only OAA and/or state optician society officers should reply to this

**mjh** · 05-01-2003, 11:59 AM

...the rest of us will just read your responses.

This thread should put our minds at ease. Those of us who belong to the OAA and/or our state's optician societies are wondering where EXACTLY our membership fees go. So, here is your chance to post your reply and stop a lot of the chatter on the other threads that "we are not going anywhere", "they just cash my check and that's all they do", and implications that you don't really lobby for our interests. If you are from the OAA, or any of the various states' optician societies, tell us the last time you got legislation passed, or at least considered. Tell us about the day to day work you do. Tell us about your successes, or misses. You might even find your membership increases after people see that you don't just take our money and squander it. Be specific. If 20% of the money collected goes towards your website and newsletters, report it. If 50% goes towards paying the office staff, report it. GIVE US SOMETHING TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT! If you're not one of these officers/board members, do not reply. Let's just let this thread do what it was intended to do: help us relax about things a little bit by knowing that there really are people out there working for our interests. Thanks all. Michael.

**mjh** · 05-03-2003, 08:34 AM

just me, the one who started this thread. I am just writing this reply to keep the thread at the top of everyone's list and to be sure that anyone from the OAA or state organization can see it easily if they are browsing the forum over this weekend. Mike.

**mjh** · 05-09-2003, 04:21 PM

..just me again, making a post to keep this subject towards the top of everyone's list. Let's wait for some replies from the OAA and/or state board officers. Michael.

**Homer** · 05-09-2003, 06:57 PM

You really believe that's going happen?

**mjh** · 05-14-2003, 01:37 PM

Homer, can you read?? Did you not see that I asked in the FIRST part of this thread:

"If you're not one of these officers/board members, do not reply."

To answer your question anyways, Yes, I would certainly hope that someone on optiboard is a member of their state's board or someone on here is from the OAA. They shouldn't have anything to hide, unless they just pocket people's membership fees and play golf with it all day long. This was a serious thread looking for actual replies to help myself and others understand where exactly our money goes. So, once again, let's just have replies from people in a position to reply. Michael.

**John R** · 05-14-2003, 02:42 PM

mjh said:
Homer, can you read?? Did you not see that I asked in the FIRST part of this thread:

"If you're not one of these officers/board members, do not reply."

As this is a public disscussion board it is open to all to reply.
Since the original post is dated 05-01-2003 It would be a fair assumption that you are not going to get a public reply here.
As you are a member you should be entitled to see the accounts and work out where the money is being spent yourself.
To be honest i'm not surprised you are not getting any replies as they should not come from officers or board members as they could end up in hot water...but from the PR dept.
Please dont take it out on Homer for stating what seems to be fairly obvious to the rest of us.

Please dont repeatly bump a post that is not getting a response.

**Judy Canty** · 05-14-2003, 03:11 PM

Ok, Michael, I'm not exactly a board member any longer. However if a past president of a state association and a past director of OAA will do, here's my response.

Join both your state and national organizations and attend meetings, especially board meetings and the Delegate Assembly, in the case of OAA. Financial information is disseminated in those venues. No organization that I know of is going to release that kind of information to the general public.

**mjh** · 05-14-2003, 05:04 PM

I am mor than a member of the general public, I am a member of the OAA and Massachusetts Opt. Assoc. The Mass. people answered my question privately and I saw the breakdown of where the $$ goes. As for the OAA: I emailed them and asked what help they are providing to TN opticians who are having to defend attacks on keeping their license from optometrists who want to take it away from them, as if the optometrists have anything to do with it. The OAA's response was to refer me to the TN Opt. Board to ask them. That didn't answer my question. If I wanted to find out what the TN Board was doing, I would have asked them. I wanted the OAA to tell me what THEY were doing to help the opticians in TN. When I asked them to follow up with a reply themselves, instead of referring me to someone else, I got an email back stating that my email was forwarded to the pres. of OAA. Now, he's a busy guy. So, why the gov't affairs dept who I emailed in the first place can't answer that question is beyond me. They have to go and add my email to another of the million things the pres. already has on his plate.
As for my chastising Homer or whoever it was who didn't listen to my request to stay off the reply button unless they were a board member: it may be a public discussion forum, but I should be able to ask people not qualified to answer my question to refrain from posting replies. I didn't want this thread cluttered with more of the same old baloney, but thanks to people being able to say whatever they want, then come on everybody: let's fill up this thread with all kinds of talk about salaries, national standards, licensing complaints, and whatever else we all complain about. The UK guy reminded us this is a public forum, so COME ON, start posting all kinds of stuff here that has nothing to do with anything on topic. Michael.

**Judy Canty** · 05-14-2003, 05:34 PM

Ok Michael, I'm only going to reply this one time. GET A GRIP! There is no government affairs department at OAA. Government affairs requires lobbyists and they cost BIG bucks and we don't have it yet. OAA is ALL volunteer. Now whoever you spoke to at OAA didn't know you from Adam so in the event that you were the loyal opposition doing a bit of snooping, they referred you to the local association. Good for them. I'd have done the same thing.
If you want to know what's happening in TN, email the TDOA(www.tdoa.org) and ask them but unless you're a member of their association, don't count on getting any financial information. If you want to find out what's going on at the OAA, come to the Delegate Assembly in October, or wait until we can afford to put out another newsletter. That's what the rest of us are doing. Between running their own businesses and the OAA, Frank, Curt and everyone else has enough to do without having to answer every question from everyone who has a bee in their bonnet. Like good managers everywhere, they delegate when they can.

**Joann Raytar** · 05-14-2003, 09:22 PM

mjh said:
Homer, can you read?? Did you not see that I asked in the FIRST part of this thread:

"If you're not one of these officers/board members, do not reply."

To answer your question anyways, Yes, I would certainly hope that someone on optiboard is a member of their state's board or someone on here is from the OAA. They shouldn't have anything to hide, unless they just pocket people's membership fees and play golf with it all day long. This was a serious thread looking for actual replies to help myself and others understand where exactly our money goes. So, once again, let's just have replies from people in a position to reply. Michael.

Michael,

I think you owe Homer an apology; although you may not have liked his reply, you may want to read his profile.

The UK guy reminded us this is a public forum, so COME ON, start posting all kinds of stuff here that has nothing to do with anything on topic.

The UK guy, as well as Judy Canty, are OptiBoard Moderators who stepped in for the same reason I just mentioned.

Your response to Judy, who is more than qualified to reply to your topic, was very rude. She was trying to answer your question.

**mjh** · 05-15-2003, 05:40 AM

The listing of all of the different departments are listed on the OAA website in the Email/Contact area. I clicked on the link for government affairs and emailed my question to them. They replied. There IS such a department as I had contact with them. My comments on this thread were not rude nor intended to be rude. I was complaining that it seemed to me like the recipient of my email was passing the buck. My reply after Judy's comment was not meant to be rude. Read it again. In the meantime, since the OAA doesn't know who people are from just their email address, I'll have to send a handwritten letter including my membership number. Then they will see that I am indeed a member who is interested in learning where my membership money goes. As for my wondering what they were doing to help TN opticians, you make it sound like I don't deserve a reply or like their answer is priviliged information. It should not be a secret what they are doing. If there is help provided to TN by the OAA, then they should be proud of it and want to tell others of their accomplishments. That's what I wanted to know, and it doesn't sound like I'll get to find out. You see, just like when people give money to the Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon or the American Heart Association or the Red Cross, for examples, people want to know what their money is being used for. That is my intention by asking about the OAA. Michael.

**hcjilson** · 05-15-2003, 06:42 AM

As qualification to respond in this thread- I am a member of OAA, Former officer of MARDO, Former member of the Mass Board of Registration.....None of which is important. The qualification I am proudest of is that I am an Optiboarder. ALL Optiboarders in good standing are welcome in this thread! We just ask that you use the same manners you would use at home.

mjh said: My reply after Judy's comment was not meant to be rude. Read it again.

mjh
I would define that statement as rude. It would have sounded better if you had said My reply to Judy's comment was not meant to be rude, please read it again with that in mind

I did read your reply to Judy, and even with your statement in mind, the last paragraph is rude. Please use the manners we all employ here.

On a public forum such as this, only the administrator can limit who replies.It is NEVER left up to the individual who starts the thread. I say this to you, but am addressing it to whom it may concern. If you want a better idea of the ground rules, I respectfully suggest you read the posting guidelines again and if you have further questions please ask them in the site info forum where I am a moderator.

Caution!!! We run a tight ship over there!:D :D
PS A word to the wise- it is ALWAYS a good idea to know as much as you can about the person with whom you may be debating. All you have to do is click on their profile. Thats why its important to carefully fill it out.

**TinaL** · 05-15-2003, 12:01 PM

Dear Michael-

My name is Tina Lahti and I am the Vice President elect of the Minnesota Opticians Society (MOS). I just wanted to share a few things that we do as a society in a non-licensed state.

Legislation: In the recent past we have successfully fought OD legislation that would have allowed ODs to place a Cease and Desist order and close an Optician owned dispensary without notice if it was suspected that the Optician was “Practicing Optometry”. We have continued to monitor all OD legislation in MN for our members. The MOS successfully introduced legislation making it a requirement for all retailers selling over the counter reading glasses to include a message to consumers about the importance of a thorough eye exam. In 2003 the MOS introduced a legislative bill to create the title Registered Optician, if passed this will restrict the use of the title Optician to those meeting requirements and registered with the state.

Education: We sponsor several annual education events. We hold a Spring Conference where we offer 3 to 4 ABO credit hours and a lunch in conjunction with our board elections. Most years we offer 1 or 2 social events that include a free ABO credit hour for MOS members. The most recent was on March 7th and included Ice Skating and a class on Occupational Lenses. Last but not least we are one of the societies that sponsors the Midwest Optical Conference (MOC). The MOC is a 3-day educational event held in Minnesota each year for Opticians from South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota. For more information visit www.opticalconference.com. This year the MOS plans on addressing the changing needs of the MN Optical community by offering basic optics classes for people who wish to become Opticians and ABO test preparatory courses.

Giving Back: Over the years we have given scholarships to students at our local Optician’s College. When this program was closed we honored and gave a gift to the man who had been the head of that program for many years and done so much for Minnesota Opticians. We have also made charitable contributions to organizations like The Society for the Blind.

Networking and Communication: We do publish a quarterly newsletter and we will improve upon that newsletter this year. In fact I found this posting while doing research for a newsletter article. We also provide a central contact for feedback by maintaining an office address and phone number and publishing contact information for each and every member of the board. We offer networking opportunities including the Spring Conference, the MOC, and many other educational, fundraising and social events throughout the year. We promote professional Opticians by providing each MOS member with a wall plaque suitable for hanging in an office environment.

The MOS consists of 9 volunteer board members including 4 Directors, 1 past and 1 current President, a Vice President, a Secretary and a Treasurer. Two of our board members drive close to 100 miles one way to attend our monthly meetings. We do not reimburse for mileage. Administration fees for our society are minimal as we have only 1 paid part time employee who works from home.

You’ll notice I said in the beginning that we do these things as a society. It’s not just the board of directors, as a society we accomplish things together. In MN we are lucky to have many active members, who may or may not be on the board. Our members contribute their time and effort to make the MOS work for Opticians in the state of Minnesota. If you are not getting what you need from your Optician’s Society I suggest that you contact a board member or attend a meeting and voice your concerns. We at the MOS often publish our board-meeting schedule in our newsletter, and all MOS members are welcome to attend.

If you would like more information on the MOS specifically please feel free to e-mail me at TinaLahti@netscape.net. If you are an MOS member please note that we are always looking for input and ideas. Please contact me if you would like to volunteer to serve on a committee such as education, legislation, newsletter or bylaws. All members are important. It takes more than a good board to make for a valuable society; we’re all in this together.

Best Regards,
Tina Lahti

**hcjilson** · 05-15-2003, 03:31 PM

out of Minnesota's book. Nice to see that post from a new member. Tina, you almost put that in blueprint form for someone to follow.
Thanks
hj

**mjh** · 05-15-2003, 09:21 PM

that's the kind of stuff I was looking for. I didn't recognize your name, and like Harry said, it's good to hear from you. You detailed the society's doings so well, I read it twice. Sounds like you've really got your act together. Again: WOW! Michael.

To everyone I've insulted or made objectionable comments to recently: I am sorry. Michael.