DEMA- Understand the deficit of ETHICS of what we are dealing with

[cerich]

This may help you understand DEMA. It is their last year available 990
http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2008/953/105/2008-953105902-0587b6d7-9O.pdf

yeah it does sure help...

estimated volunteer hours=0, yet I know MANY who have volunteered and never hear back....

NINE employees with an averaged salary of $51,082 per annum.... REALLY... are they freaking INSANE!?? Two employees get paid in excess of six figures.

A non profit that hasn't gotten a cent in grants..well done...NOT.

They lost $444,522 and yet their Salaries WENT UP????

Their assets declined by approx half a million and liabilities increased.

They describe their function as "TRADE SHOW PRESENTATIONS FOR DIVE TRAVEL RESORTS AND PROMOTION OF ANNUAL TRADE SHOWS FOR THE PROMOTION OF THE DIVING INDUSTRY". Well..that may be what they currently "believe" their job to be, HOWEVER it is not their charter.

They spent 1.3 MILLION DOLLARS ON SURVEYS AND "AWARDS" for the Diving Industry. Patting their pals on the back and stroking egos. Doing expensive surveys in this era of communication where any of us can do surveys dang near free.

Just under 60K on legal fees??? Really??? Do they use a lawyer to order office supplies?? I mean come on.

$82,016 on travel, hmmm lets divide that by 12, the number of directors and the two employees that struck the non profit lottery and that comes to $6,834.66 each in travel. Sweet deal!

91K on equipment for 9 employees..wow 10k each!

Why such emphasis on Confidentiality that it needs to be monitored and enforcement compliance at every quarterly BOD meeting? What are they so afraid of us finding out?


Yup....everything looks on the up and up

 

[cerich]

Anybody know what the AQUATIC ALLIANCE FOUNDATION is?

 

[Wookie]

Chris - You're too young to have a heart attack. It's not worth it. DEMA hasn't done anything productive for diving for 5 years (I'm being generous), and most of the manufacturers have found other outlets for their marketing. You can't change them, and really, it doesn't matter if you do. They are a non-entity. Let it go....

 

[cerich]

Chris - You're too young to have a heart attack. It's not worth it. DEMA hasn't done anything productive for diving for 5 years (I'm being generous), and most of the manufacturers have found other outlets for their marketing. You can't change them, and really, it doesn't matter if you do. They are a non-entity. Let it go....

Frank, you're right.

After last year I had resolved to ignore them...I was doing a pretty good job until just recently when this was brought to my attention. It pisses me off.

As a rep I was fortunate to visit literally hundreds of dive stores. I ended up FIRMLY believing that to a great degree they are viewed upon with disdain and as simple and easy "marks" by FAR too many non dive store/non resort based dive industry insiders. How often I heard the refrain "dive store owners aren't business people" as the latest new program to strip them of cash was devised. Don't get me wrong, I am ALL for making money, LOTS of it, what I'm not for is people deliberately preying on what they perceive as weaker/less educated/less "savvy" simply because they can. I was brought up to believe that people of integrity stand up when they see that happen.

It is my honest belief that DEMA has strayed from what it was meant to be and morphed into something that is self serving and harmful to the very industry it was created to serve.

Somebody needs to say something.

 

[Leadking]

Anybody know what the AQUATIC ALLIANCE FOUNDATION is?

Tom Ingram (DEMA executive director) is listed at the contact. Ask him for the 990's. He is required, under law, to provide upto the last three years to anyone that asks.

See https://businessfilings.sos.ca.gov/

 

[HowardE]

Every year, a small very vocal opposition cries foul against DEMA. Things seem to plod on. Perhaps it is the fault of DEMA that dive shops are failing, the global economy is crumbling, and overall trade show attendance is dropping? Is a trade organization's responsibility that of the knight in shining armor to save the industry from failure that is caused by the very nature of the infrastructure itself?

Perhaps the organization should nurture more the hobbyist who turns "businessman" only to fail miserably, and then blame everyone else for their failure. Or maybe it's the fault of those who just don't know how to make a successful business model in a difficult economic time?

 

[Wookie]

It is my honest belief that DEMA has strayed from what it was meant to be and morphed into something that is self serving and harmful to the very industry it was created to serve.

Somebody needs to say something.

Like many entities, it has changed from an organization that exists for the good of it's members into an organization for the survival of it's employees. Sounds kinda like congress, doesn't it? They have ignored the mandates of the electorate (they out-waited us on the petition issue until it died), and the only way to make it right is to not support them. As fewer and fewer organizations show at the show (I'm not showing, PADI's booth is a quarter of the size of last years), they will have no choice but to go away. From the ashes will rise a new and better show and organization, if it's still needed. I can see the writing on the wall for DEMA, even if they can't. I have been afraid to drop my membership because I didn't want to lose my show points, gathered over the past 15 years. Well, right now, you can get a pretty good location for a booth if you want one. I'm going this year just to remark to folks like you how small and anemic the show is. Fewer than half of my dive shop clients are even attending. In my mind, DEMA has become superfluous. They've become a bit like the Bush presidency. I always admired the Shrub because he really thought he was doing the right things. I hated his politics. I'm sure Tom Ingram thinks he's doing the right thing. And, by God, he's going to show us he's right, come hell or high water. Well, Tom, high water's coming.

 

[cerich]

Every year, a small very vocal opposition cries foul against DEMA. Things seem to plod on. Perhaps it is the fault of DEMA that dive shops are failing, the global economy is crumbling, and overall trade show attendance is dropping? Is a trade organization's responsibility that of the knight in shining armor to save the industry from failure that is caused by the very nature of the infrastructure itself?

Perhaps the organization should nurture more the hobbyist who turns "businessman" only to fail miserably, and then blame everyone else for their failure. Or maybe it's the fault of those who just don't know how to make a successful business model in a difficult economic time?

what are you talking about????

Nobody expect DEMA to be the "knight in shining armour", however it is unreasonable to expect good stewardship?

The small but vocal crowd, would that be the 350 plus that signed the petition? That isn't small considering the size of our industry.

 

[cerich]

Tom Ingram (DEMA executive director) is listed at the contact. Ask him for the 990's. He is required, under law, to provide upto the last three years to anyone that asks.

See https://businessfilings.sos.ca.gov/

good idea

 

[The Chairman]

This industry has not embraced the internet gracefully, and DEMA has excelled at making the wrong decisions time after time. Why haven't we seen a "Be a Diver" campaign on Facebook? They keep embracing conventional media, and completely ignoring emerging technologies. Well, "completely ignoring" might be a stretch, as I do think that they WANT to do more: they're just listening to the wrong experts.