Seaspace 2007

[scubabum2]

You are not going to bring Leslie :11: ?? I will look for you wandering around

Nope, she's gonna be puppy-sitting. He's too young to board and would trash the hotel room ala Keith Moon.

 

[ScubaTexan]

Nope, she's gonna be puppy-sitting. He's too young to board and would trash the hotel room ala Keith Moon.

He'll throw the TV out the window?
:laughing:

 

[MichaelBaranows]

scubapro50,
Those are some great ideas. This will be my first time to go to Seaspace, but from what I read on there website it seems more like a travel show than a SCUBA show. I would like to see all the manufactures showing off there products.

 

[scubapro50]

scubapro50,
Those are some great ideas. This will be my first time to go to Seaspace, but from what I read on there website it seems more like a travel show than a SCUBA show. I would like to see all the manufactures showing off there products.

You're right ... I lived in Houston until the 1980s and was a member of the HOUSTON UNDERWATER CLUB for many years. Seaspace was much more than a "travel" show back then and I worked with several exhibitors helping set up booths and displays. We had "free" meetings durning the show covering those subjects I suggested for the "mini" workshops. I personaly worked with reps from both Scubapro and Dacor to set up displays of there equipment and hand out catagues. I have talked this year with Phil Mintz of Mares about comming to Seaspace but like many of the other "major" scuba manfuctures they don't see the benfits of doing regional shows ... they say it just costs too much for what they get. Smaller companies like XS scuba, Cressi Sub, Zeagle and Dive Rite do set up booths to let the public see their equipment and they have reps there to answer any questions about their products. (I guess the big three ... Aqualung, Scubapro and Mares ..... have forgot that "meeting" the public and making friends will help move product.) Three years ago I saw a Aeris Atmos XT BC at a SeaSpace and even thou I couldn't purchase it at the show I did go back and order one from a local shop.

 

[Hemlon]

We all tend to memorialize and romanticize the past.

Just like a couple of others in this thread, this year is my first time to attend SeaSpace.

I have no pre-conceived ideas of how it is supposed to be or how it was in the past.

 

[scubabum2]

He'll throw the TV out the window?
:laughing:

Well he does get pretty crazy with his beotches.

 

[ReefHound]

I have talked this year with Phil Mintz of Mares about comming to Seaspace but like many of the other "major" scuba manfuctures they don't see the benfits of doing regional shows ... they say it just costs too much for what they get.

That doesn't sound like it has much to do specifically with Seaspace and I doubt there is anything Seaspace can do to change their opinion. That's an example of why I said I don't think it can ever be what it "used to be" - the industry has changed.

 

[scubapro50]

That doesn't sound like it has much to do specifically with Seaspace and I doubt there is anything Seaspace can do to change their opinion. That's an example of why I said I don't think it can ever be what it "used to be" - the industry has changed.

You're right .... the diving industry has changed. Attendance for both national (DEMA) and local shows are down. Many people in the business complain that the sport diving industry is a shrinking business. Why ? Could it be the lack of "customer service" and the fact that most companies are now run by accountants not divers like Paul Tzimoulis, Mel Fisher, Hal Watts or Bob Soto. Regional shows like Seaspace let the public have access to diving reps which they may never see or talk to. It gives the companies a chance to "showcase" their products and answer questions dealing with diving. It also gives a chance for the companies to show support for their products not only to new customers but the local shops. Why do you think so many dive resorts have booths there. They have personel to "meet and greet" the public to convince them that they have the best "package" or "destination". The smaller companies like XS Scuba and Zealgle are eating away at the "Big Three" because they back their products not only with good service but show that they are not afraid to talk with their customers. Companies like Aqualung, Scubapro and Mares have become so large they have forgoten where their success came from ...... not large mailorder or internet firms but the individual diver whos spends his hard earned dollars on dive equipment at the local shop.

 

[XS Scuba]

Hey S/Pro50:
Thanks for the good words, I appreciate it. Honestly, I don't think we have done much "eating" of the big three (yet). We just returned from last weekend's Beneath the Sea Show in New Jersey and we're on a flight in the morning to the SeaSpace Show in Houston. The consumer shows are a good piece of work, though we see the as a necessity to the growth of XS Scuba. This is one of the places we go to learn. The input and suggestions we receive at these shows is in a large part what directs our product refinement and development. If you're at SeaSpace stop by and see us in booth #511.

The smaller companies like XS Scuba and Zealgle are eating away at the "Big Three" because they back their products not only with good service but show that they are not afraid to talk with their customers. Companies like Aqualung, Scubapro and Mares have become so large they have forgoten where their success came from ...... not large mailorder or internet firms but the individual diver whos spends his hard earned dollars on dive equipment at the local shop.

 

[ParamedicDiver1]

FIRST THING i would do is move the show from the AstroHall complex back to the Hilton or another major hotel/convention center. Second set up more mini workshops for subjects like rebreathers, cave diving in Texas, Texas shipwrecks, local freshwater diving, equipment maintaince, underwater computers, ect. for the pubic to attend. Encourage major companies like Mares, ScubaPro, and Aqualung, to have both booth and workshops to present their current lines to divers who may not be familiar with there equipment because the shop they use don't carry that line of equipment. BRING BACK THE PHOTO CONTEST ...... also have a catagory for independent underwater videos to be shown and judged. Allow dive shops to sell merchandise to qualified divers at the show ..... many shops wouldn't like this because it encourages competition. Let internet retailers like Leisurepro, ScubaToys, Diver.com have booths to advertise there products. SCUBABOARD should have a booth with computers on line showing how easy it is to use the board and let vistors log on and try it for themselves. ..................

These are some good ideas. I really like the idea of moving it out of Reliant Center into a hotel convention center. The other ideas are good too!