The Vision Council and RX, co-organizers of Vision Expo, share that, in accordance with New York State and New York City guidelines and the updated requirements of the Javits Center, proof of COVID-19 vaccination and face coverings will not be required to attend Vision Expo East, taking place Thursday, March 31 to Sunday, April 3, 2022, at the Javits Center in New York City. The announcement follows New York Mayor Eric Adams’ announcement on Friday, March 4 regarding the suspension of the Key to NYC program and the Javits Center’s revised safety protocols.

“The health and safety of everyone in attendance at Vision Expo continues to be our priority,” said Fran Pennella, Vice President, Vision Expo, at RX. “In accordance with New York State and New York City guidelines, we are pleased to introduce revised protocols for Vision Expo East. We encourage our participants to be up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations and ask that anyone who is not up-to-date wear a face covering. We will continue to monitor the guidance of public health authorities and government agencies going forward to ensure we are creating an environment at Vision Expo East that is as safe as possible.”

“As we look forward to Vision Expo East’s return to New York City, we are excited to return to a degree of normalcy in terms of how we gather,” said Mitch Barkley, Vice President of Trade Shows and Events at The Vision Council, co-organizer of Vision Expo.  “As always, we are committed to creating an environment that is comfortable, safe and conducive to conducting business, networking and learning, and we are thrilled to bring the community together in New York in just a few weeks.”

To view the VisionSAFE guidelines and resources, click here.

For more information on Vision Expo, visit  visionexpo.com and follow Vision Expo’s social media channels, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.   

Click HERE for the full press release.

IRIS, The Visual Group announced the partnership of Dr. Adam Reid, Optometrist and Tammy Baker Optician Manager in IRIS’ Parksville, BC location on Vancouver Island.

Under the previous IRIS partner, the late Dr. Gerald Trees, the Parksville  IRIS location has been a longstanding success for over 20 years.

Dr. Adam Reid, originally from Bowden, Alberta is a Pacific University School of Optometry graduate, and has been practicing Optometry at IRIS for 8.5 years.  He is married with 2 young daughters and spends is downtime playing hockey and looking after animals on his hobby farm.

Tammy Baker, originally from Clearwater, BC graduated from the NAIT optician program in 1996 with a dual license. She joined IRIS 29 years ago and transferred from the lower mainland to Vancouver Island in 2007. Tammy has been managing the Parksville location since December 2014.

Both Reid and Baker own shares along with IRIS in a BC registered corporation that holds the assets of the Parksville location and operates as IRIS Optometrists Opticians. 

In the IRIS partnership model each location is a separate legal entity and the shareholders only participate in dividends from that specific location.

They look forward to continuing to service their community as both professionals and local business owners.

The Vision Council and RX, organizers of Vision Expo, announce the finalists for the Fourth Annual OPTImum Retail Award, which celebrates independent boutique retailers by showcasing their products, stores, visions, and stories to the optical industry. 

The 2022 finalists are:

• Black Optical (Dallas, TX; Oklahoma City, OK; Tulsa, OK; St. Louis, MO)
• Eyes on Sheppard (North York, Ontario)
• Ocean Optometry (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
• OPTYX New York (New York, NY)

To determine the final winner, the vision care community can vote for their favorite here. Voting is open from March 1 to March 14. Social media votes will then be factored into the judges’ scores.

The OPTImum Retail Award winner will be announced at Vision Expo East 2022 on Friday, April 1 at 5:45pm at The Bridge, following the EYE2EYE Series panel, Onward with Independence.

To determine the finalists, a committee of top industry leaders deliberated and voted based on the categories of pivoting post-pandemic, community and aesthetics.

For more information on Vision Expo, visit  visionexpo.com and follow Vision Expo’s social media channels, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.   

Click HERE for the full press release.

Warby Parker announced that more than 10 million pairs of glasses have been distributed through its Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program. Launched at the Company’s founding as part of its commitment to increasing access to vision care for people around the world, the Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program is simple: for every pair of Warby Parker glasses purchased, a pair of glasses is distributed to someone in need.

“We founded Warby Parker with a mission to inspire and impact the world with vision, purpose, and style. It’s hard to put into words how we feel knowing that now more than 10 million people globally have received a life-changing pair of glasses through our Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program,” said Co-Founder and Co-CEO Dave Gilboa. “Alleviating the problem of impaired vision has long been at the heart of what we do.”

How The Buy A Pair, Give A Pair Program Works

To date, Warby Parker’s Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program has supported people in more than 50 countries around the world. Through its partnerships, the Company prioritizes communities with the most significant need around the world, many of which are extremely limited in their access to vision care. The two distribution models Warby Parker employs are:

Social Entrepreneurship: The non-profit social enterprise VisionSpring has been Warby Parker’s primary partner in this work, accelerating the uptake of eyeglasses by raising awareness about vision impairment, conducting vision screenings, and selling highly subsidized eyeglasses in low-income communities.

Direct Donation: Via cross-sector partnerships, directly giving vision care and glasses to those in need. For example, in 2015, Warby Parker created Pupils Project, a program that works with local organizations and government agencies to give free vision screenings, eye exams, and glasses to schoolchildren. Warby Parker plans to distribute tens of thousands of pairs of glasses during the 2021-2022 school year alone.

Click HERE for the full press release.