EYECARE PLUS BOOT CAMP 2025
25 Years Celebration
12-14 September, Parkroyal Darling Harbour
EYECARE PLUS BOOT CAMP 2025
25 YEARS CELEBRATION
12-14 September, Parkroyal Darling Harbour
25 YEARS CELEBRATION
Eyecare Plus is proud to celebrate 25 years at the Eyecare Plus Boot Camp 2025! This milestone event will bring together our members and their staff for an inspiring weekend of learning, networking, and celebration. Join us as we reflect on our journey, embrace the future of eye care, and honour the commitment that has made Eyecare Plus a leader in the industry. Here’s to 25 years – and many more to come!
Eyecare Plus marks this milestone with a special opportunity to thank our membership with $1000 in prizes up for grabs! Every registration counts as an entry. Don’t miss out – secure your spot today!
1st Red Balloon voucher $500
2nd Red Balloon voucher $300
3rd Marketing Plus voucher $200
This year we are also marking 25 years of partnership with Essilor. Right from the beginning of Eyecare Plus, Essilor has been supportive and provided valuable assistance. While much has changed, their commitment remains strong, and we look forward to honouring this partnership throughout the event.
DARLING HARBOUR SYDNEY
AGENDA | PARKROYAL DARLING HARBOUR
Friday 12 September
| Time | Event | Room |
|---|---|---|
|
6:00pm – 7:00pm |
Welcome Drinks |
Pre-Function Area Level R |
|
7:00pm – 10:00pm |
Awards Dinner |
Blackwattle |
Saturday 13 September
| Time | Event | Room |
|---|---|---|
|
6:30am – 7:30am |
Morning walk Darling Harbour |
Meet at reception |
|
7:00am – 10:00am |
Breakfast |
Barkers |
|
8:30am – 9:00am |
Registration and Arrival Tea & Coffee |
Pre-Function Area Level R |
|
9:00am – 9:10am |
Welcome – Martin Gregory |
Blackwattle 1-3 |
|
9:10am – 9:55am |
Essilor Presents – Layne Beachley |
Blackwattle 1-3 |
|
9:55am – 10:40am |
Selling with Integrity – Emma Gillies |
Blackwattle 1-3 |
|
10:40am – 11:10am |
Morning Tea and Focimetry Competition |
Pre-Function Area Level R |
|
11:10am – 12:10am |
How AI is Affecting the Optometry Industry – Inbal Rodnay |
Blackwattle 1-3 |
|
12:10pm – 12:30pm |
Eyecare Plus Founder Interview – Tony Hanks, Nick Hansen & Damian Morgan |
Blackwattle 1-3 |
|
12:30pm – 1:30pm |
Lunch and Focimetry Competition |
Barkers |
|
1:30pm – 2:15pm |
Plenary – Employee Focus: Preventing Performance Problems – Kayley Riddle |
Blackwattle 1-2 |
|
2:15pm – 2:35pm |
Plenary – From Eye Exam to Recall: Systemise, Automate, Communicate – Peter McKay |
Blackwattle 1-2 |
|
2:35pm – 3:00pm |
Plenary – Spectacle Guarantee – Emma Slinger |
Blackwattle 1-2 |
|
1:30pm – 2:15pm |
Breakout 1 – Dispensing Atypical Prescriptions: Specialty Lenses Case Studies – Rayleen Tamblyn |
Blackwattle 3 |
|
2:15pm – 3:00pm |
Breakout 1 – How Ocular Anatomy and Pathology Impacts Dispensing – Chedy Kalach |
Blackwattle 3 |
|
1:30pm – 2:15pm |
Breakout 2 – Customer Management & Experience |
Rose Bay |
|
2:15pm – 3:00pm |
Breakout 2 – Handling Difficult Conversations |
Rose Bay |
|
3:00pm – 3:30pm |
Afternoon Tea and Focimetry Competition |
Pre-Function Area Level R |
|
3:30pm – 4:30pm |
Generational Marketing – Katrina McCarter |
Blackwattle 1-3 |
|
4:30pm – 4:50pm |
Marketing Plus Update – Isobel Bishop |
Blackwattle 1-3 |
|
4:50pm – 5:00pm |
Eyecare Plus Closing Comments – Philip Rose |
Blackwattle 1-3 |
|
5:00pm – 6:30pm |
Free Time |
|
|
6:30pm – 7:00pm |
Pre Dinner Drinks |
Pre Function Area Level R |
|
7:00pm – 11:00pm |
25 Years Celebration Dinner |
Blackwattle 1-3 |
Sunday 14 September
| Time | Event | Room |
|---|---|---|
|
7:00am – 10:00am |
Breakfast |
Barkers |
|
9:00am – 10:30am |
Member Meeting |
Rose Bay |
*Conference Agenda subject to change (more detail will be added to the agenda as it becomes available).
Dress Code
Friday night Awards Dinner, Saturday Boot Camp and Sunday
Member Meeting — smart casual
Saturday night 25 Years Celebration Dinner – cocktail
SPEAKERS
Layne Beachley
Layne Beachley is one of Australia’s most iconic and trusted voices in personal transformation and resilience. A 7-time world surfing champion – and the only surfer, male or female, to win six consecutive world titles – Layne has built a legacy that transcends sport.
Her accolades include 29 world tour victories, multiple Hall of Fame inductions, and, most recently, Surfing Australia Life Membership in 2024. As the first and only woman to receive this honour, she is a true legend both in and out of the water.
Beyond her athletic achievements, Layne is a passionate advocate for mental wellbeing. She serves as an ambassador for The Black Dog Institute, RUOK? Day, and Gotcha4Life. She continues to inspire through her transformational platform, Awake Academy, and her work as a mentor, media personality, and motivational speaker. Her leadership roles include Chair of Surfing Australia and Athlete Liaison Officer for the Australian Olympic Team.
Layne’s journey – from overcoming adversity to achieving greatness – makes her a compelling and authentic speaker. Her keynotes are raw, relatable, and deeply motivating, offering practical tools and heartfelt insights to help audiences navigate life’s challenges and unlock their full potential.
Inbal Rodnay
Inbal has had a hands-on approach to technology since her first job as a programmer on an airbase writing targeting software for fighter jets. Her experience working with technology in the military gave her a practical and structured understanding of how to best apply it in business.
Inbal loves to get arm’s deep in the latest technologies such as Chat GPT, Bard, MidJourney, etc., and work out how to bring it into real-world applications, such as creating robotic process automations for 300-seat firms or creating productivity shortcuts with generative AI.
With clients including CA ANZ, CPA Australia and BDO, Inbal has helped some of the world’s most successful firms understand the practical impact of AI and how to adjust their operations accordingly.
Inbal regularly speaks at conferences in Australia and New Zealand and often shares the stage with technology CEOs of listed companies.
Inbal has spoken to over 30,000 people since 2017, and is known for her humorous, pragmatic and insightful style. She breaks down technical topics into practical examples that are highly relatable to a professional audience.
Inbal’s point of difference is that she understands technology from three perspectives; as a board director, a practitioner, and a programmer.
Katrina McCarter
From her first job collecting golf balls to saving enough by age 16 from her after-school KFC for a trip to New York, Katrina McCarter has always known how to make money. Now, as an award-winning international speaker and strategist, she shares the invaluable marketing strategies and insights learned from her days as a sales chief running a $140 million team for a Fortune 100 company and building her own successful businesses. She cuts through the faff to provide practical steps and action to remove marketing overwhelm.
What sets Katrina apart? Via her own research agency, she’s the data driven strategist and collaboration navigator focused on realistic implementation, resilience and real results.
In the realm of successful marketing, customer data is the invisible, invaluable compass guiding strategic decisions. By harnessing its power, Katrina gains deep insights into consumer preferences, behaviours and trends to create targeted and relevant marketing strategies that work. Strategies that enhance customer understanding, optimise budget allocations and can be realistically implemented.
Katrina has reached audiences of thousands across the US, Europe and Australia. She’s shared the stage with the likes of Google, Facebook and Audible in New York and Paris. With multiple bestselling books sold globally and a client base including Nissan, NAB, Big 4 Holiday Parks and Thermomix, her research and insights are sought after by small business owners and big business alike.
A five-time B&T Women in Media Awards finalist, Top 50 Small Business Leader and one of Remodista’s 100 Women to Watch in Business Disruption, Katrina is the real substance, no nonsense marketer who loves sharing with audiences her actionable steps to eliminate marketing overwhelm. To navigate the marketing minefield. To build businesses, reputations and visibility.
So, Katrina is armed to the teeth with qualifications, experience, expertise and accolades. She’s human. She’s real. She’s authentic. She’s really good at informing, inspiring and educating audiences on research-backed strategies that remove overwhelm.
Emma Gillies
As an accomplished optometrist and academic, Emma has over 20-years of experience educating professionals and changing lives in the healthcare industry. Emma extended her practical experience with corporate senior leadership roles with Luxottica Group, Johnson & Johnson and Visioneering Technologies, and became accredited in training, facilitation and NLP to deliver impactful outcomes.
Emma established Purple Key Consulting in 2018 through which she provides executive coaching, corporate training in sales and leadership and human dynamics. Emma works with people to understand their thinking and behavioural preferences, EQ, and aspirations, helping them to use their strengths to better understand and connect with customers. She is also an experienced public speaker and has educated, motivated and inspired delegates through speaking engagements across the Asia Pacific region.
Tony Hanks
Tony Hanks is the founder of Eyecare Plus and also served as the group’s first Chairman during its establishment period. Prior to his retirement in 2016, Tony enjoyed a career committed to supporting full scope optometry with an emphasis on quality clinical care as a point of difference.
As an optometrist with Australian and American degrees, he has worked in contact lens research and also published and lectured around the world. Tony and his wife Vicki established and conducted the successful “Hanks Optometrists” practices in NSW and Queensland; started the Australian Optometric Panel in 1985; and then developed this idea of professional cooperation in 2000 by establishing the nationwide Eyecare Plus group.
Tony also served on the Australian committee and the Global Development Board for the Optometry Giving Sight charity. His commitment to optometry was recognised by the Optometrists Association with the “2006 Josef Lederer Award for Excellence in Optometry”; by the Governor General in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours with an “Order of Australia” medal for “for significant commitment, dedication and meritorious service to optometry and the community”; and by the Australian College of Optometry with “Honorary Life Membership” in 2012.
Chedy Kalach
Chedy began his optical life over twenty years ago, when he first qualified as an Orthoptist in 2001, and soon after moved into the retail and spectacle sphere of Optical Dispensing. Working with both corporate chains and independent practices, Chedy’s passion for learning and growth led him to begin his teaching career in 2009. This path has seen Chedy teach across a variety of institutes in both Australia and New Zealand. Chedy is passionate about the Optical Dispensing profession and loves seeing trainee dispensers achieve in the profession. This passion has culminated with Chedy, in partnership with James Gibbins, founding Australasia’s largest school of optical dispensing – The Australasian College of Optical Dispensing (ACOD), enrolling students throughout Australia and New Zealand, and seeing the Optical Dispensing industry grow and thrive.
Rayleen Tamblyn
Rayleen is an Optical Trainer with the Australasian College of Optical Dispensing (ACOD) and a qualified Optical Dispenser with vast experience in the industry and leadership.
Rayleen began her career in the early 2000’s as an Optical Assistant in a small chain optometrist and independent optical practices, giving her a range of dispensing experiences in diverse optical settings. In 2008, Rayleen embarked on her career with Specsavers and has been a Retail Manager leading and guiding future dispensers for majority of this time, enabling her to fulfill her passion to provide outstanding quality patient care.
In 2019, Rayleen completed her Optical Dispensing with ACOD. Graduating top 3 of the course that year. Rayleen has since then completed her qualification as a Trainer and Assessor.
Rayleen has been working with ACOD since 2021, developing the skills, knowledge and support to upskill Optical Assistants within our industry into qualified Optical Dispensers, ensuring we give great quality service, products and knowledge to our clients and the industry.
Kayley Riddle
Kayley is an accredited and experienced Executive and Leadership Coach with over 20 years of delivering results nationally and internationally, across a variety of sectors and industry.
Kayley’s bachelor’s degree and tertiary diploma are in teaching and education. This led her to a career in people management, human resources and talent development.
With a passion for coaching, Kayley went on to further studies at the Coaching Academy and holds a Diploma in Personal Performance Coaching, a Diploma in Executive and Corporate Coaching and an Advanced Diploma in Coaching. She is accredited and licenced in delivering many programs including StrengthFinder, DiSC, The Science of Wellbeing and Emotional Intelligence.
An experienced executive leader, Kayley’s career includes 10 years with Hilton International in both Australia and Europe, including senior human resources and regional talent development roles. She also held an executive human resources role in TAFENSW for over five years where she was accountable for all leadership coaching and development.
Developing and facilitating group and individual coaching was always a key part of her roles and remains her key strength and focus. She has now worked exclusively as a coach in her own business for over seven years and supports a range of executive leaders in improving their performance.
Kayley’s style has been described as energetic, supportive, knowledgeable, and people-focused. She customises all sessions to individual needs and goals and ensures outcomes and results are the key focus.
Isobel Bishop
Isobel Bishop is a distinguished former Olympic water polo player, having represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympics. With a strong foundation in both sports and design, Isobel combines her competitive spirit with a creative professional career. She holds a Bachelor of Visual Communication Design from the University of Technology Sydney.
Her current role as Creative and Marketing Manager at Marketing Plus, has enabled her to merge her passion for design with a keen understanding of strategic marketing. With over five years of experience in marketing within the optical sector, she brings a wealth of knowledge, from local area marketing to multi-channel national campaigns. Driving business growth through compelling visual storytelling and targeted marketing strategies.
Philip Rose
Born in Germany and residing in Australia since the age of 6, Philip now resides in Sydney. Having worked internationally, owned and operated his own businesses, with previous General Manager experience and over 15 years of experience in the optical industry, Philip brings a wealth of business knowledge and experience to the Eyecare Plus team. Philip is focused on helping independent optometry and the Eyecare Plus group, through this current period of rapid change in our industry.
TRADE DISPLAY
Eyecare Plus wishes to thank our Strategic Partners for their generous support of this year’s ‘Independent – Together’ Conference.
Please show your support by visiting their trade displays during our Cocktail Party on Friday night and Conference breaks on Saturday.
Enter the Eye Spy Quiz and ACOD’s Focimetry Competition to win one of the many prizes available.
Trade Display Times
Friday 18 October
Cocktail Party – 6:00pm – 11:00pm
Saturday 19 October
Registration – 8:00am – 9:00am
Morning Tea – 10:45am – 11:15am
Lunch – 12:35pm – 1:35pm
Afternoon Tea – 3:15pm – 3:45pm
Platinum Partner
Gold Partners
Silver Partners
ACCOMMODATION PARKROYAL DARLING HARBOUR
150 Day St, Sydney NSW 2000
CANCELLATIONS
Any room nights cancelled 30 days or less prior to arrival will incur a 100% cancellation fee, on all nights held.
Check In and Check Out
Check in time is from 2.00pm onwards. Should guaranteed check in be required prior to this time, pre-registration at one night’s accommodation rate will be applicable. Upon request, the hotel will do everything possible to accommodate early arrivals, subject to availability.
Check out time is 11.00am. Later departures up to 6.00pm are available subject to availability at an applicable hourly fee. Beyond 6.00pm, the full daily rate will be applicable.
Breakfast
One breakfast buffet is included with the room rate. Extra breakfast buffet is available at a reduced rate of $27.00 per person (normally $40.00) on consumption. Barkers is open for breakfast between 7:00am – 9:30am weekdays and 7:00am -10:00am weekends. Should these times not suit, a boxed breakfast can be provided on a 72 hours notice.
Car Parking
Parking is available at the hotel subject to availability. The carpark has a maximum width restriction of 1.8m and a clearance height of 2.1m. Charges:
$45 per 24 hours self parking at Centro Cinema Centre Carpark on 306 Sussex Street or 521 Kent Street. Tickets must be purchased from the Hotel’s Reception Desk upon departure (rates quoted are subject to change).
REGISTRATION
Please register each staff member separately. Alternatively, email your registration requirements to s.king@eyecareplus.com.au