Local Meetings/Dive Club?

[O-ring]

This was posted in another area, but DaveO and I were talking about getting a local group together to talk about diving topics. We always plan it for the quarry, but end up spending too much time underwater and no time talking

Is anyone interested in getting a group together in the area to meet at local restaurants? I was thinking a weeknight would be best - around dinner time - since a lot of us dive on the weekends and won't be around.

Post, PM, or email me if you are interested and which nights would be good for you.

Anyway, I think getting a group together makes a lot of sense... We could do it at local restaurants maybe once a month or so and setup topics beforehand. Our first meeting can be about training and technical diving. I would like to get everyone together too since everyone's agenda seems a little different and I need a like minded buddy to go any further in my own diving anyway. Which weeknights are good for you?

 

[DaveO]

Great idea! Some ideas and thoughts:

* We should definitely solicit ideas for discussion topics from members. Find out who knows who in the diving community, and who *those* people know, to see who might speak or make some type of presentation. My OW instructor, for instance, is definitely a "knows a guy who knows a guy" type. StingrayBait knows somebody who dives for Fairfax County Fire Department (or some similar organization), and it would be interesting to see what equipment they use, what training they get, and how their pre-dive checklist changes for a given type of dive. And if the guy told a war story or two, so much the better.

* Tag up with our LDSs and groups like Patowmack Divers to announce meetings.

* Figure out a way to spread chores, so .005% of members don't wind up doing 99.995% of the work. If somebody comes up with a good idea, ask them to make it happen (after showing them how, of course).

* Venue: different locations in our area to make it equally convenient for all participants. For example, the Vienna Public Library has a meeting room, presumably for just this purpose, and the Vienna Inn is right across the street if somebody wanted food or decompression fluids. My concern with having the actual meeting in a restaurant is: ambient noise and commotion will detract from the presentation.

* Which day of the week? Mid-week makes sense, for the reasons you stated, and we could arbitrarily pick Tuesday if no one else has a better reason.

 

[O-ring]

From someone off the board: Mondays and Wednesdays work best for me.

From CityGrl: weeknights are pretty much ok-- Monday and Tuesday are better than Wednesday and Thursday usually, and I work everyday till about 6:30. As for meeting place, in DC or metro-accessible is best for me.

Myself: Tuesdays and Thursdays are bad, so it is looking like Mondays work for all three of us represented here.

 

[sillygrendel]

Works OK for me.

 

[DaveO]

Mondays it is, then! Please look for a post that solicits ideas for discussion topics.

 

[kstakem]

Any evening is good for me and I really like the Vienna Inn idea although any location would work for me.

Kevin

 

[divemistress]

it would be super to have a good, new diving club in this area -- count me in.

monday nights are fine, 6:30 p.m. is fine, but vienna is not so great for me. i live south of old town alexandria, near mt. vernon (the estate). getting to vienna at that time of night might be tough.

where do we all live and/or work? is there a more central location? if we settle on an area, i'll volunteer to troll for potential meeting locations.

or, i think someone has already suggested moving the location each meeting, to make it more convenient for members all over the metro area. that would work for me too.

keep me posted.

judy

 

[DivePartner1]

One can't have too many dive clubs, or diving opportunities!

I'd love to encourage you all, though too much travel always seems to get in the way of making meetings.

 

[DaveO]

Please stay tuned for a meeting announcement: I'm just trying to work through a last tiny detail to secure meeting space. Thanks for your interest- hope y'all can come out!

At this time and for this meeting, our best bet for a location is McLean. Divemistress, we appreciate your offer to help find a location! We definitely want to choose locations that are convenient to everyone. One lady, for instance, requested Metro accessibility, which narrows the focus a bit- we can discuss this when we all meet up.

Look at us! A meeting agenda, and everything!

 

[O-ring]

How long do we want these things to last? We will have a lot of logistical stuff and other administrative garbage to do at the first meeting...might not have much time for gear.