Hello friends of the OAC, it’s been a while. We hope everyone is well, recouped, and flourishing now that we are this side of the worst of the pandemic.

The OAC has been dormant for more than a year, but now the Board has reconvened and we are getting things back up and running. Here are the plans in brief.

The annual OAC convention will resume Spring 2022

No date is set. We are still planning Black Hawk, though we are exploring a change of venue. The Monarch casino is newly renovated and expanded with convention space. If they have capacity and can meet our budget. Ameristar has been successful for many years, but it would be nice to try something else.

OAC memberships are separate from convention attendance

In previous years we simply rolled OAC membership into convention attendance for a single fee. We know some opticians are interested in being part of the OAC but either don’t need or can’t attend convention, and membership was of limited value outside of the convention. We also know some convention attendees are interested in that event but less so in OAC membership. To resist dramatically increasing fees despite rising convention expenses and association expenses, we will break apart the fees so that those interested in only OAC membership or the convention need not absorb the expense of the other.

• Convention fees will be largely unchanged, but will not include membership the the OAC. We want education to be available to the public and will not impose association membership as a hurdle to participation. The option to join the OAC in addition to convention fees is available.

• OAC certified membership remains $65, unchanged since established in our inaugural charter in 2001. The OAC is committed to adding value to membership apart from the annual convention, which brings us to our next point.

Quarterly OAC Member exclusive events 

We want to foster a social community among opticians, reps, and vendors in Colorado. Our convention is excellent for that, but we want to do more. Therefore the Board has committed to organizing quarterly special events for members, one to be held at convention and at least three others to be held throughout the year. The nature of these events is fluid, but the Board cultivates and will entertain any ideas that promote camaraderie, networking, and professional development among optical professionals in Colorado.

We have a new member's site

It's fledgling at the moment, but we now have a members portal where you can join the OAC and maintain your membership, see and contact other OAC members, join in on member discussions, view and RSVP to events, and even post and search for job openings. Check out the site and join the OAC!

These are the things we're working on at the moment, we'll keep you posted as more events develop!

Thank you,

The OAC Board