2016 Global Specialty Contact Lens Symposium (GSLS)

What happens in Vegas can’t stay in Vegas!

Every year at the annual Global Specialty Lens Symposium (GSLS), we have the opportunity to meet with our loyal and dedicated customers, hear from expert speakers and educators, and exhibit alongside esteemed manufacturers. Specialty contact lens professionals from all over the world attend the conference. Many of them are seeking out that one gem of a contact lens design to add to their arsenal, while others hope to learn or freshen up on dynamic skills that will improve their specialty contact lens fitting success. There is something to learn from everyone and the stories are abundant. You’ve heard, “What happens in Vegas, stays is Vegas,” but with so much to share from GSLS 2016, one just can’t keep quiet about it!

GSLS celebrated its 10th year in Las Vegas by hosting the conference at the prestigious Caesar’s Palace. Between the exhibit hall hours, industry professionals have the opportunity to attend a variety of educational sessions. The session topics ranged from fitting techniques and managing ocular conditions to practice management tips and all the industry trends in between. This year, SpecialEyes sponsored a manufacturer’s lunch seminar presented by Dr. Moshe Schwartz, OD, FAAO, on growing your practice with custom soft contact lenses. In his presentation, he shared multiple case studies highlighting the benefits of prescribing a fully customizable soft contact lens. Dr. Matt Lampa, OD, FAAO, also conducted a 1 hour break-out session on how to make custom soft multifocals contact lenses make sense in your practice. Both presentations were full of substance and value for eye care providers which created a wonderful buzz around SpecialEyes.

This year at GSLS, the SpecialEyes booth was a hit! Our campaign “Toric meets Multifocal, Love at First Sight,” stopped industry professionals in their tracks. Perhaps it was the awesomely bold booth design that drew practitioners in or maybe it was the warm smiles from the SpecialEyes Team. Mostly practitioners were interested in providing their astigmatic presbyopes with a soft lens option that works! At the booth, our team shared some impressive stats about our newest product, the SpecialEyes 54 Multifocal Toric contact lens. Visitors also learned the importance of pupil size when fitting custom multifocal contact lenses through demonstrations of the Multifocal Simulator.

I am proud to stand as a member of the SpecialEyes team for 9 years now, and this was our 7th GSLS appearance. The energy and the eagerness of the attending doctors, techs, residents, and staff to soak in all they can is a reflection of all the hard work that goes into making GSLS possible. To have such an awesome opportunity to mix with leaders in the eye care field is most rewarding. Of course, we bask in the love that comes our way and send a big thank you to all our customers’ kind words! To do so with grace and good taste is the SpecialEyes way!

Staci Blackwell is an account manager at SpecialEyes. She has been with the company since 2007 and carries with her a vast knowledge of the company’s products and the features of those products that can benefit your most discriminating contact lens patient.