The American Academy of Optometry annual conference brings together global eye care professionals (ECPs) for a comprehensive, four-day program featuring workshops, lectures, courses, and research. A growing, high-profile aspect of the sector is pediatric myopia management—a therapy in which CooperVision has become a leader over the past decade. The company wanted to cement its reputation for innovation and industry partnerships heading into the 2023 event in New Orleans.

The project began by expanding upon a McDougall Communications concept first piloted in 2021: bringing together 100 of the brightest independent minds in myopia—optometrists, ophthalmologists, researchers, journalists, and educators—for an exclusive “Luminaries” gathering. Four hours of cutting-edge research findings and discussion were interspersed with a dinner and networking, timed to take place the evening before the conference kicked off.

What followed was completely unexpected, yet wildly successful. The agency orchestrated a traditional Second Line Parade through the neon-lit French Quarter, celebrating the Luminaries’ accomplishments. The streets were filled with some of the most prominent experts in eye health, dancing along to a brass band, marveling at the stilt walkers and jugglers, and enjoying the police escort. The march culminated on Canal Street, where CooperVision unveiled a prominent billboard with an urgent message to take action against the disease.

The dinner, parade, and billboard received extensive coverage in industry publications, AAO newsletters, and the social media accounts of the participants, emerging as a focal point of the conference and setting the tone for the days ahead.