Pools Must be in Compliance with New Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Requirements by January 31st 2013

In 2012, the United States Department of Justice issued an extension on the compliance date for the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design for existing pools and spas provided by state and local governments and by public accommodations. The new deadline was set for January 31, 2013 and is rapidly approaching.

 

In order to help eliminate misinformation and provide ample opportunity to comply, DEMA submitted comments on behalf of the Diving Industry during 2012 in favor of delaying the initial March 2012 deadline date for certain requirements of Titles II and III of the ADA. “We believed an extension of the compliance date was necessary to allow for clarification of the requirements and allow impacted Industry businesses to budget and plan for any necessary changes,” commented Tom Ingram, Executive Director of DEMA.

 

According to the Department of Justice, existing pools must be in compliance with the new requirements as set forth by the changes within the ADA Standards for Accessible Design by January 31^st, 2013. Industry professionals using pools in stores and any public facilities are advised to review the new requirements for pool entry and exit, compliance date details, and refer to the ADA website for additional information on immediate compliance with the regulations.

Generate New Business For Your Retail Dive Center by Participating in 2013 Be A Diver Pool Tour Stops

Eight Events in Quarter 1 Alone Provide Opportunities for Retail Dive Center Participants from New York to Missouri

Since it first came into existence more than 10 years ago, the Be A Diver Pool Tour has traveled throughout the U.S. enabling potential new diving customers to try scuba diving in the warm, safe confines of a four-foot deep swimming pool under professional supervision. With 2013 just beginning, the Pool’s schedule is already filling up and 2013 promises to be another productive year for both the Pool and local retailers who participate at pool tour stops.

Since 2000, the Be A Diver Pool has brought the interactive diving experience to thousands of onsite participants at hundreds of indoor and outdoor venues as well as millions of at-home viewers and publication readers through media coverage from across the United States. Pool Tour stop locations are carefully selected using solid consumer research indicating which of the many events across the US already attract potential customers who fit the same prosperous demographic profile targeted by the diving industry. The Be A Diver Pool utilizes effective cross-marketing strategies to bring in new divers to participating stores, thus helping to grow the Diving Industry. Equally important is the tremendous amount of media attention the Be A Diver Pool generates in the local area and nationally. Participating DEMA Member stores often have the opportunity for their businesses to appear on television and in print as a result of their participation.

Each Pool stop is coordinated by DEMA’s “Big Wave” Dave Reidenbach, Retail Membership Manager, in coordination with local DEMA Member Profesional Dive Centers. By working at a local Pool stop, retailers in the area have the prime opportunity to provide a memorable first-time experience to potential new divers and customers. John Wilkins, owner of Rex Diver Center, Inc. participated in the Pool stop at the Norwalk Boat Show in 2012 and was able to “make a professional impression on thousands of attendees.” In addition, he indicates that, “learning to scuba was part of the many television ads leading up and through the boat show,” providing additional exposure to potential customers. Thanks to participating in his local pool stop last year Wilkins signed up multiple participants into the following weekends’ dive class and went away with a list of leads for future classes.

As Wilkins and many other retailers have experienced, the Pool is often a potential customer’s first diving experience and the introduction they need to develop a lifelong passion for the sport. The Be A Diver Pool already has eight confirmed stops in Quarter 1 of 2013 with many more being confirmed for the rest the year and throughout the country.

Retailers who are interested in participating in a scheduled pool stop or who may be aware of an event with potential for attracting new divers are encouraged to contact DEMA’s Pool Tour Coordinator, “Big Wave” Dave Reidenbach at (920) 205-3657 or bigwavedave@dema.org. There are also a variety of different sponsorships available to those interested and detailed information about the various sponsorship packages available can be found in the Be A Diver Pool Prospectus or by contacting Dave Reidenbach.

Website Launched For Water, Sports & Travel Festival

WSTFest.com Provides Valuable Information on Festival Details Including Exhibitor List, Schedule and More

 

DEMA has launched the website for the highly anticipated 2013 Water, Sports & Travel Festival which will take place April 26-28, 2013 in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The Festival encompasses a series of events for water sports enthusiasts interested in an active lifestyle and participating in water-based sports. By bringing together many water sports disciplines – whether on the water, in the water or over the water – the Festival hopes to encourage future consumer growth and interest in these areas. The WSTFest website provides exhibitors with a wealth of information on the Festival, including updated exhibitor listings, schedule details and more. Visit the website to learn more.

 

The WSTFest website makes it easy for companies from all water sports activities  to participate in the Festival including water sports retailers, manufacturers, clubs/organizations, recreational diving retailers and travel destinations. The Festival is a great way to showcase the latest products/gear to potential new customers, recruit new buyers or inspire visitors with an active lifestyle message, thus increasing the growth and interest in these sports and lifestyles. Included on the website is information to help those interested in participating learn more and get involved with the Festival:

 

EXHIBITORS can find information on exhibit space, a Festival floor plan, listing of other exhibitors and manage their own account.

 

A SCHEDULE OF EVENTS is listed with both pre-Show and Show attractions and activities. The activities scheduled cover a wide range of interests including contests, in-water demonstrations, DiveCaching activities, live music, a lion fish round up and cook-off, demonstrations/shows and much more.

 

MEDIA CONTACTS can find press releases concerning the Festival and the designated contact for all press-related questions.

 

HOTEL INFORMATION and rates are listed along with other nearby options.

 

Additional information aimed directly at Festival Attendees will be integrated into the site as the Festival approaches. Exhibitors and Attendees are encouraged to connect with the Festival on Facebook and Twitter.

 

DEMA will continue to provide information on the Water, Sports & Travel Festival to the entire industry as plans unfold via the DEMA website, Festival website, weekly DEMAILs, social media sites, DEMA blog and other outlets. 

 

The Water, Sports & Travel Festival is presented by DEMA in partnership with the Association of Wind & Water Sports Industries (AWSI), American Canoe Association (ACA), Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, Handicapped Scuba Association (HSA), Kite World Magazine, South Florida Underwater Photography Society (SFUPS) and X-Ray Magazine.

How I (Accidentally) Accessed a Former Employer’s Twitter Account Without Their Password

Guest Blogger: Rachelle Morris, DEMA Membership Marketing & Communications Coordinator

I wanted to share a recent experience with you all in hopes that it might shed some light on the importance of managing your accounts and protecting your social media identity.

I don’t know about you, but between my personal and work logins, I have far too many username/password combinations in my head to keep them all straight. I was recently trying to log into my personal Twitter account, but since I haven’t been logged in for quite some time, I was having a difficult time remembering the correct login combination. So I proceeded with the “forgot username and password” process.

What happened next literally left my mouth dropped. I had the option to enter in my phone number as a way of gaining access to the account that was associated with that phone number. Immediately thereafter, I received a text that included a code to help me log back in. At this point I had just assumed this was my personal Twitter that it was helping me log into – but I was never asked to verify any of the account information….Before I realized it, I found myself staring at a Twitter account dashboard that wasn’t mine. In fact, it was worse: I had inadvertently logged into a former employer’s Twitter account – all without ever entering the current username and password!!!


– JAW DROP – How is that possible?! Here’s how:

It looks like the new social media manager at the former employer had gone in and updated the account with all her new information and I would assume she changed the password as well.

HOWEVER, what she failed to do was check out the MOBILE tab under the Settings tab. If she had, she would have seen my phone number was still listed as the phone that could access the account and Tweet on behalf of the account.

Lucky for them, I am not a disgruntled ex-employee out for revenge. Had I been, I could have done some SERIOUS damage to their online reputation and relationships. Instead, I quickly deleted my information from the account and signed out.

Please, please, please – make sure you are keeping a close eye on all of your accounts. I would suggest it as good practice to change passwords whenever someone leaves the company and had access to ANY account. And be sure to go through ALL the account settings to be absolutely sure they have been completely removed.

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Other recent posts by Rachelle:

• DS12 – What a Show! 
• Instagram, Hashtags and First DEMA Show…OH MY!
• Well Isn’t That Pinteresting….
• Tweet, Tweet…Anybody there?
• Twitter Me This…
• How to Gauge the Success of your Facebook Page
• Searching for a Perfect Social Media Plan

DS12 – What a Show!

Guest Blogger: Rachelle Morris, DEMA Membership Marketing & Communications Coordinator

The past month has been a complete whirlwind. Having attended my very first DEMA Show, I am even more impressed with the professionalism of the Diving Industry! What a fun, intelligent, passionate and welcoming group of people! I met so many incredible individuals and can’t wait to see you all again in Florida for DEMA Show 2013!

Being this was my first Show, I quite honestly didn’t know what to expect. One of the Show features I was most excited about was the opportunity to attend educational seminars and learn from experts of their field. Being the social media fiend that I am, I was eager to attend Evolving Social Media Realities: What You Need to Know with Jason Heller, CEO, Agiliti. He was such an engaging speaker and had so many great ideas; I couldn’t help but take feverish notes so I could share some of them with all of you!

Facebook & Exposure
Did you know that only 15% of your followers ever actually see the content your business or brand page posts? Much of this is due to a complicated algorithm that determines who sees what. The whole thing is -quite honestly- beyond my understanding, but there are apps and programs that can help make it easy for those of us that “don’t do numbers.” Jason spoke about EdgeRank Checker, which is described on their website as “an algorithm that ranks objects in the Facebook News Feed. Pages with high EdgeRank Scores will be more likely to show up in the news feed, than Pages with low EdgeRank Scores.”

With EdgeRank Checker’s free plan, you have access to information like your EdgeRank score, the best average day of the week, worst average day of the week and more. And of course the paid PRO plan has even more insightful data for you to refer to like post grading, industry report, best day + best time + best keyword, and more.

With this sort of information you can leverage your content and maximize your Facebook exposure by ensuring you are posting during the ideal time, on the best days of the week, and using content and keywords that are most likely to drive engagement.

Be sure to check out EdgeRank Checker to see how the free or PRO plans can help you maximize your Facebook efforts!

Track Your Brand

Curious to know what people are saying about you, your business, or brand online? Socialmention* is a great, FREE tool that can help you do just that! You can even use it to see what people are saying about your competition. ;)

How Are My Tweets Doing?

I love Jason’s suggestion for a program that can help track your Twitter analytics: Crowdbooster provides you information on your retweets, impressions, replies, follower growth, influential followers, top retweeters, mentions, and more. What I appreciate is that you can switch between displaying information in table or graph form. Being a visual learner, I love the information being provided in a graph so I can quickly see how our Tweets are doing.

After setting up my account, Crowdbooster sent me an email informing me of the 3 best times to schedule tweets for today. LOVE IT!

Give some of these programs a peak and see if they would be a good fit for you and your social media efforts. The added work can certainly pay off as you start to see increased engagement.

And if you know of any other good resources, please share them here!

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Other recent posts by Rachelle:

• Instagram, Hashtags and First DEMA Show…OH MY!
• Well Isn’t That Pinteresting….
• Tweet, Tweet…Anybody there?
• Twitter Me This…
• How to Gauge the Success of your Facebook Page
• Searching for a Perfect Social Media Plan

DEMA Thanks the Recreational Diving Industry for Their Participation in DEMA Show 2012

DEMA is pleased to say THANK YOU to the more than 9,800 pre-qualified dive professionals who registered for DEMA Show 2012, and the 600+ exhibiting companies who made DEMA Show successful. The sold out trade-only show was held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV from November 14^th to 17^th.

Funds raised through DEMA Show (and all events produced by DEMA) are used to promote recreational diving, keep dive sites open, provide DEMA-Member access to benefit programs such as health insurance and worker’s compensation insurance, monitor legislative activity and advocate for diving with lawmakers, and conduct research on behalf of the Industry. With this year’s increased DEMA Show participation, DEMA can continue its mission of promoting sustainable growth in safe recreational diving and snorkeling while protecting the underwater environment.

DEMA Show 2012 encouraged attendees to find new ways to take control of their business by providing hundreds of exhibits, products, services, educational sessions and more. Opening day commenced at 10:00 am on November 14^th with more than 6,700 professionals on hand for the first day’s activities, including buyers, travel buyers, instructors and other dive professionals from all over the world. Comparative attendance figures confirm that more than 8,300 were on-site over the four-day Show period, with more than 900 registering on-site during the first day alone – a 2.5% increase over the previous Las Vegas-based DEMA Show and a 5.6% increase over the 2011 Orlando-based DEMA Show. Most importantly, the Show credentialing process helps keep the Show a true trade-only event, welcoming highly qualified Buyers.

Exhibitors such as Atomic, Body Glove, Cressi, Mares and MANY more hosted hundreds of attendees in their booths to showcase their latest products and service offerings. DEMA’s partner, Border Cross Productions, has captured the excitement of the action-packed days of DEMA Show 2012 in a series of videos located on the Be A Diver YouTube Channel.

During the Annual Member Meeting, attendees learned about the many accomplishments made by the Association over the past year and the goals being set for 2013. Included were details on the highly anticipated 2013 Water, Sports & Travel Festival which is aimed to reach out to water-sports enthusiasts and expose them to recreational diving. For details visit www.wstfest.com.

Media coverage by Fox-5 KVVU-TV and photos from the Show are available online and those who use social media sites, Instagram or Twitter are encouraged to use the hashtag #DEMAShow as they upload photos or share stories from their DEMA Show 2012 experience.

DEMA extends its THANKS to the entire Industry for the continuing success of DEMA Show!

Instagram, Hashtags and First DEMA Show…OH MY!

Guest Blogger: Rachelle Morris, DEMA Membership Marketing & Communications Coordinator

The DEMA Show countdown clock at the DEMA Association office is finally in the single digits. DEMA Show is upon us! I am so excited to see what all the buzz is about, finally put faces to the voices on the phone, and meet the many Members I have worked with over the past seven months.

Since the moment I first started working for DEMA, the passion of Industry professionals has been so evident. Diving professionals LOVE their sport, love the underwater world, and love sharing it with others. Your passion is contagious and your drive to not only be successful, but keep the sport and Industry alive is awe-inspiring. I couldn’t be more excited to be part of it all and experience where it all comes together: DEMA Show.

As a DEMA Show newbie, I will be busy documenting every new experience with my handy-dandy smartphone. Which means for all you Instagram lovers, I will be sharing insider photos from the Show, Awards party, seminars, and shenanigans happening all around Vegas. Follow “DEMAShow” on Instagram to see it all go down. Follow “DEMAOrg” on Instagram for other Industry and Association news! 

Wait – did that link just direct me to DEMA’s Instagram profile ON THE WEB?? 

Why, yes it most certainly did and it’s because on Monday, November 5th, Instagram officially launched online profiles. For businesses and brands this means that followers don’t need a smartphone anymore to access and follow your photo stream. Learn more about your online profile here.

If YOU are on Instagram, we invite you to share your experience with everyone by including #DEMAShow in your DEMA Show photo descriptions. When someone searches “DEMAShow” they will be able to see what you are up to thanks to this hashtag! (But please, out of respect for the marvelous innovators, do not take and share photos of the new product showcase and technical product showcase.)

So, at this point I will have to bid you adieu. Happy travels and I will see you in Vegas!!