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153 What to Expect at The DEMA Show 2022 with Tom Ingram

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In this episode of The Dive Locker Podcast we learn all about the upcoming DEMA Show 2022 in Orlando with DEMA President and CEO Tom Ingram.

Welcome To The Show!

Welcome to The Dive Locker Podcast, the podcast for dive professionals where we bring you the latest in diving industry resources that make you excellent at teaching techniques, risk management and dive business.

It’s that time of the year for The DEMA Show! Yes! I’m so excited about this. This year the DEMA Show is in Orlando Florida November 1-4. And no, hurricane Ian is not an issue for Orlando, our state is doing fine Orlando’s doing fine. It’s safe, we don’t defund police. Come on down to the DEMA Show.

Now, if you have never been to a DEMA Show or don’t even know what DEMA is, DEMA stands for the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association. It’s a not for profit organization that is the trade association for the international scuba diving industry. With more than 1,400 business members, DEMA’s mission is bringing businesses together to grow the Diving Industry worldwide. And, each year DEMA puts on the largest diving industry trade show in the world. It attracts hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of dive and travel industry professionals from around the world each year.

Now, I attend it every year. It literally charges my batteries and makes me love this industry even more. And, I can’t recommend it enough for you as a dive pro – no matter what level you are, it doesn’t matter if you’re independent, part time, full time, does not matter this is the show to go to if you’re a dive pro.

So today I have the President and CEO of DEMA, Tom Ingram on, to tell us all about this year’s show. Two years ago was virtual. And, last year we got to be in person in Las Vegas. However, the numbers were so down for exhibitors and attendees because so much of the world was still in lockdown and even domestic travel was so restrictive.

But this year it’s different! We have solid numbers that are approaching pre-covid numbers, not quite there yet, but getting there. So I wanted to have Tom tell us all about this years show in Orlando and what we can expect.

The DEMA Show 2022

Also, I will be at the DEMA Show in Orlando, Florida November 1-4. I’ll be giving three presentations at the show, catching up with industry friends and colleagues, attending tons of seminars and interviewing folks for this podcast.

If you like this podcast you’ll really like my presentations. On Wednesday, November 02 at 1:00 PM I’ll be co-presenting with the incredible Jennifer Shaheen of The Technology Therapy Group. Our presentation is titled Diving Deep into Your Business. During this workshop, we will walk through four key areas you’ll want to evaluate in your business in order to continue to grow; people, process, money, and marketing.

On Thursday, November 03, at 1:00 PM I host The Power of Podcasting Panel Discussion. The panelists are Stephan Whelan with the Deeper Blue Podcast, James Blackman with the Divers Ready YouTube channel, Jeff Cinciripino with the Scuba Shack Podcast and Jason Meaney with A Dram of Diving Podcast and they bring great information with their diverse podcasting experience. Discussion questions surround the aspects of podcasting and the benefits of podcasting for dive centers and dive professionals. The podcasters share their top recommendations for dive centers and dive pro’s to create their own podcasts.

And finally on Thursday, November 03, 2022: 4:00 PM I will be presenting Risk Mitigation. This presentation covers solid strategies to guard against lawsuits and be more defendable.

Please consider attending one of those if you’re going to the DEMA Show. I hope you are going and I hope to see you there.

Items In This Episode

  • Exhibitors
  • Attendees
  • Online Eduction
  • Next Year: New Orleans

Episode Sponsor

If you find this show adds value to you as a dive pro and you’d like to help support the show, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It’s only $4 per month. When you become a supporter of The Dive Locker you’ll get a shout out from me on the next episode after you join. You will also be listed on the Patrons of Dive Locker Podcast webpage. And you will receive 10% off any ScubaGuru Academy course at the Patron level, and 20% off at the Rockstar level. And of course my undying appreciation for helping support the show.

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152 Interpreting the Ocean Environment Without a Marine Biology Degree

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In this episode of The Dive Locker Podcast we look at an outstanding resource to help dive professionals interpret the ocean environment.

Welcome To The Show!

Welcome to The Dive Locker Podcast, the podcast for dive professionals where we bring you the latest in diving industry resources that make you excellent at teaching techniques, risk management and dive business.

You’ve heard me say quite often as dive professionals our office is the ocean and our inventory are the fishes and corals underwater. So, Ill be the first to admit, that when it comes to environment presentations for classes or coming off a dive, I really have such a little command of the overwhelming diversity and biology and ecology of the underwater world.

But then again, as dive professionals we don’t have to have a degree in marine biology to truly interpret well, the ocean environment. In fact there are resources out there to help us get better at this. And just like EVERY good teacher, you must always be a student and continue your learning.

Well friends one of the best resources about the ocean environment for divers and dive pro’s to ever come along, is a new book by Reef Smart Guides written by one of my mentors Dr. Alex Brylske. It is called Beneath the Blue Planet: A Diver’s Guide to the Ocean. This book is absolutely full of great, easy to digest information and some of the best graphics and photography you’ll see in our industry. It is truly stunning!

Alex allowed me a sneak peak months ago and I could not wait until it’s out, and now it will be published and available next month. And you can get the first autographed copies even, at the DEMA Show. I caught up with Alex at Sea Experience in Fort Lauderdale where he was teaching one of his EcoPro classes, and we talked all about how this book is one of the greatest tools for any diver or especially dive pro’s teaching classes and taking people diving.

Dr. Alex Brylske

Dr. Alex Brylske is a mentor of mine. Most recently he was Professor of Marine Science & Technology at Florida Keys Community College. While teaching he was also Senior Editor of Dive Training Magazine a position he held for 24 years, where he wrote outstanding articles on all topics in diving. Before all that was his time at PADI headquarters where he was their Educational Program Development Manager.

Alex implemented the instructor training model currently in use today at PADI. He also was primary editor for both the PADI Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving and the PADI Divemaster Manual. In 2012 Alex won the prestigious DAN Rolex Diver of the Year Award, and in that same year he published one of my favorite books in the diving industry, The Complete Diver: The History, Science and Practice of Scuba Diving. Now Alex is heading up Ocean Education International where his programs specialize in teaching sustainable dive tourism. His courses for divers and pro’s are just fantastic.

The DEMA Show 2022

Also, I will be at the DEMA Show in Orlando, Florida November 1-4. I’ll be giving three presentations at the show, catching up with industry friends and colleagues, attending tons of seminars and interviewing folks for this podcast.

If you like this podcast you’ll really like my presentations. On Wednesday, November 02 at 1:00 PM I’ll be co-presenting with the incredible Jennifer Shaheen of The Technology Therapy Group. Our presentation is titled Diving Deep into Your Business. During this workshop, we will walk through four key areas you’ll want to evaluate in your business in order to continue to grow; people, process, money, and marketing.

On Thursday, November 03, at 1:00 PM I host The Power of Podcasting Panel Discussion. The panelists are Stephan Whelan with the Deeper Blue Podcast, James Blackman with the Divers Ready YouTube channel, Jeff Cinciripino with the Scuba Shack Podcast and Jason Meaney with A Dram of Diving Podcast and they bring great information with their diverse podcasting experience. Discussion questions surround the aspects of podcasting and the benefits of podcasting for dive centers and dive professionals. The podcasters share their top recommendations for dive centers and dive pro’s to create their own podcasts.

And finally on Thursday, November 03, 2022: 4:00 PM I will be presenting Risk Mitigation. This presentation covers solid strategies to guard against lawsuits and be more defendable.

Please consider attending one of those if you’re going to the DEMA Show. I hope you are going and I hope to see you there.

Items In This Episode

Episode Sponsor

If you find this show adds value to you as a dive pro and you’d like to help support the show, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It’s only $4 per month – that’s only $1 per episode. When you become a supporter of The Dive Locker you’ll get a shout out from me on the next episode after you join. You will also be listed on the Patrons of Dive Locker Podcast webpage. And you will receive 10% off any ScubaGuru Academy course at the Patron level, and 20% off at the Rockstar level. And of course my undying appreciation for helping support the show.

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151 Incorporating Weather Into Your Emergency Training Scenarios

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In this episode of The Dive Locker Podcast we look at how dive professionals can incorporate weather issues into your emergency training scenarios.

Welcome To The Show!

Welcome to The Dive Locker Podcast, the podcast for dive professionals where we bring you the latest in diving industry resources that make you excellent at teaching techniques, risk management and dive business.

A huge thank you to all of you who wrote and said how much you missed the new episodes. Thank you so much for that!

It’s been a wild summer and into fall here, we went on a couple big trips, launched the Risk Management for Diving Professionals course, took my daughter to college, celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the Nova Southeastern University Academic Diving Program, started a record attendance semester of diving classes, got some League of Extraordinary Divers Podcast episodes in the bank, both my aunt and my father passed away recently, and today there are bands from hurricane Ian hitting my neighborhood with some force. Whew, but it is great to be back and with you again.

So you all know how huge of a fan I am of in-service emergency training for staff right? Well, a few weeks ago we did a new one for our staff, and it turned out to be one of the best in-service emergency training sessions of all times and I want to share it with you today. Whether you adopt this or a variation of it, I think you’ll be amazed at how great this training scenario works out and it’s perfect for rescue classes, divemaster training and in-service staff training.

Items In This Episode

  • Lightning alarm evacuation with issues and emergencies

Episode Sponsor

If you find this show adds value to you as a dive pro and you’d like to help support the show, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It’s only $4 per month – that’s only $1 per episode. When you become a supporter of The Dive Locker you’ll get a shout out from me on the next episode after you join. You will also be listed on the Patrons of Dive Locker Podcast webpage. And you will receive 10% off any ScubaGuru Academy course at the Patron level, and 20% off at the Rockstar level. And of course my undying appreciation for helping support the show.

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150 All About AAUS: The American Academy of Underwater Sciences Part 2.

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In this episode of The Dive Locker Podcast we get an overview of the Risk Management for Diving Professionals online course.

Welcome To The Show!

Welcome to The Dive Locker Podcast, the podcast for dive professionals where we bring you the latest in diving industry resources that make you excellent at teaching techniques, risk management and dive business.

Again, a huge thank you to all of you who have purchased my Risk Management for Dive Professionals online course! And I’m so encouraged by how many of you purchased bulk course codes for your dive center staff and leadership students. So cool. And I also love how you all are saying how great the course is. Thank you so much for that!

If you haven’t gotten it yet go to scubaguruacademy.com, or if you want to purchase bulk courses for your staff or your divemasters in training, just email me through the ScubaGuru.com website and I’ll send you details on bulk pricing.

Also, this is episode 150! Which means I have put out an episode each Wednesday for 150 weeks. That is pretty awesome. But, I’m gonna switch it up a little. As you know I have another podcast called the League of Extraordinary Divers: Salty Stories From the Diving Legends Themselves. And it has been a long time since I have posted an episode for that. Well between writing my online course and the weekly Dive Locker podcast, League of Extraordinary Divers has taken a back seat. Well, I intend to change that. Now, I will be putting League into a more regular rotation and this podcast will be in more of a random rotation, in other words not every week.

So yeah, when I say for patrons $4 a month is a dollar an episode, well it might not add up that way in future months. Hopefully that doesn’t dissuade you from being a patron at whatever level. The content will still be solid, just not as frequent with new episodes. So that is changing for this podcast. And by the way Jeff Bozanic is up next on the League of Extraordinary Divers, you are going to love that episode.

Okay last week we had part one of all about AAUS the American Academy of Underwater Sciences. Today is part two of my interview with Derek Smith Past President of AAUS. And in this episode he talks about AAUS getting a little more mainstream. Especially transitioning from a standards producing agency to a certification agency. Wow. And how citizen science diving can tie into AAUS in some ways. This is awesome stuff.

Items In This Episode

  • Scientific Diver
  • Getting underwater as a Citizen Scientist
  • Ties with recreational diving

Episode Sponsor

If you find this show adds value to you as a dive pro and you’d like to help support the show, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It’s only $4 per month – that’s only $1 per episode. When you become a supporter of The Dive Locker you’ll get a shout out from me on the next episode after you join. You will also be listed on the Patrons of Dive Locker Podcast webpage. And you will receive 10% off any ScubaGuru Academy course at the Patron level, and 20% off at the Rockstar level. And of course my undying appreciation for helping support the show.

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149 All About AAUS: The American Academy of Underwater Sciences Part 1

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In this episode of The Dive Locker Podcast we look at how dive professionals can engage with the American Academy of Underwater Sciences.

Welcome To The Show!

Welcome to The Dive Locker Podcast, the podcast for dive professionals where we bring you the latest in diving industry resources that make you excellent at teaching techniques, risk management and dive business.

First, a huge thank you to all of you who have purchased my Risk Management for Dive Professionals online course and have raved about it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. That just warms my heart! This was a project six months in the making, and sometimes you question yourself. Will this be good, will people want it? Well you have spoken and made me very happy by validating the true value of this course. So thank you!

If you haven’t gotten it yet go to scubaguruacademy.com, or if you want to purchase more than one course for lets say your staff or your divemasters in training, just email me through the ScubaGuru.com website and I’ll send you details on bulk pricing. So again thank you!

So, AAUS maybe you’ve heard of them maybe you haven’t. Well the American Academy of Underwater Sciences has been under the radar of recreational diving, but has existed with a strong presence wherever underwater research has taken place. AAUS exists within colleges, universities, aquaria, not for profits, municipal agencies, you name it, if underwater research takes place, the AAUS is present.

Well, I wanted to have a discussion about how dive professionals and dive centers can interact or come alongside AAUS in some way, and I reached out to Derek Smith recent Past Present of AAUS for a conversation on the issue. Derek, has a Ph.D. from the University of Washington and two and a half decades of scientific diving experience. And he happened to be at the helm of AAUS for some of its most significant changes in AAUS’s history.

Well, we got into so much great stuff that I’ve broken up our interview into two episodes. I mean there is so much here, and I think whether you’re a dive center owner, manager or you’re an independent instructor you are going to have all these “oh really” moments, like I did in talking with Derek. Seriously good stuff here because AAUS is getting a little more mainstream. You’ll love these two episodes.

Items In This Episode

  • History of Scientific Diving
  • What is AAUS?
  • How does AAUS work?
  • TDI/SDI/ITI Certifications
  • Standards Setting Agency Turns Into Certification Agency

Episode Sponsor

If you find this show adds value to you as a dive pro and you’d like to help support the show, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It’s only $4 per month – that’s only $1 per episode. When you become a supporter of The Dive Locker you’ll get a shout out from me on the next episode after you join. You will also be listed on the Patrons of Dive Locker Podcast webpage. And you will receive 10% off any ScubaGuru Academy course at the Patron level, and 20% off at the Rockstar level. And of course my undying appreciation for helping support the show.

Podcast (thedivelocker): Play in new window | Download | Embed

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Welcome Dive Professionals

Welcome to ScubaGuru.com!  The ScubaGuru brand is dedicated to giving dive professionals tools and techniques to be GREAT LEADERS – leaders in the classroom, leaders underwater, and leaders in their diving businesses.  With unique leadership skill-sets, the dive professional can create:

  • Better divers
  • Loyal customers
  • A thriving dive center
  • A flourishing dive industry

See what we mean by Go Beyond the Standard and enjoy the rewards of being truly great at what you do!

Sincerely,

Tec Clark

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