Viva Las Vegas...
Two weeks ago we were packing up our bags and hopping on a flight to Vegas for one of our favorite shows of the year, Vision Expo West. Attending industry tradeshows like Vision Expo and Optometry's Meeting always gets us excited to spend some quality face time with our customers and other industry affiliates.
One of our favorite in-booth activities with attendees has been our online ordering races. We challenge visitors to use www.visionweb.com to try and place the fastest online ophthalmic product order. The fastest times of each day are awarded a $50 Amazon gift card, while others received a $5 Starbucks gift card just for participating! Our fastest participant was able to enter her online product order in 40 seconds!
We also held several free info sessions in our booth providing information on how the Affordable Care Act will affect your ECP's bottom line. Turn out for the info sessions was great, and hopefully attendees were able to learn a thing or two about improving their bottom line and the benefits of VisionWeb's claims processing services!
The Optical Women's Association held their annual networking and raffle event on Friday, September 7th, on the third floor of the Venetian/Palazzo Congress Center. This event was a great opportunity to network with peers throughout the optical industry, and if you were lucky enough you walked away with one of the many great raffle items donated by several companies across the industry.
And, as always, Vegas provided plenty of great food and entertainment for what little free time we had outside of the show. Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth (hopefully you snagged some VisionWeb swag like our tote bags, pd sticks, and buttons) and helped make the show a success; we hope you had as much fun as we did! And before we know it March will be right around the corner and Vision Expo East will be upon us!
Without further adieu, we present the final post of our Different Mindsets of a Tradeshow Attendee series - the fashionista/shopper. Ahhh, fashion and shopping, two things we could talk about for days. And also two things that Vision Expo West has covered! There's something great about walking through the Frames section of the show floor and seeing all of the promotional graphics for the different designers. It adds a bit of glamor to the industry and we're ALL for that! Shopping on the show is definitely happening in the frames section of the show floor, but that's only the beginning. Vision Expo is also an opportunity for attendees to take advantage of great deals on nearly everything their practice could ever need, from equipment to software. Here are some of our recommendations for the Fashionista or Shopper in you (Both at the show AND in Vegas):
Fashionistas
You can check out the Eyewear and Accessories pavilion to get your fill of frame fashion. L'Amy is going to be previewing the newest sunglass and optical offerings from Chloe, Columbia, Theory, and Nina Ricci in their booth, #16043. In addition to their Ray-Ban and their house brands, Vogue and Persol, Luxottica will be in booth #16024 showcasing their licensed brands which include Bvlgari, Burberry, Chanel, Dolce&Gabbana, Donna Karan, Polo Ralph Lauren, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Tiffany, Tory Burch, and Versace. Marchon will also exhibiting in booth #17107 with great brands like Calvin Klein, Karl Lagerfeld, Coach, dvf, Michael Kors, and Jil Sander.
Now, if you want to prepare yourself before the show, we definitely recommend that you check out the Eyecessorize Blog to get caught up on the trends. They post a ton of great information! You can also head over to the What's New section of 20/20's website to get up-to-date on trends so that you're completely ready!
Shoppers
Okay, if you're shopping, the most important thing you can do is check out the Vision Expo's site and to go the Show Planner. Once you're there (it's on the home page), check out the Show Special section by clicking on the icon that looks like a tag. You can view discounts and rebates that various exhibitors are offering at the show, so check out what's going on with the vendors that you are most interested in. Another thing that you'll want to check in the Show Special section is Free Gifts. You won't just find giveaways like pens and such, there are also a lot of listings for free gift with purchase offers. (If you're shopping, it won't hurt to get someting free.) For example, A&A Optical Company is giving away Quicksilver watches with a minimum purchase, so is Daisy Fuentes eyewear. Be sure to check those out!
If your in the market for a new insurance claim filing solution, be sure to head to the VisionWeb Booth #MS7053 because we're giving attendings $0 enrollment and 2 months free! (See, deals are everywhere!)
Fashionistas and Shoppers in Vegas
It's impossible for us to write a post about Fashion and Shopping in Vegas without providing a few of our own tips for life outside the show. Here are a few of our favorite spots for shopping, bring your credit card and let's do this!
Forum Shops - Caesar's Palace
It should be against the rules to go to Vegas and NOT make at least one lap through the Forum Shops. There are a ton of great high-end stores like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Valentino, and Versace - we encourage you to go crazy in these if you were a big winner at blackjack the night before - or just window shop. In addition to the high-end stores, there is also a huge variety of affordable stores for your regular shopping. On top of all that, there's an animatronics show featuring Zeus and lightening and all the theatrics that only Vegas could produce in the middle of a mall. We highly suggest checking it out!
H&M - Three Locations
Thought you had to wait until Vision Expo East to hit up an H&M? Nope! There are three, count 'em THREE, locations of this uber-popular store. (Okay, when we were writing this, we thought there were only 2, but we just learned about the newest one in the Forum Shops!) We LOVE H&M and since we're in Texas, we don't have access to one. You can't shop online at H&M, so make sure you pay a visit to the store while you're in Vegas!
Luxury Shopping
Okay, we already mentioned some of the luxury brands available at the Forum Shops, but there are lot's more. The Fashion Show Mall is home to a great Neiman Marcus store, and we don't have to tell you just how luxury that is. It's located on the strip near TI, you can't miss it. The sister properties Wynn and Encore are also host to major luxury brands like Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Cartier, Oscar de la Renta, and Hermes - so if you're in the market for a Birkin, we suggest you make it over to these properties. (And then head by our booth to show us!!)
The most important thing to note is that a good fashionista/shopper is always looking for more information! Did we miss any of your favorite shopping destinations in Vegas? Do you have something to suggest? Don't keep it to yourself, tell us! Where should we shop in Vegas?
Attending Vision Expo is something we always look forward to. Collectively, the VisionWeb team has been to well over 100 Vision Expos! (It's true, many of us have been twice a year for at least the past six years, others for much longer. It adds up quickly!) The great thing about the show is that each person experiences it in a unique way. All of those experiences have taught us how to make the most of the show, and how to have fun while we're at it. So, in honor of Vision Expo West, we're whipping up a series of show-related posts, starting with the fun infographic below. It's a neat way to look at the many roles that eye care providers take on at the show, but we're not stopping there! We'll be bringing you weekly posts from now until the show for each mindset in the infographic. We will include tips and information to help you make the most of the show, no matter which role you slip into, and we'll toss in a few things we've done to make the travel fun that we think you might like too. Let's get ready to go to Vegas, Baby!
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