DEMA Board of Directors Announces Fort Lauderdale Festival Decisions

During the month of May DEMA solicited comments from members regarding the upcoming DEMA-produced Festival, planned in the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, April 26-28, 2013.  During these face-to-face meetings several recurring concerns were expressed, and a number of new concerns and comments were raised by members.  The DEMA Board of Directors met on May 31^st to discuss and address these concerns, and as a result of member input, the following decisions regarding the Festival were made:

1. Product Sales – Life support/safety equipment sales will be PROHIBITED. Exhibitors at the Festival will be able to sell all other products and services.  Exhibitors selling diving-related and other recreational products will be required to provide proof of product liability insurance to participate in selling.  Exhibitors selling services such as travel and education must provide proof of general liability insurance.
2. Life Support Definition – Exhibitors are specifically prohibited from selling, distributing and taking orders for life support/safety equipment at the Festival.  For the Festival “life support” will be defined as:
• Scuba diving and surface-supplied regulators or any part thereof
• Closed or open circuit “rebreather” device or any part thereof
• Scuba or dive related buoyancy control device (“BC”) or any part thereof
• Electronic or mechanical diving “computer” or any part thereof, excluding so-called manual dive tables, manually-operated “dive calculators,” dive timers and free/breath-hold diving computers

Life support and safety equipment exclusions will be listed in detail in the Exhibitor Services Manual for the event.

3. Branding and Naming the Event – The DEMA Board has determined that the name of the event will be the Water, Sports & Travel Festival.  This name reflects the diving aspect of the event, and zeroes in on the most likely cross-marketing targets for the growth of the diving industry.  It also recognizes the great potential in the travel industry for consumers interested in recreational diving as well as other aquatic-related activities.
4. Cross Marketing & Events Schedule – In order to accomplish the stated goal of growing the diving industry using cross-marketing to other activities, DEMA has contracted with MSE Management, a show management company with more than 20 years of experience producing shows which generate consumer interest in the travel, product sales and active lifestyle markets.  MSE Management has produced more than 750 successful shows using similar cross-marketing techniques.  Their experience includes creating productive and visible sponsorships, exhibit space sales, and generating consumer attendance. DEMA, in collaboration with MSE, has assembled a list of highly anticipated activities, events, and entertainment to be held as part of the festival, including contests, in-water demos, DiveCaching activities, live music, a lion fish cook-off, sport demonstrations/shows and much more.

With supportive Public Relations efforts, MSE Management is confident that a successful outcome can be achieved with the Festival concept.

The DEMA Board and staff appreciate the member input so vital to the success of the Festival and will continue to provide information to the industry as plans move forward.