About SECO
|
SECO: Answering the Call for Continuing Education
For more than eight decades, the educational congress now known as SECO has been the leading source for continuing education in the field of optometry. That was the original mission of its founders, Dr. Archie A. Odom, of Dothan, Alabama, and his associate, Dr. Adolph H. Schade, when they hosted about 100 optometrists for their first Congress as the Southeastern Congress of Optometry, on June 23, 1924, in Greenville, South Carolina. And the commitment lives on today in the organization's stated mission: To advance the profession of optometry world-wide to benefit public health and well-being through education, professional networking and strategic partnerships.The original organization was comprised of optometrists from 13 states, mainly in the Southeast but also with representatives from Delaware and the District of Columbia. The organization remained a small, closely-knit group until 1957, considered a turning point in its history, when the Congress committed to electing officials and establishing a constitution and by-laws. That year brought the Southern Conference on Optometric Education, whose charter was to create state financial aid programs for students, into the organization, which was then operating as the Southern Council of Optometrists (SoCO).
Today's SoCO includes 12 southern states as members: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The Armed Forces Optometric Society joined as an Associate Member in 1989. International associate members include the Association of Optometrists of the United Kingdom, Trinidad & Tobago Optometrists Association and the South African Optometric Association. SoCO now counts over 6,000 optometrists as members. Eighteen practitioners serve on the Board of Trustees, six of whom serve on the Executive Committee as officers of the organization. SoCO owns its office building in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia and boasts a dedicated and experienced professional staff.
SECO International, as SoCO's annual Congress has been known since 2000, has emerged as an internationally renowned educational event and one of the largest optometry meetings in the world, regularly attracting practitioners from at least five countries, all 50 states and three U.S. territories, and enjoying the support of almost 300 industry suppliers as exhibiting companies at each meeting. The meeting attracts almost 8,000 attendees annually.
