I toss them. I don't feel the information is new or relevant.
One ear a few times, most unusual adjustment was a woman with periscopic glasses used for severe osteoarthritis.
I toss them. I don't feel the information is new or relevant.
One ear a few times, most unusual adjustment was a woman with periscopic glasses used for severe osteoarthritis.
Last edited by smallworld; 11-23-2015 at 11:15 AM.
The information here is much more current, objective, and comprehensive than any trade magazine I've yet seen.
I'm Andrew Hamm and I approve this message.
Dang, y'all must be super bored to dig up an 8 year old thread! Not that I'm complaining though...it's fun to read what we were doing back when we weighed 30 lbs less, and had a full head of hair!
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
I think its a better use in the waiting area... kind of like the haircut books at the barber shops..gives the pt more useful info than me
No offense, but that's the last place I'd put them. Of course, it's been quite a few years since I've seen one, but they used to have prices in some of them. Plus, it would be my luck that the customer would be saying, " I had some time to browse...your handy magazine here, and I've circled 5 or 6 that I'd like to try on." Of course, you'd have only one of them in stock. On the other hand, it doesn't matter, as I don't have a waiting room!
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
Meh, just commercials. I keep them and pass them along - there are some eager , interested people at the shop who want to learn more about their new profession. The trade rags are pretty good for this. As automation takes a bigger and bigger slice out of Opticianry - I just feel better providing what I can for the next generation's curiosity. If I don't - I've devoted my professional life to rotary phone repair.
Since I retired I miss them. They were great for starting a fire in the fireplace on a cold winter evening. Can't thing of anything else.
I got tired of having to throw them away so I called and cacelled my subscription.
I will say that I do love Invision magazine
So, what kind of content and/or other 'stuff' would the ideal magazine have (or explicitly not have)?
I flip through 20/20 and VCPN to see what is trending in eyewear but I rarely read the articles. Invision magazine I read cover to cover. It is my favorite magazine period, let alone my favorite trade magazine.
I flip through Vision Monday on occasion. It helps to refute some of the doom and gloom posts from Chris Ryser.
No offense at all, Chris. You are a smarter man than I.
Very probably I am not smarter, but I might be more observant concerning the optical business and trade on a global scale, and figure out some conclusions on a wider territory.
The optical retail trade is going on a one way street, transformed mainly by E and Lux into optical heaven.
This thread is 10 years old but a lot of progress has been made over that time.
I like to flip through them while at work from time to time, in the rare event there's some time to kill, though honestly why they send them to us I have no idea - I work for a national chain and none of us have any say in what new brand of frame or lens we can offer. They do usually just get tossed, though.
I will say, I was browsing a 20/20 a week or so ago and saw the most obviously photo-shopped on pair of frames in an advertisement... it seems so odd, why not just hire a model to wear your frames? Why photo-shop them onto a model? Or at least, hire an artist who knows how shadows work...
Just because you're working for a national chain today, doesn't mean you always will be.
Part of the reason we made OPT Magazine was exactly because of the bad photoshops and completely disjointed layouts. We wanted a magazine that at least looked good, even if it is full of me rambling incoherently.
A fair point... I have wild dreams of owning my own little shop, so maybe they're better at targeting me than I thought. That sure won't be any time soon, though.
Re: OPT Magazine, "rambling" is my favorite genre. Just clicked the link and saw that article "The Big Color Theory" -- be still my beating heart! My favorite subject.
I like when there is new technology information. So often I get the same old mags and that have what I would call entry level articles. Things that would be good for those that are new to the business, but for those of us that have been doing this for decades (I started in elementary school!), I'm not getting a whole lot out of them. I may flip through and look at the photos of the new frames while I'm on hold with an insurance, but that's about it!
Getting bored with topics seems pretty common. I mean, how many articles do you want to read about "blue light bad!", or "online sales scary!". Hopefully hitting some non-lens topics (like color theory) can have some use, and give people a new way to think about how they approach things.
Plus, I got tired of hitting a dozen frame ads before I even got to the table of contents.
So far, I've been very happy. Like I said, a lot of the stuff in the other mags are just frame ads or old stuff. I am one of those weirdos who likes to learn. Physics is fun (yes... my hubbie thinks I'm a bit sick for saying that). The more new stuff, the better. Simplify it so that I can understand it without thinking too hard after a long day with crazy patients, but not too simple that I'm regressing to middle school, and I'm a happy camper. Same thing the CEUs... I no longer attend many classes because it's all old stuff. Sometimes it's about a new product, but the class is more of an advertisement for the product. Also... I've found that some of the people who gave the lectures were a bit too full of themselves.... not naming names!
In the interest of full disclosure, I've had stuff run in 20/20 in the past... But, IME, it's changed (in the process of changing?) from the kind of magazine it was a while ago. There seems to be more emphasis on lens science, optician tips and tricks, general interest, and CE than just pure advertising. For anyone used to it as purely a "trade rag" I'd reccommend a second look.
(It's also not bad as waiting room filler. There's no prices-- just dollar signs from $ to $$$$$ to indicate general price range, the same system Google uses for restaurants. I've had patients pick out frames our ask me about blue light just because they picked it up while they were waiting for their exam).
Can I just take a moment to say something about the new issue of OPT magazine?? I literally just opened it and nearly died when I saw the Freeze Frames add. LOVE it! We all got a good laugh out of it. Thanks to whomever came up with that one!
I gave the designer the link. He was patting himself on the back after reading it. Thanks for the feedback!
PDF Link for those interested: http://www.optmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/PDF/OPT-Winter-2016-Web.pdf
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