CEwire2015 Presents Donation to American Optometric Foundation

[AdminWolf]

(left-to-right: Dr. Steve Silberberg, Dr. Paul Farkas, Dr. David Kirschen (AOF President), Dr. Adam Farkas)

At the American Academy of Optometry meeting in New Orleans this past week, Steve Silberberg, Paul Farkas and I were happy to present the American Optometric Foundation with a charitable donation of $10,000, which came from the surplus profits of CEwire2015, the online eye care CE conference.

Our goal with the conference was to prove that we could provide the highest-quality education online, with nationally-known speakers and a huge number of credit-hours, while doing it at a at a rock-bottom price for attendees.

Any excess profits were to be designated for charities which directly impact either eye care practitioners, or patients in need. Our donation to the AOF was the first distribution -- we figured the Academy meeting was the best place to do it!

We would like to thank everyone who attended the event (we hope you enjoyed it, we couldn't have done it without you), as well as our sponsors who helped us get it off the ground:
ABB Optical, Acuvue, Allergan, Diopsys, IDOC, Marco, Oculus, QuikEyes, Signet Armorlite, Wells Fargo, Vision Systems Inc, VisionWeb.

... and a big shout-out to the folks at Marco, who gave us the 'push' we needed to get the gears in motion last winter (and for sponsoring our 14-hour long live streaming video!)


Upcoming: CEwire2016

Stay tuned for details about CEwire2016: More speakers, More Credits, More Vendors, More Fun. Same rock-bottom price per credit.

 

[Steve Silberberg]

Great being a part of it. Paul is an Octogenerian going on 35 BTW. WE hope the next conference will make the first one pale. Hoping for more industry support. Wait unrtil you see the speakers both old and new It reads like a Who's Who of ECP's including a large OMD track

 

[AdminWolf]

On the left, Rhonda Meyer, VP of National Business Strategies at Wells Fargo Practice Finance

On the right, Dr. Ian Lane, of Uprise/VisionWeb

Both companies were big supporters of the event, I commend them for their leap of faith!
We couldn't have gotten the show off the ground without vendor support.

 

[AdminWolf]

Great being a part of it. Paul is an Octogenerian going on 35 BTW. WE hope the next conference will make the first one pale. Hoping for more industry support. Wait unrtil you see the speakers both old and new It reads like a Who's Who of ECP's including a large OMD track

Yup! We'll have more details for everyone later in the week

thanks again
Adam

 

[Stan Peacock O.D.]

A great foundation to make a donation. Look forward to participating in CE 2016.

 

[AdminWolf]

a number of people have asked me what the AOF is and why it is important.

The American Optometric Foundation is "a philanthropic organization that develops and provides financial support for optometric research and education in vision and eye health to improve clinical patient care." It is an affiliate of the American Academy of Optometry.

They award grants, fellowships and residency educational awards. Many ODwire.org members have benefited from the organization as it has helped them through their studies when they were just getting started.

We couldn't think of a better organization to give back to than this one.

ad

 

[AdminWolf]

Just as an aside, 94% of attendees who we surveyed said they were planning to attend the next conference -- so I know we're on the right track.

This next one is going to be an even bigger blowout, we managed to somehow get even more speakers, and as Steve mentioned, several OD-friendly OMDs, including the return of Dr. Friedberg!

 

[Paul Farkas]

Any suggestions which other charities to consider. For sure AOF will be on our list.

They know how to say "Thank you".

 

[AdminWolf]

Any suggestions which other charities to consider. For sure AOF will be on our list.

They know how to say "Thank you".

The AOF is great because not only were they aligned with our ostensible mission, but they run really efficiently, so you can be sure that the bulk of that donation will go to serve actual students and research.

 

[Richard Frankel]

The AOF is a great choice. I would hope that they could receive a comparable donation next year. Any additional funds, I would suggest organizations such as VOSH. I know you were expecting me to say something like a fund for drying cleaning, since all those naysayers that this wouldn't work, were left in the dust. But I won't, oh wait...

 

[AdminWolf]

We have some news --

CEwire2016 is now coming together for January 2016, 40+ COPE-Approved CE credits, more live antics with me & paul, a bigger and better exhibit hall, and more surprises to come..


More to follow next week, stay tuned!

 

[AdminWolf]

We have some news --

CEwire2016 is now coming together for January 2016, 40+ COPE-Approved CE credits, more live antics with me & paul, a bigger and better exhibit hall, and more surprises to come..


More to follow next week, stay tuned!

Just to keep everyone in the loop -- it looks like we're up to 45+ credits, closing in on an even 50 hours (!) We will see if anyone drops out; we're still waiting to get some lectures back from people to see if they make the cut with COPE. (I will stress again -- the reason COPE is important isn't just because those approved CE hours allow you to be re-licensed, but also because COPE provides very real quality assurance and external review for each talk. There's no way this show would be as good as it is without them.)

So as it stands now, CEwire2016 is going to be the largest online CE event yet attempted; and despite the increased hours, the cost is still going to be well under $3/credit.

 

[Dr. Ricky V. Alaniz]

Nice donation to a good cause! What portion of the CE Wire was or is dedicated to causes like these? And just FYI I would get all your sponsors to match the generosity, it works well with our non-profit.

 

[Steve Silberberg]

WE actually are doing the final accounting now as bills come in and the event just ended. We'll get back to you. More money for charity would be our goal and if you can help we maybe able to help you

 

[Dr. Ricky V. Alaniz]

WE actually are doing the final accounting now as bills come in and the event just ended. We'll get back to you. More money for charity would be our goal and if you can help we maybe able to help you

I have to be honest I did not participate in CE Wire, mostly because Texas only allows 4 hours of CE online. It looks like ya'll (or yous guys if your from Jersey) have great support from all organizations, doubt I could add anything worth while to your cause, except maybe sign up for it next time around.

 

[Eric Newberry]

I have to be honest I did not participate in CE Wire, mostly because Texas only allows 4 hours of CE online. It looks like ya'll (or yous guys if your from Jersey) have great support from all organizations, doubt I could add anything worth while to your cause, except maybe sign up for it next time around.

Hey Doc, I'm pretty sure Texas allows 8 hours of online CE. I've done 8 for several years. And CE wire was an awesome source for my 8 hours this year! Looking forward to 2017

 

[Dr. Ricky V. Alaniz]

Hey Doc, I'm pretty sure Texas allows 8 hours of online CE. I've done 8 for several years. And CE wire was an awesome source for my 8 hours this year! Looking forward to 2017

That should show you how much I pay attention to the TOB rule on online CE.