1:30min
By Andrew Hogan
National President
Since becoming president of Optometry Australia, I’ve been asked a lot of questions and most of them have been sensible. I can’t guarantee that all my answers have been but I hope at least they have shown my enthusiasm for the task ahead.
One question that keeps popping up is: What is your vision for Optometry Australia going forward? It’s been interesting to pause and actually think about where I would like our association to be a year or two from now.
I think the real answer is: somewhere different but better. Change is inevitable and as an association we have to manage that change so that the different place we end up is better than where we are now. Some events are beyond our control but our actions and reactions to those events are not.
There’s a lot of talk in the tech industry these days about ‘disruption’. We have not even begun to see the sort of disruptive technology in optometry that has affected other industries.
Most people know I am passionate about communication. Last year, I gave a talk to a secondary school class about podcasts and digital broadcasting. My key message was that for the first time in history, there is no barrier to broadcasting. There is no gatekeeper any more; anyone with a smartphone and an internet connection can start a podcast or a YouTube channel.
Traditional media has had to adapt and our profession will be no different. Social media is another area that has completely changed the way we communicate, and let’s not get started on Fake News!
I hope to catch up with as many members as possible over the coming year at our conferences. If you want to get in touch with me, I am, not surprisingly, all over social media and I encourage all members to connect with Optometry Australia on as many digital platforms as possible.