VISION COUNCIL
ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD
The Vision Council hosted their
annual Executive Summit in January.
The event gathers industry leaders for
executive level networking, leadership
development, and the latest in economic
trends and business strategies. The
event, taking place at the Waldorf Astoria
in Orlando, Florida, has drawn almost
350 high-level executives fromthe optical industry. During the event, held
January 27-29, The Vision Council has
officially inducted its 2016 officers and
Board of Directors.
During the Summit's business meeting
portion, it was announced that Marty
Bassett, Walman Optical, will continue
as Chairman of the Board, with Mike
Hundert of REM Eyewear as the Vice
Chairman as well as the new Chair of
The Vision Council's Show Committee,
and Ken Bradley of Eschenbach Optik
of America as the Secretary/Treasurer.
Raanan Naftalovich of Shamir Insight,
Inc. is the Immediate Past Chairman.
Newly elected directors-at-large are
Don Oakley of VSP Optics, Catherine
Rauscher of Transitions Optical, and
Ray Khalil of Lafont USA, each selected
for an initial two-year term. The complete roster, including newly elected
division chairs, for the 2016 Board of
Directors can be found online at
thevisioncouncil.org.
In his presentation as Chairman of the
Board, also during the Summit's business
meeting, Marty Bassett outlined The
Vision Council's outstanding progress
during his inaugural year as Chairman
including strengthening the International
Vision Expos, ensuring a consistent and
relevant governance process, expanding
the organization's brand, and most importantly, stimulating market growth.
"A key initiative of The Vision Council
has been to engage in activities and
programs that promote the growth of
the market, such as the Think About
Your Eyes campaign," said Bassett.
"This campaign is designed to stimulate
market growth by driving awareness
for the importance of annual eye exams,
and has proven to have a substantial,
measurable impact. In 2015 alone the
campaign generated more than 1 million
eye exams, bringing in $55.5 million in
eye exam revenue, as well as an additional $444 million industry revenue from
sales of glasses and contacts generated
by campaign-promoted eye exams.
This important campaign is truly
changing consumer attitudes about
eye exams, and driving growth for
the eyecare industry."
The 2017 Executive Summit will be
held January 25–27 at the Waldorf
Astoria in Orlando, Florida. To access
the annual meeting summary and
post-event resources from The Vision
Council's 2016 Executive Summit,
please visit thevisioncouncil.org/
executivesummit.