The Vision Council has released its 2017 Annual Report, celebrating a few of the organization’s accomplishments and the progress throughout the past year.

As the industry voice on Capitol Hill, The Vision Council’s Government and Regulatory Affairs team dedicated over 300 hours to the high priority issues affecting member organizations and the larger optical community.

As a result, the FDA exempted optical lenses from the scope of the UDI regulations, saving over $10 million in estimated yearly compliance costs for lens and lab companies. These efforts will continue into 2018 to gain additional FDA exemption for ophthalmic frames.

The Vision Council remains committed to educating the public on the latest in eyewear and eyecare.

The organization continues its support of the Think About Your Eyes campaign as a key financial and promotional supporter. Because of this support, and that of the eyecare industry and providers, the campaign generates more than 1.25 billion consumer impressions each year, and drove nearly 1.5 million incremental eye exams in 2017. The Vision Council’s other consumer outreach efforts—speaking to consumers about member products and the health, fashion, technological and lifestyle aspects of eyewear—generated an additional 1.76 billion impressions, and made eyewear a national talking point with National Sunglasses Day reaching the #1 spot for trending topics on Twitter.

The VisionWatch market research team maintained its status as the most comprehensive industry research resource available, interviewing more than 120,000 consumers and producing more than 63,000 data points to allow The Vision Council’s members to make informed business decisions.

The efforts of The Vision Council’s Shows team resulted in prestigious Trade Show Executive Gold 100 Awards for both Vision Expo East in New York City and Vision Expo West in Las Vegas.

In conjunction with Show co-owner Reed Exhibitions, the team forged a partnership to bring the industry’s premier opticianry and contact lens fitters education program to the largest gathering of eyewear and eyecare professionals in the Americas through OptiCon @ Vision Expo, and partnered with Women’s Wear Daily to provide Vision Expo exhibitors with exposure on the global fashion stage.

Find out more about The Vision Council’s activities and achievements in the 2017 Annual Report.