DEMA Requests Your Input and Engagement at 2020 Vision Session in Conjunction with Scuba Show 2013 on Sunday, June 9th at 8:00 A.M.

Input Helps Improve the Diving Industry

 

You are invited to join Tom Ingram, Executive Director of DEMA, for a brainstorming session at Scuba Show in Long Beach, CA on June 9^th. It is an opportunity for you to provide input on the direction of the Diving Industry over the next few years. DEMA has already implemented many of the ideas generated in similar brainstorming sessions throughout 2011 and 2012, including:

• Access to health insurance for DEMA Members, including business owners and their employees.
• Access to Worker’s Compensation Insurance for DEMA Members.
• Increased use of social media as well as examples of how social media can be beneficial to diving businesses, including the use of a DEMA Blog and increased interaction with the professional and recreational diving community on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.
• Implementation of programs to reach a younger audience and bring them into diving.
• Creation and promotion of programs which encourage “local diving” to keep divers more active year-round.

All of these ideas came directly from previous 2020 Vision Sessions and members of the Industry just like YOU!

 

DEMA’s Board of Directors is looking for your ideas to help you take control of your business. Please plan to attend this important brainstorming session at Scuba Show! DEMA encourages all Industry Professionals to register in advance and join us on Sunday, June 9th from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. to continue the discussion.

• When? Sunday, June 9th, 2013 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
• Where? Scuba Show, Long Beach, Seaside Room 4A 
• Who? All Dive Industry Professionals are welcome

If you have any questions please contact DEMA at (858) 616-6408 or 2020@dema.org. DEMA extends its appreciation to Beneath the Sea for co-sponsoring this session.

DEMA Launches Diving For Texas Treasure Challenge

Challenge Provides Texas Dive Retailers with an Opportunity to Drive Business Using Local Diving and DiveCaching

 

In tandem with Dive Around Texas, DEMA has announced a local diving promotion using DiveCaching (underwater geocaching) to keep divers active and having fun. The “Diving for Texas Treasure Challenge” is a Texas-based in-water game for divers and is designed to help support fun and easy local diving while providing retail businesses with a fun and competitive diving promotion using DiveCaching.

 

 “The Diving for Texas Treasure Challenge is a new program we will test in the Texas market,” commented Tom Ingram, DEMA Executive Director. “It is designed to promote local diving by using a fun treasure hunt which requires diving, the use of technology and a few basic diving skills such as navigation. Any retail dive center in Texas can promote the program by displaying the free counter card they’ll receive from DEMA and sharing the short promotional video. To encourage local divers to participate in the Challenge, retailers located in Texas will receive a rack/counter card and holder from DEMA and are encouraged to promote the game to their customers both in the store and through their own marketing efforts.” 

 

The fun of the Challenge is for divers to find a series of five DiveCaches hidden underwater in five different locations throughout Texas. Divers participate by registering for the Challenge with their local retailer or using the online form found on DiveCaching.org. Divers can use the descriptions and clues posted on OpenCaching.com, the free OpenCaching app (or a GPS) and an underwater compass to find the DiveCaches and be eligible to win $1,000! 

 

DEMA is encouraging all local divers and retailers to  be involved in the 2013 “Dive Around Texas” game, and to use the Diving for Texas Treasure Challenge as part of Dive Around Texas. Any Texas retailer can participate and all will be receiving a kit from DEMA to help promote the Challenge to their current customers and can learn more by visiting www.DiveCaching.org and www.DiveAroundTexas.com. 

Keeping Divers Safe this Season: Dive Flag Awareness Public Service Announcement and Poster Available For DEMA Members and the Industry

DEMA and Divers Alert Network (DAN) Remind Boaters and Divers of Dive Flag Use



View & download the poster here.



As the 2013 boating season approaches, DEMA has created a new Dive Flag Awareness poster and is distributing a 30-second Public Service Announcement in an effort to increase diver safety by reminding boaters and divers of safety tips and proper dive flag etiquette. Dive Industry Professionals are encouraged to print and distribute the Dive Flag Awareness poster to local marinas and diving and boating enthusiasts as well as share them electronically with their online community. Both are part of DEMA’s ongoing campaign to encourage boaters to be more cautious when they see a dive flag and encourage divers to always use their divers-down flag.

The 30-second PSA was produced by DEMA in partnership with the Divers Alert Network (DAN), along with assistance from the National Safe Boating Council (NSBC) and the United States Coast Guard (USCG). It was created to inform divers and boaters of the proper use of a dive flag to signal that divers are in the water and boaters should maintain distance and be cautious when in proximity to a dive flag. This season DEMA has also created a 15-second version of the PSA as well as a Dive Flag Awareness poster to help spread this important and life-saving message.

“Our goal in sharing this important message is to remind both divers and boaters that they often share the same waters and in order to ensure an enjoyable experience, all must adhere to necessary safety precautions,” commented Tom Ingram, Executive Director of DEMA. “By increasing the awareness of the divers-down flag we hope to keep diving and the waterways safe for everyone this summer.”

In addition to being made available to the Industry for download and sharing, the poster and PSA’s will be promoted as a social media campaign via DEMA, Be A Diver and DiveCaching Twitter & Facebook pages for the remainder of the summer, as well as on social media sites of affiliated organizations. The Dive Flag Awareness poster is now available to viewed, shared and downloaded. Both versions of the PSA can be viewed and shared via the Be A Diver YouTube channel. All divers, boaters and Industry Professionals are encouraged to share the poster and PSA with their social media friends and followers, local diving community and local marinas to spread this important message.