How does DEMA affect the average diver

[BDSC]

I know our local dive shop goes each year and a lot of times that's when they decide what shop trips to book for the next year or so. It is my understanding that during the show they can find some travel deals/specials that aren't offered at other times. So they can get special pricing on group trips for a particular resort that I couldn't get on my own and that savings can be passed on to me as a customer of that shop.

So I see that as one possible benefit that I get from DEMA in an indirect way.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Over the years various manufacturers ha ve not shown up at DEMA and they all do just fine. DEMA is one way to showcase your new products, etc, but it is not the only way and many would argue not the best way to do it.

For the dealer/dive shop owner, it is a common place to get recertification training from manufacturers or training agencies. Unfortunately, they can't seem to get their stuff together in a format that would allow the average dive shop owner to both, for example, update an instructor certification and get unit specific training from a manufacturer. In that regard, having more smaller regional shows are often more helpful as attending a couple of them offers more opportunities to get all of the options on what amount to concurrent sessions at DEMA.

In some cases, DEMA has a negative effect on the industry as manufacturers may hold the release of equipment and product catalogs until DEMA, or may hurry the release of new equipment or catalog and take orders on equipment that is still in development and testing and is a long way from delivery. At one extreme it creates issues with prematurely released equipment (The Scubapro X650 for example) and a tthe other it generates frustration with equipment that is announced and cataloged, but not available for months - often not until nearly the next DEMA show.

In short if DEMA went away, not too may people would cry about it and any "special pricing" deals would be offerred in another format.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

But really... I would love to hear MORE from the ScubaBoard tribe that are not professionals on how DEMA affects you. Are they doing their job as an advocacy group?

It's hard to say. Many industry trade shows have at least some sections or days open to the general public, so that the end user can see first hand some of the new products available and give input into them.

DEMA is very restrictive in that regard and I think it contributes to a lack of end user input into products, designs and vacation packages. If opened to the public to at least a limited extent, it could provide a means for feedback from customers and could certainly improve "advocacy" for the local diver.

Just my opinion, but the last thing DEMA is about is "advocating" for the average diver - it is an industry organization designed to promote and benefit the needs and desires of manufacturers and service providers, not the divers that they seek to separate from their money.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

There's another thread on SB going about DEMA (Dive Equipment & Manufacturing Association) that has gotten quite large and heated. Many people on this board who are high up in the proffesional diving world have chimed in, and to be honest I haven't been able to read the entire thread because it grew way to fast to keep up.

For us basic fun divers that like to go out every weekend and do our thing, go to the dive shop get fills and other stuff we may need, go to a cool dive destination every once in a while, how does this debate over whatever's going on trickle down to us, the common diver?
What is currently going on at DEMA that's affecting me right now, and if changes are made how will that affect my diving in the future?

Thank you.

I'd say it'll affect the average diver about as much as the cancellation of an annual orthodontist's convention in Vegas would affect your kid's ability to get braces.

Which is to say, not at all.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[The Chairman]

I'd say it'll affect the average diver about as much as the cancellation of an orthodontist's convention in Vegas would affect your annual trip to the dentist.

That's the tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth!

 

[kjvander]

But really... I would love to hear MORE from the ScubaBoard tribe that are not professionals on how DEMA affects you. Are they doing their job as an advocacy group?

Before i really got into diving i knew nothing of DEMA or for that matter most of the rest of the scuba industry. I knew that scuba existed most because of friends that would dive, signs while on vacation, signs at the gym, etc. Was it not for friends I would have never tried out, got certified, nor started diving. I think that as a whole the divers themselves have a responsibility of advancing the sport. If someone is not enthusiastic about the activities that they participate in and can't convey some sort of adventure/excitement/interest in something then of course no one is going to want to join them. However, if people get out there and invite their friends to come try out diving at a discover scuba or to introduce them to it....that is a lot bigger of an advertisement than anything that can be displayed on the internet/tv/movies/etc. Whether or not DEMA is around i don't think is the real problem. I think that it is more along the line that people need to take an active role in promoting the sport that they spend so much time and money on and love and try to share it with everyone. I know that not everyone is going to want to dive or fall in love with it. However instead of each dive shop having a 1 in 10 shot at people in discover scubas...imagine each diver that is out there having a 1 in 10 shot of getting people interested.

As far as DEMA as an advocacy group I don't see them as being unbiased....but that comes from funding. As far as the be a diver campaign...(s)he who gives money can put his/her name on it. If PADI shelled out cash to help fund the video...then they have the right to have their name on it, probably more as a sponser than anything else but it is normal business. If you donate or pay for something then your name should be on it. However, I do think that there has to be an even playing field. Everyone will have their favorite instructor/organization/brand/diving style, but there has to be some generic adds that maybe are produced that just have an impact of getting diving out there. Focusing on the vacation diver and the hometown diver at the same time. Every aspect of diving is going to hit someone different. Some people like diving in mudholes back home and most people like diving in crystal clear water.

I really don't think that there is a singular answer to the problem....but I do believe that the solution has to come from the masses. We can be responsible for the outcome and all we have to do is self promote the sport. It doesn't cost me any money to talk about SCUBA with my friends and try to get them interested. Maybe they will catch the diving bug and maybe they won't.

 

[Rick Inman]

I know less than nothing about DEMA. But the owner of my LDS always attends, and comes back with new products and/or product information & education. In fact last year's DEMA was where he really learned about the Whites Fusion and made a deal to add it to his inventory. He took the class on repairs as well (also his wife won the drawing for the free Fusion suit ). He's brought back other products into inventory from DEMA trips.

Also, when he's gone, he sometimes asks me to fill in at the shop, so I give away air fills behind his back to punish him for making me work, which helps the Fun Divers, too.

 

[Blackwood]

Never been, don't plan to go. The SEMA show and CES enough for me.

 

[mike_s]

Well if DEMA doesn't affect us on the bottom (the end user) whatsoever, then why are there millions of dollars spent on everything surrounding DEMA, and all this time wasted on heated debates if nobody cares?
Wouldn't it just be easier if there was no DEMA?
Then all these thousands of dollars wouldn't be spent, I mean if it makes no difference anyway,
why even bother?

I think that's part of the issue in the other threads.... DEMA is spending millions and doesn't really have anything to show for it.

A lot of people/shops/manufacturers/instructors here have been members of DEMA and are not happy with how it's being run. Their trade show is in a huge decline. They are even giving away booth space to the "big name" manufacturers to get them to come.


I'd be interested to see how many of the above don't plan on renewing their DEMA membership for the next year. (that's be an interesting thread/poll)

 

[PhilEllis]

There's another thread on SB going about DEMA (Dive Equipment & Manufacturing Association) that has gotten quite large and heated. Many people on this board who are high up in the proffesional diving world have chimed in, and to be honest I haven't been able to read the entire thread because it grew way to fast to keep up.

For us basic fun divers that like to go out every weekend and do our thing, go to the dive shop get fills and other stuff we may need, go to a cool dive destination every once in a while, how does this debate over whatever's going on trickle down to us, the common diver?
What is currently going on at DEMA that's affecting me right now, and if changes are made how will that affect my diving in the future?

Thank you.

I think I would take a different view from many. We need to remember that DEMA is MUCH MORE than the annual DEMA show. In fact, of all of the things that can happen WITHOUT DEMA, the annual show is the perfect example. In the absence of DEMA as an organization, that would still likely be an annual trade show for scuba diving. Why? Because there is money to be made.

The average diver is heavily impacted in the aggregate by decisions made by the "industry". Your sport participation in scuba diving becomes more difficult without industry growth. Industry growth and expansion makes products more widely available, make them less expensive in real dollar terms, and fosters innovation and creation of new products. Without industry expansion and growth, we could argue that you, as divers, wouldn't have access to the canister lights, wings, reels, and other stuff so loved by ScubaBoard readers.

The DEMA organization is the industry-wide marketing branch of the scuba business. Now, I realize that specific product and service marketing take place by individual companies within the "industry", but most of these efforts are typically designed to promote a PARTICULAR organization, not the industry as a whole. DEMA is the ONLY current organization that is tasked with the expansion of interest in diving, driven to benefit the "members" of the organization. The members are those people who engage in the commerce of scuba diving.

If the DEMA organization does a poor job of the task, and if the result is a stagnation or reduction of the financial power of the industry, many things will happen that impact individual divers. Less local stores will mean less access to training and equipment for the average diver. Less sales will result in less research and development of new products and less desire by investors to bring new things to the market. Less sales and less commerce that the new diver level will result in the reduction of day boats, liveaboard vessels, and resorts. This will result in less dive opportunity and less selection for divers. Like ANY other industry, the participants are tied to the commerce side of the business MUCH more than they might first think.

So, why is there so much discussion of late about DEMA? Simple....it matters to all of us! If the ONLY organization tasked to promote diving in the aggregate is doing a poor job, we could conclude that diving will suffer. If they are misdirected in their promotional approaches and valuable and limited resources are spent on the wrong things, opportunity to "improve the industry" will be lost.

Don't be fooled by your independence as a diver, the industry IS important and DEMA is the organization for the industry. It matters.

Phil Ellis
www.divesports.com