The Crowne Plaza Queenstown will host the 2026 edition of SnowViz

New Zealand’s coolest boutique vision conference, SnowViz (formerly Snowvision) returns 5–8 August 2026, organised by Ryan Lester, Francis Hassan, Richard Johnson, Grant Watters and Greg Nel.

While the name might be new (due to the necessity of forming a new company and similarities with another business name), the format and the purpose of the conference remain the same, said Lester. “We will continue to provide the most up-to-date CPD and push boundaries in our morning and evening sessions mixed up with a mid-day skiing/outdoor activity break. Content and activities will be fresh and there will be new things to learn for both early-career optometrists and the more experienced.”

The conference’s close ties to the State University of New York (SUNY) also remain. “SUNY will continue to provide speakers and, as in the past, profits from the conference go towards the annual scholarship to send a couple of New Zealand optometrists per year to SUNY,” he said.

“We have some great sponsors who have stepped up already but if there is anyone in the industry who would like to be part of the event, we would love to have a chat!” Lester said.

Hosted at the Crowne Plaza Queenstown, conference lectures will start on 6 August in the morning. The popular event dinner will be on the evening of 8 August. More info and website to follow later this year. Please contact Lester ryan@suckling.co.nz or Hassan francis.hassan@matthews.co.nz for any enquiries.