ORLANDO, Fla.—IDOC, a privately-held alliance of independent optometrists, hosted its National Conference, The Connection, at the Coronado Springs Resort here from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2. Over 500 independent optometrists, IDOC staff members and vendor partners, a record for the group, attended the three-day event, which also marked the 20th anniversary of IDOC. Dave Brown, IDOC president and CEO, addressed the core values of the company which have emerged over the past two decades, now serving as the driving force behind the “new” IDOC. 

He said, “Our commitment has always been, and always will be, the success of our members. And while we recognize that change can be challenging for independent practices, we see it as opportunity rather than a threat. By providing tools that proactively address and manage change in operations, staffing requirements, financial planning and patient relationships, we are able to give our members a significant competitive advantage in 2019 and beyond.”

This year’s conference included new features and amenities designed to enhance The Connection experience, including: Buying Days—private shopping experiences with leading frame manufacturers including Luxottica, Safilo and Marcolin; and a GPN Workshop, an overview of GPN’s EDGEPro practice sell-through data and analytics dashboards, and how these data points can be used for informed business decision-making.

Motivational speaker and author, Jacob Green, explored the challenges and opportunities of change as it relates to optometry practices in his event keynote. In a Skills Workshop, Chris Cummins returned to offer advanced training on “Enhancing Your Meeting Facilitation Skills” for IDOC Member Directors—a team of ODs that hosts over 250 study groups annually around the U.S.

The meeting also presented a convention-style hall with nearly 40 vendor booths, along with one-on-one IDOC account manager meetings for attendees.

IDOC will host a second National Conference in Washington, D.C., Oct. 9 to 12, 2019. IDOC will return to Orlando for The Connection in the first quarter of 2020. IDOC works collaboratively with 3,000+ independent ODs across the U.S.