Opticians Association of Alaska Newsletter
Winter 2010
GREETINGS
I hope everyone is enjoying their winter so far! This newsletter is a
long time in coming and I am hoping to continue on with it either quarterly
or biannually. If there is something you would like to see added or are
interested in knowing more about please let me know and we will work
on getting it integrated.
Name the Newsletter
Our newsletter is lacking a name. I need all of you creative opticians
out there to submit ideas.
Lions Club and Vision Screening
I have been in contact with Lion’s Club members that are involved
in the Vision Screening program to get information on how we as eyecare
professionals. The Lion’s Club is working on creating a special
Club House just for healthcare professionals that are interested in the
vision screening program here in the Anchorage area. They have awesome
state of the art equipment that gives almost instantaneous results via
a computer program. If you are interested in participating in this program
first go to Dr. Robert Arnold’s website for Alaska Blind Child
Discovery (ABCD). The website is www.abcd-vision.org
We are also hoping to get someone from the Lion’s Organization
to come and speak with us at our spring convention about the vision screening
program and how we can participate with them.
Convention 2010
The Spring “Spec”tacular will be April 30th and May 1st at
the Coast International Inn. Our key speaker will be Ed De Gennaro. View
the flyer (PDF) Print the
registration form (PDF).
Mr. Ed De Gennaro is a noted authority on practical optics, dispensing,
sales, management and training. He lecturers extensively at national,
state and local optical meetings, and has presented in Europe, Canada
and Puerto Rico.
Formerly a Professor and Program head of the Opticianry Program, and
the Dean of the School of Health Sciences at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community
College in Richmond, Virginia, he is currently the Director of Professional
Content for First Vision Media Group, a consultant to the ophthalmic
professions and the industry, and a member of the Vision Expo Advisory
Committee.
Please give us some ideas on how we can make our convention and annual
meeting more exciting and appealing so we can attract more attendees
and members. As we spoke about at our meeting last year we need to spice
up our association in order to attract the younger opticians and apprentices.
On the News Front
A NEW ORGANIZATION FORMED TO AID INDEPENDENT OPTICIANRY BUSINESSES TO
NOT JUST SURVIVE, BUT TO THRIVE!
Exclusively for Independent Opticianry Business Owners and Managers
For more info go to www.orba-usa.org
President’s Corner
Greetings! It’s hard to believe another year has passed! I hope
this finds everyone having a good winter and off to the start to another
great year!
Your Board has been busy working on the up coming convention and we
are proud that we have Ed De Gennaro coming up to speak for us. While
Ed is in Alaska he will also be conducting a day long strategic planning
session with the Board to help us map a plan for the future and help
us to re-energize our State Association.
In January Robin Marquiss, Vice-President, Michelle Carte, Secretary
and I attended the National Leadership conference in Memphis, TN. We
attended breakout sessions on many different topics related to State
societies and we were joined by leaders from across the Nation. Our National
Association is going strong and represents our fine profession in both
licensed and non-licensed states. They are the unified voice for Opticianry
in America and are hard at work promoting our field on all levels as
well as being our legislative voice and watchdog.
By being a member of the Opticians Association of Alaska you’re
automatically a member of the Opticians Association of America and eligible
for all benefits associated with it. I encourage you to go their website
www.oaa.org to view all that they have to offer.
After representing Alaska for many years I was happy to accept a position
on the board of the Guild of Prescription Opticians of America, a division
of the National Association for independent firm owners, I am looking
forward to helping our profession advance both in Alaska and Nationally,
I honestly believe that there is strength in numbers and that the more
involved we are in the shaping of our future as a profession the stronger
it will be!
We invite you to join us in Anchorage this spring for a weekend of quality
education, the latest in Eyewear fashions at our “Spec-tacular” trade
show and enjoy good food and fun while networking with other Opticians
from around the state.
I look forward to seeing you there!
Christi Brand
Thank You to our Vendors
I just wanted to say thank you to all our past supporters during our
conventions whether you have donated your weekends by being a part
of our trade show, or giving monetarily, or providing extra educational
evenings throughout the year. We appreciate you and the time and care
you give to our association and its members, along with the care you
give to your individual accounts. We look forward to continuing to
work with you all in the future!
Member ID Cards
This year we will be giving out member ID cards when you have a paid
membership. These cards will allow you to attend special education
and social events throughout the year. Without them you can attend,
there will just be a fee for entrance. I am lining up some of these
events already. I know so far in June that Paul with REM is willing
to provide us with 2 NCLE hours. There will be a session in Anchorage
and then one in Fairbanks. I will be working on lining up some more
events with other vendors soon. We will keep you updated as they develop.
Please let me know if you have any desires or wants for these events.
They are not only designed to provide you with education but also to
be able to socialize and network with your peers from all sides of the
optical industry. I received many ideas at the OAA Leadership conference
for going outside the box to make things fun and different, so I hope
to implement them over the next year.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Last year we resurrected the Lifetime Achievement Award/Optician of the
Year Award and presented Larry Harper with a plaque to show him our
appreciation for all he has done for Opticianry, not only in Alaska,
but on a national level as well.
We would like to present someone with this award on a yearly basis.
In order to do this properly we will need to create a nominating committee
in the future who will determine the recipient. The nominating committee
will contain members from our association, not board members. You will
receive member recommendations as to who they think deserves this prestigious
award and why. We the Board will select a member this year to receive
the award since we have not had a business meeting since last April,
but we will create a committee at this year’s business meeting.
Please let me know if you are interested in being on this committee,
there will not be a lot of time involved, so really anyone can do it,
no matter how busy you are.
Board Members
President, Christi Brand, framed@gci.net
Vice President, Robin Marquiss, espresso20@alaska.net'
Secretary, Michelle
Carte, adventuresineyecare@gci.net
Treasurer, Michael Brand, mhbrand1@hotmail.com
3 Year Board Member, Cynde
Oleck, akcynde@yahoo.com
2 Year Board Member, Marty Hanson, eyewear@alaska.com
1 Year Board Member,
Carl Seutter, cseutter@mtaonline.net
Opticians Association of Alaska
c/o Golden North Optics
1521 Stacia St
Fairbanks, AK 99701
Next Business Meeting
May 1, 2010 at 11:00am
At Coast International Inn |