It's all about people at SECO and there were some great networking opportunities that we hope you didn't miss at SECO 2006. If you weren't there, here's a little of what you missed:
Time to Kick-off SECO 2006 - A lively opening reception was held at the Omni Hotel where two attendees won great prizes and attendees had the opportunity to meet new friends and reunite with old friends to the sounds of a great jazz trio. Dr. Roger Seelye of Owosso, MI, won a Tommy Bahama t-shirt and FREE registration to Foresight 2006 in Bermuda! Most everyone in the crowd was envious of Dr. Kristian Dugger of Nevada, IA who walked away with a Rolex! Congratulations to our winners!
The SECO Pub Crawl - A new addition to networking opportunities at SECO, the Pub Crawl was a hit with over 300 attendees having a blast as they got to know each other while cruising around the Midtown and Virginia Highlands areas of Atlanta. Live music was featured at many of the restaurants and pubs visited and a great time was had on the ever popular Fur Bus!

Dr. Joe Rappon's "Tools of the Trade" Internet Education course was part of a new wave of education produced by SECO. Dr. Rappon's course was an introduction to the SECO Scholar program offered during SECO 2006; the catch was the course was made available to attendees in November of 2005. "Tools of the Trade" is a product of a new phase of continuing education offered via the Internet that has been gaining popularity over recent years. SECO is capitalizing on the increasingly Internet-savvy attendees of the congress and offered "Tools of the Trade" to registered congress attendee free of charge; the course is a two-hour introduction to proper tools in a practice and carries COPE accreditation. If you didn't take advantage of the course before SECO 2006, you have only a short time left to take this course! To take this course, Click Here and read the instructions carefully; you will need to create a SECO Profile in order to log into the course.

This year, SECO International gave away a brand new car in the exhibit hall during the 83rd SECO International Congress. Dr. David H. Curtis, who owns and operates an optometry clinic and dispensary in Columbus, Miss., was the lucky winner and drove away in a new, dark silver metallic Chevrolet HHR 1LT. Dr. Curtis was one of the more than 7,600 optometrists, opticians, certified ophthalmic technicians, paraoptometric professionals and related industry personnel who attended the meeting held recently at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. The car was awarded during the SECO Exhibit Hall Lunch on Saturday. Attendees could enter daily by visiting Destination Stations in the exhibit hall and had to be present in the exhibit hall when the winning name was announced. “I did not hear my name…the first time it was called. I was talking to a vendor in the exhibit hall when Dr. Bill Lord told me my name was called and I thought he was joking,” said Dr. Curtis. Dr. Curtis’ wife and son were in the exhibit hall at the time of the drawing and were also surprised by the news. “My son couldn’t believe how lucky his dad was,” he added. The car, valued at $17,905, represented the first time Dr. Curtis has won anything close to this value, he says. And, when asked if he would keep it, he said, “I am driving it now to and from the office. I was just talking to my family a week earlier about buying a smaller, full-efficient car as a second vehicle. I appreciate those involved in SECO -- it was an event I will always remember!”