Much ado about ADONZ

After 2020 came and went, taking with it what was to be a glorious conference in breath-taking Queenstown, we finally got there in 2021. Although Covid prevented a full in-person gathering, the 96 attendees and 46 online participants made it the Association of Dispensing Opticians of New Zealand’s (ADONZ’s) largest conference to date.

With three ADONZ team members online and three in Queenstown, the event retained sufficient structure to be a success, with many learning opportunities along the way. ADONZ president Vineet Chauhan joined us online from beautiful Fiji, while vice president Angela Mitchell was locked down in Auckland on Zoom, as was our amazing conference organiser Hayley, who was confined to Waikato. So we were truly grateful for the technology we have today!

Much ado about ADONZ-adonz-3.jpg — Attending via Zoom, ADONZ president Vineet Chauhan, vice president Angela Mitchell and Hayley Bendall

Firstly, an absolutely massive shout out to all the dispensing opticians (DOs) who continue to support our industry by joining us online. To see everyone contributing via the conference app, from newsfeed photos to questions and comments popping up during the sessions, we all felt like we were still connected. Secondly, thank you to everyone who made the effort to come down to Queenstown and join us in person: your energy made the weekend very special. The fact that most DOs enjoy technical problem-solving really shone through when dealing with the challenges of this hybrid event. For me, the sense of camaraderie and the ability to pull together as one big team was perhaps the biggest highlight of this year’s conference.

The conference started off with a dedicated half day to mingle with the wholesalers, browse their products and share a coffee with those we hadn’t seen for a while - a massive thanks to CR Surfacing and Zeiss for keeping us fed and caffeinated! The Heritage Queenstown’s purpose-built conference facility, the Icon Room, had a stunning view over Lake Wakatipu, but this beauty was not enough to distract us from the great guest speakers and lectures on the agenda.

Much ado about ADONZ-adonz-committee.jpg — The ADONZ committee: Missy King-Turner, Courtney Chellew and Lucie Single with lollipop Vineet Chauhan and Angela Mitchell. Credit: James Allan Photography

An excellent lecture delivered by local optometrist Danielle Winstone and DO Kirsty Pienaar from Ocula was particularly worth singling out, while ANZ Bank’s Nelson-based business training manager Stephen Caunter not only kept us smiling through the whole conference but also had us out of our seats learning about our personality and work behaviour types. I’m asking everyone I know to analyse themselves now, Stephen!

Another worthy mention is John Billings, who was nominated for this year’s International Opticians Association’s Dispensing Optician of the Year. Despite not receiving the award, he made us incredibly proud. John also brought Stevie, a trainee guide dog and an excellent representative. Their presence, as well as a thought-provoking lecture from Blind Low Vision NZ’s John Mulka, convinced us all about the importance of sponsoring a guide dog.

Much ado about ADONZ-john-billings-and-stevie-5.jpg — John Billings and Stevie

Our conference, of course, would not have been complete without an appearance from ACOD directors James Gibbins and Chedy Kalach. Their banter kept things fun and the challenges they set to check our everyday skills were both validating and a good reminder for everyone to continue giving their best.

Social highlights were the gala dinner and student graduation. Queenstown’s weather didn’t let us down for our Skyline night, allowing those who wanted to luge to have a great time while others enjoyed a more sedate sundowner. A huge thank you to ILS for sponsoring the welcome drinks! Local band Mojo had people moving and grooving while we also enjoyed having both Vineet and Angela join us for dinner in the form of lollipop heads which made their way around the room, so no one was left out!

Celebrations and graduations

Having both in-person and online graduates was a first. Their formal welcome to the profession was met with whoops and cheers, including from many of the suppliers who came along. Thank you James Gibbins for MCing from Australia, and a massive thank you to Specsavers for sponsoring students and getting them to the conference. Deserving graduate award winners included first in class Zeisha Jones; second in class Elise Paulin; and third in class Gagan Kapoor. The David Wilson Memorial Award was also presented to Elise Paulin, who not only finished her studies with excellence but who, along with Matt Harp, is also heading the Optiblocks education committee of ADONZ. Finally, a special thank you to Richard Couch for being the graduation’s keynote speaker. The audience was so impressed with what he had to say that Stephen Caunter gave the speech a special mention the following day.

Much ado about ADONZ-adonz-graduates.jpg — 2020/21 graduates Liam Newbury-Hoar, Fololina Kilea, Angela Sullivan, Isobel Black, Kate Jamieson. Credit: James Allan Photography

This year's AGM was a big one! The presidential handover from Vineet to Angela was formalised and a new vice president and secretary/treasurer voted in. Since this year’s nominees were already in executive council positions, this opened up opportunities for new executive council members to be voted in too. I’d also like to make mention of the important contract Vineet secured with MSD for funding employers of new and potential DOs. And of course, the Robert Maher Award for recognition of dedication and service to the industry was well and truly earned by Kristine Hammond.

What an event it was, with lots to celebrate. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone next year in Tauranga – let’s break that record number of attendees once again!

ADONZ councillor and vice-president elect Courtney Chellew has been a DO for more than six years. Her contributions to the profession, including volunteering in the Himalayas in 2017, won her the 2018 Robert Maher Award.