Vision Expo East (VEE) 2021, which took place June 2 to June 5 at Orlando, Florida’s County Convention Center, reunited thousands of members of the vision care industry, many of whom had not seen each other live since before the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, in understanding the remaining trepidation of attending a live event, VEE also offered Vision Expo+, a free digital extension of the Vision Expo East experience that included online showrooms, livestreamed content and more, seen by almost 1,000 attendees.

“It was wonderful to see everyone in person and to get excited together about the future opportunities,” says April Jasper, chief optometric editor of Optometric Management. “Thank you to all the vendors for continuing to support us, our patients and our practices, making it easier for us to be able to meet our patients’ needs.”

VEE HIGHLIGHTS:

• More than 200 companies participated
• VEE’s education program, VisionEd, included 120 sessions and more than 160 hours of clinical content.
• OptiCon@Vision Expo returned with an education program and exhibit hall for contact lens gurus, ophthalmic allied professionals and opticians.
• The Seen, a new main stage destination for VEE, hosted EYE2EYE Series panels and the Career Zone.
• The ShopVISION Lounge offered a place for attendees to learn about and try out the ShopVISION global sourcing platform and vote in the Vision Choice Awards, which recognizes the best new product at VEE. Carl Zeiss Vision took home the 2021 award.
• The National Optometric Association hosted its regional meeting at the Show.
• Prevent Blindness also hosted its annual Swing Fore Sight Golf Tournament on June 2.

Vision Expo West is scheduled for Sept. 22 to Sept. 25 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas. Registration is set to open for the event mid-month (July). OM