Dr. Amanda Rights (l) was honored with the 2018 Transitions Brand Ambassador title and optician Sheena Taff was recognized for her commitment to advocating for the Transitions brand.

ORLANDO, Fla.—Transitions Optical honored Dr. Amanda Rights of Blue Ridge Vision in Boone, N.C., with the 2018 Transitions Brand Ambassador title, one of the categories of the Transitions Innovation Awards program, during a recognition ceremony Tuesday evening as the 23rd annual Transitions Academy drew to a close. Dr. Rights is the author of the OptomEyesLife blog. The finalists for the prestigious Transitions Brand Ambassador award included Sheena Taff, an optician at Roberts & Brown Opticians, and Justin Tenczar, an optician at Berkshire Eye Center in Pittsfield, Mass. They also were recognized for their commitment to advocating for the Transitions brand during the awards event.

The Academy meeting, which drew more than 900 industry executives, concluded with last night’s awards dinner and reception.

In the Best Marketing category, Taff received the top honors, edging two other finalists for the title 2018 Best in Marketing during the Academy awards dinner. Taff (who was nominated in two Innovation Awards categories) edged two other finalists in the Best in Marketing category, including Value Optical of Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S. optometry network Vision Source, which also received recognition for commitment to the strategic marketing of the Transitions brand/family of products. Taff is the author of the OpticianAboutTown blog.

National Vision Inc. was honored with the U.S. Retailer of the Year title during the Transitions Innovation Awards. U.S. Retailer of the Year finalists included Costco Optical and Henry Ford OptimEyes, two optical retail businesses recognized for demonstrating commitment to the Transitions brand and improving patient vision.


PECAA’s Lance Anderson, OD, (c) celebrated with the PECAA group as they were honored with the 2018 Best in Training title.

The 2018 Best in Training title was awarded to Professional Eye Care Associates of America (PECAA). During Transitions Academy, Best in Training finalists Iris (a Canadian optical group) and Professional VisionCare of Columbus, Ohio, were also recognized for their commitment to providing education in photochromic lenses and the Transitions brand.

Transitions Optical honored Costco Optical with the Canadian Retailer of the Year title. Canadian Retailer of the Year finalist Iris was also recognized for its commitment to the Transitions brand and improving customers’ vision.

Weaver Eye Associates of York, Pa., was awarded the Eyecare Practice of the
Year title for the year 2018. Napoleon Family Vision (Napoleon, Ohio) and Nicola Eye Care (Kamloops, British Columbia) were also recognized as finalists in the Eyecare Practice of the Year category for their commitment to promoting healthy sight and support of the Transitions brand.