As one of the admins on our Facebook page, I thought I might add some background and maybe help explain why some people in the Philippines are not happy right now. I realize that for some people it really doesn't matter, but others may be curious. It's really ancient history as far as scubaboard is concerned going back almost 12 years ago... a lifetime on the web 
Of course I'm also here to encourage people to visit us on Facebook and join our group 
I'll add a link here at the beginning:
Philippine Paradise Divers
This is where it started for us so of course we want to talk about our connection to scubaboard On Facebook we've been encouraging people to visit the PPD forum here and for those who visit the Philippines to write about it here and link back to the Facebook page. I've been using the www.philippineparadisedivers.com link all week from our Facebook page to point people here so I was quite happy to see that it was working
The issues with the other PPD on Facebook are pretty well explained I think in the links that have already been posted so no reason to go over those again
Our page experienced a bit of growth here and there but since no one was building a business are hoping to make money eventually I think little by little people just drifted away and became involved with their own projects. Life gets in the way sometimes. Our page was still to small and so growth was very flat.
So this brings us too the present and what got people upset again. It has been reported that the owner of the other Facebook page has been representing himself as the "creator" of Philippine Paradise Divers, and his group as "The Voice of the Philippines Dive Community©" (yes he is showing a copyright symbol on the phrase) and it's annoyed people who know that he didn't come up with the Philippine Paradise Divers name and are familiar with his history. Last week PHIDEX, the first dive expo to be sponsored by the Philippines Department of Tourism was held. He used the page and it's large following as a means to wangle an invitation to speak at PHIDEX. A number of dive operators who showed up at PHIDEX and found him there were shocked, having had a less than positive experience when he visited their dive operations
These dive operators have complained to DOT about him being there and word is starting to spread around 
Other people in the dive community in the Philippines who know about him and his reputation are also annoyed. Because of his history they see him as a poor representative of the Philippines dive community. Of course with so many followers there are lot's of people who don't have a problem because all they know about him is what he tells them. I certainly don't blame them. There is a tendency for many people to trust until given a reason not too. There are a lot of people who won't know anything about this guy for the simple fact that it just doesn't come up in conversation. PHIDEX started a lot of conversations.
We are in a sense, re-activating the Facebook page after a long period of inactivity. I'm here to encourage all of you reading this to take a look at our Facebook page (and when I say "our" I mean this sub-forum here on scubaboard because the page was started for this group). It's true that the name has been used different places around the web, but the first use of the name we're aware of, was here on scubaboard back in 2004.
Now is a great time to get involved. As I write this we've grown a 150% in the last 5 days. Engagement on the page has gone from almost nil to 2300 plus comments, posts, and reactions since Sunday. There is a lot of buzz right now and it's looking promising. I expect that the growth rate will slow down but I think we have a chance to grow a respectable group this time. To do that we need participation by the members. We need participation by all of you!
For those of you who have visited us and joined already, thank you and welcome! If not, I hope that all of you who have taken the time to read this will visit our Facebook page and join the group I will look forward to welcoming you there 
Philippine Paradise Divers
Of course I'm also here to encourage people to visit us on Facebook and join our group I'll add a link here at the beginning:Philippine Paradise Divers
This is where it started for us so of course we want to talk about our connection to scubaboard
On Facebook we've been encouraging people to visit the PPD forum here and for those who visit the Philippines to write about it here and link back to the Facebook page. I've been using the www.philippineparadisedivers.com link all week from our Facebook page to point people here so I was quite happy to see that it was working The issues with the other PPD on Facebook are pretty well explained I think in the links that have already been posted so no reason to go over those again
Our page experienced a bit of growth here and there but since no one was building a business are hoping to make money eventually I think little by little people just drifted away and became involved with their own projects. Life gets in the way sometimes. Our page was still to small and so growth was very flat.
So this brings us too the present and what got people upset again. It has been reported that the owner of the other Facebook page has been representing himself as the "creator" of Philippine Paradise Divers, and his group as "The Voice of the Philippines Dive Community©" (yes he is showing a copyright symbol on the phrase) and it's annoyed people who know that he didn't come up with the Philippine Paradise Divers name and are familiar with his history. Last week PHIDEX, the first dive expo to be sponsored by the Philippines Department of Tourism was held. He used the page and it's large following as a means to wangle an invitation to speak at PHIDEX. A number of dive operators who showed up at PHIDEX and found him there were shocked, having had a less than positive experience when he visited their dive operations
These dive operators have complained to DOT about him being there and word is starting to spread around Other people in the dive community in the Philippines who know about him and his reputation are also annoyed. Because of his history they see him as a poor representative of the Philippines dive community. Of course with so many followers there are lot's of people who don't have a problem because all they know about him is what he tells them. I certainly don't blame them. There is a tendency for many people to trust until given a reason not too. There are a lot of people who won't know anything about this guy for the simple fact that it just doesn't come up in conversation. PHIDEX started a lot of conversations.We are in a sense, re-activating the Facebook page after a long period of inactivity. I'm here to encourage all of you reading this to take a look at our Facebook page (and when I say "our" I mean this sub-forum here on scubaboard because the page was started for this group). It's true that the name has been used different places around the web, but the first use of the name we're aware of, was here on scubaboard back in 2004.
Now is a great time to get involved. As I write this we've grown a 150% in the last 5 days. Engagement on the page has gone from almost nil to 2300 plus comments, posts, and reactions since Sunday. There is a lot of buzz right now and it's looking promising. I expect that the growth rate will slow down but I think we have a chance to grow a respectable group this time. To do that we need participation by the members. We need participation by all of you!
For those of you who have visited us and joined already, thank you and welcome! If not, I hope that all of you who have taken the time to read this will visit our Facebook page and join the group
I will look forward to welcoming you there Philippine Paradise Divers
