PADI proudly sponsors the 2016 Caribbean Cup

PADI is proudly sponsoring the 2016 Caribbean Cup. In its fourth edition, the Caribbean Cup is one of the most important freediving competitions in the world.

This year the event has gathered participants from all continents, they will be striving to reach new depths in Roatan, Honduras competing in three disciplines, Free Immersion (FIM), Constant Weight (CWT) and Constant Weight without Dins (CNF).

This important freediving event is presented by Mayan Princess – Beach and Dive Resort and The Beach Club – San Simon.

 

Interested in taking part of this event?

Visit http://roatanfreediving.com/  and find detailed information on the competitors, the competition itself, record information for previous years and much more.

Register Your Event for PADI Women’s Dive Day – 16 July 2016

The inaugural 2015 PADI Women’s Dive Day was a historic day for diving. In its first year, PADI Dive Centers and Resorts hosted more than 335 events in 65 countries on all seven continents. This was possible thanks to the enthusiasm and participation from PADI Members around the world who got behind this new initiative. Let’s do it again, only bigger. More new divers. More ambassadors for the underwater world.

The New York Times highlighted PADI Women’s Dive Day as an event “where sport fans should go in 2016,” keeping good company with Super Bowl 50, the Ryder Cup, and the 2016 Summer Olympics. By coming together to celebrate women in diving, we will strengthen and grow the female diver community, attract new women to the sports of scuba and free diving, and motivate existing female divers to get back in the water and continue their dive training.

Start planning your 2016 PADI Women’s Dive Day event on 16 July 2016 using these simple steps.

1. Decide what type of event to host.

The type of event you decide to host is completely up to you! Whether you conduct PADI Women’s Dive Day themed courses, have a family-oriented open day, host fun dives or even a girls’ night out with your divers, only your imagination limits your event.

2. Register your PADI Dive Center and Resort event.

Visit the PADI Pros’ Site to enter your event into the PADI Women’s Dive Day Event Locator. When PADI Women’s Dive Day is formally announced to the public on 8 March 2016, your dive center/resort will be included on the Event Locator at padi.com/women-dive.  To register your event, log in to the PADI Pros’ Site with your PADI Dive Center or Resort account (not an Individual Member account), go to ‘My Account’ page, and click on ‘Register your Women’s Dive Day event(s)’. Follow the on-screen instructions to quickly and easily add your event.

3. Promote your event.

Use different platforms to help get the word out about your event – email, social media, advertisements (print, online and in-store), and event calendars. Visit thePADI Pros’ Site to download customizable PADI Women’s Dive Day marketing materials.

4. Post Event Follow-Up

Follow up with all your PADI Women’s Dive Day event participants afterwards. A simple “thanks for diving with us” keeps divers engaged and encourages them to continue diving with you. Don’t forget to include links, telephone and a call to action. And be sure to share your success stories and photos with the marketing team at your PADI Regional Headquarters.

Register your 2016 PADI Women’s Dive Day event now!

New Dive Against Debris™ Tools Now Available!

As a professional diver, you have a natural affinity for ocean protection. You see first-hand the devastating effects of marine debris on underwater environments. With your unique underwater perspective and skill set, you have the power to make a difference!

Join divers around the globe in Dive Against Debris™, Project AWARE®’s flagship citizen science program that aims to reduce the negative impacts of marine debris each time we dive. More than just a cleanup, Dive Against Debris is the world’s first and only underwater marine debris survey that utilizes data collected by divers to inform policy changes leading to a measurable reduction of trash entering our oceans.

As a PADI professional, you have the skills and knowledge to make a positive impact. Now Project AWARE wants to arm you – and all divers across the globe – with the right tools and resources to put your next Dive Against Debris into action.

In an effort to make Dive Against Debris easier for divers of all different countries and nationalities, Project AWARE has expanded its Dive Against Debris resources to more than 12 different languages. You can now remove, record and report marine debris no matter where you dive or what language you speak.

Thank you for doing your part to protect our ocean planet – one dive at a time.

 

ScubaEarth Profile Troubleshooting

ScubaEarth™ has now launched to the general public.

If you haven’t set up your store profile, it only takes a few minutes.  Add your logo, links and About Us info via the PADI Pro’s Site, then click through to ScubaEarth to see it in action.

If you’ve set up your account and something isn’t working right, please read on for some hints, tips and suggestions. We’ll cover:

• Facebook link is not working
• Blog link is not working
• The About Us section gets cut off or has strange characters
• How to contact us for additional questions

ScubaEarth Facebook link isn’t working

It’ s possible you’ve put in too much information into the online form. Our website will automatically populate  http://www.facebook.com/  (see screengrab below). You only need to enter the information following http://www.facebook.com/

For example: if we were to paste in the entire web address below – the link won’t work. Only the part highlighted in yellow should be input to the PADI Pro’s Site.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beach-Cities-Scuba/145081197841

Some businesses may have a “vanity” Facebook link (see example below).

http://www.facebook.com/jacksdivinglocker

In this example, only the text jacksdivinglocker should be input to the PADI Pro’s Site. The site will automatically add in http://www.facebook.com/

ScubaEarth Blog link isn’t working

Here are correctly-formatted examples for a ScubaEarth blog feed using Blogger and WordPress (the two most popular platforms). Copy and paste the appropriate link into the Pro’s Site – substituting your blog’s name for blogname.

Blogger:
blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

WordPress:
blogname.com/?feed=rss2

The About Us section

Here’s an article about how to write a great about us paragraph. Before saving your final copy, look for special characters such as an ampersand (&) quotation marks or apostrophe’s. These characters may not display correctly – the ampersand cannot be used at all.

Problem: black diamonds with question marks

Solution: an apostrophe or quotation mark is causing the problem. For apostrophes – put a space before the apostrophe.

OKAY: Joe ‘s Diving Locker
NOT OKAY: Joe’s Diving Locker

For quotation marks, put a space to the right of the quotation mark.

OKAY: ” free”
NOT OKAY: “free”

Problem: About Us paragraph gets cut off

For example:
Joe ‘s Diving Locker offers scuba & snorkel tours year-round. Visit our website, or call us to book your adventure today.

Displays on ScubaEarth like this:
Joe ‘s Diving Locker offers scuba

Solution: remove any “and” signs (aka ampersands) from your text. Anything following that special character won’t show up. For example:

Advanced ScubaEarth Troubleshooting

ScubaEarth is in Beta –  help us improve the site by reporting any problems you may be experiencing not addressed in the article above.

Click the Bug Reporting link on the left side of the screen when logged into ScubaEarth (see screengrab below).

You will be asked for your browser and operating system. To obtain this information, visit this helpful website: thismachine.info.

 

Top 5 Ways to Capture Holiday Dollars

By 1 December,  85% of holiday dollars have  been spent.

Will your marketing efforts  capture the most holiday dollars?

Consumer Financial site Mint has a great infographic (above) with U.S. holiday shopping stats: who spends what (men versus women), and most importantly: when and where those dollars are spent.

5 Ways to Capture Holiday Dollars

#5. Put Scuba Gear on Their Wish List with an Equipment Specialist Course

Invite students to learn about the “care and feeding” of their equipment by attending an Equipment Specialist course. This is a non-diving specialty that can be offered rain or shine and counts toward Master Scuba Diver.

During the class, offer save a dive kit packages and showcase your latest and greatest gear. Invite equipment reps to help with demos, and/or show How It’s Made equipment/tank manufacturing videos from PADI’s Encyclopedia DVD-ROM (part no 70833).

Read course director Scuba Steve’s tips for teaching an equipment specialty course.

#4. Offer Electronic Gifts

74% of consumers say they will search online for holiday gifts, so you’ll want to put your goods and services where their eyeballs are.

Shoppers with a digital preference also planned to spend $440 more than shoppers who aren’t in the market for digital goods. As a PADI Member you can offer eLearning gift passes – read more about buying / using eLearning Gift Passes.

#3. Holiday Thank You Party

Invite your dive club members, staff and students certified during 2012 to a special party. Here’s an article on clever ways to do the invite.

The magic of experienced students and shop staff mingling with new divers typically leads to con-ed classes and charter spots filled! Honor Master Scuba Divers and/or present certificates of recognition for Most Improved Diver, Most Dives Logged, etc. Here are some ideas for Scuba-related gifts that cost $20 or less.

If you have easy access to a pool, tie in a DSD (Discover Santa Diving) activity. Your customers will have the most original holiday card.

DSD – Discover Santa Diving

 #2. Make Finding the Right Gift Easy with Packages

Figuring out what gifts to buy is a big challenge for most shoppers. Even scarier? Wandering into a dive shop as a non-diver.

Staff should not be shy about over-explaining scuba gear and accessories. For example: buying a new mask? How about some de-fog. GoPro cameras are a popular gift but for diving we need a housing, lights, red filter, clip, etc.

You can also help scuba spouses feel less intimidated by creating gift packages in a variety of price ranges: (under $25, $50,  $100, etc). See examples below…

Even easier?  A store gift card tucked into a mini-stocking, or other holiday-themed packaging.

Some package ideas:

• Equipment care / save a Dive kit
• A “World’s Best Dive Buddy” training package with Rescue Diver and EFR courses
• Dive traveler essentials package with defog, spring straps, etc.

74% of shoppers  will use the internet to research gift ideas – take a picture of your various packages and post one a day to your Facebook page, and include the images with your eNewsletter as well. This makes it easy for divers to share their gift preferences with friends and family.

#1. Give Customers a Reason to Buy from You

Time and again, surveys show consumers are loyal to companies who share their values. To quote the TED talk, People Don’t Buy What You Do, They Buy Why You Do It.American Express’ Small Business Saturday is one example of appealing to consumers to “do the right thing” with their holiday dollars. Here are some other ideas:

• A Giving Tree – decorate a tree with paper or glass ornaments tagged with a prize or discount on a future purchase. Invite customers to bring in five cans of food in exchange for selecting an ornament off the tree. Not into trees? Create a custom scratch its instead.

• Brag About Your Conservation Activities – whether it’s an annual clean-up, or automatic donations to Project AWARE with every certification, draw the connection between money spent with your business and a cleaner, better underwater world.
  
• Share Your Story – many of you reading this email have given up “regular” careers to open your own business and become ambassadors for the underwater world. You’ve done something most divers only dream of! The human side of your business (along with good customer service) gives consumers a powerful reason to do business with you instead of the competition. 

Link Your Facebook Page and Blog to PADI

Attention PADI Stores:  ScubaEarth™ is launching soon and you’ll want to complete your business  profile before the site goes live to consumers. Your ScubaEarth profile – at minimum – should include:

• Links to your social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Google+).
• A profile image (such as your logo).
• A short About Us paragraph

PADI Instructors: the wait is almost over for you as well. We’re capturing store information first and will then open the site to independent members.

For PADI Stores  – here is how to input your ScubaEarth profile info. It only takes a few minutes.

1. Login to the PADI Pros Site
2. Click on My Account from the main menu
3. Click on Social Media Settings tab
4. Fill in your information and upload a store logo (140 x 140 pixels)
Consider using your Facebook profile image.

You can add links to some or all of the websites below. If you don’t have a Twitter page, for example, you can leave that spot blank.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google+
• Blog RSS Feed*

In addition to the links above, you’ll add a short About Us paragraph (750 characters or less).

About Us 
Why is your dive business is better than the rest? Brag a little…

If your business is 100% AWARE – this distinguishes your business from “the other guys” who don’t donate a portion of every cert to protect the underwater world.

Do you have  noteworthy customers (such as a local fire department)? Are you one of the top-ranked on Yelp or TripAdvisor? Details like this make a difference!

Check out our tips for creating a great About Us blurb. It was originally written as a guide for a webpage’s about us page, but the ideas are just as relevant for a short-form About Us.

 

* How to find your blog’s RSS Feed
(what the heck is RSS? – video)

 Visit your blog and look for an orange RSS symbol. Click on it to display the feed URL. Copy and paste this URL, it will look something like this:

http://en.support.wordpress.com/feed

http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Welcome to the Latin America Blog

Welcome to the new PADI Pros Blog for the Latin America Region. PADI Regional Managers Robert Sievens, Claudio Brandileone and Fernando Martins will use this site to keep PADI Pros up to date wiht industry news and events. You can also follow us Facebook and Twitter.

PADI