PADI has been sold to another investment group. Thoughts?

[muzikbiz22]

No agency is immune from having over bearing peeps on the internet. However, more people bash PADI than support them in public. I remember one user asking me for forgiveness for being certified by PADI. Ya, rly! Srsly, even! I was absolutely floored that a few members made other members feel so unwelcome. It's why we created the Green Zones.

Pete, (netdoc) brings up an interesting point about "unwlecomeness". I can't help but think that there are a few people out there who are considering scuba lessons or getting certified, that may have read this thread and might now be completely turned off or are now re-considering. It's bad/intimidating enough for some people walking in cold, to their LDS, and simply inquiring about the sport we all love so much. Too often, they are greeted with this same cynicism and/or ego's from "the crusty guy behind the counter, towards the back, just past the cigarette burned/coke stained carpet, that knows everything, and their shop and it's products are the only way to go, because everyone else sucks". I have seen it time after time after time. This same element is seen all too often on dive boats, as well. Leave your attitude/ego's at the dock, please.

Regardless of anyone's opinion of PADI, they are the largest certifier of divers, and are a great steward & ambassador of our sport, doing what they do for the greater good of all divers. Are they perfect ? Hardly. Are there bigger plans for the PADI brand ? I'd be surprised if there wasn't. The PADI name carries a lot of brand equity, and wouldn't surprise me if we were to see PADI branded dive equipment, clothing, resorts, etc.

 

[USdiver1]

Opportunities abound with PADI's new owners. As someone who has been trained through PADI (over four decades), and who trains others using PADI's philosophy (mainly) and materials, There is a definite opportunity to make improvements. Some of those mentioned in this thread, and elsewhere on SB are spot on. PADI's educational material has been streamlined (or dumbed down) to the point of giving some of us pause, and reason to incorporate additional skills and knowledge in the classes we teach. Remember that the PADI educational books have only been around for the last thirty years or so, meaning that there are still a fair number of us around who learned to dive before their introduction. Many of us learned to dive from ex-military divers, or through the military itself, or other community based organizations such as the YMCA. Much of what was taught to new divers in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s is still relevant, and should/could be incorporated in PADI's revised educational materials to make for a more well rounded, competent training program. Too much reliance on technology/equipment (computers, e-training) over lost or disappearing skills (swimming competence, buddy breathing, manually working through the recreational dive tables, equipment doff, don and exchange, y'all get the picture) means that there is a great opportunity to get back to basics and make the divers trained in the next few years better than nowadays. As for improving the quality of videos, yes it should be done for promoting our sport, I for one, however, would really like to see the training program rely less on videos and more on the students working through the math, and increased water skills through more confined water training, prior to check out.

Just my $0.02.

 

[djcheburashka]

PADI is by no means the only certification agency that understands, uses, and advertises on ScubaBoard. Nor would I refer to PADI's campaign on SB as a "cash cow". ...
Additionally, do you really think that Pete needs to kiss ass to anyone to keep them as an advertiser on SB? The performance of SB as a social media, and place to advertise your business hardly has to do with how much ass kissing anyone does in a forum post. The ads perform well with or without any mention by Pete or anyone else for that matter.

It's true - scubaboard suckles at the teat of many training agencies.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[mahjong]

How wonderful it would be if PADI training and training materials were made more fundamentally robust. I'm with you on that. My PADI Nitrox instructor had me use his older PADI text book because he said the new one has been dumbed down. But I would be profoundly, if pleasantly, surprised if this corporate buyout would lead to anything other than a "further" streamlining and dumbing down in order to expand the reach and ease and speed of certifying "ever more" divers. This buyout means that PADI will now more than ever be bottom-line driven. In the hands of the conglomerate it is nothing more than investment that will be manipulated in such a manner as to make "ever more" money. To mercilessly cut to the chase and simplify, the principal operative principle that will be behind any and all changes will be aimed at achieving "ever more." There need not be any connection at all between "ever more" and "better." In diving, I would say that "ever more" far more often than not will mean a compromise to what is "better" or even to what is simply "good."

Opportunities abound with PADI's new owners. As someone who has been trained through PADI (over four decades), and who trains others using PADI's philosophy (mainly) and materials, There is a definite opportunity to make improvements. Some of those mentioned in this thread, and elsewhere on SB are spot on. PADI's educational material has been streamlined (or dumbed down) to the point of giving some of us pause, and reason to incorporate additional skills and knowledge in the classes we teach. Remember that the PADI educational books have only been around for the last thirty years or so, meaning that there are still a fair number of us around who learned to dive before their introduction. Many of us learned to dive from ex-military divers, or through the military itself, or other community based organizations such as the YMCA. Much of what was taught to new divers in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s is still relevant, and should/could be incorporated in PADI's revised educational materials to make for a more well rounded, competent training program. Too much reliance on technology/equipment (computers, e-training) over lost or disappearing skills (swimming competence, buddy breathing, manually working through the recreational dive tables, equipment doff, don and exchange, y'all get the picture) means that there is a great opportunity to get back to basics and make the divers trained in the next few years better than nowadays. As for improving the quality of videos, yes it should be done for promoting our sport, I for one, however, would really like to see the training program rely less on videos and more on the students working through the math, and increased water skills through more confined water training, prior to check out.

Just my $0.02.

 

[tridacna]

Not a big fan of PE, huh?

I worked at a company for 20+ years. We got "PE'd". I watched them squeeze us to oblivion. Dozens of good friends lost their jobs and benefits in the name of cost cutting and efficiencies. It was brutal: As they needed more fees, so they cut staff. I somehow survived the mayhem and found that I was working for a soulless entity. Left them and went to small consultancy. Before the PE debacle, we had 5000+ employees and a profitable company. We ended up putting almost 4,000 on the unemployment lines two years later. Oh yeah, the PE made a fortune on the deal.

 

[Paulmal]

PE is in the business of making
Money not providing jobs for redundant people. Yes it can be painful to go through but PE can improve a companies efficiency and lead to better results, also lots of times PE steps in to failing companies and tries to fix them, sometimes they succeed sometimes they fail but you have a better chance of success with PE than the current management that ran the place In the ground in the first place. What will PE mean for PADI, more than likely expansion into developing markets or PADI shops, resorts maybe gear. Only time will tell. PE is a fact of life get used to it some are worse than others but they exist as a middle ground between privately held company per say and public. I know PE is privately held but not in the sense of personally owned. If you follow me.

 

[SeaCobra]

Not sure if it is the training agencies, dive centers or instructors, but somebody is not doing a very good job in the scuba industry. The retention rate is horrific! Personally, I do feel the attempts at making scuba certs available in an afternoon, dumbing down the course and quickie courses are at the core of the problem. And from what i have seen this is coming from PADI

 

[Wookie]

It's true - scubaboard suckles at the teat of many training agencies.

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What a dumbass thing to say. I advertise on ScubaBoard, and Pete and I disagree on many things, especially his stupid new sidemount on liveaboards kick. Makes me insane that he is advocating such a thing. I don't stop advertising because it's effective. He doesn't treat me differently that any other user, I've certainly been reprimanded for using the term dumbass before, I expect to again, although it usually doesn't come from Pete, it comes from another Mod.

In the business world, we have clients who pay our bills. I treat mine as if they are my employer, not my free handout. Pete does the same. Do you suckle at the teat of your employer, or do you give him fair value in return for just compensation?

 

[HowardE]

It's true - scubaboard suckles at the teat of many training agencies.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Really? Please elaborate? What kind of inside information do you have to make such a ridiculous statement?

Let me ask you this. Do you see PADI or anyone getting special treatment on here because of one thing or another? I don't... Making donations to the legal defense fund, being a supporter, sponsor, business sponsor, banner advertiser, whatever, doesn't give anyone any special treatment, other than having their username in Red, and some other perks which you can find clearly listed in our site info...

One can only surmise that either you simply don't understand the concepts, or you're just jealous of something?

 

[ElGaucho]

Not sure if it is the training agencies, dive centers or instructors, but somebody is not doing a very good job in the scuba industry. The retention rate is horrific! Personally, I do feel the attempts at making scuba certs available in an afternoon, dumbing down the course and quickie courses are at the core of the problem. And from what i have seen this is coming from PADI

This is something that was only mentioned once in this 9 page discussion, and I believe it´s one of the three key elements. I feel ashamed I overlooked it. Retention in this industry is horrific, I completely agree. Again, when you push more "dive pros" than actual divers, you generate retention problems. When courses are about quick and dirty, not actually expanding knowledge and thus interest, this is what happens. This is not "everything that´s wrong with scuba should be pinned on PADI", but there is a portion of responsibility here that needs to be addressed by PADI and all cert agencies, or as an industry. PADI, being the most successful of the agencies, becomes the forerunner of criticism.