Early reports indicate that more than 22,000 visitors gathered for the industry’s premier event from over 90 countries. Trends this year were more millennial and conference attendance.

Over 33 percent of the attendees were millennials, including more than 700 students and members of the Young Professionals Club who attended courses ranging from the “New Technology Rapid Fire” clinical session to “Future Business Trends Happening Now” in the Business Solutions track.

According to Tom Loughran, group vice president, Reed Exhibitions, millennial interest and activity foreshadow the direction in which eyewear and eye care professionals and businesses are headed. “The millennial population learns, communicates and operates in new ways and businesses need to consider this,” said Loughran. “We are in the middle of a digital movement that is captivating to all generations, in an evolution of our overall marketing and customer experience strategies.”

Education and conference attendance was up by 400 attendees, says Loughran citing new and innovative, non-ophthalmic program content. One of the most attended events was the new Global Contact Lens Forum, “The Global Contact Lens Forum, which was the day before the show, offering six hours of free continuing education was extremely successful with 270 attendees. The contact lens companies are very happy with the result because they don’t normally get that type of attendance in their sessions.”

The largest show change this year was a move for streamlining, requested by companies and attendees. The popular Galleria and Underground Pavilions were relocated to Level 3, creating a high-fashion hub for buying activity. “Vision Expo has been working hard to create a show that is great for the attendees; to make it easy for them to navigate. They buy big company frames and they buy small company frames, so it makes it easy for them to navigate. I have been getting positive feedback from the attendees that they appreciate that and they like the show navigation better. So we are always here for them,” said Ray Khalil, president of Lafont USA.

Loughran says while over all show floor attendance numbers are down slightly from last year, buying was robust. He believes bad weather brought fewer numbers, “ I think that what you’ve seen in the north east especially not only has it been cold but the snow has been a major factor. Opticians who own optical stores and independent optometrists have had to close their doors a lot more in January and February than they have previously. So we were down slightly, but for the most part the people who came here were the buyers and decision makers and they cut back on people who don’t have decision making authority.”

The size of the show floor grew by a few thousand square feet to include 25 new exhibitors this year. The biggest growth area in booth demand according to Loughran was in boutique frames.

International Vision Expo & Conference conducts a detailed, third-party audit of attendance at International Vision Expo East. Verified figures will be available in May. Vision Expo East returns to the Javits Center in April 2016 (Education: April 14-17, Exhibition: April 15-17.).

For more information visit: www.VisionExpoEast.com.

Transitions Optical research shows Canadians are frequently bothered by light, but don’t talk about it with their eye care professional (ECP). Outdoor light and glare remain chief complaints.

The  “Light and Glare” online survey was conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of Transitions Optical, among 1,000 Canadian adults, ages 18-69 between February 20th and March 6th, 2015.

Almost all Canadians (95 percent) questioned said they are bothered by light; and three fourths of those bothered say these problems frequently impact their ability to do or enjoy a task at hand, according to a new “Light and Glare” survey from Transitions Optical.  Despite the high frequency and impact of being bothered by light, less than 40 percent of Canadians discuss this issue with their eye care professional.

“Being bothered by light can easily be viewed as more of a nuisance than an eye health issue, but this research shows that it’s serious, potentially interfering with daily tasks, which can have consequences for work productivity and overall quality of life,” said Isabelle Tremblay-Dawson, senior marketing manager, Canada. “We hope sharing this research encourages more eye care professionals to bring up this topic with their patients, opening the door for them to educate patients on the range of lens solutions available to minimize glare and reflections, and help with sensitivity to light.”

Types of Bothersome Light

According to the survey, Canadians who say they are bothered by light most commonly cite “bright, glaring light” as the culprit.  When diving deeper into whether they are bothered by light due to reflections, 68 percent say they are bothered by light reflected off surfaces when outdoors, 35 percent cite light from a computer screen and 33 percent cite light from personal devices (smart phones, tablets, etc.).

“Our research shows that 70 percent of Canadians are spending more time on electronic devices than five years ago, so we were not surprised by the number of people saying they were bothered by light from computer and personal device screens,” said Tremblay-Dawson.  “It was interesting that outdoor light was the larger culprit, though, bothering people at more than twice the rate.”

All of the products found within the Transitions^® family of brands help reduce glare, especially when paired with an anti-reflective treatment. More specifically, Transitions^® XTRActive^® lenses provide unique benefits that can help eye care professionals satisfy the needs of patients who are bothered by light indoors, outdoors and even in the car. Transitions XTRAcitve lenses are uniquely designed for extra light protection even in the brightest sun and hottest conditions. Indoors, a hint of tint helps protect eyes from harsh indoor lighting, helping to reduce eye strain and fatigue. Plus, Transitions XTRActive lenses achieve up to category 2 darkness behind the windshield to protect eyes from sunlight while driving.

For more information about the company and Transitions lenses, visit TransitionsCanadaPRO.ca.

Luxottica a supporter of SIGHT: The Story of Vision hosted a sneak peek of the documentary directed by filmmaker Kris Koenig at Vision Expo East.

“Kris is a man of passion and conviction and he is telling our story and I couldn’t be more honoured and proud to be with you in this moment,” Holly Rush, President of Wholesale North America at Luxottica told film supporters and guests at a special reception at Vision Expo East.

In a heartfelt moment, the award winning filmmaker named his wife who had recently passed from breast cancer as the force behind the film, as she argued for the value and inclusion of a wider humanitarian approach. The film is all inclusive, said Koenig, “the film covers four main threads: the science, the medicine, the technology and the humanity of vision.”

The film takes viewers through the history of sight, the science and technology and medicine that allow us to see, as well as how to cure diseases of the eye and correct vision. It also looks at the humanity issue, the global vision crisis we face today, impacting half a billion people around the world.

The goal of the one-hour documentary film is to shine the light on vision health and create a better understanding of it. “The consumer doesn’t know the difference between an optometrist and an ophthalmologist. When they get done watching this film, they’ll understand the sequence,” said Koenig. The movie’s impact will be to create a better understanding of vision and hopefully create a call to action. “We want the viewer to end up in doctor’s offices, says Koenig “we want the viewer to do one thing, get your eyes checked.”

Koenig thanked the many sponsors including Luxottica, ZEISS the Vision Institute and Essilor. “ZEISS came on board with a phenomenal amount of support to create a story where a photon of light is generated in a star, travels across the galaxy, enters a child’s eye and goes into the retina and into the brain and shows how vision takes place in the brain and comes back out into a montage of all the beautiful things to see in the world,” said Koenig.

SIGHT was produced by Koenig Films in association with SOPTV for public television broadcast and distribution. It is expected to air in the fall of 2015 and will be accompanied by a special version designed to be shown in planetariums around the world. Koenig’s last PBS documentary “400 Years of the Telescope” was seen by tens of millions of viewers.

For more information visit: http://www.storyofsight.com