Deborah Castor.
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ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Deborah Castor, vice president of trade shows and meetings at The Vision Council, has announced that she will step down in early 2016 after over 16 years at the organization. She will remain in her position until mid-January to help select and transition a replacement.

“I’ve spent many great years working with wonderful colleagues at The Vision Council, but I’ve decided it’s time to determine my next career move,” Castor said. “With experience in the music, garment and optical industries, as well as tradeshows, who knows what the future will bring. But first I’m going to take few weeks off to make sure my golf clubs still work.”

Castor joined The Vision Council in 1999 as the liaison for the Vision Expo events, as part of a newly renegotiated joint venture partnership with Reed Exhibition. Under her tenure, The Vision Council’s trade shows and meetings department has grown into a team of five staff members working in tandem with their counterparts at Reed on marketing, public relations, conferences, and the creation of programs and services to build attendance and create value for the organization’s exhibitor members.

Some of these programs include the Optimum program, utilizing marketing and outreach efforts to reward loyal exhibitors and strengthening key alliances within the industry; the redesign of the Vision Expo Education strategy and restructuring of the conference advisory board; and collaboration with the Show Committee and partners to redesign the layouts of Vision Expo East and West.

“Deb has been an incredible asset to The Vision Council team, as well as the industry, and it has been a pleasure to work with her over the years,” said Mike Daley, CEO of The Vision Council. “Her strategic thinking and detailed planning has turned the Vision Expos into the successful events you see today.”

Recruited from college into an executive training program piloted by RCA records, Castor started her career working in their art department designing album covers. She left that position to join HEAD Sportswear, a Leslie Fay subsidiary, where she was responsible for running their New York showroom and building relationships with industry trade press and national media.

She transitioned into the optical industry in 1984 as marketing and visual merchandising manager for Eyelab, a Division of Quaker Oats, and later joined Bob Hillman in his next retail endeavor Hillman/Kohan Eyes, where she served as director of creative services, where she was part of a senior management team responsible for executing a new retail concept that evolved into 10 fashion eyewear super stores.

In 2004, Castor was honored as one of Vision Monday’s Most Influential Women in Optical.

The Vision Council is conducting a thorough search to select a new vice president of shows and meetings and they can be contacted for more information.