They should work a deal with the Atlanta Boat Show for space. Boat show always draws big crowds. People who like water may like diving
I think they tried this a few years ago in Atlanta. (I remember it vaguely )
I though it was a good idea also. ...... but others (prob Dive Show exhibitors) didn't like it.
I'm guessing that they got "too much" non diver traffic that took up all the brochures, etc and took too much time talking to non divers.
This might be great for certification agencies, but dive manufacturers want to sell gear to divers. not explain how stuff works to people who are never going to dive.
We had the same issue at our IEEE show. Lots of high end vendors such as SUN, Silicon Graphics, etc in the "carpeted booth" area, and then lots of PC junk, electronics, etc vendors in the 'concrete floor area' doing direct sales.
The high end vendors did all kids of high end displays in their booths. Such as virtual reality, etc.
It was a Friday/Saturday show. Friday mostly catered to the business professionals who were the real money for the show and vendors.
the local school system thought it would be good to expose their high school kids to this, so they brought them in Friday by the bus load. I mean 10-15 bus loads.
it killed the show. The high end Vendors spent all their time with teenagers in their booths, disrupting business to business sales. You couldn't move in the show or get in the booths for all the teenagers.
it was the death of the show. The next year 80% of the high end vendors bailed on renewing the show. The people who worked the show got very little in return for the time they put in and traveled for, due to all the school kids. They got very little business off the show and thus didn't re-book again. within 2 years, the show "folded" and is no longer put on.
I just point this out because it's amazing how changing the target audience can change vendors from coming.