Here I am again, saying, I can hardly believe it is the time of year when we begin to reflect on another year gone by. 2022 has for many been a ‘re-beginning’ if there is such a thing of a slow emergence to a new normal and a slightly different world to the one we knew pre-Covid!
For me in the far north of the UK, life has settled into a steady rhythm and things are slowly beginning to resemble what they once were. The easing of restrictions has enabled many across the sector to restart face-to-face meetings, CPD events, trade shows and conferences and I for one am extremely grateful to have attended some amazing events and to be able to shake hands and hug colleagues and friends has never felt so good!
Despite limited meeting opportunity at the beginning of the year, we at the IOA are grateful for the advent of technology, social media and web access as it has enabled us to stay in touch with each other and update everyone in a way that only a few years ago would have seemed impossible!
The IOA websitehas seen an increasing amount of traffic to the many and various sections contained within it, due in no small part to its being available in French and Spanish in addition to English and our social media platforms too have an increasing number of followers, likes and shares!
June of 2022 saw a first for the IOA with the inaugural Silmo Academy by IOA being held in Prague, Czech Republic. Elaine and Fiona travelled in person to present lectures and information and were joined in person by Isabel Beuzen from Silmo and Dominique Cuvillier, editor in chief and director of M O Fashion Eyewear. We were joined virtually by IOA supporters Jean Phillippe Sayag from augmented reality and simulation and measurement company ACEP and Dr Alireza Parandian from additive wearables company Materialise. The event was extremely well attended by Czech colleagues and simultaneous translation was available throughout the day to enable all delegates to engage and exchange with all the presenters.
September saw the main event of the Silmo calendar in Paris back in its rightful place and was very well attended. The highlight for the IOA was the presentation of the International Optician of the Year Award and the prestigious Silmo d’Or event. This year, we were able to meet not one International Optician of the Year, but two!
The recipient of the 2021 International Optician of the Year, Helen Whittaker from Canada, came to the Paris show and Elaine and I were delighted to finally meet her and warmly congratulate her on her achievement. We then had the pleasure of announcing the amazing short list and eventual winner, Grant Hannaford from Australia who was able to attend in person, with his optometrist wife, Thao, en-route home to Australia from the UK where Grant had been delivering training.
Fast forward to December, and yet another first for the IOA - our first online summit. It was a great pleasure to have been able to present to colleagues around the globe via a webinar! I was joined by Elaine, Antonia and Vice-President (soon to be President) Donald, to update on different aspects of work streams and information relevant to the IOA.
To finish, I have saved the best ‘til last and share the most exciting news. Donald spoke of this at our online event and I am delighted to tell you again that we are planning an IOA summit in April in Singapore, aligning again with our colleagues from Silmo at their Silmo Singapore event. As part of this, the Silmo Academy by IOA will run for all three days of the Silmo event!
This event will also allow Donald to finally become President – the original handover date of June 2020 seems a lifetime ago!
Please be patient whilst we finalise details of the forthcoming event – as soon as we can we will advertise via our website and e news to you all with details of how to join us there!
My thanks, as always, go to the secretariat – my colleagues in the UK from ABDO who work tirelessly for the IOA: Elaine, Antonia, Carol, Tony, Alistair and Pavan – thank you for all you do for the IOA.
So, as we look forward to our first face-to-face meeting in 5 years, I hope to see as many IOA members as possible in April in Singapore!
Yours aye Fiona
Topic: Letter from our president
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