Registration now open: What to expect from Optometry’s Meeting® 2021

Optometry’s Meeting proudly convenes the profession’s frontline eye health care experts, advocates and industry leaders to keep optometry moving forward, and while 2021 returns with a different look, nothing changes the AOA’s laser-like focus on progress.

The world in which doctors of optometry practice is rapidly changing, which is why Optometry’s Meeting, June 24-26, in Denver, Colorado, will allow attendees to [re]connect with a reimagined experience that gives doctors, paraoptometric professionals, students and industry leaders every opportunity to engage and meet optometry’s advancing scope of practice head on. And it will be an experience that puts attendees’ health and safety first.

Come join your colleagues as Optometry’s Meeting intersects world-class learning, influential networking, business solutions and services as part of an atmosphere that prepares your practice for today’s realities. Socially distanced space is limited, so register and book your housing now for the profession’s premier event to see it all come together like never before.

“Now’s the time for us to reconnect as a profession, convening our optometry community and leaders for Optometry’s Meeting 2021 to celebrate the incredible resilience and compassion demonstrated by our members, as well as look forward and plan for an even brighter future,” says William T. Reynolds, O.D., AOA president. “Let me be the first to assure you that the AOA is taking the appropriate steps to ensure we can do this with the utmost health and safety in mind.”

Optometry’s Meeting health, safety protocols

Just as safety is your top concern, it is the AOA’s as well. This year, Optometry’s Meeting will employ added health and safety precautions that build upon all public health requirements mandated by local and state authorities, as well as those of the host facility, to ensure friends’ and colleagues’ wellbeing.

In relocating Optometry’s Meeting to Denver, the Colorado Convention Center was chosen for its exceptional cleanliness and safety measures that distinguish itself apart from other facilities, including: 

• Denver 5-Star Certified. This public certification denotes that the facility has implemented safety measures that go beyond what is already required by current public health orders.
• ASM Global VenueShield Environmental Hygiene Program. ASM Global staff at the convention center have worked to upgrade the facility with equipment and protocols to provide a safe environment for gathering, including implementing a new environmental hygiene protocol in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Global Biorisk Advisory Council^® STAR™ accredited. This gold-standard accreditation for facilities denotes that the convention center has implemented the most stringent protocols for cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention.

While on the convention center premises, Optometry’s Meeting will require attendees to follow guidance on face coverings and social distancing, as well as proper hand hygiene protocols. In addition to hand-sanitizing stations available throughout the event space, free-standing detectors will permit attendees’ self-scanning of badges to limit touchable surfaces.

In keeping with capacity restrictions set forth by state and local health departments, Optometry’s Meeting will require attendees to enroll for specific learning courses upon meeting registration to ensure these requirements are maintained. This means some continuing education (CE) and professional development courses may fill up sooner than others, and seats will be offered on a first-come-first-served basis. Additionally, each classroom will be cleaned and sanitized at the conclusion of each course.

For more information about safety and cleaning protocols at the headquarters hotel, visit optometrysmeeting.org.

Contemporary, forward-looking CE and professional development

Optometry’s Meeting proudly presents education with a vision—newly expanded, modernized formats and an accredited curriculum of progressive, integrated topics developed by the AOA ensure industry-leading education. Only Optometry’s Meeting offers such a comprehensive lineup of expert-led programming for doctors, paraoptometrics and students all in one place.

This cutting-edge CE and professional development lineup includes topical courses on the ocular implications of COVID-19, myopia management, diversity and inclusion conversations, and population health concepts, while the renowned lecture team of Ron Melton, O.D., and Randall Thomas, O.D., return with back-to-back courses. But that’s not the half of it.

Optometry’s Meeting is the place where advanced procedures education and scope expansion advocates intersect, making the profession’s premier event a prime opportunity to review contemporary optometric procedures. Consider advanced courses and workshops, including: 

• Surgical management. With the continued growth of contemporary optometry, attend courses that reacquaint doctors with both the basics and nuances related to surgical treatment options, as well as advantages and disadvantages of performing these procedures.
• Laser tissue interactions. This doctor/paraoptometric integrated course grants optometry practices the opportunity to learn more about ophthalmic laser procedures and their results. Attendees will take a deeper-dive into laser light and basic light physics to help increase understanding of laser-tissue interactions, as well as the post-op process for the paraoptometric’s role in providing chairside support.

Not able to join in person? A single-track hybrid option is available to earn CE credits online. Should circumstances change and you’re unable to attend, a risk-free registration means all registration fees will be refunded without penalty.

Interact with industry-leading vendors, find business solutions

Optometry’s Meeting also is where attendees can discover the next generation of vision care. To help optometry practices reimagine their environments, the Exhibit Hall experience connects attendees with ideas, people and products reflecting the advancing scope of optometry—everything you need to deliver the highest level of patient care.

Come see the newest merchandise and methods in the marketplace, along with their possibilities for your practice. The floor is your opportunity to see it all and get a feel for how it will translate to your office.

Find additional information about Optometry’s Meeting, including registration and housing details, special travel discounts and Denver offers at optometrysmeeting.org.