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Challenges facing today’s ODs, the explosive emergence of 3D and the game changing effects of social media on commerce were just some of the issues explored by a diverse group of speakers at VM’s Global Leadership Summit held on the eve of Vision Expo East. Get a fresh perspective on what inspires, incites and excites optical’s top execs and business managers. More of what these trendsetters had to say is posted at visionmondaysummit.com. ■



Jerry Hayes, OD
Founder, Prima Eye Care Group
Presentation: “Start With Why”
 
“The independent OD of today is incredibly well trained in providing eyecare. Unfortunately, ODs don’t get enough training in marketing, budgeting, managed care and staff management. Sometimes it’s easier for an OD to plug into an existing group rather than learn to forge it on their own.”





Jerry Lieblein, OD
Co-founder and CEO, OD Excellence
Presentation: Accelerating Growth & Profitability
 
“When I first started, we were dealing with the discount stores coming in. But they didn’t put independents out of business. And neither did the big box stores. The projection is that 17 percent of business will be lost to online but I feel like we’re going to come out a little bit better.”






Brad Shapiro
Principal, C&E Vision Services, Inc. and Vision West, Inc.
Presentation: Inspiring Profitable Eyecare Practices
 
“We provide a company-wide customer focus—an outside-in perspective. We look at everything from the customer’s point of view. As for social media, we’ve only reached the tip of the iceberg…it has profoundly changed how we interact with the world.”






David Golden, OD
Co-Founder, Professional Eyecare Resource Co-op (PERC)
Presentation: Education, Mentoring, Collaboration
 
“The use of managed vision care is about 70 percent for us, except in the very low income areas or the very high income areas where you start to see the use of cash. We’re intent on increasing value and reducing waste—the faster a patient gets to the dispensary, we see an increase in sales.”






Derrick Artis, OD, MBA, FAAO
VP Vendor Relations and Member Services, Vision Source
Presentation: Forging New Alliances
 
“Putting more butts in chairs is always the key to better business. We’re thankful for the Think About Your Eyes Initiative that helps patients realize they need to come in. We help doctors compete. Our success comes from investing in the structure and putting money back into the organization.”





Mark Feder, OD
President and CEO, IDOC, LLC.
Presentation: A Practice Solutions Company
 
“Our membership has increased 41 percent within the last two years. But we’re working in the most challenging economy since the beginning of the 21st century. ODs are not known for their business practices and it’s up to us to help them run their practice as a business.”






Chris Haws
Filmmaker and Advisor to 3D@HomeConsortium
Presentation: 3D—“A Perfect Storm”
 
“I think of 3D as the perfect storm. It’s science and technology, products and content, and audience and markets all coming together. In the audio-video and creative industries it’s very exciting. But 3D is not just for entertainment purposes—there are public health benefits, especially for children.”





Barry Barresi, OD
Executive Director, American Optometric Association
Presentation: On the Front Lines of Eye Care for 3D Technology
 
“We are clearly at the threshold of a disruptive technology [3D] that will change the way people think about the quality of their eyecare and motivate them to get more frequent eye exams. If you can’t see in 3D then it’s time for an eye exam.”






Pete Krainik
Founder, The CMO Club
Presentation: A Framework for Profits With Purpose
 
“Generation X consumers are more attuned. In a recent study, 87 percent of GenXers said if all else was equal, they would literally change their brand preference and purchase something else if they felt really good about what that company stood for and what they were doing.”






Emily Silver
Senior Brand Manager, Diet Pepsi/Pepsi Cola NA Beverages
Presentation: Reaching Consumers via The Pepsi Project
 
“The Pepsi Refresh program was a new way of doing business for us and was the only marketing initiative we did last year. We changed the conversation from “value” to VALUES by engaging customers resulting in 6.7 million registered users and 3.3 billion media impressions.”






Roy Hessel
Founder and CEO, EyeBuyDirect.com
Presentation: Finding New Ways to Connect
 
“When we started out, it wasn’t trivial to say that selling eyeglasses online would be an easy thing to do. The optical product, particularly frames, are a highly complex product. Our biggest challenge was product matching—showing the right customer the right frames at the right price.”






Nikki Iravani, OD
Founder and CEO, Global EyeVentures
Presentation: The Future of Mobile
 
“Searching for health information is now the third most popular online activity for all internet users 18 and older. The fastest growth has come from internet users who are 74 or older. Real-time connectivity is now 24/7 and it’s in the palm of your hand.”







Mark Oller
VP Brand Development, For Eyes Optical
Presentation: “Power to the Pupil”
 
“We are approaching mobile apps as a brand extension piece and are asking, ‘How do we take social media and target entire specific market segments and create conversation and peer recommendations?’ Evolution in our use of social media is allowing better customer service and new customer procurement.”





Justin Bazan, OD
Park Slope Eye
Presentation: Embracing the Power of Social Media
 
“I started on Facebook after realizing I didn’t have the money for traditional marketing. It’s the super glue that bonds you with your patients. It makes you likeable to people who like Facebook, now 500 million people strong… the internet used to be for porn, now it’s for Facebook.”






Sara Beth Zivitz
Director, Business Development, Groupon
Presentation: Understanding Groupon
 
“Our deals are typically 50 percent to 90 percent off the regular retail price and we turn down seven businesses for every one that appears in our deals queue. We have 65 million subscribers and we want to be able to own ‘impulse’… when people see that email ‘Boom!’ they click through to buy the deal.”