Author Archives: Envision Magazine

Inventing and Re-Inventing: Optician Randall Quinn

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Inventing and Re-Inventing: Optician Randall Quinn
By Paddy Kamen

You won’t learn everything about Randall Quinn from reading this article because he has inventions up his sleeve that have nothing to do with eyewear. He just can’t talk about them right now, for reasons having to do with patents, trade secrets and all that. But when we met in the back room of this optical store in Kelowna, B.C. — conveniently known as Downtown Eyewear — I got to know a man who has re-invented himself several times in the course of a long career in the optical business.

Quinn started out in his hometown ofMontrealin the surfacing lab of European optician and craftsman Paul Filip. “I was looking around for jobs and got the opportunity to work for Paul. I found I had an aptitude for the mechanics of optics and he taught me a lot. It was training that has stood me in good stead over the years.”

Just 24 at the time, Randall eventually worked his way west toCalgary, where he managed the surfacing department of Hudson Optical. The next move — to B.C. — just made sense in terms of developing a well-rounded experience of the industry: “I met a fellow who needed my technical expertise in his optical shop so I moved toVancouverand started dispensing as well as lab supervision. Dispensing is cleaner and more rewarding. From there Imperial Optical hired me to start up several stores for them.”

Recognizing that he now had the knowledge and experience to become self-employed, Quinn found an opportunity to open his own optical shop inLangley, B.C., where he offered a wide range of products, including some high-end specialty pieces that he created himself. When he sold that business to Lenscrafters in1999, he was asked by the owners of an eyewear store catering to children to manage the store while they looked for a buyer. The job was just temporary in Quinn’s mind, “…until I served a little girl, about five years old. When she and her father were on the way out, her father said to her, “Aren’t you going to thank the optician for your glasses?” She ran over to me and hugged my leg. That clinched it — I realized that I loved working with kids and wanted more of it, so I called the owners and offered to buy the store.”

The challenge of working with young children was thrilling for Randall and his face lights up even now, when talking about it. “The doctors would send me really difficult cases like kids who had been in accidents. I fit more than one child who only had one ear. I loved it, but eventually, the doctors who owned the building decided they could make more money doing something else so they bought out my business.”

Randall and his wife, Loretta, retired for two years, touring aroundNorth Americain their motor home. “We had a wonderful time but eventually decided that we wanted to get back into the business. We settled onKelownaand set up a store in the downtown area.”

It took about three years forDowntown Eyewearto become known asKelowna’s go-to place for fashion-forward eyewear. A key ingredient in Randall’s recipe for success is being hands on and making the store a fun place to be. “My colleague Laurie Calloway and I believe that even if people don’t buy something they should leave our store feeling that they have had a very pleasant experience. We genuinely enjoy what we do and insist that they enjoy it, too. That is our secret. And when they do buy, the enjoyment factor makes paying for the eyewear worth every penny.

“My philosophy about optics is that it has much more to do with personality than with fashion,” continues Quinn. “Eyewear shows others who you are as a person or how you want to be viewed. I once had a man come in and we tried a few different frames, then he looked me square in the eye and said, ‘I am a criminal attorney. I need a pair of glasses that will give me the illusion of being able to bend someone else’s will’. That put a whole different spin on the process and I went directly to a frame we hadn’t yet tried and he said, ‘Now we’re talking’. We all have a persona and when the frame accords with the customer’s image of who they are or want to be, we make a sale.”

Engaging people in conversation gives an optician the opportunity to understand the customer’s personality and help them find the right frame. “Frequently they are looking for something familiar but which doesn’t necessarily show them to their best advantage,” notes Quinn. “But if you allow them to show their personality you can fit them with something that makes them say, ‘Wow, I never thought I would be looking for this, but it really works’.”

Quinn likes to enhance rimless eyewear designs by adding colour around the outside of the lenses and cutting designs into the edges. “My customers really like rimless with an extra something that helps it stand out.”

While helping his customers to express and perhaps re-invent themselves, Randall Quinn keeps reinventing his own career. He’s definitely a man to watch.

Too Few Canadians Accessing Low Vision Services (Low Vision Story, Part 2)

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Too Few Canadians Accessing Low Vision Services (Low Vision Story, Part 2)
ByJoAnne Sommers

Only one in 10 Canadians with low vision problems is getting the support services they need, according to the head of the country’s only accredited low vision clinic.

One of the major issues in terms of accessing appropriate services is the lack of awareness on the part of both patients and some eyecare professionals of what exists, says Ann Plotkin, head of the Low Vision Clinic, Centre for Sight Enhancement (CSE) at theUniversityofWaterloo. As well, relatively few people who get a low vision diagnosis are referred to the services they need, she says.

“People often go into stun mode when the doctor tells them they have a problem, such as wet AMD (Age Related Macular Degeneration), which has few treatment options. As a result they don’t hear what comes next. Rehabilitation options exist but either they are not told about them or they don’t comprehend what they are hearing.”

Such a response isn’t surprising, says Ken Patterson, westernCanadasales representative for HumanWare, a leader in assistive technologies for vision, including products for the blind and visually impaired.

“As a society, we take vision for granted and the moment we start struggling, we tend to give up because we think there’s nothing we can do,” he says.

Plotkin says it is important for eyecare specialists to put a low vision diagnosis in the proper perspective for their patients.

“People often get hung up on the word ‘blind’. They don’t understand that it’s only a number (for example: 20/200) and that it doesn’t mean they have no remaining vision. ECPs should try to keep things positive and if they aren’t in a position to help the patient, they should immediately refer them to a low vision clinic or a specialist who can. Don’t wait until the person is legally blind and their quality of life has been severely compromised.”

Finding a low vision specialist can also be a significant challenge. “There aren’t enough services available in Canadaand some cities have no one who provides low vision services,” says Ryan Heeney, national sales manager, Canada for Eschenbach Optik of America.

According to Heeney, most low vision patients are served by optometrists because of the relative scarcity of ophthalmologists inCanada. And while low vision clinics do a good job, they are few and far between.

Plotkin agrees. “There are not enough people inCanadawho do low vision assessments,” she says. “The work is very labour-intensive and it is not a money maker so people aren’t attracted to it. I spend an average of two hours on each patient appointment, which means I can see only four patients most days. You have to be willing to listen to patients while they talk about their problems and frustrations, and try to understand what they need. A lot of after-care, including report writing, is also involved.”

Another challenge is that very few people meet the standards set by the National Accreditation Council of Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Impaired. The U.S.-based organization is the standard-setting and accrediting body that works with agencies and schools to provide services and programs to people who are blind.

TheUniversityofWaterloohas the only accredited low vision clinic inCanada. Located within the School of Optometry’s Optometry Clinic, Low Vision Services provide a range of vision rehabilitation services, including assessment, prescription, instruction and rehabilitation; information and referral for medical, social, educational, vocational and financial services; consultation with and referral to other specialty clinics within the School of Optometry and to community services; and basic and clinical research into various aspects of low vision.

Plotkin says that while the services of ophthalmologists are covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) there are simply too few of them to fill the need. That’s why her organization has been urging the government to cover optometrists’ services as well.

“At present, they fund low vision assistive devices but not optometrists’ services. It costs $125 for a low vision assessment and many people either don’t want to pay for it themselves or can’t afford to.”

Who Should You Call?

Here’s how to get in touch with low vision service providers:

InOntariocontact the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Assistive Devices Program, for a list of authorizors in the vision category. Elsewhere, you can contact provincial associations of optometry and ophthalmology to find out who is doing low vision work in your area.

You can also contact agencies and services that work with people who have vision impairments, such as CNIB, MAB-Mackay and VIEWS for the Visually Impaired and Balance. Organizations that work with specific diseases include NOAH (National Organization For Albinism and Hypopigmentation) and AMD.org. Other resources include disability offices at universities and seniors’ centres.

Roger Alarie: Happily Dancing his Way through Life

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By Evra Taylor

What’s astonishing about some people is that you just can’t keep them down – literally. That is the case with Roger Alarie, who manages to keep spectators’ eyes riveted to him on the dance floor as he moves deftly to the beat of salsa, merengue and a repertoire of other dances he has been studying. Learning the varying rhythms and techniques of Latin and ballroom dance can be difficult enough, but when you’re blind, how do you navigate around a large floor filled with sighted dance aficionados?

The answer lies in Alarie’s laudable life perspective. At age 65, he views life as an array of unlimited possibilities. In fact, for him the word disability doesn’t exist. He lives his life unconstrained and uninhibited. Like many visually impaired individuals, his attitude toward life in general, and to trying new things in particular, is far more daring than that of many of us sighted folks.

The majority of blindness is caused by conditions such as macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa and glaucoma; however, Alarie’s case falls under a much less common etiology. He was born via forceps delivery, at the time a somewhat common practice during difficult deliveries. The forceps pressed on his optic nerve, causing progressive loss of sight.

Remarkably, Alarie has never felt angry at the doctor involved, nor at anyone else, for that matter. While he admits to having felt frustrated and depressed for the first year or two following his complete loss of vision at age 25 – and before he became better-equipped to continue his activities of daily living – Alarie has never let his impairment get the best of him. He still likes cooking and he relishes sharing recipes with his live-in girlfriend, Pauline Normandin, a retired school teacher. “I can do everything everyone else does, just in a different way,” he remarked.

Alarie was born in Montreal at a time when the integration of children with various types of disabilities into mainstream schools was not the hot topic of discussion that it is now. He attended the Institut Nazareth and, later, Institut Louis Braille; the two schools have since merged.

In terms of his life’s vocation, what is most interesting is that Alarie’s blindness proved an asset rather than a liability. For 31 years he enjoyed working for General Foods, which later became Kraft Foods, as a coffee taster. The company actually seeks out blind individuals as tasters because their blindness augments their sense of taste. It also ensures that they aren’t influenced by the sight of the oil in the coffee.

Years ago, Alarie’s adventurous spirit took him to the ski slopes. He used to participate in cross-country skiing, but stopped when it became clear to him that it was “a bit dangerous. When the guide said to veer left or right, it was tricky for me as a blind person”.

After a particularly scary fall on the ski slopes, Alarie decided to switch the focus of his life. Upon retirement from work 10 years ago, he was free to pursue his life’s passion, dancing, which his late mother had enjoyed before him. Joined by Normandin, his sighted partner in life, as well as in dance, Alarie embarked on an adventurous journey few of us would dare to take. Motivated by his experience with and love for square dancing, which he shares with Pauline, three years ago he contacted the LaSalle branch of the well-known Arthur Murray Dance Studio to see if they would take him on as a student. At the time, Alarie was particularly interested in learning salsa.

The owner of the dance studio, Harry Gregoire, explained that he had never before tried to teach a visually impaired person how to dance. Gregoire knew it would be a challenge but decided to accept Alarie into a comprehensive dance program entailing individual and group lessons, along with practice sessions several nights a week. A true devotee of his chosen hobby, Alarie doesn’t engage in much social activity besides dance because he’s busy four to five times a week high-stepping it on the dance floor.

Alarie exudes a zest for life that is infectious: he enjoys sharing with others his view of living with blindness. When asked how he would advise other vision-impaired individuals, he responds, “I would tell them not to be afraid of trying new things. When you have a passion for something you just have to do it. I’m extremely happy to have a dance teacher who has shown me tremendous patience, since it takes me longer to learn the steps than a sighted person”.

Always the optimist, and completely content with his life, Alarie says, “Everything inspires me because I’m happy with my partner. My blindness didn’t bother her or intimidate her in any way. She needed me and I needed her.”

Fortunate to have found the love of his life, Alarie is satisfied with his lot and wouldn’t change it. “Everything inspires me because I’m happy with Pauline”.

Federal Budget Brings Victories for Small Business

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By JoAnne Sommers

Your MoneyThe recent federal budget contains several pieces of good news for the small business community but important battles still loom on the horizon. That’s the verdict of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), which represents more than 108,000 owners of small- and medium-sized businesses across the country.

“This is a pretty good budget from a small business perspective,” says Dan Kelly, CFIB’s senior vice president, legislative affairs. “It contains a couple of important measures, including an employment insurance (EI) Hiring Credit for Small Business, which was our top budget priority.”

The program will apply only to firms that paid less than $10,000 in EI premiums in 2010. That means the company would have to have less than $413,000 in EI assessable payroll to qualify.

If such a company increases its EI bill in 2011 for any reason (such as adding a new position or raising salaries), it will receive a refund of the EI increase to a maximum of $1,000. “For example,” says Kelly, “if an employer creates an additional job at a salary of $40,000 annually, they will get a refund of their entire additional EI bill (approximately $1,000).”

Since the federal budget forecasts rising EI premiums in each of the next three years (beginning with five cents per $100 in payroll in 2012), this credit will be a big help to small firms that want to grow their workforces, he adds.

“We pushed for this program to encourage companies to hire more people, give their employees more hours and expand their payrolls. It means that for a lot of people who expected an EI hike the impact will be reduced or eliminated.”

The second victory involves a commitment by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to develop a system that provides written responses to small business inquiries. It comes after a CFIB report earlier this year that criticized the CRA’s customer service experience. In addition to difficulty connecting with agents CFIB’s assessment found that 21 per cent of inquiries resulted in an agent providing incorrect or incomplete information. If the business filed a return using the information and was subsequently audited, it could be held liable for the tax consequences arising from the error, because the business had nothing in writing to fall back on.

“Based on our report we lobbied government to ensure our members have access to written advice from CRA for their inquiries. The new budget stipulates that the e-filing system called MY BUSINESS ACCOUNT allows a company to ask questions via email to which the CRA will provide a written response. The responses will be stored, which will provide business people with the necessary support if a problem arises after the fact.”

Requiring CRA to provide written interpretation on tax inquiries when requested through CRA’s online window will bring a significant improvement in transparency and accountability, Kelly adds. “In addition, the measures to review penalty levels for information returns will be welcomed by firms struggling to meet government paperwork requirements.”

As a member of the government’s Red Tape Reduction Commission, CFIB also welcomes the budget’s commitment to continue BizPaL, which provides firms with one-window access to permits, licences and fees at all three levels of government.

In other good news Kelly cites the extension of the 50 per cent straight-line accelerated Capital Cost Allowance for manufacturing or processing machinery for another two years, as well as the fact that the federal deficit is dropping faster than expected.

“The budget notes an improvement in government finances and highlights several spending reduction measures. They are keeping to the plan to balance the books by 2015 and it looks very possible that this will happen in 2014, a year ahead of schedule. Still, there are very few measures in this budget to deal with the costs of the civil service – particularly pensions and retirement benefits. We will continue to lobby for a greater focus on spending restraint in the months ahead.”

CFIB also remains concerned that EI premiums are scheduled to rise annually between 2012 and 2014. “This comes after the government took $57 billion of EI surpluses and put it into general revenues, restoring only $2 billion to the EI program. That was inappropriate and we want that money replenished without business taxpayers having to cough up more money.”

Another concern is retirement income. “While CFIB welcomes the ongoing work to introduce Pooled Registered Pension Plans, we remain concerned that the budget notes that, ‘federal, provincial and territorial governments are continuing work on options for a modest enhancement to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP)’.

Kelly says his organization will lobby hard against any increase in CPP premiums. “CFIB members need to take seriously the potential of a future round of increases and we will continue our lobbying efforts in this area.”

The Times They are a Changing

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The Times They are a Changing
By James Ahola, B.A.Sc.

I remember being a kid and going on Saturday mornings with my older brother and some friends to watch cartoons at the local movie theatre. The place was packed. I think the whole school and more were there. I saw adults drop kids off but few hung around. We had a great time watching Bugs Bunny and friends getting up to their usual antics. But if you were hoping to catch the deep meaning of Foghorn Leghorn’s monologue, it was futile. While we watched some, we also played and caught up with friends.

The movie theatre in my town doesn’t show kids’ cartoons on Saturday mornings any more. My children have a huge choice of channels that run cartoons and other kids’ shows 24/7. They also play video games, chat with friends, download videos and do much more with their electronic devices. A lot of things have changed but much remains the same: namely, kids need entertainment and parents will gladly pay for it. Products come and go but principles are forever.

Politics change, the environment changes, economies change. What remains the same is people, and human nature doesn’t change a whole lot. Teenagers believe their parents haven’t got a clue but when they read Romeo and Juliet they can relate. Every teenager since Shakespeare can relate to young love and teenage angst because they, like all people, do not change.

Regardless of geography or time, people have consistent predictable needs and desires. Their physical needs include food and shelter. They have emotional needs such as a desire to be heard and loved. They have social needs like communication, acceptance from their peers, and status.

And people also want their kids to be entertained and out of their hair on weekend mornings. No matter where you go on the planet – past, present or future – these needs and desires exist. They form a constant that will not change.

Successful businesses are founded on satisfying people’s needs. As the old saying goes, “No need… no sale.” Great new products and services are being developed that meet the needs of consumers with the best tools and technology possible. Today’s computer tablets and smart phones fill the need for communication, just as Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press once did. The need never changed, just the response.

I remember hearing someone say that people never buy products, or services, they only buy solutions to their needs and desires.

In today’s business world it is easy to feel overwhelmed, uneasy, or left behind as we say goodbye to products and practices that feel very much a part of us. At times, I miss those Saturday morning cartoon fests and wish my kids could experience them as I did. But as I drink my weekend morning coffee and hear my children’s laughter while they watch cartoons, download comedy from YouTube and chat with their friends online, I realize that I’m just like those parents dropping their kids at the movie theatre so many years ago. I want time to myself while my children are entertained.

Yes, the world has dramatically changed… but perhaps not that much. As the saying goes, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Early Trends: Recognizing the Next Power Generation

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Early Trends: Recognizing the Next Power Generation
ByDana Sacco

Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were all fretting about Y2K? The first decade of the new millennium has passed with lightning speed. During that decade of uncertainty, political unrest and technological metamorphosis, an entire generation grew up. Enter the Generation Y workforce and consequently, a Generation Y consumer base.

Gen Y represents the first group of adults to spring from a child-centric upbringing. Born between 1980 and 1990, highly evolved technology saturates the very fabric of their existence. Their expectation of instant gratification and a sense of entitlement to the best technology impacts the eyecare market. Gen Y is who we will be selling to and the colleagues with whom we will be working in the next decade. In order to sustain positive growth in our practices, understanding the way Gen Y thinks, works and spends will change the way we practice eyecare.

According to Bruce Tulgan, founder of New Haven, Conn-based Rainmaker Thinking, which studies the lives of young people, Gen Y is impacting our unique multi-generational workforce and will steal the baby boomers’ claim to being the demographic with the greatest purchasing power.

Building a sales strategy that takes the Gen Y dynamic into consideration helps the ECP to enter their customers’ world. This instant-gratification marketplace needs the sales process to be about them. It’s no longer about the product. Features, advantages and benefits have been replaced by, Why? Want! and NOW!

In other words:

1. Why is this important to me? = Understand and predict the trend.

2. How can I get the product I want? = Be accessible via social media and the Internet.

3. Impact the quality of my life NOW! = Speed: be able to deliver the product as quickly as possible.

ECPs recognize and leverage the power of the brand. We are experiencing the largest population of human beings ever to be immersed in a brand culture. Opulence is not just forHollywoodanymore, it’s accessible to anyone. Gen Y is completely immersed in and committed to this global marketplace and this affects their loyalty.

Anne Obarski, author and blogger, claims that the members of Gen Y group have been able to get whatever they want at lightning speed and they don’t really see a need to be loyal to anyone. They don’t think twice about googling a business and making purchases on the Internet. To them, speed is a way of life. Gen Y functions in a virtual global marketplace and ECPs need to change their perceptions to gain access to its purchasing power.

Now we understand why the new millennium is different. So how do we build a team that can service Gen Y? As a practice leader, either an optometrist or optician, Gen Y demands that you design your team, don’t just hire them.

In 2011 we are seeing the firstpeakofGen Yoptometrists and opticians, people who only know the profession to be immersed in technology. Gen Y eyecare professionals expect to compete and make the capital investment in technology to serve their patients to the fullest. These young practitioners will attract their own demographic, one that is defined by PS2, iPads and BlackBerrys as mainstays of their environment. Optical coherence tomography, digital fundus photography and corneal response technology for tonometry are examples of the emerging competitive field of ophthalmic equipment sales that are the “new normal” in eyecare practices from coast to coast.

As dispensers, ECPs are poised to offer cutting-edge technology in spectacle frames, lenses and contact lenses. To Gen Y, the high-definition lens revolution, 3D technology and silicone hydrogel contacts are no longer avant-guard – they represent the only eyecare offerings this generation has ever worked with.

The old saying, “treat others as you would like to be treated,” is outdated. The paradigm shift now means, “treat others as they would like to be treated.”

Rainmaker Thinking concludes that 20-to-30-year-old employees have a high expectation of self. They expect to achieve and surpass the usual pecking order. They multi-task and are faster-paced than their predecessors. They exploit multiple communication channels and social media is their stage. They want fair and direct managers who are highly engaged in their professional development. They are impatient to make an impact on Day One. They want small goals with tight deadlines so they can build up ownership of tasks.

Your new professional team will be a cross-section of generations and strengths. Using scientifically validated behavioural assessments it is possible to identify the core strengths and identities of each team member.

The first step is to identify the stage of your practice:

  1. New upstart (less than five years)
  2. Build/maintain (five to 25 years)
  3. Divest/retire (25 years-plus)

Stay tuned for the next issue of ENVISION in which I will explore the specifics of how to build your team by understanding and leveraging human capital analytics to execute a business strategy.

A New Vision for Lenses

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A New Vision for Lenses
By Paddy Kamen

Daniel Beaulieu could have retired early after selling Groupe Vision Optique in 2005. Instead he went on a mission.

Is Daniel Beaulieu obsessed with lenses? The answer is an unequivocal YES! Beaulieu spent five years traveling the world investigating raw materials, and the manufacturing, distribution and retailing of lenses.India,Thailand,Korea,Hong Kong,ChinaandJapanwere on his itinerary, in addition to 10 European countries and 30U.S.states. He was a man on a mission and he learned a lot.

“I wanted to understand everything about lenses, including the cost of doing business in this field and the overall market,” he says. “I needed to know where the lens business was headed. I learned that the future of the industry is digital lenses and Internet ordering.”

Beaulieu also learned that Canadian eyecare professionals (ECPs) are over-paying for lens products. “Canadian ECPs typically pay 25 per cent more than Americans and much more than their counterparts in most other countries. I was determined to analyze the situation and see if there was a way to change that. While it’s true that very large corporations control about half of the total market, I discovered there is an opportunity for new independent suppliers who can give ECPs great product at a terrific price. The secret is a combination of Internet ordering, local delivery and services, and global sourcing.

“I want to give the independent ECP the means to compete with big players and Internet services that go direct to consumers,” he adds. “If we don’t find a way to help them, I’m afraid many will disappear in the next 10 years.”

The websiteswww.direct-lens.com and www.lensnetclub.com are Beaulieu’s solutions for Canadian ECPs. DirectLab Network is a full-service company offering both standard and customized lenses, along with warranties, coatings and customer service via the direct-lens.com ordering platform. They have both proprietary and some well-known brand products, ensuring that there is a wide range of high-quality lenses to meet any need.

Lensnetclub.com is an Internet-based discount club offering all major lens brands within standard Rx parameters. This is the go-to place for standard orders in situations where one doesn’t mind paying extra for warranties or doing without. The difference between this club and others is the customer service, the availability of fax ordering and the fact that there are 18 materials and indexes available from all major manufacturers. The prices are great and the customer pays separately for everything, including the cost of a fax order (a $2 surcharge when not ordering over the Internet). Lensnetclub.com prices are up to 60 per cent less than the competition. DirectLab Network is the official agent inCanada for this service, which is based in theU.S.

Beaulieu takes his companies both global and local via the DirectLab Network, which is currently served by laboratories and manufacturers inAsia,Europe, theU.S. andCanada, representing more than 1,000 technicians working around the clock with the best digital production equipment. Global sourcing gives Beaulieu the ability to lower prices while still being committed to using labs across theCanada to deliver the product to ECPs. Over the next 18 months, the network will have labs in every province. Currently, they can be found inMontreal (in alliance with Ronor),Drummondville,QC,St. Catharines,ON, andSaint John,NB.

The current production capacity is in excess of 50,000 lenses per day. Eighty per cent of Lensnetclub products are delivered within five working days, with the remaining 20 per cent guaranteed for delivery within seven working days. “Our guarantees with Lensnetclub are firm, and if we are late we issue the customer a refund in the form of a coupon for the next purchase,” explains Beaulieu.

All lenses from Direct-Lens and Lensnetclub are available digitally surfaced and two customized free-form products are available through Lensnetclub: Cleari and Innovative. DirectLab Network offers premier products through Direct-Lens: Precision and MyWorld. All products represent the best quality-to-price ratios in the industry, according to Beaulieu.

“I have invested over $3 million to make sure we are outstanding in the field,” explains Beaulieu. “And we have developed an incredible team of more than 50 seasoned professionals to support our growth, including Ted Hahn, vice president of sales for DirectLab Network, David Landry, territory manager for Atlantic Canada, Robert Bell for Quebec, and Roger Morin and Jeff Perkins in Ontario.” Beaulieu’s daughter, Veronique Beaulieu, is onboard at the Trois-Rivières head office, in charge of special projects, development, communications and logistics.

Direct-lens.com and lensnetclub.com give Canadian ECPs powerful tools for ordering and managing orders online. “It’s a new way to purchase lenses for the independent ECP,” notes Beaulieu. “We make it easy to order, manage and trace orders, all while enjoying significant savings. It’s a no-brainer.”

Beaulieu wants to take his Direct-Lens public within five years. “By then, I will have achieved my goal of bringing Canadian ECPs high-quality lenses at a price that will increase their margins and help them not only to stay in business but to prosper. I’m an independent with a firm commitment to support the independent optical professional.”

The Beaulieu family has a strong history in the optical industry. “My father, with over 50 years experience in the business, was my mentor,” says Beaulieu. “I also obtained a law degree, which has been an asset in my business career.”

There’s no doubt that Beaulieu has done incredibly thorough research and established a strong sourcing and distribution business model. As long as ECPs embrace Internet-based purchasing, Direct-Lens and Lensnetclub will thrive, and quite possibly change the balance of power in this competitive market.

Blind Beginnings: Making a Difference in the Lives of Children and their Families

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By Evra Taylor
Altruism is among the qualities that describe what one would call a “good person.” When Vancouver’s Shawn Marsolais founded the organization Blind Beginnings in 2008, she had no idea that her generous heart would touch so many lives, helping countless Canadians deal with the effects of visual impairment.

The stated mission of Blind Beginnings is to provide children and youth who are blind or visually impaired with the necessary opportunities, experiences, services, and family/community support to reach their full potential.

Blind Beginnings offers a broad range of programs, including youth leadership based on mentorship. Marsolais’ philosophy is based in part on the notion of matching newly blind people with those who have been navigating the waters of living with blindness for a while; in other words, those who have walked the walk. She points out that most people don’t know anyone who is blind. As a result, it’s important for them to have a “buddy” who has been there. This adventurous lady knows what she’s talking about. She was born with roughly 10 per cent vision, which is considered legally blind; currently she has 1-2 per cent vision.

Marsolais’ view is that everyone in the family unit is affected by a person’s lack of sight; therefore, the needs of the entire family must be addressed. She stated, “Frequently in what I term ‘new families’ – those in which a diagnosis has just been made – everyone is overwhelmed and devastated.” Blind Beginnings enters the picture and fills the critical need for support and understanding through a parent-to-parent support program in which experienced parents of children who are blind or visually impaired are trained to support parents who are new to parenting a blind child.

Outings called “community discovery” allow children hands-on experiences such as visiting a fire station where they are encouraged to hold a fire hose. Stated Marsolais: “Children born blind require more time to learn certain concepts. This type of activity educates both the kids and the community”. The discovery concept was born of her own journey down the winding road of coping with the challenges she faced as a blind youth. “With Blind Beginnings, I create from my own experiences. After high school, I signed on to do an internship program at a school for the blind in England which matched my life experience to a job. I found the other youths intimidating but the school changed my life.” She was moved by the tremendous potential she saw in the people she met at the school, and she lamented that at that time,British Columbia did not have a school for the blind.

Marsolais moved on to receive her Master’s degree in counselling; she is doing her practicum in the Counselling Department of University of British Columbia. In terms of future plans, stepping away from some of Blind Beginnings’ activities will allow her to pursue counselling, which is her passion.

Early on, Marsolais committed her own savings to the launch of Blind Beginnings. As a start-up, the group does not receive any government funding, although it does benefit from some foundation grants and the proceeds of various fundraising events. This burgeoning non-profit initiative is run entirely by volunteers and, like many charitable groups, it seems that there are never enough resources to meet the need. Blind Beginnings is hoping to find a fund development officer who would lend expertise in fundraising and event planning, two areas whose growth would allow it to expand its reach. In fact, Marsolais’ objective is to be able to provide services outside mainland B.C., her current focus, to include people in rural areas.

Marsolais is an example of a woman who chose to give back to her community and make it thrive, while discovering for herself a vision of life devoted to service and support for the children and youth around her.

Social Media Offers a Myriad of Benefits

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By Paddy Kamen

The eyewear business is abuzz with talk of social media, Internet ordering and Facebook. Now is the time to get onboard!

Eyecare professionals who want to spend their marketing dollars effectively can’t afford to ignore social media. According to Paul Salsberg, vice president of operations for Toronto-based consultancy EyeconX, at least 20 per cent of Canadian ECPs have a Facebook page. “Social media can make their marketing spend soar in terms of return on investment,” he notes.

Canadian business, overall, is very much a part of the social media scene. A recent survey from Regus[i], a provider of workplace solutions, reveals that 40 per cent of Canadian companies are successfully recruiting new customers through social networks. According to Regus:

Social networking has fully evolved from a nice-to-have to a necessity as the majority of businesses in Canada (67 per cent), and internationally (74 per cent) agree that social media activity is playing a bigger role in their marketing strategy. Canadian (69 per cent) and global firms (per cent) are also emphasizing the need for a balance of marketing media, confirming their belief that without a combination of traditional and digital techniques, marketing campaigns will not work.[ii]

A hybrid of the new (Internet technology) and the old (social interaction), social media is the use of Internet-based applications to communicate and foster social interaction among users. The most widely talked about social media applications in North America include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr. With a rapidly changing electronic marketplace, new applications are appearing almost daily, threatening to overwhelm all but the most dedicated cyber-hounds.

The formerly well-defined lines separating content providers from content consumers have shifted with social media, allowing the rise of ‘consumer-generated’ media including Facebook pages and blogs (personal weblogs) wherein individuals express their views, share information and dialogue with friends, family and others who read their pages. Social media sites differ from websites in that they feature easy-to-use tools to encourage dialogue and feedback. That said, more websites now offer social media components such as blogs.

Businesses use social media to get their value proposition across to the billions of people who use the Internet looking for product and company information. While the Internet used to be best-suited to conveying news about large or global businesses, it is increasingly about local services. Social media aficionados love this aspect, readily letting one another know about their new favourite restaurant or a great sale at a popular store. Internet-based coupon services such as Groupon and Twongo provide member deals and advertising for businesses in various cities. Mobile device use fosters ‘location-based’ applications (such as Foursquare, Gowalla and GooglePlaces) that list a range of local businesses and make the information known to a local user base. Even tourists get in on the action, seeking products and services that meet their needs while travelling. No one wants to be left out of these potentially lucrative and often free advertising opportunities.

Transitions Optical has been active in this space, both promoting their own products and helping eyecare professionals (ECPs) to do the same. According to Transitions spokesperson Christina Wetzel, 79 per cent of companies on the Fortune 100 list use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or corporate blogs to communicate with customers. “Clearly it’s a market that no one can afford to ignore,” she notes. “In March 2008, Facebook had more than 500 million users, more than half of whom log in every day, and more than 200 million users access Facebook through a mobile device.”

Wetzel adds that according to an analysis of responses to Transitions’ Facebook advertisements, 3,520 Facebook users inCanadahave ‘liked’ (meaning they click a ‘Like’ button on the Facebook page), or are interested in groups or pages associated with the optical industry. “And this number is potentially much larger because not everyone who visits the site ‘Likes’ the page. The numbers confirm that Canadians are using social media to find information related to our industry.”

New Business Opportunities
Mike Christiansen, president and designer of Venus Eye Design has opened 50 new accounts as a result of his Facebook presence.

“Facebook has helped us reach a much broader market than we could imagine,” says Christiansen. “It breaks down boundaries and borders and is instantly global at the touch of a keypad. Almost 400 people have ‘friended’ us on our Facebook page in the last eight months and business has improved about 10 per cent as a result. While websites can be expensive to set up and maintain, Facebook is inexpensive and gets more bang for the buck. It’s also easy to use.”

Optical Retailers See Benefits
Optical retailer, Krysten Adams, owner of Hanly’s Eyewear Boutique in Ancaster, On., loves the free advertising aspect of Facebook. “I’ve had a Facebook presence for 18 months and it helps me to stand out. The more my business name is out there the more ‘top of mind’ I’ll be for people in our region. I find that people respond to my posts about new brands and it only takes about five minutes to write a short post and put in a picture.”

Nada Vuksic, owner of Vancouver-based Bruce Eyewear, started using social media three years ago. “In my experience, it takes a lot of time to do it properly and there is definitely a learning curve. I update our Facebook page several times a week and we could employ someone eight hours a week just to do our social media. The value is there for us because our clients are design savvy and technologically savvy as well. We get tons of positive feedback when we do a blog post. We reference designers, stylists and others in the same or affiliated businesses, which has led to them linking back to us and we hear from people all over the world.”

According to Marie-Sophie Dion, optician and owner of Bar à lunettes, a three-location optical concept in Quebec, Facebook solidifies her relationship with existing customers as well as attracting new ones. “Readers can see we are active and creative, so our clientele is proud to say they come to our Bar. Our social media work fosters word-of-mouth advertising.”

Dion created the Facebook page herself and then had her staff contact clientele to ask them to be added to the ‘Friends’ list. Whenever they hold an event or receive a new collection, they post it on their Facebook wall for viewers to see. “We have a lot of pictures on the page and place a link to our website for maximum exposure,” explains Dion.

Help for Eyecare Professionals
Paul Salsberg’s EyeconX offers full-service Internet and social networking tools exclusively to eyecare professionals (ECPs). “Every ECP I talk with knows the importance of Facebook but they are busy practitioners and need time to establish and maintain a presence. A Facebook page lets customers and potential clients know that you are progressive and at the forefront of practice trends. But one of the challenges is creating meaningful content. We’ll be launching a content service soon that will provide cut-and-paste material for our clients to use on their Facebook pages and websites.”

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is key to having an effective Internet presence, notes Salsberg. SEO is the activity of making one’s website or Facebook page easily located by search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing. “Ideally, you want to appear on the first page of search engine results. To do this you must use key words, constantly introduce new content and make it easy for others to spread the word about your site to their contacts. Facebook helps with SEO because it is so socially-oriented, making it easy for those who like your product or service to let others know about it.”

It’s essential that your Facebook page and website tout the benefits of your unique offering. “If you’re located in Moncton and only sell to customers in your store, then you want to make sure your geographic information is front and centre because it positions you for the target market,” explains Salsberg. “If you specialize in low vision you need to say that. What else makes you special? This is an important way not only to retain patients but to have them tell family and friends why you stand out.” 

Have a Plan
Dana Sacco is managing principal with Predictive Success, an international management consultancy. She is also a licensed optician and the owner of Rossland Optical in Whitby, On.

“Most Canadian ECPs don’t present themselves effectively on the Internet,” notes Sacco. “It’s essential that people find you when they are searching for information about eyewear. Typically, they find the big box stores instead. Using the Internet and particularly social media wisely is about identifying a marketing opportunity and seizing it.”

Sacco stresses the importance of planning your social media strategy, recommending that practitioners learn enough to be able to delegate, rather than try to do it all themselves. “It’s essential to lay out a plan and benchmarks by which you can evaluate your progress. I also recommend that you assess the talents and capabilities of your staff to determine who might be best at updating and maintaining the website and Facebook page. In order to reach the right audience you need a plan. And that plan has to honour the character and strengths of the business.”       

Suppliers Expand Online Ordering
Suppliers have their own priorities, as they work to make it easy for customers to order online and get needed product information. Centennial Optical has offered online ordering for more than 10 years, making them an early adapter. “We have a steadily growing customer base using the service,” says Rick Leroux, marketing manager for the lens division. “We offer a two per cent discount for online orders and we’ve been surveying our clientele recently to ascertain how we can better meet their needs going forward.”

HOYA Vision Care has a Facebook fan page — HOYAQuest — that runs an annual promotional contest for customers. Last year’s winners traveled to Barbados. “The theme of the trip was social media,” notes Maria Petruccelli, manager of marketing and professional services for HOYA Vision CareCanada. “We had seminars about website development and social networking, encouraging participants to embrace new ways to market themselves. It was an exciting trip.”

The HOYA Canada website is the e-face of HOYA and serves as a first stop for ECPs to learn more about the company. Orders can be placed electronically by way of their EyeConnect system, while a new web ordering tool, MyStyle iDentifier helps ECPs order their most advanced PAL lens, the Hoyalux iD MyStyle.

“One of the key benefits of e-ordering is that there is less chance of error,” says Petruccelli. “It is more efficient and quicker.”

Resources for ECPs
The Transitions Facebook page — www.facebook.com/TransitionsOpticalCanada — links to the company’s other sites and lets ECPs and the public stay up-to-date with business tools and the company itself. “The page is growing exponentially, and has been visited by close to 18 million Canadians,” says Christina Wetzel.

Most importantly, Transitions has prepared two excellent brochures for ECPs: Getting Social is a primer on social media and Putting Your Practice on Facebook provides essential information for the Facebook beginner.

Legal Considerations
If you are simply creating a Facebook page about your store and linking to your website you probably don’t need legal advice. But anyone who plans to sell products, run contests, and/or connect with third-party businesses like suppliers may benefit from consulting with a lawyer who specializes in Internet business and social media.

“I don’t believe that anyone with a Twitter feed and Facebook page necessarily needs legal counsel, but if your site is integrated with other company sites and third parties are allowed to post content to your site there may be risks,” says Joel Ramsey, partner with McCarthy Tétrault in Toronto. “While no one wants the additional expense of legal counsel, if you work with someone who knows the issues and has done this work before they can help you efficiently and save you trouble down the road. Canada has quite progressive consumer protection laws. By that I mean that they favour the consumer. Business people need to understand the risks.”

The very nature of social media means you are ceding some measure of control of your brand to the world, adds Ramsey, referring to the ability of users to post comments on Facebook and blog sites. The risks inherent in this have been written about extensively and won’t be covered in this article. Suffice it to say that we’ve moved from a world where the range of word-of-mouth (both positive and negative) was limited to friends and family, to a world where you can broadcast opinions around the globe with the click of a button.

Every province in Canada has consumer protection legislation and each law stipulates the requirements involved in setting up a site that sells products. Even if you only sell overstocked items and are primarily a bricks and mortar operation, there may be regulations imposed by the province in which you reside. “For example, many require an explicit acceptance of the website in order for the terms to be binding,” explains Ramsey. “Or if someone agrees to an online contract, some provinces require a copy of the contract be sent to the customer within a certain number of days.”

Quebec’s consumer protection laws are more stringent that those in the rest of the country and act as a de facto barrier to many companies doing business in that province. “This is one reason why you’ll see a disclaimer on many contests that they are not applicable in the province of Quebec,” Ramsey points out. “It’s also important to know that if you are planning on doing business in Quebec French language rules must be complied with. This is an important consideration for national brands.”

Ramsey also cautions business people to be careful about all forms of self-expression on the Internet. “People tend to write less formally on Twitter and Facebook than they would in other places. Keep in mind that everything you put on the Internet can be found and may exist in perpetuity. Be careful not to allow the social media forum to keep you from the solid fundamentals of business communication.”


[i] http://www.regus.presscentre.com

 

VEL Resumes Full Production Capacity at New, State-of-the-art Jakarta Facility

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A mere 17 months after a devastating fire that destroyed its Jakarta, Indonesia production facility, Vision-Ease Lens (VEL) announces the availability of nearly all product styles that were temporarily suspended due to the fire.

VEL’s entirely rebuilt plant houses state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and meets international standards for natural disasters, including earthquakes and tsunamis. The new facility features the latest fire-suppressant technologies and has implemented major reductions in combustible sources. VEL held jobs for the 500 employees who worked at the facility prior to the fire, and who are integral to the production of a large percentage of the company’s polycarbonate offerings and 100 per cent of VEL glass lenses.

“A destructive fire is an unexpected hurdle with wide-ranging operational, financial and customer implications,” said Doug Hepper, VEL CEO. “We are fortunate that none of our employees were injured and thankful that our customers have remained unwaveringly loyal as we’ve shifted production to our Ramsey, Minnesota plant, suspended production of other products and worked hard to rebuild our Jakarta factory. Now, we’re operating at full speed ahead to resume providing customers with the high-quality lenses they expect from Vision-Ease.”

Earlier this year, VEL restarted production on the balance of its core polycarbonate lens line, and is now stocking and shipping Continua® SFSV 71, 75, 80 mm and Continua FSV 65, 75 mm lenses. Other products reinstated since the fire include Continua Tintable FSV (Aspheric 65 mm, Spherical 75 mm), Tegra® FSV (Aspheric 65 mm and 75 mm), Continua multifocals (D28, D35, 7×28 and 8×35) and all glass products.

Continua FSVAR (Aspheric 65 mm, Spherical 75 mm) lenses have been discontinued and will be replaced with a new, upgraded version with Super-Hydro AR coating, set to launch in June 2011.