Record success for ODMA ‘25

Trotman said holding ODMA’s larger biennial event in Sydney for the first time since 2017, together with the space and central location offered by the ICC, probably helped draw a larger crowd. This year’s fair also featured more than 85 exhibitors, both large and small, and welcomed more than 700 industry participants. It was also timed to coincide with the annual Australasian College of Behavioural Optometrists (ACBO) conference (see p28) and Super Sunday conference, hosted by Optometry NSW ACT.

“It’s been a great success. We’ve also seen more people from individual practices attending,” said Trotman, adding that anecdotally she’d also heard a lot of praise for ODMA’s more practice-focused education sessions, which were all well attended.

The importance of embracing AI

A key theme of ODMA25’s business-focused education strand was AI and how it can be used in everyday practice. Australian media personality and self-confessed ‘maths geek’ Adam Spencer opened the conference with an overview of ‘How the technical revolution is changing business forever’.

A thought-provoking, informative and thoroughly enjoyable breakfast session, Spencer quoted former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, saying, “The pace of change has never been this fast, yet it will never be this slow again”. How you deal with that, however, is quite literally your business, he said, especially given that for the next generation, all this AI-tech and what it can do will just be normal.

“You can’t afford to be scared of these things… 90% of us don’t get what more than 10% of the technology can do,” said Spencer, but the organisations that survive will be the ones that embrace change. Have conversations with the younger members of your team, he said. “You’ll be surprised what ideas they come up with.”

This theme was echoed by progressive dispensing optician and practice owner Grant Hannaford, who kicked of his talk, ‘Future trends – threat or opportunity? AI, teleoptometry and embracing change’ by saying technology is only a threat if you don’t embrace it. “It’s like any other change; you have to be a part of what’s happening… organisations who put their head in the sand don’t survive.”

Practical education for practices

Across ODMA’s three educational strands, Business, Practice Management and Dispensing, the most well attended sessions included: ‘How to become a business owner’, ‘Optimising inventory’, ‘The Patient Journey’ (also given by Adam Spencer), ‘Establishing your practice point of difference’, ‘21st century tools for the optical dispenser’, ‘How to compete with the corporates’ and ‘Marketing to Gen Z in 2025’. ODMA’s first ever ‘Women in optics breakfast – sustaining wellbeing’ and ‘Frame repair workshops’ were so popular they sold out!

That’s what sets ODMA’s education programme apart, said Trotman. Eyecare professionals are given a lot of CPD, clinical information and general knowledge, but they still need to know how to use that in their businesses, she said. “All our speakers are people who have done and are still doing that. It’s where we stand out. It’s been really heart-warming to see them sharing their knowledge like that.”

There’s still such a need for events like ODMA’s, said Trotman, for that human connection and leveraging practical knowledge. It’s also important for ODMA members as it provides one place each year where their sales teams can meet so many customers and prospective customers in one go. That’s why the few spin-off events that happened nearby, held by non-members or members who decided not to participate in the 2025 fair, were so disappointing, she said. “These simply leverage all the investment their peers have made. That’s not supporting the industry, that’s not collaborating; it simply upsets everyone, including many of the practices, and it doesn’t help the industry as a whole to survive.”

That said, given the success of this year’s ODMA fair, Trotman said she was looking forward to next year’s smaller, more boutique O-Show event, which is returning to Melbourne from Sunday 16 to Monday 17 August.