MHK
Guest
Hank49:
I haven't followed the entirety of this thread so excuse me if some of this post is redundant. I hear these points raised often, and while for certain, some of the wounds are self-inflicted, I also believe that there is a perception out there that is misunderstood, and it could be argued that such a misunderstanding is largely responsible for the impression of arrogance or elitist.
Much of the dive industry is focused on pandering and catering to a shrinking market share, and as a result there is a strong willingness to compromise, lower and expand core ideological values in favor of increasing market share. GUE, and by extension, it's instructor base aren't interested in sacraficing, compromising or lowering any of our core ideological principles simply to get more students. If that means we teach less students, or if that means that we come off as arrogant or elitists, then so be it. There are two prisms with which some can view this issue(s). One can consider that our goal is to set the standard high enough for serious divers that desire more challenging training curriculums and consider that we aren't interested in convincing anyone that they need our training. This concept does stand in stark contrast to the exsisting business model of the dive industry which is; to grow, expand and be "inclusive" at nearly any cost. One must consider that if our goal is to offer an alternative to exsisting dive industry models, then by definition we need to be different. Speaking for myself only, and not for GUE as an organization taken as a whole, I prefer teaching to students that have taken the time to learn about GUE/DIR and/or have become frustrated with what has been offered heretofore prior to GUE's formation. I find that students of that mindset don't need to be "convinced" that GUE training is for them. All too often, students feel the need to be coddled, positively reinforced or some other such sales technique.
If it offends people that we don't do that type of sales pitch then, candidly speaking, there isn't much we can do about. In our mission statement we pointedly identitfy the kind of diver that will benefit from our training. It's called the "discriminating" diver, another way to describe that diver is someone who is looking to be challenged and someone that doesn't need to be convinced that what we offer is what they are looking for. I fully recognize that concept is vastly different from anything else in the dive industry, and I fully concede that if our goal was just simply to be another organizational alphabet then our approach would be less then optimal. However, JJ is steadfast in his reluctance to expand at a rate that is inconsistent with our core tennants, and he is steadfast in his commitment to remain small and elite. Frankly, many of the problems you see in the other agencies are a direct result of growth and a direct result of being to "inclusive", at the expense of sacraficing adherence to rigid protocols..
I hope that helps is addressing the percieved "misunderstandings".
Regards,
