DEMA Announces 2014 DEMA Show Keynote Session Featuring Grant and Shawna Korgan

**World-Record Holder, Athlete & Star of The Current Hosts Thursday’s Opening Session**

DEMA has announced that this year’s DEMA Show Keynote Session will feature Grant Korgan, world-record holding Antarctic Explorer, renowned adventure athlete, scuba diver, author, and motivational speaker.  Korgan will join his wife, wellness expert and life coach, Shawna Korgan to lead this captivating session that will leave you feeling inspired, driven and empowered.  The session will take place on Thursday, November 20th from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. in Room N254 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV.

“We are honored to have Grant and Shawna Korgan as our Keynote speakers for this year’s DEMA Show,” commented Tom Ingram, Executive Director of DEMA. “They will share with you the universally applicable tools they used to overcome Grant’s life-altering spinal cord injury, and the unbound, and often hidden personal power of overcoming adversity via choosing positivity. Their inspirational and life-impacting keynote presentation will have you walking away with powerful new life tools to enhance both your personal and professional experience.”

After sustaining a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down, adventurer Grant Korgan refused to balk at his new condition because he still had a mission in store. Ten years prior, when his best friend and climbing partner passed away in an avalanche, his parents entrusted Korgan with their son’s equipment, entreating him to continue climbing for him. Spurred by his commitment to his friend as well as the support of his wife, Shawna, Korgan found the strength to rise from his wheelchair and reclaim his active lifestyle, becoming the first spinal cord-injured athlete to ski 80 miles in Antarctica’s South Pole. Today, his is the emerging face of spinal cord recovery and heralds his message of choosing positivity through adversity.

Grant and Shawna can also be seen during Thursday’s 2:00 p.m. premiere of the Make a Hero Foundation’s latest film The Current in Booth #238.  The film showcases the power of diving by featuring inspiring athletes, public figures, athlete ambassadors and military veterans who have participated in our sport.  Join DEMA and the diving Industry as we come together for a morning of motivation and inspiration at DEMA Show 2014.

DEMA Announces New Member Benefit to Premiere During DEMA Show 2014

**DEMA Partners with Make A Hero Foundation to Produce Content for Member Use **

DEMA has partnered with Make A Hero Foundation (MAH) to provide content to help promote recreational diving using MAH’s film The Current.  The Current is the second adaptive sports film by Make a Hero, which showcases inspiring adaptive athletes, public figures, athlete ambassadors and military veterans who have donated their efforts in support of this film. “The Current is important to the Diving Industry because it showcases the ‘Healing Power of the Ocean’ through inspiring stories about scuba diving,” explained Producer and Director Kurt Miller, CEO of MAH.

“DEMA is excited about the latest film produced by MAH, and the universal message it carries about the strength of the human spirit,” commented Tom Ingram, Executive Director of DEMA. “By showing the role scuba diving can play in the healing process, it reinforces diving as a sport in which anyone can participate.”

Make A Hero Foundation will be exhibiting at DEMA Show 2014, and premieringThe Current on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. in booth #238.  Plans also call for one or more individuals featured in the film to be available and respond to questions after the premiere.  Additional information on the movie is available on the Make A Hero website.

Importantly, DEMA has partnered with MAH to make the film available to DEMA for use with the Be A Diver Pool Tour, and for members of DEMA to have access for their own promotions of scuba diving.  More details on availability of this inspiring content will be presented during DEMA Show.