Vision Expo 2015

[Chris Ryser]

2015 Dates & Times

Education Dates and Hours

Thursday, March 19, 2015	7:00am - 6:00pm
Friday, March 20, 2015	7:15am - 6:00pm
Saturday, March 21, 2015	8:30am - 6:00pm
Sunday, March 22, 2015	7:15am - 5:00pm

Exhibition Dates and Hours

Friday, March 20, 2015	9:30am - 6:00pm
Saturday, March 21, 2015	9:30am - 6:00pm Sunday 9.30 am - 5.00pm

Here we go again, the first part of education has opened 3 hours ago.

Lets hear about it from some that are attending. Tomorrow the exhibition starts.

[coupe]

I will be there but it is killing me to have to exchange money at 31%

[EyeManDan]

good timing with a snow storm friday. Which swayed me not to go.

[Chris Ryser]

I will be there but it is killing me to have to exchange money at 31%

According to the Bank of Canada today's exchange rate is :

Summary:
On 18 March 2015, 1.00 Canadian Dollar(s) = 0.78 U.S. dollar(s), at an exchange
rate of 0.7830 (using nominal rate).

So you will not be killed, but maybe coming back starved, because the Hamburger at Vision
Expo might cost $ 10.00 and you will have to spend $ 12.20 for it.

[Chris Ryser]

Vision expo is open now for 2.45 hours and still no news from one of the early birds.

Maybe the snow plows have not made it to the front doors.

[Don Gilman]

As of noon no snow yet

[Chris Ryser]

New York, NY
Saturday 6:00 AM
Cloudy

29°F , 0°C
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 88%
Wind: 2 mph

[Wes]

Snowing last night. Clear today.

[Chris Ryser]

Day number 4 and still not one comment from anybody attending.

[Wes]

I'm pretty there's at least two now. Not snowing here today, BTW...

[Johns]

I was there.
It sure snowed.
It was magical.
Garbage trucks plowed.
I bought tons.
I saved money.
I had fun
Were no crowds...

[Wes]

Does anyone know these clowns?

[braheem24]

I had a cigar with those clowns in Atlanta, looks like they had more then just a cigar this time.

[wmcdonald]

I know them, and wish I had been with them! It would have been fun.

[Wes]

That was last night at Chevy's, near Times Square. Good times!

[harry a saake]

first of all, while technically it snowed, none of it in the city stuck to create any problems, I was there. I attended the show for a few hours on fri morning, and the attendance did seem to be light but growing. I don,t care for the new setup, and all the different floors and divisions. there was a lot of nice displays and I bought a couple for myself, including a wood frame. Did run across Ed Degennero down in the speakers room. I don't know who saw snow plows where, I found that amusing, as there was nothing to plow, I suspect they were setup that way just in case, as the forecast was for 2 to 4 inches, didn't happen in NYC

[Johns]

I don't know who saw snow plows where, I found that amusing, as there was nothing to plow, I suspect they were setup that way just in case, as the forecast was for 2 to 4 inches, didn't happen in NYC

In the taxi on the way back to the hotel, we passed 4 garbage trucks, fitted with plows, plowing the streets,which I thought was pretty funny, as the also had chains on their tires. Not sure how necessary it was, as it all melted before noon on Saturday. In the morning, I turned the tv on to see how warm I should dress, and Channel 4, the NBC news affiliate in NY had a reporter in Central Park, saying the official count was 5 inches, although I doubted that. How little or how much it snowed, it definitely snowed.

No, it definitely did not create any problems, and was really nothing more than a novelty. I'm from Ohio. I wasn't impressed, but I do have some cool photos from the rooftop bar of the Hilton, showing the snow-covered water towers on the roofs.

[Chris Ryser]

Show benefits from millennial activity, looks ahead to new April 2016 dates

NORWALK, CT (March 23, 2015) – Focused on a fresh new theme – Visionaries in Education, Fashion, and Technology – International Vision Expo East closed on Sunday, March 22 after four days of education and exhibits centered on the hottest topics and trends facing today’s eyecare professionals. Early reports indicate that more than 22,000 attendees and exhibitors gathered for the industry’s premier event from over 90 countries.

Following two years of research and planning, the popular Galleria and Underground Pavilions were relocated to Level 3, creating a high-fashion hub for buying activity. Buyers asked for a more convenient solution to visit these pavilions, as well as the Eyewear & Accessories Pavilion and International Vision Expo responded.

'Vision Expo has been working hard to create a show that is great for the attendees; to make it easy for them to navigate. I feel like now that frames are closer together, our customers cross. 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, and I think that is most important to note," said Ray Khalil, president of LaFont.
'What we noticed for this show especially is that the buying attitude has been extremely positive. So it's very, very refreshing and encouraging," said Andrea Gluck, co-president of Eyewear Designs.

With the relocation of The Galleria and The Underground, Vision Expo hosted the Eyewear Designers of the Council of Fashion Designers of America for a standing room only panel discussion on "Speaking of Design', an opportunity which Christian Roth of Christian Roth Eyewear said helped to 'link eyewear and fashion even closer."

The new layout also made it convenient for eyecare professionals to easily source and purchase from the hundreds of vendors inside the Medical & Scientific and Lenses & Processing Technology Pavilions.

'The show is very well attended; many qualified customers have been coming through our booth and we've had the opportunity to address their needs and to provide solutions. We really appreciate all the work that goes in on the front end that Vision Expo provides in order for us to have a show of this quality," said Robert Kohn, vice president of sales and marketing, North America, A&R Optical Machinery. 'We've been coming to both East and West as far back as I can remember and it seems that we've outgrown our booth based on the traffic that's coming in, so it's a real positive and we're looking into expanding our booth for the next show."

Over 33 percent of 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 directi

'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."
Over the next several months, plans are in the works for providing resources to meet new demands including eyewear fashion trend information, access to alliances and buying groups, professional industry consultants, as well as partnerships with insurance and financial institutions to foster increased engagement with this important group.

The 2015 educational experience addressed this new professional landscape head-on through four days and 330 hours of flexible and technology-driven formats such as crowd-sourced learning, designed to engage attendees in steering classroom discussions. The addition of new tracks in wearable technology, retail business and customer experience demonstrated the forward thinking nature of Vision Expo and further solidified the Conference as the number one destination for education for today's and tomorrow's eyecare professionals.

'From the education hall to the Exhibit Hall, the entire Vision Expo East experience is developed based on what we know matters to the profession now, and where it needs to go," said Deborah Castor, vice president of shows, The Vision Council. 'The exclusive education is informing collaborative care practices, product innovation, and buying activity while the Exhibit Hall is showcasing and previewing what's on the horizon."

International Vision Expo & Conference conducts a detailed, third-party audit of attendance at International Vision Expo East. Verified figures will be available in May. For more information including event highlights, images and videos, as well as attendee testimonials please visit www.VisionExpoEast.com.

Vision Expo East returns to the Javits Center in April 2016 (Education: April 14-17, Exhibition: April 15-17.)

Press release: ------> http://www.visionexpoeast.com/en/Pre...getic-Vibrant/

[Joe Zewe]

It will be interesting to see Reed's audit results for show attendance. The awful weather probably hurt attendance. Most of the vendors I spoke to thought attendance was down. Although everyone is always quick to add they had a great show...nobody wants to acknowledge weaker sales. The press release Chris posted discusses VEE bringing in 700 students. This inflates growth stats with attendees that are not buyers.

Regarding my employer, we had a better booth location because Marchon cut some space at the last minute and this allowed us to upgrade our location and I believe this helped or booth traffic. Next year, we are once again relegated to back corner of the hall due to the way booth selection works against newer companies. The best spaces go to the "optical pioneers" who get priority in the selection process.

[Johns]

Attendance was most definitely down, and ironically, there seemed to me more vendors than last year. Like Joe said, the booths continue to get smaller, and the "mega" booths seem to be a thing of the past.