January 2011-President's Message

Happy New Year!

As always, it's exciting to look ahead at the beginning of the year in anticipation of all of the many great events we have planned at Association Headquarters. Here at the MOA, the board is constantly striving to provide exceptional value and professional support as a benefit to all of our members.

The MOA will continue its collaboration with The Wilmer Eye Institute in presenting its 4th Annual Evidence Based Care in Optometry conference on Sunday, March 6 on the Johns Hopkins Medical Campus in Baltimore. This program will feature a wide array of education taught by a panel of our profession's leading experts and will also include an opportunity for attendees to network with their colleagues as well as the MOA partner members who will be on site for the day. We are always proud to bring our members the opportunity to participate in some world-class continuing education so close to home. Registration is open, so sign up today at www.marylandeyes.org.

In addition, the MOA will also continue its new partnership with Vision Expo East. This program will take place in New York City from March 16-20 and will feature the latest products, trends and information on medical eyecare, fashion, lens technology and business solutions. As an MOA member, you will be able to take advantage of substantial savings for continuing education as well as other exclusive benefits.

As we announced before the holidays, the MOA board has been diligently investing time and energy in our Strategic Planning initiative, which will provide a roadmap for the MOA over the next several years. Our final meeting was scheduled for this past weekend, but we chose to postpone the session to avoid conflicting with Ravens playoff fever that has suddenly taken us by storm. In order to ensure that our meeting will not be in clash with any of the football playoffs, we will be holding our final meeting on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011. We are therefore still looking to our general membership to help us develop "action plans" to achieve the goals that we have set for the MOA over the next few years. Please help us to pave the road for the MOA's future success with this exciting project and sign up for our meeting as soon as possible. Please contact me through the association at moa@assnhqtrs.com and ask to be included in our strategic planning session this winter.

Looking forward to a happy and productive 2011!

Rob Stutman, O.D., MBA