The State Fair Vision Screening

Local Eye Site is indirectly involved with Prevent Blindness as I am on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Division.  Today I had the pleasure of working a free vision screening booth at the State Fair in Raleigh for Prevent Blindness.  We offered visual acuity checks and a glaucoma check using a visual field machine. 

This is the second year that I have participated in this.  The thing that strikes me the most is that both years I have been overwhelmed by the amount of traffic that the booth receives.  This morning we had 6 people working the booth and we pretty much stayed busy the entire time I was there.  I have also noticed that we tend to have more traffic than any of the booths near us.  

It’s interesting that many of the people visiting the booth for eye screenings don’t routinely visit an eye doctor, and many can’t remember when they did see one last.  However, it’s important enough that such a huge flock stops when they see it’s free and easy.  Well, so are the salsa samples across the aisle, but they don’t get the traffic we do.  Why is this?  It’s because eveyone knows that their site is precious, and they need to have their eyes routinely checked.  However, sometimes we have to stumble across a free screening in order to force us to take the time.  I’m sure that there are some who can’t afford an eye exam, but we have plenty with health insurance that visit the booth. 

Certain eye diseases can be easily identified with simple tests, and the prevention of the progression of these diseases a real possibility.   I have to admit that I’m just as guilty of neglecting visits to the eye doctor, but don’t follow my example and take the time to get your eyes checked routinely.

Local Eye Site in Chicago and Miami!

Local Eye Site has it’s first postings in the states of Florida and Illinois!  We continue to make noise across the country and are growing rapidly!

My Big, Fat, Professional Mistake

Maybe it’s because we have kids now, or maybe I’m just getting old, but more and more I feel the urge to share the stories of my life with the hopes of passing on helpful lessons of wisdom.  For me, that typically means lessons that I learned the hard way. 

The biggest professional mistake I ever made (and almost made a second time) was making a job change.  You must be thinking…Brad, you run a website with a job board…don’t you like it when people job hop?  Good for business, right?  Well maybe, but it may not be good for you (or your employer). 

In the mid 90’s I had a great job in health insurance sales.  I had been with this company for a couple of years, had made more money than ever before, had just won one of those salesie tropical trips, was happy, liked the people I worked for…I could go on.  But for some inexplicable reason, I quit that job.  Big, fat mistake.  Sure, the new job was supposed to be a little more money and promised a bit of adventure I suppose.  Unfortunately, I ended up in a situation where I didn’t respect my boss, I made less money, I was unhappy…I could go on.  It took me a number of years to recover professionally and personally from that mistake. 

Am I saying that you should never switch jobs?  Of course not, the fear of and unwillingness to change can lead to career suffocation and is equally devastating.  What I am saying that you should take a careful inventory of why you are considering making a change.  You should also carefully examine the things you like about your job.  What role is emotion playing in my consideration?  What can I do to make this better?  Do I need to grow up?  What opportunities do I have to grow professionally and personally right where I am?

It’s entirely possible after a time of genuine honesty and maturity with yourself, that you draw the conclusion that you do need a change.  In that case, you need to make that change.  Just don’t fall prey to the Careerbuilder marketing campaign that leaves me at least, feeling like I should always be looking for the next thing, that there is always something better, that I have been somehow cheated and oppressed by your employer, etc.  That kind of attitude is more closely related than we may all realize to our country’s recent big, fat financial woes.  

All I’m saying is we should value all of the blessings in our life.  Today, especially, employment is a blessing.  So, handle with care.

Local Eye Site profiled on NC Startup.com

I was interviewed recently about the experience of creating Local Eye Site, and the results of that Q&A were recently published on North Carolina Startup blog.  Answering these questions was fun for me, as it caused me to reflect on the last couple of years, and what an incredibly fulfulling journey it’s been to get to this point with Local Eye Site.  We are so thankful for your support of the site and our mission.  Please let us know how we can continue to improve this site for eye care professionals.

Local Eye Site crosses over 1,000 database registrants

Local Eye Site maintains a database of eye care professionals.  These professionals register for free accounts on our site so that they may apply for jobs, use the Idea Exchange message boards, receive job alert emails, etc.  We are excited to announce that as of last week, we have in excess of 1,000 professionals that have registered for their free accounts.  We are very excited about this, and would like to thank the eye care community for embracing our site so quickly.  Please continue to visit Local Eye Site, and please tell a friend in eye care!