ABOUT US       CONTACT US       DISCLAIMER       HOME PAGE       NEWS AND VIEWS       SEARCH       UNIVERSITY OF DIVERSITY
   

EyewearProfessionals.com

Hari S. Bird, Optician
and Eyewear Genie


"To serve is to succeed."

"It's time to shift our thinking.
It's time to get our shift together.
It's time for eyewear professionals
to become agents of change going forward;
it's time to return to the days of providing full service;
to improve our hands-on craftsmanship skills; it's time
for those who know to teach those who do not know; and
it's time for those who do not know to surrender their ego."

A Brief Personal History

I am an octogenarian native of the Midwest. I am also a Sikh minister and chaplain. My career as an optician began following active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps and subsequent employment with an American Optical Company Branch Laboratory in 1958. I spent more than two years in all phases of Laboratory operations as a Lab Technician, which included hand surfacing, power generation, hand stone and automatic edging, bench work, finishing, final inspection and hands on the Patient custom fitting. At that time AO and B&L, Bausch and Lomb, laboratories dispensed eyewear to the public at the request of MD's and OD's. (See OpticianryToday.com for additional background. See My Two Sense. See EyewearGenie.com.)

I then became the Manager of an AO Branch Laboratory, and later a Sales Rep for American Optical lenses, frames, and ophthalmic instruments. I subsequently returned to Ophthalmic Dispensing with a joint MD-OD practice. I hold active optician licenses in Florida and Arizona. I am also ABO, American Board of Opticianry, and NCLE, National Contact Lens Examiners certified. I am affiliated with POF, Professional Opticians of Florida, as an instructor. I have several years experience as the owner of an independent, privately operated Ophthalmic Dispensary, and more recently as a licensed optician for a retail optical chain. I currently teach workshops in the skillful art of handcrafting and form-fitting eyewear directly on the patient.

"The real challenge for any optician is to take a symmetrically 4-point
squared device and handcraft it to fit an asymmetrically shaped surface."

I am a passionate advocate of a) the resurgence of the optician as a genuinely skilled Eyewear Professional as opposed to today's Dispensers who are trained mostly as eyeglass merchants, b) resurgence of the Full Discovery and Disclosure Life-style Interview and Design of prescription eyewear, c) conscientiously handcrafted, Hands on the Patient delivery of prescription eyewear, and d) more effective handcrafted Hands on the Patient in-residency training for aspiring opticians in the custom design of lenses and the art and craft of handcrafting eyeglass frames to fit.

See My Two Sense. See TimeForCraftsmanship.com. See OpticalGuidelines.com. I am an Optician Training Consultant, and I am also a KRI certified teacher of Kundalini Yoga. BTW: Any skilled optician interested in teaching their dispensing skills can contact me at LinkedIn.com.

"For the last few decades our collective
mindset has manifested as, 'Divided we stand...
united we fall.' We must shift to, 'United we stand...
divided we fall,’ as our paradigm." See 1Plus1Equals11.com.

"The mere act of teaching implies that one wishes the world well." Roger Rosenblatt

"It is incumbent on those who know to teach those who do not know." Hari Singh Bird

See My Code of Ethics. See TimeForCraftsmanship.com. See EyewearGenie.com. See Optical Workshops.com. See DispensingGuidelines.com. See EyeExaminationOnline.com. See Shift Happens. See GlassesOnlineWarning.com. See SikhsShine.com. See Who Are Sikhs on CNN.)

POINTS TO PONDER

Opticianry is defined by how well the eyewear makes contact with the patient.
"All Opticianry is local. Eyeglass consumers need and deserve the following:
a) Optician-assisted, in-depth lifestyle interview;
b) Optician-assisted, design and selection;
c) Handcrafted, form-fitting eyewear;
d) Free lifetime adjustments and
minor repair services, none of
which are available online."
OpticalGuidelines.com

All Opticianry is local.

"Service is any human activity which
contributes to the well-being of another, i.e.,
anything we do that lightens somebody's load."

"An optician's first purpose is to serve as a
highly skilled Health and Wellness Professional."

"It's time to end the lecture-only-training of opticians.
It's time for opticians to get hands-on, tactile training in
order to re-
humanize the dispensing of prescription eyewear,
thereby reducing outsourcing of the Rx to Web-based providers."

"More and more eyewear is being purchased online.
The number one complaint of brick-and-mortar patrons ...
'Nobody adjusted my glasses. They just handed them to me.'
So, for these consumers there's little difference between the service
they receive in many of today's dispensaries and buying glasses online."

"Opticianry is ultimately defined by how well the eyewear makes
contact with the patient, not by the number of customers served.
Therefore, a conscious, precise, and personalized process of frame
selection, lens design, and in-place, hands-on fitting is required. In too
many cases obsessive and unrealistic sales goals override the optician's
mission of providing skillful hands-on health care, whereby the personalized,
custom fitting of prescription eyewear is given only minor consideration, if any."

"The customized fitting of eyewear involves more than just adjusting a nose
piece or bending a temple. It has to include the reshaping, bending, stretching,
twisting and artful sculpting of the frame components in order to personalize the
eyewear. Anything less will most likely compromise the patient's visual comfort
and long term wear-ability. The difference between adjusting and customizing is
what's different between today's eyewear merchants and yesterday's opticians."

"If you will recall, Opticianry is ultimately defined by how well
the eyewear fits the Patient. So, the real issue for opticians and
Consumers to consider, is not whether prescription eyewear can be
purchased in stores or online. The real issue is the current deficiency
in the delivery of eyewear due to the absence of the craftsmanship
and skills required to dispense form-fitting eyewear to the Consumer.
The real challenge for any optician is to take a symmetrically 4-point
squared device and handcraft it to fit an asymmetrically shaped face.
The answer is hands-on training, hands-on training, hands-on training.
It's time for those opticians who know to teach those who do not know.

And it is time for any opticians who do not know to surrender their egos.
It's been predicted that if opticians fail to practice customizing eyewear to
fit the Patient, Opticianry will become irrelevant as a healthcare profession."

"Dentists, Manicurists and Hairstylists make direct, tactile contact with the
consumer. Likewise, opticians must make direct contact with the Patient.
Hands on the Patient Opticians, can determine by sense of touch how a
frame feels even in lieu of asking the Patient. Only an eyeglass merchant
routinely hands over prescription glasses with no hands-on assessment,
nor appropriate ‘touch and feel’ required to customize and fit the eyewear."

Opticians must assume responsibility for loss of market share.
Our gradual drift from hands-on services over several decades is
what has contributed directly to our loss of market share, today. We
can't be any more disconnected from hands-on service than the Internet.
The consumer didn't demand or cause this outcome. Opticians abdicated
their direct connection, vis-a-vis insufficient form-fitting eyewear training.
Opticians traded away direct, personal contact as providers of health care
services to PATIENTS for marketing merchandise to CUSTOMERS. Our focus is
now more on Selling than it is on Serving. Opticians must regain the lost balance.
The future of Opticianry is quite literally and figuratively in the hands of opticians.
It's incumbent on those skilled opticians who know to teach those who do not know.
And it is just as equally incumbent on those who do not know to surrender their ego.

 

A SPECIAL NOTE

As a senior Ophthalmic Healthcare Professional and founder of EyewearGenie.com, Optical Course.com, Optical Workshops.com, and OpticalGuidelines.com, I am interested in sharing my experience in the dispensing of handcrafted prescription eyewear. If you are a Practitioner who needs additional training or consultation, or you need assistance in order to regain market share and improve the profitability of your practice, please visit OpticianryToday.com and DispensingGuidelines.com, then click, or call Opticians For Change at 855-410-2700 to discuss and-or arrange a Workshop session for your staff.

FREE ONLINE COURSES
For Eyewear Professionals

By Opticians For Change




Whatever happened to old-fashioned
Hands on the Patient Opticianry?

Contact Lens Care and Compliance

Eyewear For Hard-To-Fit Patients

NCLE No Fee CEs For Opticians

The Rap on Wrap-arounds

Sunwear Is Not An Option

About Professional Egos

Time For Craftsmanship

              


   

Books, lectures and tests can take an Optician's skills only so far.

It is time for touch-and-feel, Hands on the Patient training.
Only one on one craftsmanship training provides this.
Craftsmanship cannot be learned virtually.

"Handcrafted frame fitting, i.e., touch and feel, hands-on dispensing,
cannot be outsourced to lectures or virtual sources. It is an art form,
which requires actual and multi-dimensional contact with the patient."

HANDS ON THE PATIENT WORKSHOP TRAINING AVAILABLE HERE
"It is incumbent on those who know, to teach those who do not know.
It is incumbent on those who do not know to surrender their ego."

American Board of Opticianry accredited and Florida State Board approved CE hours
for Intermediate and Advanced Level Opticians in Handcrafted Frame Fitting are
currently offered under the sponsorship of POF, the Professional Opticians of
Florida. Click or Call
855-410-2700 to arrange for Training Session.

"The job of a teacher is to poke, provoke, confront and elevate." -- Yogi Bhajan

"It is incumbent on those who know to teach those who do not know. It is
incumbent on those who do not know to surrender their ego." -- Hari Singh

    

      

         

More Web sites by
KhalsaWebMasters.com

SAAAP.org Dieterata.com
AllIsOne.guru HariSingh.com
TheISites.com SikhTribes.com
SopaSeca.com SikhSongs.com
UbuntuAge.com WaheGuru.guru
UntoInfinity.com NarayanOil.com
LeftOfMaya.com SikhsShine.com
LivtarSingh.com
3HOHistory.com
EyesOnPies.com Turbanators.com
SikhAnthem.com IsolatedSeer.com
BroadPoints.com 13EkOngKar.com
Obama43To1.com SoothingSpa.com
HariKaurBird.com ChardeeKala.com
OpticalViews.com 2020ForEyes.com
KhalsaVision.com SPIRITofGRD.com
GuruRamDas.com LakeKillarney.com
DualityOptics.com HariSinghBird.com
MySikhSense.com
RamDasSingh.com
BigotDetector.com
BeYourAllness.com
3DDispensing.com
LandOfAwwws.com
Interior-Guard.com SatKartarSingh.com
OpticalCourse.com DrRamonIbarra.com
MiriPiriWarrior.com FitItAndForgetIt.com
1IsTheAnswer.com OpticianryToday.com
SatNamMeans.com WordPhysiology.com
KaliYugaSigns.com JustAddedWater.com
SiriSinghSahib.com EyewearMoodys.com
1And1Equals11.com PreetKaurKhalsa.com
CloseOrderDrill.com WhiteTantraYoga.com
RamDhanSingh.com 3HOLegacyLinks.com
2020ForWomen.com TheMahanTantric.com
HangupsByHari.com SiriMantraForLife.com
DownWithCarbs.com
WhoAreTheSikhs.com
ACTForDiversity.com OpticianryReview.com
AdiShaktiMantra.com 2020ForOpticians.com
ScienceOfMudra.com OpticalGuidelines.com
OneIsTheAnswer.com GuruGobindSingh.com
ScienceOfMantra.com OpticalWorkshops.com
GuruGaitriMantra.com KirpalSinghKhalsa.com
OohRahMemorial.com SimranKaurKhalsa.com
WeProcessLoans.com
SatpalSinghKhalsa.com
AkalCommittee13.com SadhanaGuidelines.com
GurdwaraSecurity.com YouAreTheEssence.com
AmarSinghKhalsa.com KundaliniYogapedia.com
DiversityDialogues.org StFrancisOfficePark.com
SensitivitySummit.com ToTheSweetestMom.com
AwtarSinghKhalsa.com YogiBhajansTeacher.com
SurvivalCampUSA.com OpticalShiftHappens.com
KhalsaWebMasters.com AllForOneWonForAll.com
MasculineMoments.com DrinkingDrivingDead.com
AhaMomentOfTruth.com MyInterviewWithGod.com
HairInLaysTheTruth.com SaTaNaMaMeditation.com
PartnersNotParents.com FaceBlindnessIsReal.com
ToTheSweetestWife.com ToServeIsToSucceed.com
EachMomentIsAGift.com ServingVersusSelling.com
SikhAndYeShallFind.com SukhmaniKaurKhalsa.com
OpticiansForChange.com LakesideManorOnline.com
HappinessIsTheRule.com EyeWearProfessionals.com
AtTheFeetOfTheYogi.com SecurityAdvisoryTeam.com
SiriGuruGranthSahib.guru ReligionDemographics.com
RaMaDaSaMeditation.com TimeForCraftsmanship.com
UniversityOfDiversity.com FirstSikhOfSikhDharma.com
YogiTeaByYogiBhajan.com
AkalCommitteeThirteen.com
DispensingGuidelines.com HealthEqualsHappiness.com
CourageousDialogues.com GoodGuysWearTurbans.com
SatKriyaByYogiBhajan.com AquarianAgeBeganHere.com
IfYouKnowWhoYouAre.com ButterflyEffectExplained.com
EyeExaminationOnline.com FirstTeachersAreWomen.com
GlassesOnlineWarning.com SugarIsAFourLetterWord.com
IDoNotEatDeadAnimals.com SikhWomenWearTurbans.com
MoreThanYouCanKnow.com WomenWimpsOrWarriors.com
OpticiansForThePeople.com CosmicCyclesAndCircles.com
OnsiteFamilyHealthcare.com TheAfterDeathExperience.com
SantSipahiAdvisoryTeam.com IAmABornAgainAmerican.com
KirtanKriyaByYogiBhajan.com TestYourKnowledgeOnline.com
SatHanumanSinghKhalsa.com LifeAccordingToYogiBhajan.com
TextingAndDrivingIsCrazy.com NowYouKnowThatYouKnow.com
ItsAllAboutMeNotAboutYou.com KundaliniYogaByYogiBhajan.com
WordsOfWisdomAndHumor.com
IfYourDadDoesntHaveABeard.com
CrucifixionByAnEyewitness.com EndOfPrideAndPrejudiceIsNigh.com
GodAndMeMeAndGodAreOne.com EkOngKarSatNamSiriWaheGuru.com
ReachOutAndTouchSomebody.com TheTechnologyOfConsciousness.com
ConsciousCommunicationGuidelines.com OneIsTheAnswerWhatIsTheQuestion.com

   ®
Khalsa
WebMasters.com

© All rights reserved
.

web statistics
 

 

ABOUT US       CONTACT US       DISCLAIMER       HOME PAGE       NEWS AND VIEWS       SEARCH       UNIVERSITY OF DIVERSITY