THESE DAYS, it seems as though there are more continuing education (CE) offerings available than the total number of catalogues in an entire library. What makes eyecare practitioners attend a CE meeting with so many options available? Certainly, many are motivated by the need to obtain license-required CE. But perhaps, for more successful meetings, attendance means much more than just getting required CE.

When we asked attendees of the Global Specialty Lens Symposium (GSLS) over the last 2 years whether they needed a CE certificate, more than 35% stated that they did not. That’s remarkable, and speaks to the outstanding content and absolute desire to learn on behalf of attendees that makes the GSLS the go-to meeting for all things contact lenses!

It is also important to think about other groups that might attend meetings, such as professional organizations/societies and sponsors. Both of these groups are vital to the ultimate success of meetings, so why do they choose to participate (or not)?

One would imagine that professional organizations would feel the need to have representation at meetings to ensure that the value they bring to their members and the clinical or disease area of their focus is represented; additionally, this can supplement educational opportunities to the attendees. Likewise, sponsors would also benefit from these factors, but also, they would have the opportunity to promote and educate practitioners about their products broadly among meeting attendees. It’s a mystery when a small lab or large manufacturer fails to show up at this very important contact lens meeting.

GSLS is a meeting that represents much more than specialty lenses; its focus is broadly on contact lenses, and we hope to have all professional societies and sponsors with interests in contact lenses represented!