Kevo88
Contributor
My lds does the last bit and it has seemed to help them a ton with business. They usually set up 3 dive weekends a month. I'm in their system, so I usually get a call on the 1st with a heads up for that month's planned dive dates (they do this for all of their certified students). One on lake Michigan, which is pay to play of course, and 2 weekends at the local quarry. The quarry events are geared as a social deal. Free to come dive with the shop, they usually have a couple grills going, and only ask that you bring something to toss in if you want to eat (I have become the unofficial beer guy). So, even though they aren't making money on the specific dives, they're building a community. They're giving divers who might not have a steady buddy a chance to come out and dive with a bunch of people, and the divers get the benefit of using the certs we worked for somewhere aside from the once a year in Florida or Coz.
Where it benefits the shop is that now every time I go in, a bunch of those divers who were out on the weekend are usually in there buying something or at least shooting the breeze. I've found myself buying all of my little odds and ends there instead of online, even if it is a couple bucks more. And now they've had to hire on more shop staff just to handle all of us goons looking for somewhere to train and spend money.
Where it benefits the shop is that now every time I go in, a bunch of those divers who were out on the weekend are usually in there buying something or at least shooting the breeze. I've found myself buying all of my little odds and ends there instead of online, even if it is a couple bucks more. And now they've had to hire on more shop staff just to handle all of us goons looking for somewhere to train and spend money.