Robin Raskin.

NEW YORK—Three leading technology experts will share their insights about the metaverse and the opportunities it offers brands at the virtual Vision Monday Leadership Summit on October 27. Robin Raskin, founder of the Virtual Events Group and a leading observer of consumer technology trends, will kick off the session by giving Summit attendees a peek inside the metaverse, including a brand experience, an event experience, a game experience for advertising and a fully immersive open-ended experience.

Next will be a conversation between globally recognized tech futurist and top business executive Cathy Hackl and Chick Foxgrover, executive vice president, creative technology & innovation at 4A's, who has been dubbed the Godmother of the Metaverse, is one of the top tech voices on LinkedIn. She has deep experience working in metaverse-related fields with companies like HTC VIVE, Magic Leap, and Amazon Web Services.
 
Foxgrover leads the 4A’s outreach to creative technology and innovation professionals in advertising, focusing on the discovery of important advances in digital marketing. He serves 4A’s members with creative technology insights and best practices, analyses of major technology conferences and speaks at digital and technology conferences such as CES, SXSW and Chief Digital Officer Forum.

 
Cathy Hackl.
 Chick Foxgrover.

Another highlight of the Summit will be a discussion about the way retailing and brands have been upended since the advent of the pandemic, which has redefined the relationship of consumers to stores and brands. The program will examine "What's the Store For?" with a special outside-optical expert.

Wrapping up the two-hour session, a panel of leading ECPs and optical retailers will share how they are prioritizing investment decisions in this new business environment. They will include Mick Hall, VP of Bard Optical; Brian Chou, OD of Revision Optometry; Aaron Schubach, CEO of Standard Optical; and Michael Bender, CEO of Eyemart Express.

The October 27 event is the second in a pair of dynamic virtual VM Summit sessions in October, "Retail and Healthcare: Upended! Ripping Up the Rulebook." Part 1, to be broadcast Oct. 20, will feature speakers who will illuminate new patterns and possibilities for the patient journey, what health care is learning from retail and how new remote monitoring systems and wearables are directly involving the patient in managing care with their doctors.

And, with misinformation proliferating, speakers will examine how the pandemic has put patients’ trust to the test and how providers can help counter this challenge. Speakers will include Jennifer Hauser, general manager of Health and director of Edelman’s Wellness 360 and John Whyte, MD, MPH, chief medical officer, of WebMD; Ankit Vahia, PhD, executive strategy director, health and wellness, Grey Group; Mohamed Shousha, MD, founder, Heru; Amir Khoshnevis, OD, chief medical officer, Vision Source; John Serri, founder and CEO, EyeQue; and Mukesh Pitroda, senior director, Nerdery.

Both virtual sessions extend the 2021 VM Summit series of conversations and presentations under the theme "Creative Disruption," in exclusive two-hour programs designed to help business and professional leaders as they continue to manage through with the impact of the pandemic and the changes it has escalated in both retail and health care.

The October sessions follow two additional Virtual VM Leadership Summit events held earlier this year. "VirtualEYZE!," first held in June, which was a focused look at the opportunities for telehealth to expand eyecare's boundaries, and "ALL CONSUMED," held in August, a deep and fascinating dive into the new consumer mindset in a lot of areas. Each brought great and different speakers plus enlightening conversation from ECP/retailer panels. Registered users can access these On-Demand, in full or in part, through the end of the year.

Registration is open for the Oct. 20 and Oct. 27 VM Leadership Summit virtual events. All details for registration are posted here.
 
Registration includes attendance to the virtual broadcasts, full access to the VM Summit virtual platform, networking, on-demand viewing, door prizes, and exclusive access to attendees-only content after the event.
 
All those attendees previously registered for what was to have been a live Sept. 22 event in Las Vegas have been automatically registered for the two-part virtual event in October. Those ECPs who previously registered for the June and August event will be automatically registered for the October two-part virtual events.
 
New registrations are available at no charge for optometrists, opticians, ophthalmologists and students. New registrations are available for $198 to non-ECPs.
 
The Platinum Sponsors of the 2021 VM Leadership Summit are EssilorLuxottica, Healthy Eyes Advantage-PECAA and VSP Global Premier Program. The Gold Sponsor is The Vision Council's Vision Health Alliance and the Silver Sponsors are Alcon and Ocuco.