(PRESS RELEASE) Vision Expo East 2021 concluded on Saturday, June 5. The four-day event, co-organized by The Vision Council and Reed Exhibitions, took place for the first time in Orlando, Florida, from June 2–5 at the Orange County Convention Center and marked the first large-scale, in-person trade show for the vision care community since 2019 and brought together thousands of members of the industry.
Vision Expo East 2021 featured more than 200 exhibiting companies across several distinct neighborhoods and offered cutting-edge continuing education and engaging programming. Presented under the banner of VisionEd, Vision Expo’s education program included 120 sessions and more than 160 hours of custom-designed clinical content, as well as a robust offering of courses led by renowned experts in business, fashion and marketing. Returning to the Show, OptiCon@Vision Expo offered an unmatched education program and exhibit hall experience for opticians, contact lens practitioners and ophthalmic allied professionals.
New to the Show, The Seen served as a main stage destination and a hub for collaborative learning as the host venue for the EYE2EYE Series panels and the Career Zone. Also new to the Show, the ShopVISION Lounge served as a discovery zone for attendees to learn more about and demo ShopVISION, a new global sourcing platform, as well as the voting destination for the Vision Choice Awards, which recognizes the best new product at Vision Expo East. Carl Zeiss Vision was recognized with the award for 2021.
Vision Expo East 2021 also brought together key industry groups and supporters. The Professional Opticians of Florida offered Florida-required education at Vision Expo East, while 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+
Additionally, to accommodate members of the vision care community from around the globe, the Show organizers offered Vision Expo+, a free digital extension of the Vision Expo East experience that was available from June 3–5 through ShopVISION, a new global sourcing platform. From June 3–5, nearly 1,000 members of the community took advantage of a number of virtual experiences, including online showrooms from Vision Expo East’s more than 200 exhibitors and livestreamed Vision Expo East content. All events taking place at The Seen were simulcast live on the ShopVISION platform. Additionally, the recorded sessions are now available to view on ShopVISION.
Register for ShopVISION here by clicking the “Sign in/Join” button and then “Register Now.” ShopVISION is being offered on a complimentary basis to all eyecare providers, buyers and all Vision Expo East 2021 exhibitors.
Vision Expo West 2021
Vision Expo West will take place September 22–25 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. With the city of Las Vegas fully reopened and returned to pre-pandemic guidelines as of June 1, the Show organizers are planning a robust line-up of events and programming. Vision Expo West will feature several new neighborhoods, in addition to the return of The Suites, as well as a rich CE program and the return of the OptiCon program and hub. Students and young professionals can also look forward to the return of The Career Zone and dedicated student programming. Additionally, The Seen, the main stage destination that made its debut at Vision Expo East, will host special events, panels and programming at Vision Expo West. Vision Expo+ will again be offered as a digital extension of the in-person Show.
Registration for Vision Expo West will open in mid-July.