The Long Beach Scuba Show & Member Meetup

[ItsBruce]

My kid and I were at the pool at noon and looked for anyone who looked like they were looking for the lunch group. I even had my SMB (yellow baloon). Next year I'll wear a silly hat or something to identify myself better. The show was a lot of fun, as always.

 

[Robert Phillips]

A 'Scubaboard' sticker placed anonymously over the eyes would have been the best way to get results.
If people ask you what you are doing, just stand perfectly still and say in a monotone voice, "waiting."

Guess how you can find me today.

 

[wrinkles]

Um by looking for that “I just dove” perfectly satisfied smile on your face?

 

[Empty V]

True dat, I'll see all of you in a few hours!!!

 

[Code Monkey]

Met a bunch of y'all for the first time on Sunday and it was big fun. What a great group of people!

 

[Roughwaterjohn]

I'll ditto that. We had a great lunch and a nice little gathering afterwards at 2:00PM. Nice to see so many friends in one place!

John A.

 

[Empty V]

Thank you to all for a great time and an educational experience as usual!

Billy

 

[Mo2vation]

Excellent to see you all. Fun show, cool hang. Lots or memorable moments....

* Head Hunter's patter with Susan Long as he was trying on every drysuit and undergarment in the place... Who knew?

* Wrinkles trying to find a drysuit small enough to fit... a problem we should all have!

* The new Halcyon HID - very nice design improvements. This is Ken rebuffing light envy :light:

* Judy Carlson's beads... I love her and I really love her stuff. Anazing artist. Unreal.

* Convincing the Diving Concepts guy that yes, you can put DC gloves on DUI Zip Seals. He said he was getting questions about this all weekend... we've covered this at length on SB.

* Seeing my friends at SSA, Reef Photo, Ikelite and others...

* Meeting Kelphelper's sister. She has a dessert necklace. I love her and want to run away with her.

* Dinner and hanging out with Robert Philips. Dangit, I don't spend enough time with that guy.

Lots of funny stuff over dinner. Lots of old friends. Lots of new friends. Many thanks to all of the SoCals that made it to the show and made time to get together for Lunch and Dinner.

---
Ken

 

[headhunter]

It's always lots of fun to see people that we've never met, but read posts from.

The DUI dry suit try on was definitely a highlight of my day! Susan Long turned what would normally be a somewhat boring endeavor into an exciting adventure combining Chinese acrobatics and chearleading with endurance type sports like an ironman triathalon. The experience came complete with spectators worthy of being at a Monster Truck Rally, photo ops and a level of banter which should never be repeated unless you come out and dive with us to hear what that was all about. I think Dave Sweetin was scared that he might actually see some of us again in this lifetime.

Sunday lunch at Island's set a perfect tone for the rest of the day which culminated in a festive dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery which came complete with tougue twisting conversation.

The day rocked!

Christian

 

[wrinkles]

I have to agree with everything everyone has said. The scuba show was tons of fun. It started off a little rough. I was running late and got lost. Luckily for me I had the help of some random people to help me find my way to the show.

Once I got to the convention center I was greeted outside with lots of familiar faces and some unfamiliar ones. I made it to the 1200 meeting… kind of. We all went to islands and enjoyed a wonderful lunch. Most of us ordered a nice hardy meal while one of us enjoyed a light chicken ceasar salad. We even discovered what the mystery seasoning was on the table. (thanks John) After some good laughs and conversation we went back to the show just in time for the 200 meeting

Once again it was great to see everyone. Just as I was about to start to walk the aisles of the show Debbie and Derek made it over. Christian ofcourse was able to catch me and I ran back to greet the awesome couple. (I saw three booths so far). So after some chatting by the pool we tried to walk the show again and made it to the fourth or fifth booth. Thanks Ted for sticking with me during the quest to make it through the WHOLE show before it ended. I do have to say the scuba show was not how I remembered it a couple years ago. There seems to be a lot more travel booths.

I do have to say the highlight of the show was watching Christian roast in three different dry suits last one complete with undergarments (thanks Robert for the entertaining commentary and pics) and who can forget Kens yellow tropical drysuit complete with a show.

Once the scuba show was over it was a nice walk to the Rock Bottom. Once again the fun never stopped. Those of you that missed dinner I am truly sorry. If you have never stayed for a dinner party with this wonderful group of people you are surly missing an experience. The company was amazing, dinner was awesome…the drinks were even awesomer…dessert was truly the most excellent thing in the world, syllables were lost, the naughty chair was occupied for most of the night and dessert traveled. Who could ask for anything more.

Thanks everyone.