2024 has been a very busy and exciting year for 20/20 so far. Celebrating our 50th anniversary as a publication has been an inspiring and interesting opportunity for our teams to step back and look at the history of the optical industry. In turn, spending this time “looking back” has provided an elevated perspective for all of us, along with a new level of understanding of the amazing accomplishments that our industry has achieved.

Throughout 2024, 20/20 has leaned into content from our archives to illustrate the journey of the magazine over the past 50 years through features that appeared in our magazine, on our website, in our digital newsletters and via our social media channels; all while still focusing on what is currently happening in the industry that our readers depend on 20/20 to provide. Additionally, we had the opportunity to work with industry veteran Nico Roseillier on a brand activation to appear at both Vision Expo East and Vision Expo West that provides a visual timeline of key events in our industry as seen through the lens of 20/20. I invite you to come see it at Vision Expo West if you have the opportunity to do so.

Creating all this content has been a very exciting time for our team, but as you can imagine, it has been a huge undertaking. I would like to use this opportunity to specifically thank the team at 20/20 for all the hard work and dedication that was needed to execute this initiative. I am so appreciative of the opportunity to work every day with such an amazing team and am constantly in awe of your talents and the amazing content you create. Thank you.

Something else occurred to me while writing this column. As a father of two daughters, I was reminded of a very important lesson that I learned while reading The Thank You Book, featuring Elephant and Piggie. In this story, Piggie is inspired to say thank you to all the people in her life. Throughout the story, Piggie is continually reminded by Gerald the Elephant that she is forgetting someone important. At the risk of spoiling the story, at the end of the book, Piggie comes to the revelation that the person that she was forgetting to thank was indeed very important: the reader.

I want to make sure to take this opportunity to thank you, the readers of 20/20 magazine. It is because of the curious nature and continued drive for new information that we are provided with the opportunity to succeed as a publication for 50 years. Thank you for your continued dedication and support. Cheers to another 50 years!

• James DeMatteis
Group Publisher, 20/20 and Vision Monday
[email protected]