Nov. 19, 2020 — Following The Vision Council’s (TVC) first all-member virtual meeting which took place on Nov. 12 , the organization has recapped key information and updates for the year ahead.
"While the vision care community has faced a number of challenges this year, we are optimistic for the future and energized by the resilience of our members," shared TVC CEO Ashley Mills with more than 300 members at the meeting. "The Vision Council remains committed to helping our members navigate the evolving marketplace and stay competitive. We thank our members for their continued support and look forward to leading the industry forward together in 2021."
Following Mills’ welcome address, the meeting continued with a presentation by Mitch Barkley, TVC’s VP of trade shows and events, which spotlighted the future of Vision Expo and the plans that are in place for Vision Expo East 2021, scheduled to take place May 25–28, 2021 at the Javits Center in New York City.
Barkley announced that the phased reimagination, originally planned to debut partially at Vision Expo 2020, would be revealed in its entirety at Vision Expo East 2021, including new neighborhoods, a new education area, and a redesigned floor plan. Additionally, Barkley announced that a new virtual continuing education platform, VisionED Direct, will be launching soon.
The Vision Expo update was followed by remarks from Tarrence Lackran, TVC’s director of partnerships and programming, who shared information on TVC’s upcoming Executive Summit, taking place for the first time in a completely virtual format from January 26–28, 2021. Lackran announced that registration for the event, which is open to both members and non-members, has opened and encouraged members to take advantage of members-only pricing and register at thevisioncouncil.org/2021-executive-summit.
"We are partnering with a cutting-edge virtual platform to ensure we can deliver the same high-quality level of networking and leadership development that the Executive Summit has always offered," says Lackran. "With options for pre-planned and organic networking and tools that allow attendees to curate their networking environment, there are countless ways for attendees to connect with each other in a meaningful way while tailoring the Executive Summit experience to their needs and areas of interest."
Lackran continued with the announcement of keynote speakers for TVC’s Executive Summit, including Emmanuel Acho, former NFL linebacker and creator of the popular “Uncomfortable Conversations with A Black Man” video series and book, and economist Brian Beaulieu (who provided an economic outlook for ECPs in the November/December issue of EB), with a third speaker to be announced soon. Lackran also noted that an analysis of the results of TVC's 2020 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Survey will be presented at the summit.
The meeting continued with a presentation by Jane Balek, executive director of Think About Your Eyes, which highlighted the future of the campaign and included details on an industry-wide consumer-facing effort planned for 2021.
Following Balek, an analysis of the U.S. optical market was provided by TVC’s research team, including Steve Kodey, senior director of industry research services; Nathan Troxell, director of consumer and market insights; and Jane Yang, research coordinator.
The team provided a breakdown of the $36.7 billion optical industry by market segment and product line, noting that prescription eyeglasses accounted for the majority of revenue for the 12-month period ending in June 2020. The presentation also compared the change in online sales revenue over the past year, which increased by 6.7%, to sales performance through other distribution channels. Additionally, the team examined how the recent Covid-19 pandemic is impacting the optical industry from both a consumer and eyecare provider perspective.
The all-member portion of the meeting concluded with an overview of TVC’s public policy platform and the government relations committee’s key strategic priorities, presented by Bill Applegate and Chris Rorick, members of TVC’s Affairs Counsel. In addition to speaking to the team’s public policy efforts before and after the onset of the pandemic, Applegate and Rorick gave a high-level look at the potential impact of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results on the eyewear and manufacturing and distribution community and key opportunities for success within the new Congress and administration. Applegate and Rorick also spoke to targeted pandemic advocacy efforts that are underway and how TVC is prioritizing vision care on Capitol Hill.
Following the all-member portion of the meeting, members joined division-specific meetings for tailored updates.
Members can access post-event resources from TVC’s All-Member Virtual Meeting on the organization’s division-secured pages, here.