ORLANDO—About 1,300 people gathered here Jan. 23 through Jan. 25 for the 15th annual Transitions Academy. During the event, the company honored its Toledo Optical as its Lab of the Year. Eye Care Centers of America/Empire Vision and SVS Optical Vision Centers received the first retailer of the year awards, and Elysee Desjardins, OD, of Quebec’s Clinique d’Optometries was named Canadian ECP of the year. Another new award, Vision Benefits Broker of the Year, went to Patsy Aldridge of Aldridge Insurance & Financial Services.
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Dave Cole, Transitions Optical’s CEO,
welcomes attendees to this year’s Academy. |
Peter Kehoe, OD, Transitions’ professional relations advisor,
updates managed vision brokers on the latest
recommendations for children’s eyecare. |
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Shamir’s Hillaire Van Der Veen (l) is welcomed to the
opening reception by Jose Alves, general manager
of Transitions Latin America. |
Toledo Optical won Transitions’ Lab of the Year honors
for an unprecedented three times. Accepting the award
were Irland Tashima, president; Jeff Szymanski, vice president;
Bob Lommerse, general manager; and Brian Green, sales executive. |
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Alexis Cardona (l) and Greg Marko of Transitions’ marketing
team talked about plans for this year and beyond. |
The Eye Care Centers of America/Empire Vision
teams accepts Transitions’ Retailer of the Year
award in the ‘national' Category. |
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SVS Vision Optical Centers’ personnel celebrate
receiving Transitions’ regional Retailer of the Year award. |
Participating in the Academy’s managed vision were (l to r)
Michael Ehrle, Tracee Thomson and Tom Davis of Davis Vision. |
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Among the retailers in attendance were Sherrie Rogerson
of Doctors Vision Centers and Russ Tolar of
Eyecare Center, both in North Carolina. |
Transitions’ Grady Lenski (r) welcomes Canadian guest
Karen Oullette (l) of The Optical Group as well as
Essilor Canada’s Barbara Gibson and Peter Freudenreich. |
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The team from Henry Ford Optimeyes--(l to r) Katie Darr,
Nanette Michaels, Michelle Neff and Shirleen
Steele--relax at the Academy’s opening soiree. |
Attending Transitions Academy from Accurate Optical were
(l to r) Darren Whaley, Elleda Ziemer and Stephen Franklin. |