This is a supplement to EyeWorld Magazine.
Issue link: https://supplements.eyeworld.org/i/1516004
20 | SUPPLEMENT TO EYEWORLD e Annual Meeting: T he Annual Meeting went from a single-track scientific program in one ball- room to having many educational offerings simultaneously. One thing that didn't change over the years were the important collabora- tive experiences that happened between sessions. E A R L Y Y E A R S LEADING A REVOLUTION "I regret not collecting those tablecloths because these guys would stand there and they'd start doo- dling, and they would doodle intraocular lens designs. ey would doodle all kinds of incisions. It was incred- ible," Mr. Karcher said. "We were a small group. Everyone who came was liked-minded or willing to open their mind and be convinced. ere was excitement, just an electric excitement." —KENNETH J. HOFFER, MD "I' d been an academician up to that time, and I saw busy and prosperous private practitioners [at the meeting] and that had an influence right om the beginning. e quality of education was good, the quality of the collegiality was good. I've never missed a meeting since 1978. I got hooked right away." —RICHARD LINDSTROM, MD " I had never been to a meeting like ASCRS, where the energy and spirit of innovation was unbelievable, and … since that time I've missed only one meeting." — DOUGLAS KOCH, MD " I can't recall when I went to my first meeting, but it was at the Century Plaza, and I was blown out of the water by how much information there was and how clinicians were on the podium sharing their experience and their information. I knew that not only for the benefit of the quality of practice that I would have but om the standpoint of doing better for my patients, this was a place I needed to be and wanted not just to be a part of but an active part of. It was infectious. … It was so stimulating." —SAMUEL MASKET, MD "A dictum that I had when I was a younger ophthalmologist … was if I could leave a meeting with three ideas that I could apply, it was a successful meeting. e truth is, in the early years, you got more than three ideas." —STEPHEN OBSTBAUM, MD