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Rapp Eyewear – An Eyewear Love Story

Jean-François Venne, Optik Magazine’s contributor, presents Mel Rapp, iconic Canadian eyewear designer who exports his creations all over the world.

Mel Rapp’s love of eyewear started in the second half of the sixties, where he was already selling non-prescription sunglasses to other students. In 1978, by then an optician, had a client with very strong myopia who dreamed of wearing a rimless frame. Mel Rapp ended up making a piece tailored for him, which worked well, and fabricated some for other people as well. But it was in the early 2000s that Rapp Eyewear started to manufacture frames more intensively, mainly after the opening of a separate installation in 2001.

Rapp Eyewear frames are worn by people who aren’t into mass production, who love well-made products, and accept to pay a little more to get them. They don’t place a logo or a similar inscription on the frame. According to Mel, clients pay for an object that they love and shouldn’t be used for advertising purposes.

Find out which materials Mel Rapp prefers to use and how the pandemic has affected Rapp Eyewear by checking out the full interview available in the August-September issue of Optik Magazine.

Click HERE for the full interview.

4th World Congress of Optometry Postponed Until 2023

The World Council of Optometry (WCO) has announced that the 4th World Congress of Optometry (WCO4) planned for Melbourne, Australia in 2021, will now be postponed to September 8-10, 2023. The partnership with Optometry Victoria South Australia (OV/SA) and the Optical Distributors and Manufacturers Association of Australia (ODMA) will continue.

WCO4 was originally scheduled to be held alongside O=MEGA21, the largest eye care and eyewear trade show and conference in the Southern Hemisphere, in September 2021. However, the impact of COVID-19 and travel restrictions have necessitated the postponement to 2023.

OV/SA President Elise Pocknee-Clem said: “There were a number of factors that made the decision to delay the WCO4 component of the 2021 program a simple one for all three Boards,” she said. “Many private optometrists from overseas have experienced shutdowns, as we have in Australia, and the economic impact of closures may limit practitioners’ ability to travel abroad for continuing education next year. Also, significant periods of lockdown and inconsistent ‘opening up’ protocols could impact the capacity of attendees to commit to international travel in the short-term. This, and the impact on the university and not-for-profit sectors, and the difficulty in predicting the timing for the ‘end’ of the pandemic meant that we needed to act decisively.”

Click HERE for the full press release.

Essilor Group Embraces the “New Normal” Through Digital Technologies

Essilor has been leveraging new digital technologies in order to connect with nearly 600,000 people, including customers and employees in more than 45 countries via webinars, virtual summits, online training… to adapt the “new normal”.

Essilor has a proven track record of responding swiftly to changing business environments by leveraging digital technologies to drive efficiency and productivity within the Group. This has once again been demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic, with employees playing a leading role in adapting to the new global context.

With the pandemic serving as a catalyst, the last few months have driven thousands of employees to step up their digital skills while working from home in order to maintain close relations with colleagues, clients and partners. Between mid-March and end July, approximately 140 digital events were organized across Essilor with nearly 600,000 participants – including employees as well as Eye Care Professionals (ECPs) and customers.

Starting from April this year, Transitions® teams across the globe have been conducting regular webinars for ECPs and partners to help them get up to speed on Transitions® Signature® Gen8™, light sensitivity, photochromic technology as well as best practices and opportunities in this new global context.

While digital communication shouldn’t fully replace face-to-face interactions, it ultimately offers a scalable and efficient solution for companies to keep their businesses running smoothly while staying close to their employees, customers and key stakeholders.

Click HERE for the full press release.

CooperCompanies and Divisions Named One of Fortune’s Best Large Workplaces

CooperCompanies announced that the company, along with its CooperVision and CooperSurgical divisions has been named one of Fortune’s Best Large Workplaces in Manufacturing and Production.

“Being included on Fortune’s Best Large Workplaces in Manufacturing and Production List is a testament to our outstanding employees,” said President and CEO Albert White. “For both CooperVision and CooperSurgical, our manufacturing and production teams are the backbone of the businesses, ensuring we produce, maintain and deliver our products around the globe. In many ways, this award highlights the team effort across the organization from the products that our R+D teams invent and study, our M+A team’s purchase, our marketing teams promote, and our sales representatives sell.”

To determine the companies selected for this list, Fortune research partner Great Place to Work® analyzed responses from more than 160,000 employees at Great Place to Work-Certified™ organizations in the Manufacturing & Production industry. Employees responded to more than 60 survey questions anonymously rating their employers, assessing workplace culture, employee experience, and leadership behaviors.

Click HERE for the full press release.

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