ORLANDO, Fla., May 31, 2023 – Transitions Academy 2023 brought together over 1,100
industry experts from 50 countries around the world last week at the J.W. Marriott Grande Lakes
in Orlando, Fla. The three-day, invitation-only event themed “Lights on Tomorrow” provided
industry professionals with the opportunity to expand their knowledge through expert
presentations, inspiring guest speakers, and Transitions ® product and professional development
workshops. The winners of the 2022 Transitions Innovation Awards were also announced
during the event.
Chrystel Barranger, president, Transitions Optical, and EssilorLuxottica Professional Solutions
EMEA, began Monday morning’s opening session by welcoming attendees from around the
world to Transitions Academy.
“Transitions Academy is always such an inspirational, high energy and happy moment bringing
together forever fans and first timers from all over the world,” said Barranger.
“Today, the change acceleration is so fast, the tech disruption is so impressive that we wonder
what tomorrow will be made of. That’s why we have chosen to put a light on tomorrow, to see
the possibility and best foresee our next moves.”
Transitions and industry experts shined “Lights on Tomorrow” exploring the latest in the science
of light, new color attitude, style avant-garde with the perfect pair, the future of phygital
technology and learning and focused eyes on the planet and sustainability. Other speakers
included:
Federico Buffa, director, R&D and Product Development, EssilorLuxottica
Brian O’Neill, vice president, Global Innovation, Technology & Operations, Transitions
Coralie Barrau, innovation manager, R&D Light Management, EssilorLuxottica
Jérôme Butez, vice president, Global Marketing, Transitions
Tod Schulman, creative director, Pantone Color Institute
Fahem Ben Messaoud, vice president, Global Digital, Business Innovation, E-commerce
and IT, Transitions
Denis Cohen-Tannoudji, senior vice president, Emerging Technologies, EssilorLuxottica
Chris King, director, Education, Global Marketing, Transitions
Isabelle Dekker, director, Business Development, Transitions
Adrian Gleeson, director, Global Operations, Transitions
Throughout the two days, breakout courses were offered including:
Transitions Glow Up: Lights on Customer Experience, Brooke Carrasco, O.D.,
EssilorLuxottica; Bidisha Rudra, Ph.D, M.A., senior managing director, Transitions
commercial sales; Stephen Tackett, director, NAM channel, Transitions. This course
showed how to Glow Up a practice by providing a complete picture of the
education/training, in-store and digital merchandising tools that Transitions offers to
create an elevated customer experience.
Transitions Light Expert: Lights on Vision, Joshua Hazel, instrumentation technical
services manager, Transitions; Pete Kehoe, O.D., Kehoe Eye Care; Lucie Laborne,
global associate director, innovation marketing, Transitions. Attendees gained a deeper
understanding of how light affects patients’ visual experiences, the underlying science
behind these interactions, and how Transitions provides the innovative light
management solutions your patients need.
Transitions Stylist: Lights on the Perfect Pair, Chris King, marketing director, global
education, Transitions; Jean-Gabriel Causse, writer, artist and designer, international
specialist in color; Agnieszka Dubas, global brand experience manager, Transitions;
Lucile Van Deuren, global associate director, brand activation & events, Transitions.
Attendees explored how colors influence our daily lives and discovered the power of
Transitions as the center of the perfect pair—combining color, vision experience,
protection and style—learning how to become a Transitions Stylist—an expert on
creating flair for the perfect pair.
The Transitions Brand Experience immersed attendees in Transitions products, the
latest technologies, in-store experience and educational resources.
Lights On Data: Making Numbers Come Alive, Shawn Devine, senior and master
facilitator, Training Edge, explored the importance of understanding what data means
and how to create an “audience-centric” story to make numbers come alive.
Lights on Building an Effective Team Dynamic, Rebecca Armacost, executive coach,
expert facilitator, and senior faculty member, Leadership Development Institute at
Eckerd College. This session explored what it means to “play to our strengths” and to
learn what is right with us. The process of identifying strengths is the smallest thing we
can do to make the biggest difference in productivity and fulfillment for individuals, teams
and organizations.
Monday’s session concluded with a keynote “Light the Future: The Age of Infinity,” from
disruption strategist Shawn Kanungo. Kanungo provided an optimistic roadmap for the future.
He explored how we can take unexpected approaches to innovation, leveraging it to transform
the way we communicate, collaborate, and revolutionize our industry.
Transitions Academy opened Tuesday morning with Chrystel Barranger hosting a talk with
industry leaders including:
Ernesto Diaz, president, Wholesale LATAM, EssilorLuxottica
Sherianne James, chief marketing officer, senior vice president, Wholesale North
America, EssilorLuottica
Igor Loshak, vice president, International Sales and Marketing, Younger Optics
Fabrizio Ugozzoni, president, Wholesale North American, EssilorLuxottica
Anne-Sophie Carena, brand director, Global Marketing, Transitions and Rose Harris, senior
director, North America Marketing, Transitions continued the general session by sharing key
consumer and eyecare insights, showing how Transitions can be a strong partner to unleash the
endless possibilities of the future.
Jacob Mann, director, National Retail Sales North America, Transitions, along with Transitions
Academy host Miriam Isa, brought those insights into focus with personal stories and best
practices from eyecare professionals from around the world in a talk show session “Lights On
You,” featuring:
Laurent Dosseville, commercial director, Europe, Transitions
Didier Rosset, opticien, Rosset Opticiens, France
Dr. Keith Smithson, optometrist, Norther Virginia Doctors of Optometry, and co-founder
and partner, Sports Vision Pros, U.S.
Chiara Pastorelli, Pastorelli Ottico, Italy
Jūratė Kersnauskė, Baltoptik, Lithuania
Mr. Woon Pak Seong, optometrist, Vision Space, Malaysia
Magdalena Lipczynska, Head of Medicover Optik and Lynx Optique, Poland
Camelia Hammiche, New Look, Canada
Tuesday’s curriculum concluded with a keynote from Michelle Poler, entrepreneur, brand
strategist, author and founder of Hello Fears. Poler’s keynote, “Fear Less, Do More,” changed
perceptions of fear and inspired action by learning how to prioritize and negotiate with our
needs. Later that evening, Drew Smith, senior director, North America Channels Transitions and
Miriam Isa lead the 2022 Transitions Innovation Awards ceremony, where the winners were
announced.
About Transitions Academy
Transitions Academy is one of the most well-recognized and unique educational events in the
optical industry. Each year, hundreds of industry professionals from across the globe attend to
participate in professional development and product technology workshops, hear from experts
and educators on marketing and industry trends, and learn from their peers and partners during
panel discussions.
About the Transitions ® Brand
Transitions ® eyeglass lenses and shields set new standards of advanced performance to
provide ever increasing visual comfort, and always blocking 100% of UVA and UVB rays.
Product leadership, consumer focus, and operational excellence have made the Transitions ®
brand one of the most recognized consumer brands in optics. For more information about
Transitions ® Light Intelligent Lenses ™ , visit Transitions.com or TransitionsPRO.com.