OptometryStudents.com (OS), a division of AOAExcel, (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Optometric Association), has announced a new alliance with International Vision Expo East, held March 14-17, 2013, at the Javits Center in New York City.
“Launched in September 2009, the goal of OptometryStudents.com is to provide an avenue for students to become the future leaders of our profession and to ensure optometry’s growth and stability,” says Matthew Geller, founder of OptometryStudents.com and SUNY College of Optometry Class of 2013. “We recognize that an alliance with International Vision Expo is ideal to help us to continue to grow, considering they welcome more than 500 optometry students each year, providing them with amazing educational and networking opportunities.”
“OptometryStudents.com is now one of the largest and most widely visited resources for optometry student information on the web,” says Tom Loughran, group vice-president for Reed Exhibitions. “Our focus is to align with strong organizations that have the students’ best interests in mind and see International Vision Expo as a valuable resource for young optometrists entering this prestigious profession.”
OptometryStudents.com is the title sponsor of the official Optometry Student Party at International Vision Expo East. This year’s party, exclusively for optometry students, will be held at the trendy Bowlmor Lanes in Times Square on Saturday, March 16 from 8 pm to 10 pm. Hundreds of students representing the 26 schools of optometry in the US and Canada are expected to attend.
In addition, International Vision Expo will host members of the OS Core Leadership Team to attend the conference. The Core Leadership Team is a dedicated team of students who operate OptometryStudents.com. Each student has a unique position in the management of the web site and works alongside other students to help achieve the mission of OS. These students are the creators of the OptometryStudents.com brand and they are changing the way optometry students are viewed and valued, bringing new meaning to the often overlooked student.
The OS Core Leadership Team will provide pre-show and post-show journalistic coverage with topics ranging from what it is like to be a first-time attendee, to why students should attend events, to how being involved can lend insight to how optometry is changing. Some students will cover specialty topics such as vision therapy, finance options, business solutions and clinical optometry.
“Attending Vision Expo East alone is an amazing opportunity and an experience I’m sure I will never forget,” says Jeannine Gutierrez, MS, chief of private practice optometry for OptometryStudents.com and IAUPR Class of 2015. “I will be able to share with other optometry students my personal take on my visit to Vision Expo, as well as inform and educate them about all of the new technologies, advancements in the field of optometry and networking opportunities that one can encounter at such an event.”
