I’m super excited to share our big win with y’all. We always aim for CANI. Constant And Never-ending Improvement. Two weeks ago I was fortunate enough to go to a conference in Orlando, Florida where we were voted Practice of the Year by a group of our peers based on the improvements we have made to the practice over the past year. I’ll post more pictures as we get them from the conference. If you want an in person view of the trophy just stop by the office. It’s sitting on our front desk counter.
It was a bit of a trek to get there but I was determined. Myself and a team member were set to fly out on Spirit Airlines at 8 in the morning. When I got to check in they told me my flight was canceled. No email or text to notify me beforehand. In fact, the email I did get showed up 10 minutes before the flight would have taken off. I know what your thinking “Spirit Airlines?” Well, since I’ve been in baby making mode, it’s been quite sometime since I have traveled and I have never flown with Spirit. They refused to rebook us since they said they were overbooked for the next 5 days. Their apathy was a bit infuriating. In fact one guy got so mad he turned around to the line and yelled out to never fly Spirit Airlines. Apparently in refunding his flight, they refunded $100 to him and the rest to someone else’s credit card. They then wouldn’t help him fix the problem.
As for me, they did not care one bit either. They just gave me a card where I could call to get a credit. I was lucky enough to get a full refund thankfully since I booked through credit card points. Chase was great. They managed to rebook us on a flight out later that afternoon but it flew into an adjacent airport. We flew into Melbourne instead of Orlando. We got in after midnight then took a Lyft to the hotel an hour away. Due to the time change and daylight savings we didn’t get in until 3:30AM. I was determined to get to this conference.
It was an amazing experience. Learning what others do to take visiting the eye doctor and optical from ordinary to extraordinary. I came home with so many great ideas that I hope to put into play as the year goes on.
I also got to have a bit of fun while I was there. I goaded a fellow attendee into riding a ride called the SlingShot with me. As we stepped up to the ride I started to have misgivings. It didn’t look like it was the best taken care of and the seats were a bit torn up. The harness over my shoulders was a bit loose and the belt that locked it in was a bit worn. It made me wonder about safety. However, we took a ride anyways.
Exactly as the name implies it shoots you up hundreds of feet into the air. I think I may have damaged my friend’s hearing on his right side. He said I screamed so loud he did scream because he wouldn’t have been able to hear himself. I may be little but my lungs are quite powerful.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience that I intend to repeat every year going forward.
It’s an extra busy month because we (Julie, Lauren, and I) leave on Thursday to go to Vision Expo East. This gives us the opportunity to search out new and exciting brands and get the team hyped up. I’ll let you know how it goes. James will still be in the office to take contact lens orders, books appointments, dispense contacts or glasses if needed. The whole team will be back on Monday.
If you would like to book and appointment you can call/text 512-651-5186 , email appointment@westlakehillsvision.com , or click the book appointment link in the side bar.
