Dive Industry Association, Inc.

An Industry Search For Its Key People
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

This is the perfect time to rebuild the diving industry from the ground up.  As the world struggles to enter the post pandemic economic recovery period, there are still going to be challenges that need to be overcome, dealt with, accepted, or ignored.  As a lifelong optimist but a practical realist, my latest conversations with some of the key people in the diving industry have confirmed the fact that we are in a recreational & leisure business that is severely affected by downturns in world economic fluctuations.  As the Global Diving Business Network delas with supply shortages, inflation, a looming recession, under employment, transportation irregularities, political squabbles, and global tensions, there is still a market for diving and adventure travel that needs to be addressed and serviced.

Our recreation will not survive if we are in different boats, paddling in opposite directions, while we are taking on water.  I challenge all Dive Industry Professionals who are reading this to think about the current industry fragmentation, the lack of unity, the lack of vision, and the lack of corrective action we have experienced in our industry in the past 10 years.  Can you honestly tell me that our industry has gotten better in the past ten years?  Ten years ago, we said the industry was flat.  No growth.  What about now?  Has the industry improved?  Is it the same?  Is it worse?

The Dive Industry Association is working on an exciting program.  It’s called DIVE LOCAL.  I hope you have been reading about it in our Industry Trade Magazine, The Dive Industry Professional.  So far, we have defined the program (concept), introduced the levels of participation, defined a geographical breakdown of the Global Diving Community, and outlined a professional trade breakdown of the stakeholder groups comprising the Global Diving Business Network.  This month we are identifying the Key People in each stakeholder group who are running the top companies and organizations in the industry.  That’s about as far as we can go before we begin to discuss the industry challenges, problems, and setbacks.  That’s because we have to first get the industry’s key people engaged in order to discuss the roadblocks preventing our growth and future success.   We will then need the same group of engaged key people to discuss potential solutions to the industry’s challenges and take corrective action to move the industry forward.

The goal of DIVE LOCAL is not to tell the recreational diving industry what to do.  Not by any means.  Our purpose is to build a Global Diving Business Network that will work together to identify problems, challenges, and lack of opportunities in the Global Diving Community.  We can define the global community by conducting primary research and outlining a workable foundation that we all can work with, but the industry will need a significant number of Dive Industry Professionals to participate in the analysis of our problems, the recommendation of solutions, and the agreed upon course of action the industry needs to implement.

To be honest with you, I don’t expect all of the key people in our industry will jump onboard at first.  Some can’t be bothered and some “have their own thing.”  In the past twenty years we have all been to seminars, workshops, and summit meetings that have discussed industry problems.  We listened, we participated, we even offered our opinions as to the challenges, solutions, and action items that were needed, and then everyone went home and did nothing about it.  Well, at least until the next meeting the following year.  I think we can all agree that we have had enough of those types of meetings.  This is not one of them.  We are creating a foundation, putting it in writing, posting it to our websites for all to see, and we are following up.  Worst case scenario is that we end up with a perfect plan that tells us what the industry should have been doing.  A more likely scenario will be that a small group of progressive Dive Industry Professionals will start working on the program and see their sales increase, their market share increase, and their belief in working with their peers in the network, justified.

Searching for and identifying Key People in our industry is very important to the success of our industry.  Each dive business should have at least two Key People.  One to represent the company to the public and one to orchestrate the strategic path that the company follows.  In simple terms, one person represents the company, and one person is the company.  The key person who represents the company is usually the person in charge of marketing.  The strategic powerhouse of the company is usually the owner or Chief Executive Officer (CEO).  We’ll refer to the person who is in charge of the company and its strategic growth plans as the Internal Key Person and the person who communicates the company plans to the public and is the company’s main contact person as the External Key Person.  Both play a vital role in the industry.

Internal Key Person:  A good internal key person is someone the whole company knows and it’s someone the whole industry wants to know.  It’s someone people respect and follow because they have a vision for the company and communicate that effectively to the people who work at the company.  It’s someone who has the authority to make decisions for the company and has the clout to make things happen.  Employees who agree with the company vision and want to be a part of it, are loyal to the internal key person.  The diving industry needs the expertise and presence of these internal key people at round-table discussions on industry growth and direction.  As an industry, we need to identify one person from each company to engage with us.

External Key Person:   The External Key Person is the one person who represents the company to the public.  It usually is the Marketing Director, Sales Manager, or Communications Officer if the company is large enough.  It should be the one person you could contact to find out something about the company.  External Key People are the spokespeople for their company.  They communicate the company’s story to the public and act as the first line of contact for the company. It’s important to note that an effective External Key Person is a company person who is in charge of communicating company information to the public.  It is not the responsibility of business professionals you hire to carry out sales, marketing, or reservation services.  They are vendors you pay to perform specific revenue generating tasks.  They are not your company spokespeople.  When you think about it, they are actually the company spokesperson for their own company.  The one you hired.  We will address this shortly.

Problems Identifying Key People:  Every diving company has an Internal Key Person running the company.  Unfortunately, not all of them are the final decision makers nor are they all considered Industry Leaders.  Many times, in our industry, key people inside the company take a low profile when it comes to public recognition.  Consequently, they shy away from participating in industry round-table discussions and keep their company strategic plans to themselves.  We cannot argue with that.  It’s their choice.  What we would appreciate is an Internal Key Person from each company who would be available for input and comments on our industry growth plans.  That would give them the professional courtesy of being asked to participate but leave it up to them on how engaged they choose to be. The importance of having a reliable inside contact in every company is that they will never lose contact with the Global Diving Business Network should they loose their hired spokesperson.

Employee & Non-Employee External Key People:  Company Communication Officers were once considered an expensive luxury position to have, especially at small and medium sized companies.  In today’s modern, competitive environment, a sharp Communication Officer is worth their weight in gold. Their job is to communicate their company’s programs, products, and services to the general public.  By being the official spokesperson for the company, they are the link between the company and the consuming public.  An External Key Person is responsible for making sure their company’s marketing plan is carried out in the public sector, to achieve the outcomes their company has in its plans.  Communication Officers build extensive marketing networks by developing long-term business relationships with the people that help them do their job.  It is critically important that the company maintain those relationships if the company transitions between one Communication Office and another. All to often we have seen Resort Destinations across the globe lose all of their contacts in the Global Diving Community when they switched sales agents, reservation services, or marketing companies.  That should not happen if the Key Internal Person is actively involved in maintaining their important business relationships.

It is important that companies in the Global Diving Business Network identify their Key People, both internally and externally, and work with the Dive Industry Association to maintain business stability and continuity of purpose.  Our mission as a Trade Association is to help diving businesses maintain current market share, identified new markets, and recapture markets and market share that has been lost.  Identifying and working with the Key People that could make that happen is the first logical step.

This is an exciting time to become part of the Global Diving Business Network.  For more information, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director of the Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  Email: gene@diveindustry.net  Web: www.diveindustry.net

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Why We Built A Diving Industry
by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

As we enter into the post-pandemic economic recovery phase of the diving industry, I feel that it is upon all of the Dive Industry Professionals to pause for a moment and reflect on what we do for a living and why we do it.  For the benefit of all of us who work part-time or full-time in some sort of diving business, it might be a good idea if we look back at our industry’s history, our present career situation, and our future potential as Dive Industry Professionals.  I’ll tell you why I think it is important for new members of the industry to learn and for industry veterans to remember.  I believe that the vision of a diving industry that was created by our Founding Fathers has not been fully understood by many and has definitely not been taught to the generations that followed.  By the way, I use the term Founding Fathers rather than Pioneers to affectionately describe our first generation of Dive Industry Professionals like John Cronin (U.S. Divers & PADI), Dick Bonin (Scubapro), and Bob Hollis (Oceanic).  These early Entrepreneurs were responsible for breaking away from the National Sporting Goods Association and creating an industry of our own.  There was a reason they did that, and I think it should be revisited and expanded upon at this time.

Before we begin, it’s important that we define what is meant by an industry.  An industry is a group of like-minded businesses based upon what type of program, product or service they produce.  So, our diving niche market is really a collective group of industries that specialize in the creation and sale of diving and diving related products.  The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments.  Our Founding Fathers were from the Manufacturing Sector (31-33) and were targeting the Retail Trade (Sectors 44-45), specifically subsector 459 (Sporting Goods Retailers).  As the market grew, Educational Services (subsector 611) and Recreational Industries (subsector 713) joined with the Manufacturers and Retailers.  Soon, the Travel Industries and Non-Profit Industries became actively engaged in the new niche market, and the “Diving Industry” was born.

In the early days of the diving industry, our Leaders were mostly business owners and entrepreneurs.  They had a vested interest in working cooperatively with other Dive Industry Professionals.  They worked together to carve out a niche market and created a trade show that brought buyers and sellers of diving and diving related products together.  The early trade shows had a high concentration of divers and became a cost-effective annual meeting place to do business.  The show also became the annual conference for professional growth and development.  The disadvantage to having an annual national show was minorly overcome by moving the location of the show to different regional locations every year.  A concept we need to go back to.  Soon, Regional Dive Shows sprung up across the United States in the regional diving communities of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Tacoma, Miami, and Raleigh, NC.  The Regional Shows became popular with the local diving community and flourished for 20-35 years.  I remember well, the rapid growth of the industry in the 1970’s and 80’s.  Many young Dive Industry Professionals in their late 20’s and early 30’s held key positions in the manufacturing, training, and retail industries.  The travel industry was growing at a rapid pace and was being spearheaded by young baby boomers.  So, what happened?

Looking back, I think the beginning of the decline in the recreational diving industry started while we were still experiencing the unprecedented growth of the 1980’s.  As the U.S. economy began to slow-down in the early 1990’s, the Baby Boomers were now in the early to mid-40’s.  Less people per year were taking up scuba diving and the number of dive stores started to decline.  The major change, as I saw it, was that as our early entrepreneurial pioneers were growing their businesses and passing the torch on to the younger generation, but their replacements were employee types and not business owners.  I saw an industry-wide shift of priority begin to change from a total industry perspective, to a more myopic focus of their individual businesses.  It seemed that most of the new industry leaders were more interested in the individual success of their own business rather than the success of the collective industry.  That could be my own take on things, but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes to me now.

I believe that if diving industry professionals at the time had focused more on working together on a collective industry growth strategy, instead of circling their wagons in an attempt to isolate their dealer bases, they would have grown the industry and become more proficient at target marketing.  Instead, they spent more money on duplicate marketing efforts that basically targeted the same customer base as their competitors.  This, in my opinion, brought them a significantly smaller return on investment for a larger marketing outlay. This fragmented approach and duplication of marketing efforts diluted their dealer base and put national and regional consumer and trade events on a downward spiral of profit and popularity.  By not understanding the difference between a true dive industry professional and a dive consumer, manufacturers, training agencies, travel companies and shows & events producers were unable to correctly market to either niche group successfully.

I can show you the industry stats that back up my comments.  Dive equipment manufacturers have gone through major consolidation and many brand marketers are selling the same OEM equipment under different labels.  There are over 50 certification agencies in the United States alone.  There must be a reason we need 50 certification agencies.  There are over 800 dive resort destinations and liveaboards around the globe.  And that’s just the ones we know about.  There may be more we haven’t heard about yet.  And they wonder why their occupancy rate is so low while other resorts are booked solid well into 2024 and beyond.  What about the industry’s retail dive stores.  Why has our industry gone from 2,400 stores to about 1,200 stores in the last 30 years?  And tell me why trade shows and consumer dive shows have dwindled down to a mere few?  Remember Our World Underwater?  Sea Space?  Seas Scuba Expo?  The Tacoma Dive Show?  The Florida Dive Shows?  The Texas Dive Shows?  What did they all have in common?  Better still, what things did they all lack in common?  From an exhibitor standpoint, trade and consumer dive shows peaked between 2006 and 2012.  I’m waiting for a 2024 Revival, but unfortunately we are not ready for a revival until we have one thing – UNITY OF PURPOSE.

The challenges that face the industry are pretty clear to most of us in the business.  The solutions to our challenges, in my opinion, are pretty clear also.  First of all, not every certified diver should be led to believe they should follow a predetermined path to become a Dive Industry Professional.  Not every person we certify as a diver wants to become a Scuba Instructor or Divemaster.  Let’s just be happy they took up scuba diving as a recreation!    And second of all, even if we become Dive Industry Professionals, we are still dive consumers.  So don’t tell me that DEMA is not a consumer show.  Of course it is.  We are all consumers, and Dive Industry Professionals buy a lot of dive equipment, training, and travel.  Let’s open up the industry instead of continually restricting its growth.

The good news is that we know the diving industry has a problem.  The bad news is that I think the problem is us.  I’m not quite sure who is not at fault here, but I can tell you I feel pretty safe knowing that only those amongst us without sin can cast the first stone!  I don’t see any rocks flying.  Do you?

Albert Einstein once said that mankind cannot get out of a problem using the same thought pattern that was used to get them into the problem.  With that said, I might suggest we get back to the logic that our Diving Founding Fathers used to create the industry.  Maybe it’s time to hold a round table discussion to establish where we currently are in our industry life cycle, what the problems that we face are, possible solutions to our problems, and actionable items we can collectively take to change our path of trajectory.  I believe that if we are unified in our approach, we can indeed, solve our problems and overcome our challenges.  In the meantime, our association will continue to build and organize Regional Diving Communities and work with Regional Leaders to promote diving shows and events that build and bring local diving communities together.  We will continue to fund primary research into market analysis and business best practices and we will do everything we can to bring buyers and sellers of diving equipment, training, travel, and lifestyle products together.   This is a call for industry unity and engagement.  Are you ready to step up to the challenge?  We can’t do it alone and the industry definitely cannot continue to do it the way it has done it in the past.

This is an exciting time to become part of the Global Diving Business Network.  For more information, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director of the Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  email: gene@diveindustry.net  Web: www.diveindustry.net

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Becoming an Engaged Dive Industry Professional
by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

The biggest bottleneck to growth in the recreational diving industry today is fragmentation.   The industry wasn’t always fragmented.  In fact, early pioneers in the 1960’s worked together to unify the industry by working together and focusing on the goals and agendas they had in common.  As a young man and a newly certified diver, I saw our recreation break away from the Sporting Goods Industry and begin to take shape as the diving industry.  It was an amazing paradigm shift to watch, study, and become a part of.  Interesting to note, the breaking away from the Sporting Goods Industry and creating a new, smaller Diving Industry, was in fact a fragmentation strategy.  Keep this in mind because it is happening again in the 2020’s for reasons I will explain.

The diving equipment manufacturers were the first to break away and unite under a single banner.  They invited the sales representatives to join them as they worked to develop and sell to the retail dive store market.  Seeing the need to safely train people how to use underwater breathing equipment before allowing them to make a purchase, the certification agencies developed training programs to teach and certify Instructors, who could in turn teach new divers.  As diving became more popular, more certification agencies entered the market.  Did you know there are over 50 certification agencies today?  Most of the diving in the early days was local diving, although the concept of dive travel entered the market and began to grow.  The industry saw a flurry of diving magazines, dive shows, and dive clubs introduced into the market.  That kept divers diving and was a key factor in the recruitment of new divers.  In my opinion, based only on personal experience, the diving industry was in full bloom in the early 1990’s but unfortunately was also at its historical peak.

From the beginning days until 2019 (COVID Pandemic) we saw the growth and prominence of the dive equipment manufacturers, certification agencies, and travel companies.  The only group that declined significantly was the retail dive store sector.  In the 1990’s there were over 2,400 dive stores and yet today there may be only 1,200 dive stores in the United States.  But there is a silver lining to this declining niche market.  It’s a positive post-pandemic paradigm shift for Retail Dive Centers and Dive Industry Professionals who become actively engaged in the Global Diving Business Network.

Even though we have lost a number of dive stores, the ones that have stayed in business have gotten bigger and have grown.  It’s getting harder to compete against the more organized and professionally run dive stores in this country, without changing the way you do business.  The ones that have focused on creating their own local market and selling to it are doing well.  Retailers are the focal point where the supply chain meets the demand chain.  They realize that by focusing on the sales of diving equipment, training, travel, and lifestyle products they can pretty much control the industry’s main channels of distribution.  If retail stores adapt a strategy to teach people how to dive, sell them the equipment they need, take them diving, and keep them active in our recreation, they can carve out a sizable market share locally, regionally, and maybe even nationally.  Successful retailers realize they are the primary ambassadors of the recreation and if they are well informed as to all of the options they have in the Global Diving Business Network, they can pick and choose the best vendors to partner with to serve their client base.  The world, in fact, could be their oyster.

If the Retail Dive Centers are the focal point of the Global Diving Business Network, then Dive Industry Professionals are the ones who make it work.  There are more options available to Dive Industry Professionals today than ever before.  They have their pick of over 800 manufacturers to buy equipment and diving related products from, over 50 certification agencies to affiliate with, and over 800 diving resorts and dive operators to work for or partner with.   Being a Dive Industry Professional gives you a plethora of choices in diving equipment, training, travel, and lifestyle products.  But only if you take the time to learn about the Global Diving Business Network and get engaged.

During the pandemic era, I believe the industry was heading down the road of increased fragmentation.  Probably because of declining sales, increased supply shortages, declining interest in scuba diving, the cancellation of trade and consumer dive shows, and of course, declining marketing budgets.   As we enter the post pandemic period we are going to be faced with high inflation, a possible major recession, more supply chain shortages, or worst is accelerated supply chain activity coupled with declining consumer sentiment.   As these economic conditions unravel our industry, you may see equipment manufacturers exit trade and consumer shows, reduce their marketing budgets, reduce their staff, and make an expensive attempt to maximize their current Dealer’s purchases by increasing Dealer requirements.   I don’t even want to discuss the foolishness of trying to sell direct to the final consumers.  Other sectors of the industry are already circling their wagons to get their current customers to only do business with them.  As I’ve heard so many times before, you just can’t keep all the good ones on the farm anymore!

In my opinion, any of the abovementioned tactics will only increase the fragmentation of the industry and force all qualified buyers of equipment, training, travel, and lifestyle products to seek out sources (and associations) that define and market to the current, in business, working members of the Global Diving Business Community.  There is strength in unity and more available options in a well-defined, organized, and unified industry.  Marketing the message of industry unity and product availability is the Dive Industry Association.  Three marketing tools were developed to assist buyers and sellers to do business with each other.  1) The Weekly Dive News Press Release Service.  2) The monthly trade magazine, The Dive Industry Professional.  3) The Annual Trade Directory & Buyers Guide.  Each marketing tool has its own page on the Association’s website at www.diveindustry.net

The Dive Industry Association will lay out its vision for industry unity and growth by introducing a 12-part series entitled, Becoming an Engaged Dive Industry Professional, starting with the January Edition of The Dive Industry Professional.  The completed series will be published as a white paper for the entire diving industry.

This is an exciting time to become part of the Global Diving Business Network.  For more information, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director of the Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  email: gene@diveindustry.net  Web: www.diveindustry.net

Can You Grow the Global Diving Business Network?
by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

President John F. Kennedy said it best when he gave his inaugural address.  “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”  His words continue to ring true for me every time I think about the Global Diving Business Network we are creating around the world.  A global network benefits its members because of what they bring to the table, as far as products, services, talents, and skills that others have a need for.  By bringing a professional network of sellers together we are creating a marketplace that specializes in the need’s fulfillment of its diving customers.  Think of the Global Diving Business Network as a Trade Show that lasts for 365 days a year, not just for 2, 3, or 4 days.  The more exhibitors (members) we have in the exhibit hall (network), the more attendees (buyers) will frequent the network.  If the network attracts a sufficient number of sellers, their annual dues ($125) will generate a sizable advertising and marketing budget to spend on attracting buyers to the network.  When a large number of buyers and sellers come together, sales happen and needs are met.  That’s our Mission.  Our Association believes that it’s the venue’s responsibility to attract and motivate qualified buyers to attend an event where the sellers have paid a fee to exhibit.  Our promise is to work with sellers to attract qualified buyers to attend.

In last month’s editorial, I wrote about the things the Dive Industry Association is doing to create a network of like-minded businesses that is becoming an international marketplace of current buyers and sellers of diving equipment, training, travel, and lifestyle products.  We have organized an effort to identify the sellers of diving products and partner with them to include them in this marketplace that is advertised and promoted in digital, print, social media, and face-to-face marketing platforms.  Our collective advertising dollars are spent identifying, reaching, acquiring, and referring buyers of these products to our participating sellers.

The Dive Industry Trade Directory & Buyers Guide:  Sellers of diving equipment, training, travel, and lifestyle products are always looking for new customers.  Mainly because of the recent COVID pandemic, many vendors have either cut back, changed their address or gone out of business.  This leaves the potential buyer with questions as to who is still in business and how do they reach them?  Our Trade Directory & Buyers Guide puts the current names and points of contact of these sellers in the hands of potential buyers, all in one document.  The annual price of a listing is $125.  Sellers are given one listing in the Trade Directory that includes company name, company contact person, address, phone, fax, email address and website url.  The Buyer’s Guide is a cross reference directory for each listing.  Each listing is broken down by industry sector, i.e. Manufacturer, Dive Store, Dive Operator, Travel Business, Non-Profit Organization, etc.  Diving equipment is broken down further by category of products.  Travel Businesses is further broken down by travel category and by country.  The Trade Directory is updated monthly and sent to all Dive Industry Professionals free of charge.  It is published in Adobe pdf form and as a Flip-Page Magazine.  We are working on publishing the Trade Directory on its own website, as we have done in the past.

Dive Industry Weekly News:  Another marketing vehicle that has been a huge benefit to our membership is our Weekly News Press Release Service.  Our Members receive 24 free press releases with their annual membership.  That is $4,800 worth of free press when compared with our competitor.  The Weekly News has a free subscription for all Dive Industry Professionals Worldwide.  The News is distributed via direct email using Constant Contact’s email marketing service and is posted to various social media sources.  Because we do not charge our members for their press release, our service is shared by numerous social media profiles, pages, and groups.  Our goal is to reach every Dive Industry Professional across the globe every single week.

The Dive Industry Professional Magazine: As if having an International Diving Trade Directory & Buyers Guide and a Weekly News Release was not enough, the global diving community now has a monthly trade magazine dedicated to the working dive professionals worldwide, regardless of their training agency affiliation or their diving equipment brand preference.  It’s called The Dive Industry Professional.  Our trade magazine has been in existence for 22 years as a monthly newsletter and was recently upgraded to a magazine format in April 2022.  The magazine covers issues that are important to working dive professionals.  Our typical issue includes an Editorial, an Industry Leader Profile, an Industry Business Profile, a Shows & Events Calendar, DIVE LOCAL Events, and paid advertisements.  We publish articles on business topics as well as articles on diving destinations, dive operators, and FAM Trips.  One of our favorite columns is the Outstanding Divemaster Award series.  Subscriptions are free to all Dive Industry Professionals worldwide.  As the magazine grows in readership, we are looking to add stories of interest from our readers and guest authors.

So you see, there are many ways to grow the Global Diving Business Community.  Its success all depends on what dive industry professionals are willing to bring to the table.  With the abundance of talent we have in our recreational industry, there is no reason to believe that we cannot be two or three times bigger and better than we are today.  So, in the spirit of President John F. Kennedy we are asking “What can you do for your industry?”

This is an exciting time to become part of the Global Diving Business Network.  For more information, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director of the Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  email: gene@diveindustry.net  Web: www.diveindustry.net

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Building a Global Diving Business Network by Gene Muchanski, Editor The Dive Industry Professional

At the recent DEMA Show, a Marketing Advisor asked me what was the difference between the Dive Industry Association and our competitors. With a little bit of coaching and prodding, I answered that our competitors just sell products for money. Our Association, on the other hand is building a Global Diving Business Network, giving our Members countless of options to increase their business revenues in a declining niche market.  For a small annual fee, the Network we are building is the key to a united diving industry of like minded businesses that looks out for each other.  By being a part of this international network, you become a member, not just an occasional customer!

Look at what we have accomplished in the last 22 years.  Our Association and non-profit Foundation has exhibited at over 80 trade and consumer shows.  We have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting our members and bringing buyers and sellers together.  We publish a Weekly Dive News press release service that gives our members $4,800 worth of free press releases.  Recent SEQ statistics have shown that we are reaching over 100,000 diving consumers a week.  Our monthly newsletter was converted to a Magazine format in April, and it too is reaching a record number of Dive Industry Professionals Worldwide.  Our third edition of our International Trade Directory and Buyers Guide is now an industry standard and will be returning to its own website shortly.  All of this is available to Dive Industry Professionals for only $125 a year. To keep your annual financial commitment to a minimum, our non-profit foundation will be begin raising funds to expand our global reach in identifying buyers and sellers of diving equipment, training, travel, services, and lifestyle products.  We will be expanding our reach of the Weekly Dive News and the monthly magazine, The Dive Industry Professional.  The website we are building for the International Trade Directory and Buyers Guide we help identify and promote all participating Dive Industry Businesses Worldwide.  With proper funding, our association and foundation will be in a better position to exhibit at regional dive shows and trade events to interact with diving product users and  buyers.  One of our goals is to build a stronger bond between Dive Retail Buyers and their equipment, training, and travel vendors.  Our Mission is to bring Buyers & Sellers together. An exclusive industry publication of ours, Becoming A More Engaged Dive Industry Professional, is undergoing a current revision and will be published soon in our monthly trade magazine.  This is an exciting time to become part of our Global Diving Business Network.  For more information, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director of the Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  email: gene@diveindustry.net  Web: www.diveindustry.net