Chocolate Lobster Dive gripes

[Serenity]

The Chocolate Lobster Dive has been pretty good to me, prize-wise, in the past few years, but I don't know if I'll participate this year. It's now a dive-a-thon, and if you don't want to get sponsors you can still sign up as an individual. However, the non-museum-member fee is $60, which I think is up from last year's fee of $45. If you sign up as a buddy team, the fee is $100, compared to last year's $70 or so. That's a pretty big jump in fees.

I see no mention on the website of any sponsor forms or marketing materials, do they expect each diver to make up their own??? Plus I think this whole xxxxxx-a-thon idea works for sponsoring little kids, or for sponsoring adults if they are participating a fundraiser for a really big causes like curing cancer. I could see that the organizers might be able to sell it as something for the little kid's marine ed programs, but that message is not at all clear. They need to do a whole lot more work to make it easier for the divers to ask for sponsors.

I know it's ecologically better not to have the plastic-sealed lobsters out in the water, but it was sooo cool to be able to tell my friends that they could go diving for chocolate lobsters! And I know that there's no limit now on the lobster tokens you can find, but part of the fun in previous years was to secretly give your extra lobsters to friends or even strangers (and then wonder if the prize associated with the lobster you gave away was better than the one you kept!). Now, you'll probably see a few divers loaded down with tons of prizes, and there will be feelings of resentment instead of feelings of sharing. (Okay, if you're a high-testosterone kind of person maybe you'd like the winner-take-all idea better ).

I never thought I'd be someone who'd be saying this, but: I miss the old days!

Okay, thanks for listening to the gripes. I feel better now.

 

[Taxgeek]

Ok, I have to add my gripe too.

Not knowing what this intriguing "Chocolate Lobster Dive-a-thon" thing might be, I went to their website by googling. I thought maybe Serenity was joking.

That has to be the worst website description I've ever seen, I'm sorry. It doesn't have any information about where the diving takes place or anything, even what state it is in! I gather the museum is in San Pedro - is the diving in San Pedro?

Oh My heck! Maybe I'll save my pennies for Chamber Day instead!

[/end of rant.]

 

[Serenity]

Wow, you're right. I didn't even notice. Who's doing their marketing, anyway????

Here's a link to an old article on this dive site. Diving is pretty much muck diving:

http://www.geocities.com/sandeaters/sites/cabrillo.html

 

[Taxgeek]

Wow, you're right. I didn't even notice. Who's doing their marketing, anyway????

Here's a link to an old article on this dive site. Diving is pretty much muck diving:

http://www.geocities.com/sandeaters/sites/cabrillo.html

Thanks for the link. I had to ask around to find out they are diving Carbrillo Beach - land of 1' viz (I'm told). ;-) Makes it more of a challenge to find the lobster tokens!

I think they should have it be like that little fishing game on the midway at the fair, where you "catch" a floating duckie with a fishing pole, and the number on the bottom of it corresponds to a prize. That would be fun with the lobsters. ;-) Oh well, tokens and tickets for the drawing are easier to handle for the organizers.

 

[jetfixer]

I sure am glad i found one of these elusive creatures last year before they changed it! Sounds like the fun of the hunt is gone now. Taxgeek, 1ft vis is an exaggeration. Its actually 1in.

 

[Taxgeek]

Taxgeek, 1ft vis is an exaggeration. Its actually 1in.

Maybe they should blindfold everybody and have it benefit some sight-impaired charity as well! "The Chocolate Lobster Braille Muck Diveathon" has a nice ring to it - you could find the lobsters by feel. And watch out for those urchins!

 

[JDog]

I got vertigo and ended up barfing. My brain didn't like 4inches - to 2ft of vis.

 

[JDog]

OH and by the way I was 0-3 for finding those chocolate critters.

 

[drbill]

Ah, Serenity... I stopped taking lobster in any form (chocolate or otherwise) back about 1975 so I've never participated in this one. Why don't the two of you just come out to Catalina to observe the real thing!

Best fishes!

 

[choclob05]

Hi,

My name is Kelly Sayce, coordinator for the Chocolate Lobster Dive at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (CMA). I want to thank you all for your constructive comments on the recent changes to this eight-year-long event. I am responsible for the marketing of the dive and, through you comments, have taken a look at the website's language and messaging and will be making some updates to it over the next few days. I would appreciate any additional feedback you might have on the site to help ensure that our message is crystal clear (unlike the waters of Cabrillo's outer beach ).

Recently we evaluated the overall structure of the event and designed a new approach which upholds the overall spirit of the CLD we know and love, while at the same time acts as a successful fundraiser for the Aquarium. This is a delicate balance and one that we will continue to develop over time, however, these updates were critical as without them we would have had to abandon the event – and this was not what we wanted to do.

By including a Dive-A-Thon option in this year's event, we have provided an opportunity for participants who want to raise 'above-and-beyond' funds for the Aquarium to do so. Sponsorship materials were sent out to over 700 divers who have participated in the event over the past seven years. The package includes a welcome letter, pre-printed sponsorship envelope, brochure and entry form as well as an overview on the dive-a-thon format and a suggested letter/message to help those wanting to solicit sponsorships. For those who are not on our mailing list, the sponsorship forms are downloadable under the 'Forms' section on our website. These packages can also be mailed to participant by emailing choclob05@yahoo.com and requesting a package.

Each year, the CLD chooses an Aquarium program to receive all revenue brought in from the event. This year we have chosen the Ocean Outreach Program to be the recipient of this funding. The Ocean Outreach Program is our 'aquarium on wheels' which visits over 30,000 children in underserved communities each year and provides a hand-on learning experience for many children who may live in the Los Angeles area but have never seen the ocean or been close to sea life in their lives. As I mentioned, in the 'Forms' section of the website there is a letter with information about the program to help participants soliciting sponsorships. Our dive-a-thon may not be in the name of fighting disease, but it is definitely in support of inspiring future generations. I had tried to make this clear on the website but obviously it was not clear enough and will be working on improving this immediately.

We have also maintained the structure of past CLD’s with a general admission fee so that everyone can participate as they see fit. The entry fees were increased this year to help offset our ever-rising costs, however I truly believe that a Buddy Package for $100 which includes two entries, lunch, two free t-shirts and parking (if you register by September 19), a $50 family membership, chocolate lobsters AND the chance to win great prizes is not a bad deal. PLUS you're helping a reallly great organization. I hope that our loyal friends will see the value in their participation.

Having no catch limit is new thing for us and I hope it will increase the level of excitement for all of our participants. In the past we have run into a few challenges regarding catch limit. The first is that divers get in the water at 10 am, find their one lobster and are out by 10:05 am. We want to create more of a complete dive experience where participants remain in the water and enjoy the ‘hunt’ for longer then five minutes! Another challenge we are up against are participants who collect more then one lobster but only turn in one to the prize table (to comply with the catch limit). The result is us not knowing how many lobsters are left out in the ocean. This information is helpful for other divers who are still collecting as well for our internal knowledge regarding the amount that we need to retrieve after the dive is over. By having an unlimited catch limit divers will be more apt to handing in their lobsters to redeem them for raffle tickets and we can also reduce what is left in the ocean and be able to reuse the ‘lobsters’ for next year.

We run into the same challenges you mentioned when having a one lobster catch limit – there is always someone who misses out. We are planning on having upwards of 1,000 ‘lobsters’ dropped this year to help offset the no catch limit which should ensure that everyone gets an equal opportunity. We are also going to be creative with certain lobsters valued differently the others, giving yet more opportunities for acquiring a greater number of raffle tickets as well as a few lobsters being redeemable for an immediate prize.

Over the past seven years the CLD has become one of the largest dive events in Southern California and we are proud to have been able to keep this tradition alive and well. Each year countless staff, volunteers and businesses invest a huge amount of time and hard work into this event to ensure that the dive community has a memorable experience. These efforts are also made to ensure that the Aquarium is able to acquire funding for its programs and activities.

This is our first year initiating these updates and they have been met with enthusiasm by long-standing participants, Aquarium staff and CLD Committee members. While change after seven years of doing something one way can be difficult, they were necessary to be made in order to maintain the overall feel of the event AND making it a successful fundraiser for Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. I hope that you will participate in this year’s CLD and thank you again for your comments.

Best Fishes,

Kelly