The CCLS committee: Jagrut Lallu, Jacqueline Rowe, Dr Rasha Altaie, Roberta McIlraith, Richard Newson, Adele Jeffries, Eleisha Dudson and Annette Morgan

This year’s congress focused on camaraderie and the sharing of knowledge, which was well achieved considering the society has grown again and this year saw a significant spike in attendees. The CCLS committee would like to thank all those involved with the 2019 congress, including our speakers, sponsors and colleagues for sharing their time and clinical insights.

Some of the highlights at this year’s congress included a new presenter format modelled on the Netherlands Contact Lens Congress (NCC), an app which allowed the delegates to connect with sponsors, take notes and email these directly to themselves and post images of their favourite slides. 

The presentations this year were of a high calibre and the audience was incredibly interactive, while the workshops were designed to be really hands-on with live fitting in two of the four sessions. The dinner also took on a different format as we provided areas for a ‘fork and walk’ approach and plenty of refreshments at the Terrace Kitchen. So far, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, which is very encouraging as we took a few risks to make things special for delegates. 

Committee changes

The committee welcomes Annette Morgan, who has joined us as secretary, splitting former secretary Richard Newson's role, who remains on the board as treasurer.

We thank ophthalmologist Dr Chris Murphy for his service and insight to the society over the last few years and welcome Dr James McKelvie, who presented at this year’s congress on CatTrax, a truly innovative product which will change the way we refer in New Zealand. James has just begun work at the Waikato hospital and Hamilton Eye Clinic and is also working for the University of Auckland’s ophthalmology department.

Roberta McIlraith is the new CCLS president and I would like to personally extend my warmest congratulations and wish her all the best for her two-year term.

CCLS 2019 sponsors

Lastly, on behalf of the committee, I’d like to thank all our CCLS sponsors, without whom this congress wouldn’t have been possible:

• Alcon Vision Care
• Johnson & Johnson Vision (Surgical)
• Ophthalmic Instrument Company
• AFT Pharmaceuticals
• Bausch + Lomb
• CooperVision (for flying over Dr Ian Flitcroft)
• Corneal Lens Corporation NZ
• Designs for Vision
• Device Technologies
• Lumenis
• Optimed NZ
• Toomac Ophthalmic