This edition of VM brings you two very different types of special features. (We’re also very proud of our expert editorial team in delivering these to you.)

One special feature is our recap of the 10th Vision Monday Global Leadership Summit, themed around the idea of “BrainStorm,” with speakers and mind bending perspectives that ask attendees to take a new look at expansive ideas and new ways of thinking about vision, computing technology, health care, leadership, creativity and the brain. Whew.

The second is our signature report and ranking of the Top 50 U.S. Optical Retailers, a snapshot of the U.S. optical industry’s larger players and how they stack up. This year, it’s a list characterized notably by the influx of both private equity and strategic acquisitions that are literally reshaping the delivery of eyewear and eyecare to millions of consumers.

It also, subtly, makes note of the increasingly blurry lines between brick-and-mortar sales and online sales. Some very large optical retailers are beginning to bring e-commerce into their overall mix. Warby Parker is a noted example now of how leading online players are firmly making a stand in the physical world of retail.

So where does one “end” and the other “begin?” Well, check with us again next year, because this approach to reaching the customer “wherever they are” and “wherever they want to be reached” is only just at its starting phase.

You might ask, what’s in common between BrainStorm themes and VM’s Top 50..? You might have your own ideas (send them in, please). But my first thoughts are these, all contributing to what’s required of today’s business leaders:

• Learning to live with incredibly fast-paced change.

• The embrace of new technology.

• The need to harness data.

• Reconsidering old formulas.

• The need to be open to fostering creative ideas within your own company.

maxelrad@jobson.com