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REGISTRATION IS OPEN!
Reserve your spot today to take advantage of early bird pricing! and (NHOA's discounted room block is more than 50% sold-out)
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Celebrate 125 Years of Optometry with NHOA!
We know you'ved marked your calendars as we celebrate 125 years of optometry in New Hampshire!
This milestone weekend will bring together NHOA members and out-of-state colleagues for outstanding continuing education, professional connection and a celebration of the people that have shaped optometry over the past 125 years.
With 14 hours of COPE-accredited continuing education featuring nationally recognized speakers Dr. France Bynum, Dr. Roya Attar and Dr. J. James Thimons, the weekend offers an exceptional opportunity to learn, connect and prepare for the future of eye care.
But this year’s meeting is about much more than CE.
The NHOA Events Committee has worked to build a weekend around you, with opportunities throughout the program to reconnect with longtime colleagues, meet new ones, engage with industry partners and celebrate what makes Granite State optometry special.
There’s plenty to experience beyond the classroom!
🎉 125th Anniversary Welcome & Kickoff
- Start the weekend with a relaxed welcome lunch that leverages the historic and quite beautiful location.
🥂 Welcome Reception & Community Building
- Reconnect with colleagues in a relaxed setting and kick off the anniversary weekend together.
🤝 Industry Breakfasts & Lunch Symposium
- Hear from and connect with the industry partners who support our profession and help make programs like this possible.
👓 Dedicated Paraoptometric Education Program
- For the first time in several years, NHOA is bringing paraoptometric education back to the Annual Meeting with a dedicated 4-hour Saturday program running concurrently with the OD education schedule. Designed to strengthen the entire optometric team, the program will focus on practical skills, teamwork and customer service, with paraoptometric attendees also invited to join Saturday evening’s 125th Anniversary Celebration.
🎯 Interactive Sponsor & Exhibitor Game
- Visit, connect, play and win during a fun 125th-themed experience throughout the exhibit area. There will be meaningful prizes to be won!
🖼️ Saturday Night: Our 125th Anniversary Celebration
- Saturday evening is being designed as one of the signature experiences of the weekend. Rather than a traditional plated dinner, NHOA is planning an abundant reception-style celebration with substantial food offerings, entertainment with variety and plenty of opportunity to move around, visit and connect. We believe the format will create a more enjoyable and engaging evening than simply sitting at assigned tables for dinner.
🏛️ Annual Meeting & 125th Anniversary Sendoff
- We’ll close the weekend together with a very special NHOA Annual Meeting, honoring those who helped build our profession while looking ahead to its future.
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A Weekend Designed for Us
The NHOA Events Committee is genuinely excited about how this weekend is coming together, especially the connections already being created through the planning process and those we know will be made in Portsmouth.
This is more than an annual meeting but rather a once-in-a-generation opportunity to celebrate where New Hampshire optometry has been, where it is today and where we will go.
The first Early-Bird Registration period is slated to close at month's end. Register today and save! We hope you’ll join us and be part of NHOA’s 125-year celebration!
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Register Faster for the 125th Para Program!
IMPORTANT NOTE As we work to grow and expand the paraoptometric organization in our state, it is necessary for AOA staff in each practice to enroll in AOA Paraoptometric Membership (free to join for AOA member offices). Doing so is the only way to register for NHOA-sponsored events and to activate the “group/volume discount” registration savings.
As a member, you'll also enjoy valuable benefits, including:
- Free access to EyeLearn courses and professional development resources
- Discounts on paraoptometric education and certification materials
- Reduced registration fees for Optometry's Meeting®
- Member-exclusive newsletters, AOA publications, and industry updates
- National networking and volunteer opportunities
Membership is FREE for support staff of AOA member doctors.
Sign up today and take advantage of these valuable benefits while simplifying your registration!
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NHOA Room Block is Already More Than 50% Reserved!
Planning to join us at Wentworth by the Sea for the 125th Anniversary weekend? Now is a good time to reserve your room.
More than 50% of NHOA’s reserved room block has already been spoken for, a great early indication of the interest building around this milestone weekend.
Staying at the Wentworth keeps you right in the middle of the CE, receptions, anniversary activities and connections being built throughout the weekend. It also means no driving at the end of the day and more time to enjoy everything the weekend has to offer.
If you are planning to attend, we strongly encourage you to book your room now while NHOA-block rooms remain available.
October 16–18, 2026 | Wentworth by the Sea | Portsmouth, NH
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AOA Leadership Institute: Nominate a Future Leader
The AOA Leadership Institute is now accepting nominations through September 30 for its six-month leadership development program, designed to prepare optometry’s next generation of leaders for impactful roles at the local, state, and national levels.
The program provides participants with practical leadership skills, professional development, and valuable connections through sessions focused on leadership branding, leading change, negotiation, public speaking, and more. The program culminates with an in-person public speaking session at Optometry’s Meeting® in Boston in June 2027.
Who should you nominate? Consider an optometrist in your practice or professional network who demonstrates leadership potential and a passion for advancing optometry—whether they are an experienced volunteer or an emerging leader ready to get more involved.
Nominations are open to anyone through September 30. Once nominated, doctors will receive an application to complete.
Accepted participants will be notified in November, with the program beginning in January 2027.
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Is the FTC’s Prescription Acknowledgment Requirement Creating Unnecessary Red Tape?
The AOA is hearing from optometrists across the country that the FTC’s requirement for patients to sign an acknowledgment confirming receipt of their eyeglass or contact lens prescription is adding administrative burden, staff time, and costs—without improving patient care.
If this requirement has created extra work in your practice, the AOA wants to hear from you. Your feedback can help demonstrate the real-world impact of this federal regulation.
When submitting your comments, consider sharing:
- The estimated amount of time you and your staff spend completing the process for each patient.
- How much time the doctor spends explaining the requirement, answering questions, or addressing refusals to sign.
- Additional administrative tasks, such as printing, scanning, filing, and maintaining acknowledgments for three years.
The FTC estimates the process takes just 20 seconds per patient, while the AOA estimates it can take approximately 1–3 minutes per patient in practice.
Make Your Voice Heard
Optometrists can submit feedback through the SBA Office of Advocacy’s Red Tape Hotline. When asked which regulation you are commenting on, specify: “FTC requirement for signed patient acknowledgement for every eyeglass prescription and every contact lens prescription.”
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Your AOA Member Benefit: Patient & Community Education Downloads Library
This is your exclusive, curated collection of clinical and topical educational handouts, as well as community outreach tools—ready to download and print right in your practice. These professionally designed materials, previously sold individually, are now free for AOA members and staff to support your patient education and community engagement efforts.
What's inside the library?
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Patient education materials. High-quality infographics, flyers and handouts that simplify complex conditions, topics or patient concerns.
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Interactive activity sheets and books. Engaging resources for pediatric care, school visits or community health fairs.
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Community outreach content. Leverage the AOA's public outreach and campaign resources, including social media posts, presentations, press releases and more.
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REMINDER - Friday Focus Back to Normal
After a lighter summer schedule, Friday Focus is back to its regular rhythm as we head into a busy and exciting fall for NHOA. FF is your weekly connection to association news, upcoming events, advocacy updates and the people who make New Hampshire optometry special.
Members are always encouraged to share professional accomplishments, practice news,
community involvement and personal milestones that we can celebrate together. New job, new team member, award, publication, family milestone or something else worth sharing?
Send it our way and help keep Friday Focus focused on our NHOA community.
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NHOA is pleased to announce the relaunch of the Friday Focus Archive, giving members a convenient, one-stop resource to revisit previous editions.
We appreciate everyone’s patience while we worked through the best and most efficient way to organize and maintain the archive. The goal was not simply to post old newsletters, but to create a resource members could actually use.
The newly refreshed archive features a searchable page with quick, convenient links to previous Friday Focus editions, making it easier to find an announcement, advocacy update, event information or other item you may remember seeing along the way. The intent is to update the archives at the end of each month (at minimum).
Missed a Friday Focus? Looking for something from a previous edition? Start with the FF Archive!
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ABOUT THE NHOA: The Mission of the New Hampshire Optometric Association is to advance and protect the practice of Optometry to ensure the health and vision of the public.
The New Hampshire Optometric Association (NHOA) is the professional association representing the vast majority of New Hampshire’s practicing Doctors of Optometry. We have served our members and the citizens of NH since founded over 110 years ago. We are affiliated with the American Optometric Association.
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Friday Focus is a weekly email newsletter dedicated to communicating important Association- and member-related news, industry updates and matters relating to practicing optometry in New Hampshire. It is a members-only weekly communication.
Member submissions for publication in Friday Focus are welcomed and appreciated. Kindly email us.
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