For Your Eyes Only

 At this year’s SECO meeting, attendees ‘bonded’ like never before. SECO 2007 dropped the “2” and adopted a “007” theme. As the song goes, nobody does it better than that famous super spy. Much the same could be said of SECO in terms of education, exhibits and social events. Nearly 8,000 attendees gathered in Atlanta for the meeting.

More than 385 hours of continuing education were featured including a free daylong Student Education Program to help optometry students get a leg up on their future.

Education kicked off at the Special Session, where presenters made the case that “The Status Quo Is Not Enough.” This session analyzed four different aspects of the changing profession. The “Through the Eyes of a Woman” track, sponsored in part by Jobson’s own Review of Optometry, included three courses that discussed professional aspects for women optometrists as well as eyecare for female patients. SECO also offered 165 courses for allied ophthalmic professionals (AOPs).

At the House of Delegates meeting, three prestigious awards were presented to individuals for their significant contributions to the profession. Dr. Tom Griffith was named Optometrist of the South. Susanne S. Cunningham, OD, received SECO’s Young Optometrist of the South award, and Kathy A. Disner was named Paraoptometric of the South.

Here’s a visual look at some of the happenings at SECO 2007. Left to right: 1. Bausch & Lomb’s Bob Moore (far right) meets with a customer and the sales team; 2. Louie Maria and Stacey Broecker hopped on the Fur Bus to get to the “Party on Peachtree Street;” 3. Alcon’s tuxedo-clad TearGlyde is flanked by young SECO attendees; 4. Paul Ajamian, OD, says the entire CE Committee came up with the clever course names that borrowed from classic James Bond movie titles; 5. Posing with the grand prize Saturn SKY roadster are dapper optometrists John Casto, James Burke, Dale Morris, James Prince, Jerry Park, Ernest Schlabachand and Mike Quint; 6. SECO president Sidney Stern, OD, stands with new president Douglas Clark, OD, who was sworn in at the House of Delegates meeting; 7. High-end frames drew a crowd at The View, a special area of the exhibit hall featuring top eyewear; 8. CIBA Vision’s CEO Michael E. Kehoe, Henna Inam, president, CIBA Vision Americas Region, and Rick Weisbarth, OD, vice president, North American Professional Services, discussed the health of the contact lens industry; and 9. At the President’s Reception are VSP’s James Short, OD, vice chairman, and Rob Lynch, CEO and president.

— John Murphy