Looking for ideas to helop local divers hookup

[akscubainst]

Hi everyone,

A frequent request in my store is "do you have a buddy list" or a way to hook people up with new buddies?

I have a bulletin board in the shop that never gets used, I added forums to our website to allow folks to chat and possibly get hooked up. The forums get a ton of views but very few posts.

So, what else could I do to help out those people who are looking to meet buddies? Is there some sort of blog or something I could add to a website to allow folks to chat without having to register yet will be somewhat spam proof?

Thanks

Dave

 

[--tom--]

Okay, so you have just hit a sore spot that I have with the instructors I DM for.

Here is my Philosophy in otherwords, it is worth every penny you paid for it.

The critical time for any diver is within about 6 weeks after their checkout dives. If they don't dive in that time frame, you have probably lost them as a diver. (I know there are exceptions, but those are outliers on the statistical curve.) What I have been doing is on the last dive of the class, along with all of the post dive debriefing, I give the students my DM business card and ask them to email me. Within 4 weeks I will e-mail each of the students who respond and invite them to go diving with me. I have been doing this since last November, my buddy list is up to 26. 24 out of the 26 have dived with me.

The group is spreading out, and they are now inviting others. Give them a reason to get together without a personal risk of rejection. Make sure everyone knows that if they show up, they will have a buddy (or two). Yes, it is a lot of effort, but this is where a store's core of divers come from.

You don't have to turn it into a "shop event", it's probably better if you don't; but get your solid divers to spearhead it--pay for the bar-b-que (read Costco hamburger patties, and potluck the rest or something like that)--provide free air fills to rescue divers or better (or tech, or DIR, it's your air, dispense it the way you want) that show up (encourages training, provides competent buddies). Have a meet-and-greet before the dive day. Make sure it is open to all levels, and that the less experienced get an exceptional experience.

Just my 2psi. Hope to get up to your area and dive with you sometime.

--tom--

 

[tfsails]

My shop has a "scuba club" that meets once a month to eat dinner and swap lies, er, stories. No dues, no membership list, no meetings other than dinner.

I'm lucky--I work at the shop and have no shortage of buddies, but I like Tom's philosophy and, since I'm a DM, I just might plaigerize it. It certainly can't hurt business to do that.

 

[Jim Ernst]

Okay, so you have just hit a sore spot that I have with the instructors I DM for.

Here is my Philosophy in otherwords, it is worth every penny you paid for it.

The critical time for any diver is within about 6 weeks after their checkout dives. If they don't dive in that time frame, you have probably lost them as a diver. (I know there are exceptions, but those are outliers on the statistical curve.) What I have been doing is on the last dive of the class, along with all of the post dive debriefing, I give the students my DM business card and ask them to email me. Within 4 weeks I will e-mail each of the students who respond and invite them to go diving with me. I have been doing this since last November, my buddy list is up to 26. 24 out of the 26 have dived with me.

The group is spreading out, and they are now inviting others. Give them a reason to get together without a personal risk of rejection. Make sure everyone knows that if they show up, they will have a buddy (or two). Yes, it is a lot of effort, but this is where a store's core of divers come from.

You don't have to turn it into a "shop event", it's probably better if you don't; but get your solid divers to spearhead it--pay for the bar-b-que (read Costco hamburger patties, and potluck the rest or something like that)--provide free air fills to rescue divers or better (or tech, or DIR, it's your air, dispense it the way you want) that show up (encourages training, provides competent buddies). Have a meet-and-greet before the dive day. Make sure it is open to all levels, and that the less experienced get an exceptional experience.

Just my 2psi. Hope to get up to your area and dive with you sometime.

--tom--

Tom.

Excellent Post/Ideas!!

I do very similar, I give my cards to my students and let them know I will dive with them as there buddy anytime And I try to keep a group of as many as Possible and get them all to know each other.

It seems to work well!!

 

[spectrum]

And you don't need to be a pro to hand out a card. Buddy cards have worked out well for me. More ideas here.


Pete

 

[fisheater]

I've always wondered why the LDSs around here don't make sure that new OW graduates are immediately integrated into one or more of the local clubs. Seems to me that their business would do much better if their graduates actual dove, especially locally.