Do you have a dive-curious friend or friend(s)?
#1 Guest_PlatypusMan_*
Posted 20 January 2006 - 10:20 AM
Do you encourage them to try it? What sort of response do they give you when you do?
As a Happy Hour Planner here in DFW, I'm always pointing out that we should be inviting our non-diving and dive-curious friends to those events in order to meet them and answer the kinds of questions they may have regarding our wonderfully wild sport, and to have a good time doing while so.
(Remember--at one time you were that dive-curious one asking those questions!)
It's occurred to me that maybe we should also encourage them to come to our site here and ask questions in a non-judgemental place where we can make them welcome and comfortable enough to join us in recreational diving and subsequently dive events and trips around the world.
What do the rest of you think? Should we as a membership make an effort to increase our numbers, or is it just too much trouble?
Platypusman
...SEVEN days untill the Next DFW Happy Hour...
#2
Posted 20 January 2006 - 10:40 AM
Since there has never been a happy hour near here inviting them is a mute point.
By all that is wet, I do hereby swear, (politely), and attest, upon pain of never diving again, (real or imagined), that I understand and affirm, that I agree to the above.
_________________________________________(log in name signature)
Signed and Dated
#3
Posted 20 January 2006 - 10:49 AM
#4 Guest_PlatypusMan_*
Posted 20 January 2006 - 11:13 AM
My BF expresses interest but never seems to get the certification done. Now that he is on break I might very well book him into an OW class giving him no room for excuses!
Do it! He'll thank you later!
Platypusman
...SEVEN days until the next DFW Happy Hour....
#5
Posted 20 January 2006 - 11:16 AM
Hey CMT if he won't just trade him in on a newer, already trained model. I have a few ideas who. J/K, he will do it if he really wants too.
Alice in Chains
#6
Posted 20 January 2006 - 11:40 AM
Hey CMT if he won't just trade him in on a newer, already trained model. I have a few ideas who.
LOL!! At the very least, I can use the threat!
#7
Posted 20 January 2006 - 12:01 PM
Hey CMT if he won't just trade him in on a newer, already trained model. I have a few ideas who. J/K, he will do it if he really wants too.
I pretty sure if she decided to do that, there would be no shortage of applicants.
Edited by Brinybay, 20 January 2006 - 12:02 PM.
"A good marriage is like an interlocking neurosis, where the rocks in one person's head fill up the holes in the other's."
#8
Posted 20 January 2006 - 03:42 PM
#9
Posted 23 January 2006 - 03:29 AM
A more common reaction when I tell people I'm interested in diving is they see it as something akin to going to the moon. Seriously!
#10
Posted 24 January 2006 - 10:07 PM
If they're REALLY interested, I'll burn a CD or DVD of photos and video, then talk with 'em about it before and after they've seen it. Only one guy actually ran out and got certified, mostly due to his girlfriend, possibly a little bit of my coaching. He's a good kid, and I think he'll do well.
Some of my shots are a turn-off to non-divers, particularly the ones with sharks. They may have a horrified thrill at seeing one on TV, but they do NOT want to imagine rubbing shoulders with 'em in the water. I removed a lot of the shark shots for that reason. There's no sense in scaring 'em off in advance, especially with the bad press sharks get from the news.
It costs $500+ more to get certified in Phoenix than near the coast 'cos most shops want you to have real ocean experience. Only a few will get you the initial cert in a lake. That's a big put-off to a lot of folks, as is the hard-sell by the shops to get newbies to buy ALL of their gear immediately. Add it up, and newbies here are looking at around $1300+ to go diving. If we could lower that number, more would go for it. If the shops would lay off the 'you really want all your own gear' line, they'd certify more folks and then reel 'em in after their first trip or two with dicey rental gear. That's the route I went. Didn't like the rental regs, didn't like the rental BCs, eventually bought the best regs I could get my hands on and a decent BC. I got certified in Maui for $150 total, then spent a few thousand on good gear over the next two years. At least I got opinions from a lot of different divers before I bought, rather than buy whatever the shop was dumping that month.
Of all the folks that enjoy the photos and videos, only the one guy that got himself certified would have cared about a Happy Hour. I've talked to a few other possible divers, but I could tell they were only vaguely curious after seeing the underwater shots. I nearly got another convinced, but he's got a family to feed and could barely afford the cert, let alone a nice trip.
Might get a couple of other divers I'd met on trips interested in an SD Happy Hour, 'cos they're an easy sell if they've had a couple of trips that weren't stellar. Disgruntled divers are willing converts, and it doesn't cost 'em anything extra to try. A bunch of smiling faces is all it takes....
B<g
#11
Posted 25 January 2006 - 09:45 AM
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