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FEATURE COLA RECAP 16 july 2015 opticallabproducts.com Highlights from the 2015 COLA Spring Meeting BY LORI TREADWELL Record attendance and thought-provoking presentations were just the beginning at this year's COLA Spring Meeting. IN THE LAST two years since California Optical Laboratories Association (COLA) merged with The Vision Council and became a subcommittee, the meeting has grown in numbers and gained support from labs, both corporate and independent, as well as from vendors and the non-proft Angels for Sight, which provides eye exams and glasses to needy children and seniors. A GRAND AFFAIR The 2015 COLA Spring Meeting was held April 23-24 at the Temecula Creek Inn in Temecula, CA. We were honored to have several executives from The Vision Council in attendance, including Marty Bassett, Chairman of the Executive Committee; Mike Daley, CEO; Steve Sutherlin, Optical Lab Division Liaison; Greg Chavez, VP of Member Services; Carmen Sevilla, Program Integration Director; and Jeff Endres, then- Senior Director of Technical Services and Lens Processing Division Liaison. This level of support from The Vision Council, along with the hard work from the COLA board, increased this year's registration numbers to 104–a 45% increase from the previous year and a new attendance record! AN EVENTFUL PROGRAM The gathering began on Thursday, April 23 with a board meeting at which Lee Pickett of LAP Optical Co. was elected the new COLA Chair. This was followed by the annual golf outing and an awards banquet where Joe Maris of VSP Global was announced as the recipient of this year's Good Fellow award. At Friday's educational pro- gram, Rick Van Arnam, Esq., Regulatory Affairs Counsel for The Vision Council, gave an update on how The Vision Council has been tracking two issues involving California's Proposition 65 that have once again become active. The frst issue involves proposed changes to the Prop 65 warning label. The second is an ongoing attempt by the State of California to add BpA (a substance used to make polycarbonate) to the Prop 65 substance list. This presentation was followed by a pair of panel discussions: "Man- aged Vision Care: A West Coast Approach" and "Inside the Mind of the Young OD." The purpose of these panels was to help the lab representatives understand the direction in which managed care will be headed in the next few years, and why. The young doctors in attendance initiated an insightful discussion, expressing their struggle with many of the same issues and challenges faced daily by optical labs. Finally, Mike Karlsrud of The Karlsrud Co. wrapped up the day's proceedings with his presentation, "Transform- ing Sacred Cows into Purple Cows," which received the conference's highest rating for being a thought-provoking session that highlighted the importance of differentiation. THE FUTURE COLA'S future plans include forming a Vendor Advisory Committee to take advantage of the fantastic input and contributions from that group. In addition, the subcommittee now has a strong board and we are recruiting additional members. COLA has come a long way over the past two years. We are no longer struggling to keep the meeting alive, but instead are now actively looking for new topics and ideas to make each upcoming meeting bigger and better than the last. Lori Treadwell is former Chair of the California Optical Laboratories Association. A. From left to right: Marty Bassett, President and CEO, Walman Optical Co.; Jim Grootegoed, Professional Editor, Optical Lab Products; and Jeff Endres, then-Senior Technical Director, The Vision Council. B. Standing: Rick Van Arnam, Regulatory Affairs Council, The Vision Council. C. From left to right: Lee Pickett, Owner and General Manager, LAP Optical Co.; and Shea Hamilton, Director, Angels for Sight. A. B. C.