ORLANDO, Fla.—Nearly 500 industry professionals from North America attended the 19th annual Transitions Academy, hosted by new president, Paddy McDermott, and new North American general manager, Bertrand Roy. The first Transitions Academy to be held since Essilor fully acquired the company in 2014 featured strategic business planning, educational workshops and professional development. Vision Monday attended the event held at Disney’s Contemporary Resort and put together the following slideshow of its presenters, attendees and award winners.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Bertrand Roy, general manager, North America, and Catherine Rauscher, global director for lenscaster partners, welcomed attendees to Transitions Academy.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Walman Optical was named 2014 Transitions Lab of the Year, an honor it also received in 1997 in addition to being named a finalist three times previously.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Costco Optical was selected as the 2014 Transitions National Retailer of the Year.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Henry Ford OptimEyes was named the 2014 Transitions Regional Retailer of the Year.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Transitions Optical honored Opto-Réseau of Brossard, Quebec, as the 2014 Retailer of the Year for Canada.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
The 2014 Transitions Eyecare Practice of the Year was Southern Eye Specialists, P.C. of Atlanta.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Among the Transitions executives hosting the event were the company's new president, Paddy McDermott, and global marketing director, Sherianne Rogers.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Patience Cook, associate director, North America marketing, introduced attendees to Transitions Optical's new consumer marketing plans for 2015.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Transitions' Rose Wallace and Manuel Solis participated in company-led events throughout Transitions Academy.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Team-building activities had eyecare professionals in attendance build and race a car built from produce.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
VuePoint IDS's David Pietrobon participated in one of the breakout sessions.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Teams composed of ECPs in attendance competed for prizes.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
A panel discussion on product engagement moderated by show hostess, "Bridget Temple," (l) included (l to r) Brian Conley (Optical Prescription Lab), Jason Johnson (Henry Ford OptimEyes), Denny Geuder (Expert Optics), Christine Breton (Opto-Réseau), Vito Romano (Costco Optical), Tory Moore, OD, (Dumas Vision Source) and Marie-Josée Mercier (Lunetterie New Look Eyewear).
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Bridget Temple accepted a t-shirt about everything an optical job is from Henry Ford OptimEyes' Jason Johnson during a panel discussion that included OPL's Brian Conley.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Bridget Temple (l) also moderated the panel discussion on customer engagement featuring (l to r) Tina Manoogian (SVS Vision), Jeff Szymanski (Walman Optical), Joseph Plott (Visionworks), James Vann, OD (VisionArts Eyecare Center), Jocelyn Bouwmeester (Loblaw Optical), and Rohit Sharma, OD, (Southern Eye Specialists, P.C.).
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Visionworks' Doug Vigneau (l) and Glenn Collins were among the national retailers in attendance.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Essilor's Michael Solosko (l) and Tim Spencer participated in this year's Transitions Academy.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Brian Conley and Sherry Pugh of Optical Prescription Lab were previous Transitions Lab of the Year winners.
19th Annual Transitions Academy »
Lisa and Ken Stann of SVS Vision were nominated as Regional Retailers of the Year.