This is the official blog for The Vision Council & Eyecessorize – the eyewear lifestyle resource. It is a good go to place for the optical retailer for helpful information and news.

Here is an excerpt from the Sunglass post called “The difference between $5 and $500 sunglasses?”

It’s all in the “look” and feel.

We’re throwing “look” into quotations because we’re not only talking about the style and brand type of look, but also the clarity that you’ll see when looking through a pair of shades.

We’d like to help clarify some recent news reports on the differences between low-cost and the more expensive brands of sunglasses.

To start: It’s no secret that people consider sunglasses as much a part of their wardrobe as they do shoes, jeans, jackets and purses. As a rule of thumb, we tell folks that non-prescription sunglasses bought in a traditional retail channel like a drug store or gas station or sunglasses shop will provide your eyes with the protection they need from the sun, no matter the cost. Five bucks or $500, you’re better off wearing a pair of sunglasses than no pair at all. And most people seem to know that, judging by the number of Americans who wear sunglasses: Two in three U.S. citizens, or 196 million of us.

Now, on the topic of protection from ultraviolet rays: It can be confusing……….

For more of this article go to the Eyecessorize Blog

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.

Are We Lacking Optical Creativity?

I pose the questions of “are we lacking optical creativity?” because I just read an article in Newsweek titled “The Creativity Crisis” that claims “for the first time, research shows that American creativity is declining” and addresses the questions “what went wrong – and how we can fix it”. As I read the article, it challenged a lot of the assumptions I have about creativity especially in the work place so I thought this is a good topic for the optical blog as we certainly don’t need to be lacking creativity in the optical workplace.

I know there are always new products and new technology in the optical market place but this is more about how we do business and conduct our own every day creative process and I found it useful. I hope you do to.

The shocking claim for me was ‘FORGET BRAINSTORMING – What you think you know about fostering creativity is wrong. Here are are some of the techniques that the article claims do boost the creative process:

Don’t Tell Someone to be Creative

Such an instruction may just cause people to freeze up. However, according to the University of Georgia’s Mark Runco, there is a suggestion that works: “Do something only you would come up with – that none of your friends or family would think of” When Runco gives this advice in experiments, he sees the number of creative responses double.

Get Moving:

Almost every dimension of cognition improves from 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, and creativity is no exception.

Ditch the Suggestion Box:

If you want to increase innovation within your optical business, one of the first things to do is tear out the suggestion box. Formalized suggestion protocols, whether a box on the wall, an e-mail form, or an internal website, actually stifle innovation because employees feel that their ideas go into a black hole of bureaucracy. Instead employees need to be able to put their own ideas into practice.

Other suggested techniques are:

• Take a break – switch between projects if solutions don’t come immediately
• Follow a passion
• Explore other cultures – cross-cultural experiences force people to adapt and be more flexible

Source: Newsweek – Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman

Attention Optical Practices – Are Your Lenses Meeting New ANSI Standards?

This is very important information for eyecare professionals with in-house processing especially as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) earlier this month approved a series of updates to the Z80.1 standard for prescription spectacle lenses. Overseen by the Z80 Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) for Ophthalmic Optics, which consists of 18 voting organizations and more than 100 experts, these changes are designed to increase the durability and quality of lenses.

The Z80.1 standard serves as a guideline for both eye care professionals with in-house processing and optical laboratories to follow prior to the delivery of finished eyewear to the patient. It applies to the processing of all prescription ophthalmic spectacle lenses in edged or assembled form. Relevant optical specifications and tolerances of this standard also apply to uncut lenses supplied by an optical laboratory to be used in filling a specific prescription.

The revised Z80.1 standard includes updates to:

* Measurement of transmission power: In 1995, Z80.1 adopted the ISO method to measure specified power which is based on the meridian of highest power. The 2010 Z80.1 revision reverts to the sphere and cylinder method without a change in tolerances.

* Use of compensated power: The use of compensated power for the as-worn position was expanded to include both distance power and add power. The power tolerances are applied to the compensated values and not to the prescribed prescription.

* Lens durability: Lens durability requirements were added from two new ISO standards – specifications and test methods for anti-reflective coatings from ISO 8980-4 and minimum requirements for spectacle lens surfaces claimed to be abrasion resistant from ISO 8989-5.

* Lens abrasion resistance: The new requirement for lens abrasion resistance applies only if the lens supplier claims it. The requirement is that the lens resists abrasion at least as well as uncoated hard plastic (CR-39) as determined by a rubbing test.

* AR coating: The new AR coating requirements assess durability by subjecting the lens to mechanical rubbing, high humidity and UV radiation. After the sequence, the lenses are inspected to determine if delamination of the AR coating has occurred. The maximum reflectance of an AR coated surface was also changed to 2.5 percent.

“The changes to the Z80.1 standard are significant to the optical community. For one, lens power measurement is now done using the method most familiar to labs and ECPs as the ISO international method is no longer used,” said The Vision Council’s Ken Wood, secretariat for ASC Z80. “The other additions covering lens abrasion resistance and AR durability are the first such requirements in the US market and establish a minimum level of performance that can protect both the patient and the ECP by barring poor performing products.”

The 2010 ANSI Z80.1 standard for prescription spectacle lenses can be purchased at www.webstore.ansi.org. This standard does not apply to products covered by American National Standard Requirements for Nonprescription Sunglasses and Fashion Eyewear, ANSI Z80.3-2008.

For more information on the changes to the Z80.1 standard, please contact Amber Robinson, The Vision Council manager of member and technical programs, at (703) 740-1094 or at arobinson@thevisioncouncil.org.