Transition Optical's Catherine Rauscher
and Bertrand Roy.

ORLANDO, Fla.—Held for the first time since Transitions Optical was fully acquired by Essilor, the 19th annual Transitions Academy included some noticeable changes.

New leadership served as the face of Transitions Optical, and the Latin American contingent, which comprised about half of the attendees in previous years, did not participate in Transitions Academy this year. However, the excitement and passion remained as high as in previous years with the nearly 500 attendees interacting with Transition’s employees and executives under the “Activate” theme that defined the two-day meeting.

The highly anticipated Transitions Academy Awards program held yesterday, the second day of the two-day event, honored Walman Optical of Minneapolis as the 2014 Lab of the Year; Henry Ford OptimEyes of Madison Heights, Mich., as the 2014 U.S. Regional Retailer of the Year; Costco Optical, headquartered in Issaquah, Wash., as the National Retailer of the Year; and Southern Eye Specialists, P.C. of Atlanta as the 2014 Transitions Eyecare Practice of the Year. From Canada, Transitions Optical honored Opto-Réseau of Brossard, Quebec, as the 2014 Retailer of the Year.


Transitions Optical's Manuel  Solis.

To open the event, Transitions’ new North American general manager, Bertrand Roy, welcomed attendees to the opening session, and the company’s new president, Paddy McDermott, briefly commented from the floor. Catherine Rauscher, global director for lenscaster partners, then introduced keynote speaker, best-selling author and member of the Speakers Hall of Fame, Sally Hogshead, who taught attendees that “you don’t have to change who you are, just be more of who you are” based on seven basic personality traits.

Transitions XTRActive lenses were a specific focus of this year’s Academy. During Monday afternoon’s technology session, John Ligas, director of research and development, announced that XTRActive lenses will now be available in brown as well as gray, which has been available since the technology was first introduced in 2010.

On Tuesday, Sherianne James, director of global marketing, and Patience Cook, associate director of North American marketing, introduced Transitions’ new consumer marketing plans for 2015, including a social media campaign called “See life through a new lens” that will enlist influencers and bloggers to build brand awareness.

Television advertising will continue the “Life well lit” campaign and will add a Transitions XTRActive tag beginning in April. The ad will be seen over one billion times on premium cable networks and will be complemented with online advertising shown with streaming videos through services such as Hulu. Additional outreach will be achieved through placements in high-profile print and tablet editions of national magazines.

Throughout the two-day event, the eyecare professionals in attendance, composed primarily of optical lab personnel and opticians and optometrists from practices throughout the U.S., were provided marketing and technical education to help them better promote Transitions’ line of products.

Held here at the Contemporary Resort in Walt Disney World, the 19th Annual Transitions Academy also featured plenty of opportunities to network, socialize and have fun.