Possible name change...

[The Chairman]

OK, I have gotten chewed out by one shop and strongly encouraged by two others to change the name of the Florida Conch Divers to Florida Divers. They feel excluded since conchs really represent diving in the Keys and appear to exclude the rest of Central and South Florida.

What do you think?

I would ask that those living outside of Florida please refrain from voting. Thanks.

 

[ScubaBill1955]

Florida Divers sounds good.

 

[Scott L]

Although I am a traditionalist I admit to having taken a second glance at the label when new to the board last year. Florida Divers is probaly a more representative term. Not sure that the issue was important enough for a chewing out though...

 

[Chugwhump]

NetDoc;
I am thinking outside the box a little her but may I suggest another possible name?

How about we rename the group the ...
"We dive all year in the USA in warm water so you can eat your hearts out you Yankee Suckers."
Or something like that.

IJS

"Florida Divers" works for me.
I woulld only add that I do not see a problem splitting off south from north.
Maybe North Florida Divers and South Florida Divers.


Either way....

Chug
(Likes to taunt his Yankee Friends in every way imaginable)

 

[SandyRobinson]

I'll have to admit that the first few times I visited this forum, I was expecting it to be related to the Keys.

 

[netmage]

OK, I have gotten chewed out by one shop and strongly encouraged by two others to change the name of the Florida Conch Divers to Florida Divers. They feel excluded since conchs really represent diving in the Keys and appear to exclude the rest of Central and South Florida.

What do you think?

I would ask that those living outside of Florida please refrain from voting. Thanks.

Who.....? How are they being excluded from ScubaBoard...?

ScubaBoard is any shops dream... Where else do you have an active, engaged, some might say rabid customer base salivating for any reasonable attempt to get them out and going diving.....?

But - mind you - It takes more than simply purchasing an ad banner... This is a community, contribute to the community, facilitate the communities interaction, possibly even grow the knowledge of the community, and the community will support you many times over.

Sit back and expect business to come forth without any effort or an aura of entitlement, and we will see you for the useless LDS that spawns most LeisurePro vs. LDS debates.

In 1969, the Horse Conch was designated the Florida state shell... And I would point out - not by anyone from the Keys - folks from Delray Beach... "It is found on both coasts of Florida from the estuary down to a depth of 100 feet. It ranges throughout the southeastern United States, Texas and Mexico, but is more common in Florida." (The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Biology)

And ultimately Pete - who does ScubaBoard exist to serve...? Shops - or Divers...? I'd think this being largely a Web2.0/User Driven Content type place the answer is obvious...

So go look at the shops chewing you out, and see how they have 'tried' to contribute to ScubaBoard...

 

[ONESPEED]

This is a perfect opportunity to revisit a long time concern of mine. Why should the Florida forum be geograhic specific at all? I've never understood the need for certain areas to have regionally exclusive subforums and I think it causes an unecessary separation of potential dives and dive buddies. For example, when I first joined SB I would regularly scroll down the Florida forum for intersting upcoming dives, nothing against Tampa but I'll never scroll through their thread for a dive, it's just too time consuming to monitor all of the dives in various threads, that said, I'm sure I would have made numerous dives in the Tampa area by now if I was made aware of them. Just my two cents but why make Florida exclusionary when we can unify all of our awesome dive opportunies? I'm all for renaming the forum and even more for making Florida one big happy family.

 

[The Chairman]

Who.....? How are they being excluded from ScubaBoard...?

The "Conch Republic" is Key West. A number of people think of that when they first see the forum. All of these shops have asked where the Central Florida Forum is... and I just don't think further splitting is a good here. IOW, I see the name as being a bit exclusionary and that was not its intent.

ScubaBoard is any shops dream... Where else do you have an active, engaged, some might say rabid customer base salivating for any reasonable attempt to get them out and going diving.....?

Many shops are intimidated by our size, actually. The issue here is that they just don't think that they are a good fit since the perception is that we are ALL about the Keys. None of these shops are likely to buy banners, so I am not looking to increase revenue here. I do want everyone to feel welcome.

And ultimately Pete - who does ScubaBoard exist to serve...? Shops - or Divers...? I'd think this being largely a Web2.0/User Driven Content type place the answer is obvious...

Which is why we have a poll on the subject. My vote counts just as much as yours. Rather than giving you my answer on how things should be: I solicit input from those affected. Already we can see a number of peeps that feel the same way the shops feel.

 

[DennisS]

Florida Conch has worked well in the past, if they feel excluded, they probably have other issues. If they have the perception we are all about the keys, they should spend some time reading the threads and the locations we discuss or join in and tell us about the diving in their area.




Could this be a ruse to get the name changed to GATORS

 

[ScubaSteve]

I personally think that the board would benefit from reducing the amount of exclusionary regions and open areas up to others. I think it was made perfectly clear in the original post/poll that outsider's are not welcome to post in these forums. Having a broader region (i.e. as Chip mentioned) might help to reduce the "us and them" mentality. Might not.

Oh and as requested, this "them" did not participate in the poll.