DEMA Announces Diving Community Champion Awards Recipients

** Diving Community Champion Awards will be presented during the DEMA Membership Meeting held at DEMA Show 2019**

DEMA is proud to announce the Diving Community Champions Honorees for 2019!

Congratulations to 2019 Diving Community Champion Award Recipients:

2019 Platinum Winner: ScubaRadio (Overboard Entertainment, Inc.)

ScubaRadio is a radio talk show with a diving theme and provides the forum to connect divers and listeners over stories about the perfect dive, destination, or encounter with some amazing sea creature. ScubaRadio covers all aspects of diving, including the best dive sites, dive gear, live-aboards, shark diving, and much more. Every week thousands of listeners are tuning into ScubaRadio via radio stations scattered throughout the US.

2019 Gold Winner: Save Our Leatherbacks Operation

Save Our Leatherbacks Operation (S.O.L.O.) started in 2002 and first focused on the critically endangered Leatherback Sea Turtle. Working on a remote nesting beach in Papua, Indonesia, in partnership with a local subsistence village, S.O.L.O. met its goal to significantly increase this sea turtle’s hatching rate.  More recently, additional marine environmental projects within S.O.L.O.’s foundation structure have focused on clean up campaigns which have spawned more local community activity to help reduce marine litter.

2019 Silver Winner: Deep Sea Valkyries

Founded in 2014, Deep Sea Valkyries utilizes recreational scuba diving as an alternative form of therapy to injured veterans as a method to combat veteran suicide and enhance lives post-service. The veterans who participate in the program show a marked improvement in their quality of life and mental health. Since completing the program, past participants have gone back to school, given back to their community and other veterans through volunteer work, checked themselves into inpatient programs to get clean of the myriad of medications prescribed by the VA, and most importantly, continued to dive.

A complete list of finalists and their nomination submissions can be found online here.

DEMA’s objectives in creating this program include recognizing DEMA Member companies who are giving back to their communities and society through recreational diving and making these community efforts known to the general public.  DEMA Members could view the nominees and cast their votes through DEMA.org.

The Diving Community Champion Awards will be presented during the DEMA Membership Meeting held at DEMA Show 2019 on November 14, 2019.

DEMA Launches Mentorship Program

Just in time for participants to meet face-to-face during DEMA Show, DEMA is launching a new Mentorship Program.  Any current DEMA Member may participate in this program designed to help diving industry mentors and mentees learn from each other.

This Mentorship Program epitomizes DEMA’s Mission; to bring businesses together to grow the diving industry worldwide and celebrates the wealth of mentoring experience available in the company of DEMA Members.

Mentoring is a proven way to provide learning and development to both parties.  In the diving industry, many new professionals are seeking ways to navigate a career path in the industry that allows them to make a living while embracing a unique lifestyle. Seasoned diving professionals understand the need to adopt a succession plan for the industry that brings in new and excited professionals with great ideas and unique skills.  Veterans of the industry can help guide new professionals through many of the obstacles they may encounter on their professional journey, while these veterans also learn new skills in the areas of technology, social media, and more.

The Mentorship Program was conceived, in part, by the DEMA “Emerging Leaders” Task Force established at the beginning of 2019.  Working for more than five months on the logistics and administration of the program, this group of new professionals helped develop criteria based on the needs of those coming into the industry, and knowing that seasoned professionals are also interested in making sure the diving industry survives and thrives in the future. 

Mentees in the program are DEMA Members who are “new professionals” in the industry, regardless of age.  “New professionals” are defined as those who have been professionals in the recreational diving industry for five years or less. Any qualified DEMA Member new professional can apply to be a mentee if they are willing to participate within the structure and rules of the program.  Not all those who apply will be immediately matched.

Mentors are any DEMA Member volunteer from any of DEMA’s stakeholder groups, willing to serve within the structure and rules of the program. Through DEMA’s Mentorship Program Committee, selected mentors will be matched to mentees based on the interests and goals of both.  Owing to the matching process, not all those who apply will be immediately selected as mentors.

HOW DOES IT WORK? The process is simple: Mentors and mentees complete an application and submit it to DEMA’s Mentorship Committee for review.  All applicants are invited to the inaugural luncheon at DEMA Show, where the program will be introduced.  The Mentorship Program begins following DEMA Show 2019. 

INTERESTED? Download DEMA’s Mentorship Participation Handbook and apply online to participate as a mentor or mentee. Selected participants are required to commit to the rules of the Mentorship Program, but there are no fees to DEMA for applying or participating.  Applicants should plan to attend the inaugural luncheon conducted at DEMA Show on November 16, 2019 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm.

Start Planning for DEMA Show with the Mobile App

Enhance your DEMA Show experience with the DEMA Show 2019 Mobile App, now available for download! Look-up Exhibitors, create your own schedule, connect with other Attendees and MUCH MORE!  The DEMA Show 2019 Mobile App is a native application for iPad, smartphones (iPhone and Android), a hybrid web-based app for Blackberry, and there's also a web-based version of the application for all other web browser-enabled phones.  If you already have the DEMA Show Mobile App with the 2018 app open, go to settings and tap "Exit to Show List". Choose DEMA Show 2019 then tap download.

GET THE APP

Voting Now Open for the 2019 Wave Makers Award

Voting for the 2019 Wave Makers Award is now open to DEMA Members! The Wave Makers Award aims to recognize professionals who have been working in the industry for five years or less and have made a significant contribution to the industry during that time. 
 
The deadline to vote is 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time on November 8, 2019. 
Learn more about the nominee finalists and cast your vote today!

Vote for the 2019 Diving Community Champion Award

DEMA's new Diving Community Champion Award recognizes DEMA Member companies using diving to benefit their communities and the public. Nominations have been submitted and now it's YOUR turn to vote! The deadline to vote for the business YOU think deserves to be honored as this year's Diving Community Champion is 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time on October 18, 2019. The Diving Community Champion Awards will presented during the DEMA Membership Meeting held at DEMA Show 2019 on November 14, 2019.

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