You love Bright Eyes, right? And you may be one of the half a billion (yes, with a “B”) people who have a Facebook account. So now that Facebook Places is up and running, you can combine Bright Eyes and Facebook by checking in at the NEW Bright Eyes Facebook Place Page!

So…. If you are thinking, “What the heck is he talking about?” Here is a quick primer:

In the social media world, location-based services are hot! Location based services (LBSs) are applications that work on your smartphone, like an iPhone, Android, or Blackberry. Because these apps know where you are via GPS, it allows you to interact with other people in specific ways: location friends, see who’s in the area, and other game-like activities.

For the last year, foursquare has been my favorite, because it is the most fun. Gowalla, Yelp and other LBS applications have been competing for interest. All of these apps let you “check in” somewhere. This usually let’s friends know that you are at that location, but also gets you discounts at certain businesses. For example, showing your check in to Bright Eyes on any of the services gets you a discount on purchased items and services.

But the big game changer was that Facebook rolled out is own LBS, totally integrated with all other aspects of Facebook. So now, even if you didn’t have a foursquare or Gowalla account, you can still check in at Bright Eyes for your discount with Facebook. You can check in two ways: the iPhone Facebook app, or using http://touch.facebook.com. (Feel free to use one of the computers if you want to check in!)

So next time you stop by Bright Eyes for an exam, to pick up contacts, or just to say, “Hi” be sure to check in!

-Dr. Nate
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.
Connect: Facebook Twitter Foursquare LS1 Yelp

(Click here to see the Thank You video in YouTube.)

You may remember the hoopla around April 16th, otherwise known as Foursquare Day. Well, the excitement continues, but this time it will be in Austin, TX in March, 2011.

My friend Walter Elly has proposed that Foursquare Day be a topic of discussion at the great South by Southwest festival. The panel is under consideration, but part of the decision is with the people and we need people to vote. So if you have a free moment – vote for me!  See Walter’s post here on the details and how-tos.

Thanks!

-Dr. Nate
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.
Connect: Facebook Twitter Foursquare LS1 Yelp

Congrats to Sandy!

Every week during out staff meeting we hand out the BESA, which stands for “Bright Eyes Spirit Award.” We have an awesome trophy that we bring to the staff meeting . Then we recognize a staff member who has gone above and beyond in some way. It could be providing fantastic patient care, significantly assisting fellow staff members or . That person then gets to keep the trophy for a week and will be on the lookout for some amazing work so they can pass it on the following week.

This week the BESA goes to Sandy. A patient shared some very high praise of Sandy both prior to and during the patient’s appointment.

-Dr. Nate
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.
Connect: Facebook Twitter Foursquare LS1 Yelp

]]> http://www.brighteyesnews.com/2010/08/21/the-besa-goes-to-sandy/feed/ 0 http://www.brighteyesnews.com/2010/08/17/computer-vision-syndrome-in-the-wall-street-journal/ http://www.brighteyesnews.com/2010/08/17/computer-vision-syndrome-in-the-wall-street-journal/#comments Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:20:40 +0000 schoonover http://www.brighteyesnews.com/?p=1912

If you’re like me or countless others who work at a computer for many hours a day, you’d be interested to learn that there is a term for the eye fatigue and strain you get after a long days work. Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) was highlighted in this article today in The Wall Street Journal. The reason for this problem is because most of us who wear corrective lenses, and even those who don’t need glasses at all,  are not being corrected for the proper focal length at which our computer monitors are sitting. Our eyes stay in this focused state for long periods at a time, usually without breaks to help our eyes relax.

There are options listed in the article to treat the symptoms of CVS, including a dedicated pair of computer glasses made to focus at your monitor, multifocal contacts, and even corrective surgery. Some are obviously more conservative than others, but one thing that most doctors will agree upon is that short, frequent breaks are always recommended for anyone who works extensively at a computer. Dr. Nate was even quoted!

The Wall Street Journal: How Technology Tries Our Eyesight

All The Best!

Justin Schoonover, CPO
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.
Connect: Facebook Twitter Foursquare LS1 Yelp

Last weekend I attended the Localshops1.com 2nd Birthday party and awards ceremony. It was held at the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa and featured an incredible brunch buffet. Everyone had a great time and I met many dynamic Tampa Bay people.

One of the most interesting people I met was Olga Bof. She is an energetic, engaging woman with lots of ideas. One of the most interesting ideas is the opening of a children’s bookstore, called Cheeky Monkeys Books & Toys. It’s mission is to instill a life-long love of reading in children of all types. This will be  a solid local community resource. Check out Olga’s video:

Here is how you can help:

Olga is currently competing for a $50,000 grant in the August round of the Pepsi Refresh Project to help get the children’s bookstore a start. Hundreds of thousands of applicants attempt to enter the competition every month and Cheeky Monkeys is one of the lucky ones in the “Neighborhoods” category.  You can vote EVERY SINGLE DAY IN AUGUST IN TWO WAYS:

• TEXT 101443 TO 73774
• Vote online at  http://pep.si/cheekycity

You can also help by spreading the word TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE. If you’d like to contact Olga to get involved or see how you can help, you can email her. You can also follow Cheeky Monkeys on Facebook.

-Dr. Nate
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.
Connect: Facebook Twitter Foursquare LS1 Yelp

I’ve voted today! Have you?

Millions of children are heading back to their classrooms without the visual skills required to succeed in school.  One of the reasons for this is that most people assume if you can see the letters on the eye chart your vision is fine, yet being able to see the letters on the eye chart is just one of 17 visual skills necessary for academic success.

“The myth that ‘20/20′ means you have perfect vision started in the 1800’s when the eye chart was created,” states Dr. Brad Habermehl, President of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development.   “This August marks the 15th year we have been observing August as National Children’s Vision and Learning Month.  The purpose of this observance is to educate parents and educators that vision plays a critical role in our children’s education.”

Optometric vision therapy treats vision problems that make reading and learning difficult.  While vision therapy does not treat dyslexia, vision problems can often be misdiagnosed as learning disabilities such as dyslexia or even ADHD.  According to the American Optometric Association, studies indicate that 60 percent of children identified as “problem learners” actually suffer from undetected vision problems, and in some cases have been inaccurately diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

According to Dr. Habermehl, “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that if a child is seeing double, ghosty or unstable texts it will be hard to read. Yet, if you assume vision is fine, the only possible conclusion one can reach is the child has a learning disability such as ADHD or dyslexia.” According to the American Optometric Association, studies indicate that 60 percent of children identified as “problem learners” actually suffer from undetected vision problems.

If you are getting your children ready for school, schedule a comprehensive vision and eye health exam. At Bright Eyes, we specialize in children’s vision. Call 813-792-0637 for an appointment.

-Dr. Nate
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.
Connect: Facebook Twitter Foursquare LS1 Yelp

Did you know that Bright Eyes has a passion for bowling? Well, we don’t. But we do have a passion for community involvement, especially when it means helping out local children.  So we are happy to be sponsoring a “Dream Team” of bowlers to raise money for the The Children’s Dream Fund.

Check out the Dream Team: All Your Pin Are Belong to Us

• Me,  Dr. Nate
• Amber Osborne, AKA Miss Destructo
• Allison Barkely of That Girl Allie
• Gregg Hilferding, of ClassB.com
• Simon Cousins of Illuminant
• Antony Francis of Head of Lettuce Media

You can join us as a ‘Pinhead’ guest for $30. For that you get to watch the action, take part in the silent auction and raffle, complimentary beer, wine and pizza buffet, as well as musical entertainment from 93.3FLZ DJ, Kidd Leow. If you’d like to sponsor a team Click here to email Andrea Vest or call 727.896.6390.

More info The Children’s Dream Fund:

The Children’s Dream Fund was founded in 1981 with the single purpose of fulfilling dreams for children ages 3-18 who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Referrals are received from several hospitals on Florida’s west coast. Dreams vary greatly – from trips to Disney World, meetings with celebrities, computers, play sets, cruises and shopping sprees. Every child deserves hope and a dream! The true impact of a child’s dream cannot be measured in dollars and cents. Our desire is to grant every eligible child’s dream. There are many children in our community with life-threatening illnesses, and the Children’s Dream Fund needs your help to reach them.

Hope to see you there!

-Dr. Nate
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.
Connect: Facebook Twitter Foursquare LS1 Yelp

Many of our patients have VSP as their primary vision plan. VSP is the largest and most influential of the vision plans and for the last several years they have embraced social media to help educate their millions of member on eye and vision heath issues.

Recently, VSP contacted me to see if I would be interested in writing a guest post for their blog on vision at the workplace. Since Computer Vision Syndrome is a specialty of mine, I was happy to contribute. The result is this blog post. You can also watch a very cool video, download an eye health guide for the workplace, and enter to win an IPad at VSP Facebook page here.

-Dr. Nate
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.
Connect: Facebook Twitter Foursquare LS1 Yelp

This is a new video that the folks at VSP produced about the massive amount of time we spend on computers and electronic devices how how it can affect our vision. It is very well done and has some great stats. You can find out more about computer vision syndrome here.

(Click here to open video at Youtube.)

-Dr. Nate
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.
Connect: Facebook Twitter Foursquare LS1 Yelp

Donna, the winner of the summer sunglass contest, came in and picked out some fabulous, FREE Linea Roma sunglasses today!

She was also our 100th foursquare check-in! And she won a gift certificate last year from the Tiffany & Co. contest.  What a big winner she is! And it couldn’t happen to a nicer person! She’s been one of our biggest fans for a long time!

Stay tuned for your chance to win our next big contest! And in the meantime, don’t forget the sunglass sale we have going on: 20% to 40% on all sunglasses!

-Dr. Nate
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Connect: Facebook Twitter Foursquare LS1 Yelp