DiveNewswire
Popular and Growing line of recreational and technical dive gear supports Sheri Daye’s non-competitive BLUE WILD ADVENTURE Event instead
Released on: 5/29/2012
Following on the heels of last week’s courageous announcement from American Underwater Products (AUP) that the company was not planning on participating in the proposed DEMA-sponsored “Dive Festival”, EDGE/HOG Gear has announced it will also not be participating for a variety of reasons.
According to Chris Richardson of EDGE/Hog Gear, “We talked in depth with our retailers, along with other dive shops in the area. There is nearly unanimous consensus among scuba diving retailers that this proposed event is not only competitive but inappropriate because DEMA is not in the consumer show business.” Richardson adds that while there is a need to broaden the reach of the dive industry, that there are already a large number of consumer dive shows, who are already paying members of DEMA, and that EDGE/HOG chooses to support them. “We would be ecstatic were DEMA to reach out to existing consumer shows and assist in growing them.”
EDGE/HOG dive gear WILL be participating in the BLUE WILD ADVENTURE show February 23-24 at the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center. Now in its sixth year under the direction of champion freediver and industry figure Sheri Daye This is an exceptional show whose profits are donated to charity.
Richardson was emphatic about the importance of supporting local retailers and dive industry stakeholder groups that, as a membership organization, is what DEMA is chartered to do. Several well-known dive retailers in the South Florida market have openly rejected the proposed DEMA event and Richardson voiced concern that should this event prove profitable, DEMA could expand its efforts to other cities. “If I’m Beneath the Sea, Our World-Underwater, SCUBA Show or another promoter, I would be very concerned about what DEMA is trying to do.”
Richardson also expressed concern that the pricing structure at the show would lead to DEMA as an organization being less responsive and representative of the dive industry. “The show is priced so that members enjoy great discounts, this will lead to DEMA gaining more non dive industry membership in DEMA. As that new member base grows and DEMA markets the consumer shows to draw consumers for those new non diving members, we will see less and less representation of the dive industry in the dive industry's association. That isn't acceptable.”
A comprehensive thread about this situation was started last week on Scubaboard. For more information about HOG/EDGE Gear, contact Richardson at (404) 579-7631