Why Invest in Live Event Attendance?
Investing in live event attendance is important for all the roles within an optical practice, those caring for patients, those dispensing, those running the business and those serving front of house.
It is my opinion that having the whole team up to date with the latest offerings, seeing the latest research, hearing content specific to their role and the whole team seeing how their contribution fits in to the over all success of the practice, is a valuable outcome that will prove to provide return on the investment made in both time and money to attend.
Live events not only give you access to a variety of educational content, product information and chances to interact with peers, it is an opportunity for you to get away from your routine and immerse yourself in industry topics and new ideas that will encourage you to look at your career or business from a new perspective.
Major events such as O=MEGA, bring together liked minded people with shared interests and goals globally under one roof… an opportunity not to be missed, in my view.
Time out of the day-to-day running of the business is not a luxury; it is a necessity to stay competitive in these challenging and fast-changing times. My love of live events is that you never know who you might meet or what you might hear that could open up a whole new world of opportunity.
It is important for each attendee to consider their key reasons for attending in order to really leverage the attendance and seek out people and content that fits that objective. Planning ahead is crucial and making a personal time planner of what sessions you will attend, which suppliers you should meet and peers you can seek out (which is now easy with the wonderful invention of conference Apps).
Reading speaker bios and considering a question or two you would love to ask that speaker and allocating time to seek them out is another great tip. Most conference organisers are happy to help facilitate either a quick chat with a speaker or other communication mediums such as the conference app.
Make a time and place to meet up with like minded peers at social events and share ideas or even set a discussion topic in advance and hold your own small Special Interest Group. You could brainstorm a challenge that others are no doubt also facing and will all have great input on. You could even request an organiser run certain panel sessions if you feel their agenda is missing some key topics.
The pride in being offered the chance to attend one of these events for supporting practice team members along with the excitement should not be underestimated from a motivational point of view. Attending an event also further builds a teams comradery and shared experiences, further uniting them as a close working unit. All this contributes to employee retention and job satisfaction.
Sharing learnings also provides marketing opportunities with your client base post the event and provides another source of engagement and an opportunity to further position your team as leaders in the optical field.
Have a notebook or phone handy to jot down notes as I promise ideas will come to you out of the blue whilst you are in a live event environment. If you have a habit of taking lots of notes then be sure to underline key points and highlight the few key actions that you want to focus on when returning to your business to make it easier to benefit from your learnings once back in your busy place of work.
O=MEGA23/WCO4 boasts a broad and innovative program with educational opportunities and inspiration for the whole Practice Team
O=MEGA23 this year is a unique chance to access global content right here in Australia given the collaboration with the 4th World Congress of Optometry. As I pen this article, we are about to reveal the unique format and key themes for the event, taking place in Melbourne from 8-10 September 2023.
For the first time, O=MEGA23, the biggest eye care and eyewear fair in Australia, combines with the fourth World Congress of Optometry, to create the most credentialed and largest optometric clinical conference in the Southern Hemisphere. This will be an exciting international event that should not be missed.
This one event incorporates all the following:
Ø Multiple streams of exciting CPD compliant clinical content
Ø Access to an array of national and international speakers
Ø Poster sessions with their authors available for discussion
Ø Masterclass streams in Practice Management and Dispensing topics
Ø 9,000 sq m of quality suppliers in the Trade Fair displaying all the latest product and service offerings
Ø Product demonstrations and promotions
Ø Social networking events
Ø Awards presentations
Ø Optional social tours and industry relevant site visits
Ø The chance to visit Melbourne and a conference centre that is a leader in sustainability
Melbourne optometrist Timothy Lo, an Optometry Victoria South Australia board member, said: “The program is unique, and will be a first for Australia due to its global focus and diversity of topics.
“Speakers have all participated in a competitive submission process, and I can confirm it will be a very strong evidence-based program,” he continued. “From what I’ve seen so far, there will be significant and cutting-edge content.”
“A key focus will be the innovative research that can be applied in the clinical practice, and a core theme of the event is collaboration. The breadth and depth of the program is something we are getting very excited about. The goal is to provide optometrists around the globe and Australia the opportunity to interact with a host of key speakers and international researchers and see how their work is relevant on the global stage,” he said.
In collaboration with Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA) and other outstanding speakers from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the program will also incorporate indigenous and cultural diversity sessions in a new format.
The bi-annual O=MEGA event is the biggest in the Southern hemisphere, while the World Congress of Optometry is an international event hosted in a different city across the world also on a bi-annual basis. This partnership is a unique alignment and rare opportunity to combine a national and international audience to create the largest optometry conference in the country.
We hope to meet you and your extended team there.
Amanda Trotman
Acting CEO
ODMA
