Guests had the opportunity to ask questions about diabetes, cycling and receive autographs and pictures with the local star during his last appearance stateside as he prepared to move to Paris, France, where he will be racing for the 2010 season.

Kyle interacted with the kids…”you get to ride bikes for a job??” “Do you ride bikes with Lance Armstrong?” “I have a purple bike…but it’s broke.” “I bet you need really good eyes to see where you are going.” “Have you crashed before?” (OK, this last question was actually me. And yes, he just finished healing from a gnarly crash where he was clipped by another rider, flipped over his handlebars into a ditch and broke multiple ribs!)

An amazing story was a woman who asked Kyle if he was wearing an insulin pump on the back of his arm. He said yes and proceeded to tell her the story of Team Type 1. She then proceeded to tell us about her husband, who also has Type 1 diabetes, and how cycling has saved his life by getting and keeping him active. It gave me goose bumps! Kyle provided her with information about Team Type 1 and encouraged her to have her husband reach out to the team.

We were all so grateful to have Kyle take time out of his busy day to join us for a few hours (he literally was packing up the last of his things to get shipped across the Atlantic just 72 hours after the event!).

Be sure to stay tuned as we post a series of videos featuring Kyle as he shares with us how an eye exam led to the early detection of his diabetes and how he continues to use annual eye exams to help manage and monitor his diabetes. And be sure to follow him while he’s in France on twitter and Facebook!

Liz B. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations team.

Dear Readers:

Thank you for your support and comments to the VSP Blog! In appreciation and to help bring attention to the importance of vision health and of protecting your eyes all year round (see UV Protection – Protect Your Eyes), we’re giving a way a pair of Nike sunglasses on Twitter to one winner. It’s super easy to enter:

Make your own customized eyechart!

1. Using our cool eye chart app at http://eyechart.seemuchmore.com/ or on Facebook at http://apps.facebook.com/vsp_eye_charts/, simply create an eye chart with a secret message, like the one I created for this blog post.
2. After typing in your message and clicking “Make Chart,” click the “Grab Link For Sharing” button and copy the link generated for your chart.
3. Paste the link into this Twitter message: See my cool eye chart YOUR LINK. RT or create your own to enter #SeeMuchMore #Giveaway http://bit.ly/Mh8ql
4. Then, just tweet this message from your personal Twitter account. That’s it – you’re entered.

If you’re too busy to create your own eye chart (although it’s pretty cool), you can also retweet someone else’s post about their eye chart.

Be sure your tweet is posted between today, Tuesday, October 13 at 10:00 a.m. ET and Friday, October 16 at 12:00 a.m. (midnight) ET and that your tweet includes the #seemuchmore and #giveaway hashtags – they’re vital to becoming entered to win. And remember that you must be at least 18 years old to participate.

That’s all there is to it.

The winner will be selected at random from the entries, and will be notified on Tuesday, October 20 with a public reply from @VSPVisionCare on Twitter using the winner’s Twitter handle and the #seemuchmore, #giveaway and #winner hashtags.

Good luck!

Liz B. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations team.

Poking around on Twitter the last few days I’ve come across a few conversations from folks who don’t have vision insurance, but need eyecare and eyewear.

First I saw this …

heartniki My wombat needs glasses. No vision insurance. Bye bye money we don’t have. Uhg…

and then this …

DerekShaneLowe @baital I feel ya. My most recent pair of glasses cost me over $650…and that was with a 20% discount. I have no vision insurance either.

and finally …

surroundsoundud Chick got a man but wanna be on my health insurance, how does that work? Your teeth and vision are no longer my concern.

Make your own eyechart at http://seemuchmore.com

VSP offers a full service plan for individuals and families without vision coverage.  Is it right for you? Could be, if your employer doesn’t offer vision benefits, you are retired or self-employed, or like @surroundsoundud’s ex, recently split from a relationship.

VSP Individual Plan members receive affordable vision benefits with family savings of up to $400, a WellVision Exam^® focused on their health, annual coverage of glasses or contacts, and additional savings through association memberships, including an optional discount dental plan.  In addition, you’ll have access to VSP’s network of 26,000 private-practice doctors.

Here’s some details of what the individual plan covers:

• Eye Exam – Covered in Full
• Prescription Lenses – Covered in Full
  • Single Vision
  • Lined Bifocal or Trifocal
  • Polycarbonate lenses for Children
• Frames – Your Choice! Covered up to $120
  • Plus 20% off any out-of-pocket costs
• Contact Lenses – Instead of Glasses!
  • $120 allowance for the cost of your contacts and the contact lens exam (fitting & evaluation)

Click for details and pricing.

Andy G. is a member of VSP's Sales team.

Why is VSP on Twitter? Can I follow VSP’s tweets? This blog will answer these and other questions, in fewer than 140 characters. Read on.

Why Twitter?

Twitter, just one of many social media channels we use, provides searchable, public, visible access to relevant conversations.

Twitter’s 140-character limit means we have to get to the point. We write with accuracy, brevity, and clarity. We use meaningful words.

Tweets can include shortened URLs. A 50-character link like http://vspblog.com/2009/06/19/new-vsp-group-blog/ becomes http://bit.ly/12151Q

Who are the VSP Twitterers?

SeeLia and SeeZar are tweeting on the road. Who are SeeLia and SeeZar? VSP’s mobile clinics, sent out to provide self-contained vision care.

Hurricanes Katrina and Ike taught VSP that our initial response teams had to bring everything that doctors could use for patient care.

SeeLia and SeeZar are tweeting about visiting sites, helping at natural disasters, and offering our services at schools and community events.

VSPVisionCare tweets news, tips, advice, and information relating to eyecare and VSP vision benefits.

Eyehealthcare tweets about news and studies focusing on chronic disease and eyecare’s connection to overall body health.

Sign up with a username and email. Then follow @vspvisioncare @seelia @seezar @eyehealthcare. (Under their profile photo, click “follow.”)

Follow AndyG on Twitter @geewhizkid.

Jill N. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations team.

One of my first tasks when I came on board was to gather data to put together a 2008 recap for the VSP Mobile Eyes program. Through my research I also found numerous updates and testimonials from the disaster relief we provided. Now that we have embarked on another fire season in California I was curious to find out more about the specifics of how this sort of disaster relief is managed. Here is what I found:

VSP has a team of four employees who make up the Disaster Response Team. This team receives notifications of natural disasters across the United States through a variety of channels. This includes a range of not such hi-tech ways like self-observation, news stories on TV, online and radio or e-emails sent to the team from VSP employees, doctors, clients or members to more specific monitoring of disaster sites such as InciWeb. Once a notification is received, the team starts by researching the area and looking up VSP doctors who may be affected. Even it’s only one or two doctors, outreach support is immediately started.

The team attempts to contact our doctors in a number of ways. Depending on the amount of doctors in the affected area, initial phone calls are made and e-mails are sent out. The e-mails are sent not only to the doctors, but also to regional contacts who we ensure are aware of the disaster and are asked to forward any communication they receive from doctors who may be affected.

Once it is determined there is a doctor who has been affected, either by needing to close their office due to evacuation or if their office or equipment has been damaged, we work with them to provide whatever support they may need. For example, if a doctor has lost their office, we may able to offer our Mobile Clinic to them to use to service their patients or people in the community until their office is back up and running. If the clinic is not an option, we also have ten sets of portable ophthalmic equipment we can loan free of charge to set up in an area they can work for as long as they need it. Or if their office is not damaged but does not have electricity or access to the internet, we will work with them to ensure they are able to submit paper claims the same as they would online.

This year, we are also utilizing our new social media channels. These are used in a variety of ways, including as an extension for communication to our doctors and members, as well as to help monitor additional situations that may arise where our doctors need assistance. We had an example of this in July when a news report was reported on Twitter about an SUV driving through the wall of one our VSP doctor’s office. We were able to contact the doctor, ensure everyone was OK and offer assistance. Fortunately, the doctor was able to schedule repairs to the office fairly quickly enabling them to stay open for business as usual, but they were appreciative knowing they had options available if need be.

VSP's Mobile Response and Disater Response teams.

This year our Disaster Response Team has already responded to 15 disasters, including the larger ones such as the flooding in North Dakota, tornadoes in Mississippi and, most recently, the California wildfires. It is a good feeling knowing that the company I work for not only provides “insurance” that contributes to a positive quality of life, but it also provides “assurance” during times when it is needed the most.