LAS VEGAS—With Expo still fresh on everyone’s minds, Vision Monday presents a slideshow to recap some of the sights and excitement that helped make up Vision Expo West. See who was at the industry parties held on the show floor and around Vegas last week. Highlights include a look at how the optical community honored individuals who have made lasting contributions to the industry, as well as celebrations of company anniversaries and product launches.
Hall of Fame Honorees
The Optical Lab Division of The Vision Council honored six industry veterans during the Directors’ Choice Awards and 16th Annual Optical Lab Division Hall of Fame banquet. The following industry veterans were honored: 2015 Directors’ Choice Award Recipient, Thomas F. Puckett, founder, managing director and CEO, HPC Puckett & Company; Jim Grootegoed, Optical Lab Products; Darryl Meister, Zeiss (Posthumously); Jim Ryan, Lens Technology, Inc. (Retired); Gunter Schneider, Schneider GmbH & Co. KG; and Rick Tinson, Hoya Vision Care, North America. Accepting the honor of 2015 Directors’ Choice Award is Thomas F. Puckett, founder, director and CEO of HPC Puckett & Company.
Hall of Fame Honorees
Gunter Schneider, Schneider Optical Machines, thanks the Optical Lab Division for his induction into the Hall of Fame.
Hall of Fame Honorees
(L to R) Hall of Fame honoree, Rick Tinson, Hoya Vision Care, is congratulated by Robert Shanbaum, Ocuco, and Steve Sutherlin, director of the Optical Lab Division.
Hall of Fame Honorees
Lens Technology, Inc.’s Jim Ryan (l) accepts his award from John Quinn (r) for his induction into the Hall of Fame.
Hall of Fame Honorees
Dick Whitney, (l) Zeiss congratulates Hall of Fame honoree Jim Grootegoed (r).
Hall of Fame Honorees
Greg Ruden, (l) Expert Optics and Kurt Atchison, (r) Schneider attend the Hall of Fame Banquet.
Hall of Fame Honorees
Accepting the Hall of Fame award on behalf of her father, Darryl Meister, is Darryl’s daughter, Samantha.
Hall of Fame Honorees
Attending the Optical Lab Division Hall of Fame Banquet are (l to r) John Sutherlin, Sutherlin Optical; Bob Pommier, Expert Optics; and J.P. Sankpill, U.S. Safety.
Hall of Fame Honorees
Celebrating the new honorees are (l to r) Rick Albright, Shamir; Steele Young, Satisloh; and Swen Carlson, VSP.
Hall of Fame Honorees
Optical Lab Products’ Jim Grootegoed (l) is congratulated by Walman’s Marty Bassett (r) on being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Hall of Fame Honorees
Gathered for the Directors’ Choice and 16th Annual Hall of Fame Awards are (l to r) Jim Ryan, Lens Technology, Inc., retired; Rick Tinson, Hoya Vision Care; Thomas F. Puckett, HPC Puckett & Company; Jim Grootegoed, Optical Lab Products; and Gunter Schneider, Schneider GmbH & Co. KG.
Opti-Port Reception
Jim Edwards (l), Opti-Port president/CEO, entertained members (second left to right) Crown Vision’s Dan Pund, and Wing Eyecare’s Brad Haller and Amie Haller, at the national alliance of multi-office eyecare providers’ reception.
Opti-Port Reception
(L-R) Essilor’s Jessica Yeater and Patrick Shiller with ArmouRx’s Jim Burke.
Opti-Port Reception
Barnet Dulaney Perkins’ (l to r) Liz Ironside, Cierra Stewart, Jeannette Dilley and Debbie Bacon.
Opti-Port Reception
(L to R) Mondottica USA's Mick Kunish, Virginia Eye Institute’s Mark Johnson and Crown Vision’s Jennifer Oliver.
Essilor Launches Eyezen
Essilor held a launch party for Eyezen glasses at Dal Toro in the Palazzo. Posing with one of the restaurant’s classic cars is, (l to r) Jean Marc Leroy and Jeff Harrell of Essilor, with guest speaker and tech expert Erik Qualman.
Vision Monday’s Labapalooza
Labapalooza, a lab industry favorite gathering, took place at the Rockhouse in the Venetian Hotel. As is the custom, the annual get together paid tribute to wholesale laboratories and highlights included Vision Monday’s signature Top Labs Report and LabTalk’s Website of the Year Awards. Labapalooza was presented by Vision Monday and LabTalk, and the Optical Lab Division of the Vision Council. Title Sponsor, Schneider; Premium Sponsors, Coburn Technologies, Digital Vision, iCoat, Salem Vision Group, Santinelli International, Trivex, Transitions and Ultra Optics.
Vision Monday’s Labapalooza
(L to R) John Alofs, ROI Eyewear; Georg Mayer, Rodenstock; and Andy Karp, Jobson, catch up at the Labapalooza party.
Vision Monday’s Labapalooza
Lens, lab and equipment come together with (l to r) David Ray, Seiko; Bill Heffner, FEA; and Kevin Cross, Schneider Optical Machines at Labapalooza.
Vision Monday’s Labapalooza
The Top Ten Websites were honored during Labapalooza. (L to R) Joe Cherry, Cherry Optical; Rodney Remsey, Classic Optical; Imitiaz Hasan, iCoat; Chris Bowers, Walman Optical; Bill Heffner, FEA Industries; Christie Walker, editor, LabTalk; and Bob Enich, Superior Optical.
Vision Monday’s Labapalooza
Bill Heffner, FEA accepts the award for Optical Laboratory Website of the Year from LabTalk editor, Christie Walker.
Vision Monday’s Labapalooza
(L to R) Bill Scott, Jobson and Santinelli’s Joseph Santinelli and Franco Aluigi attend VM’s lab party, Labapalooza.
Vision Monday’s Labapalooza
Josh Welle and Pete Olson (l) of Precision Tool Technology visit with Bob Pommier, (r) Expert Optics, during Labapalooza.
Vision Monday’s Labapalooza
The team from Labapalooza Title Sponsor Schneider Optical Machines enjoy the event. (L to R) Kerstin Battenfeld, Stephan Huttenhuis, Gunter Schneider, Bill Yee, and Sebastian Schneider.
Vision Monday’s Labapalooza
Kyle McDonough, (l) Grand Spectacle and Greg Ruden, (r) Expert Optics enjoy the fun at the Rockhouse.
Vision Monday’s Labapalooza
Hedley Lawson (l), Aligned Growth Partners, visits with Lab Division liaison, Steve Sutherlin at Labapalooza.
Vision Monday’s Labapalooza
The team from Frameri gathered for fun at Labapalooza. (L to R) Halie Schottelkotte, Sam Pellerito, Konrad Billetz, Caroline Curry, and Greg Lechner.
State Eyewear Launch
(L to R) Designer Blake Kuwahara, Marc Franchi of Europa’s Independent Eyewear Manufacturing division, Janet Pearson Stixrud of Europa and Tim Slapnicher of DailyOptician at the State Eyewear launch party hosted by Europa International at Public House in the Venetian.
State Eyewear Launch
The new State Collection from Europa’s Independent Eyewear Manufacturing factory received a proper welcome Thursday night at the Public House in the Venetian.
State Eyewear Launch
Eric Jacobson (l) from CaseOptics celebrated the launch of State with Europa’s Jerry Wolowicz at Public House.
Marcolin at Tao
(L to R) Marcolin’s Ben Wolf and Fabrizio Gamberini at the company’s party at Tao.
Lacoste Party
Marchon’s Pierre Bessez (l) and Anthony Izzo at the Lacoste party at the brand’s store in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace.
TAYE Reception
At the Think About Your Eyes reception, the management team (l to r) Jon Torrey, Laurel O’Connor, David Plogmann and Rick Holt announced that the organization now has 19 industry partners and 14,000 ECPs on its locator.
Vision Ease Rebranding Party
Vision Ease announced its new brand strategy, identity and logo at a reception featuring soccer star Mia Hamm (c) and honoring a group of eyecare professionals.
OWA Networking Event
Heather Smith of VisionWeb, the new president of the OWA, welcomes guests to the organization’s Annual Networking and Raffle Event at the Venetian.
OWA Networking Event
The current OWA board was also on hand to mingle with guests at the Networking event.
OWA Networking Event
Rene Soltis Shepherd, The Vision Council; Eden Wexler, Safilo; and Deborah Castor, The Vision Council gather at the OWA networking event.
OWA Networking Event
From Eyefinity are (l to r) Koi Rivers, Rhonda Regguinti, and Kelly Balaam.
OWA Networking Event
Taking selfies at the OWA networking event was a big hit.
OWA Networking Event
OWA board member Debbie Myers (r) with guest Jonathan Sanders, both from Pacific Northern, Inc.
OWA Networking Event
(L to R) Julia Crawford, VisionWeb, visits with OWA president, Heather Smith, also of VisionWeb.
OWA Networking Event
The team from VSP Optics Group enjoys the OWA networking event. (L to R) Paul Janes, Lynne Skyrme, Kathy Frew and Robyn Crimmins.
OWA Networking Event
Luxottica’s Maryam Rahimi, Deb Bulken, and Anila Nadkarni are ready for the raffle at the OWA networking event.
OWA Networking Event
Nouveau’s Lisa Galvan (l) and Karin Sears have fun at the networking event.
OWA Networking Event
OWA board members Maureen Cavanagh (l) and Kate Renwick- Espinosa sell tickets for the raffle.
'SIGHT: The Story of Vision'
The crowd gets ready for the viewing party previewing the upcoming 2016 PBS documentary "SIGHT: The Story of Vision," which explores the evolution of vision correction, eye health, science, fashion and more.
'SIGHT: The Story of Vision'
(L to R) Karen Roberts, Zeiss Vision Care, introduces Kris Koenig, director of the “SIGHT” documentary and cameraman Nils Koenig. Zeiss is one of the sponsors of the PBS film scheduled to air in 2016.
'SIGHT: The Story of Vision'
Jens Boy, North American organization of the Zeiss Vision Care business group (l) with Jobson Optical Group’s Marc Ferrara.
ODs on Facebook Party
(L to R) Reed Exhibitions’ Tom Loughran with Ileana Dunbar, Mark Dunbar, OD, and Kirk Smick, OD, FAAO.
ODs on Facebook Party
Grand Spectacle’s Kyle McDonough (l) and Matthew McDonough.
ODs on Facebook Party
Alan Glazier, OD, shared his feelings about being the founder of ODs on Facebook.
ODs on Facebook Party
(L to R) Neeraj Bindel, David Lavely, Jill Scullion, Jamie Carpenter and Sarah Wester.
ODs on Facebook Party
National Vision’s Reade Fahs (l) and ODs on Facebook founder Alan Glazier, OD, of Shady Grove Eye and Vision Care.
ODs on Facebook Party
Northbrook Family Eye Care’s Alan Udesky, OD, (l) and Steven Udesky, OD.
Vision Source Party
Vision Source’s John McCall, OD, and Derrick Artis, OD, MBA, with Marco’s Jocelyn Schepsis.
Vision Source Party
(L to R) Safilo’s Glenn Rusk, Optometry Giving Sight’s Clive Miller, Vision Source’s Dan Walker, and Safilo’s Ari Labell.
The Party at Vision Expo West
Mark Ginsberg (l) and Claudio Gottardi of Marchon at The Party, hosted by Marchon, VSP Optics Group, Eyefinity and Altair, at the Paris Hotel Pool.
The Party at Vision Expo West
VSP Global’s Jim McGrann (l) and Steve Wright of Altair at The Party at the Paris pool.
The Party at Vision Expo West
(L to R) Lynn Girdlestone of Seattle Visions of Washington with Laurie Perry and Laneisha Teat of VSP wait in line at the Karl Lagerfeld-themed photo booth during the party.
The Party at Vision Expo West
Tina Nicholas (l) of Vision Source Denver and Felicia Mannion of Riserva enjoy drinks.
The Party at Vision Expo West
(L to R) Marchon reps, Chrissy Chavez, Vickie Davis, David Sueki, Art Lachawicz, Julie Tucker, and Randy Garcia during the event.
The Party at Vision Expo West
(L to R) Hannah Houston, Melissa Weeks and Karen Wolf, OD, of Ponte Vedra Eye Associates enjoy the night’s festivities.