Click here to view photos from ODMA 2013
Click here to view photos from ODMA 2013 Gala Dinner & Awards
The all new ODMA 2013, held for the first time in Brisbane, has been heralded as a huge success with strong representation from key practice decision makers. Optometrists made up 32 per cent of visitors; optical dispensers 23.5 per cent; practice staff 16.5 per cent; and practice managers 8.2 per cent.
“The overall response to the exhibition has been fantastic, said Ms. Finola Carey on the final day of the exhibition. ODMA’s Chairman, Richard Grills agreed.
“The excitement vibe was there – exhibitors told me they’ve seen people they haven’t seen before – people from remote Queensland and Western Australia, and a lot had said they’ve written more business here than at the last couple of ODMA events,” he said.
“Those few exhibitors who originally were a bit reluctant to come along have totally changed their views. We’ve got almost universal approval for what we’ve done.”
Many optometrists and optical dispensers from Queensland that mivision spoke with said they were at the exhibition for the first time and hadn’t been before because of the Sydney location.
“It’s fabulous to see ODMA in Brisbane – we brought the whole team,” said Janelle McDonald from Eyecare Plus in Toowoomba. “We’re here looking at all the ranges, comparing them and finding brands we don’t normally get to see. We’ve done some buying and we’re looking to see what we might do in the future,” she said.
George Nasser, Managing Director at Opticare said the response from his Queensland customers had been overwhelming. “We’ve seen a lot of local customers who’ve never been to ODMA before and some of them are very emotional about it. One account yesterday couldn’t thank us enough for being here. We’ll come to ODMA in Brisbane again. The population is here – it’s not as big as Sydney or Victoria but its big enough and we’ve taken a lot of solid orders,” said Mr. Nasser.
“Getting people here to see the products – you can’t put a price on that – because (when we’re on the road) we can’t get out to see everybody,” he said.
At Rodenstock, Collette Kinsella said ODMA 2013 was one of the best ODMA’s in her company’s history. Mark Altman from Device Technologies said exhibiting at ODMA was “definitely worth our while… people have been placing orders.”
Optometrists made up 32 per cent of visitors; optical dispensers 23.5 per cent; practice staff 16.5 per cent; and practice managers 8.2 per cent…
Launching Pad
Several companies chose ODMA to launch themselves into the market, or to launch new products. ProVision was one. The buying group launched ProSupply – an online ordering system that enables its members to order many of its frames and lenses from one portal, and its new ‘My Local Marketing’ (MLM) resource.
Zeal, a Colarado based eyewear brand owned by Maui Jim, also chose ODMA for its official brand launch. According to Joe Prebich, Zeal’s Marketing Director, the ecologically focused, socially responsible lifestyle brand generated plenty of interest.
“We had a lot of confirmed appointments booked before the event so our booth was busy from day one,” he said.
Fine Looking Eyewear (FLEYE), a delightfully Danish eyewear company was quick to grab attention at ODMA with one of the company’s principals, optometrist and eye wear designer Annette Saust Estø showcasing a brilliant orange frame to perfectly match her equally brilliant orange hair.
“We’re here to find practices who want to take our brand on as a major brand. We’re not really looking to take orders here – we want to take the frames out to the shops so that we can tell the entire staff our story, so they can really engage with it.”
ODMA2015
So where to next time?
Ms. Carey said that’s up to exhibitors and visitors to decide. “We survey all the exhibitors and visitors after every ODMA and that’s what we’ve done this time as well. So we’ll review the feedback and make our decision from there.”
