When I was new to this field, a mentor told me that when people asked him what opticians did, his answer was, “Opticians make people happy.” Doesn’t that really sum up what we do? We help people to see better and look better, and that makes them happy. That’s something we should all be excited about.

I’ve been hearing a lot of questions from my peers recently about how to address online eyewear purchasing questions with their patients. I fully understand that having a conversation with patients about online purchasing is a delicate topic. I’ve had it with my own patients, more than once, and with varying levels of success. But as I learned how to have this conversation, I noticed the thing that resonated with my patients is a little ditty that first came from the movie “Ghostbusters.” I’ve found that the simple words “who you gonna call” hold more weight than you know.

Opticians Association of America held their OAA Leadership conference in Charleston, SC, February 8-10, 2018. Imagine being in a general session, breakouts, and socializing with opticians, apprentice opticians, opticianry students, industry leaders, frame, lab and lens representatives from all over the country. Each year the OAA puts on an outstanding conference that allows for learning, connecting, and sharing together for the sole purpose of fostering opticianry.