News
DEMA Board of Directors Implements Immediate Changes
On June 4th and 5th, the DEMA Board of Directors met to follow up on April’s Strategy Session. Specifically, the Board of Directors began implementing changes that reflected the concerns, needs and expectations of those participating in DEMA’s recent strategy efforts and who had provided their input along with that collected from fellow stakeholders. The DEMA Board recognized that immediate action needed to occur to address these issues and make the changes that the industry needs in order to support and facilitate Industry and business growth for all stakeholders.
The Board recognized the importance of facilitating collaboration amongst all Industry stakeholders and providing the resources needed to facilitate Industry and business growth. As a result the following action items were taken:
1. Formation of a Retailer Resource and Support Committee
This Committee’s main goal will be to focus on retailer resources and support including education, access to pertinent and actionable data, and, ultimately, business growth.
2. Creation of an online forum on DEMA’s website
This online forum will allow Industry stakeholders to provide feedback and engage with DEMA and other Industry stakeholders in dialogue about DEMA and Industry-related issues.
3. Implementation of a policy to appoint non-Board Member chairs for appropriate committees
In an effort to engage all stakeholders and foster idea generation, the Board has adapted a preferential policy that non-Board members will take the role of Committee Chairs. This policy has been enacted to stimulate additional conversation and bring new ideas as well as foster engagement of DEMA Board and Members wishing to serve in a capacity other than a full three-year commitment of a Board term. This action will provide stakeholders with additional opportunities to collaborate and provide their input, thus acting as a key contributor in the direction and future of the Association & Industry.
4. Conduct a review of DEMA’s Board Election process and policies
Such a review includes the methods by which Board Member candidates are nominated. Currently, the Board is reviewing various options, including the hiring of an outside consultant to help with any changes to the election process.
5. Commitment to review and re-align DEMA’s Mission Statement with the organization’s strengths, capacity to create collaboration, and needs of the Industry
This will help Members take advantage of areas of expertise such as legislative advocacy, business and industry research, face-to-face meetings and events, business education and member services that provide value and help facilitate business for all stakeholders.
“This strategic effort has had a great impact on DEMA’s direction and growth. It provided a necessary platform for stakeholders to voice their expectations and needs from the Association for future business success and has opened up the doors for future input and Industry collaboration,” explained Tom Ingram, DEMA’s Executive Director. “Perhaps most important will be a re-alignment of DEMA’s Mission and Goals because it will impact how DEMA conducts business every day, and guide the Association in making the changes needed to have a positive impact on the Industry. Collaborating and incorporating input from Members of the Industry will be an ongoing necessity for the DEMA Board and staff.”
The next DEMA Board Meeting will be a conference call scheduled for August 18th, 2014. More information on DEMA’s Board of Directors and Committees is available on the DEMA website. Complete minutes from past Board of Directors Meetings are available to current DEMA Members from the Member Dashboard of www.dema.org.
News article courtesy of www.divenewswire.com.
Fire on Monroe Bravo is the latest book in the Jack Collier series by Fred Lockwood. Our story begins with our lead characters, Jack and Sandro, owners of Marine Salvage & Investigation Company, arriving on the Monroe Bravo Oil & Gas Platform in the North Sea. Having secured a contract for their vessel the MV Stavanger to act as support ship to the platform for TransGlobal Oil, our protagonists are on a celebratory visit.
However almost as soon as they arrive a series of explosions rock the platform, causing huge damage, loss of life and the very real danger of a massive human, ecological and financial disaster.
As the danger mounts for both our heroes and the surviving workers, Jack and Sandro will have to escape the inferno, all while trying to save the platform and the men still trapped unable to help themselves.
The disaster sets the scene for the unfolding story lines following the fate of the platform and our main characters, the police investigation into a suspected terrorist act and the actions of TransGlobal Oil as they attempt to navigate the pubic outcry and financial repercussions.
In his eighth book, Fire on Monroe Bravo, Fred Lockwood delivers an explosive thriller, with plenty of above and in-water drama, and our heroes fighting for survival, what more can you ask for?
We thoroughly recommend this read and look forward to the next in the series. For more information about his book series, you can check out the reviews of his previous books here on Scubaverse.
- Title: Fire On Monroe Bravo
- Author: Fred Lockwood
- ISBN: 979-8325324536
Available in a paperback version and for Kindle from Amazon and book stores.
In June we were incredibly fortunate to be invited to dive in Alonissos, a small Greek Island in the Sporades island chain located in the North Aegean Sea. While I have long been a big fan of the Greek Islands as a great holiday destination, I had not had the opportunity to do any diving on previous visits and Mike and I were extremely excited to see what Alonissos had to offer both above and below the surface!
The Sporades are easily accessible via the airport in Skiathos (the first island in the chain), which is served by Jet2 flights from all major UK airports from May through October. Numerous ferries and charter boats make island hopping from Skiathos Town a breeze. After an hour boat ride, the picturesque port of Patitiri was a wonderful introduction to Alonissos, where we were met by our gracious hosts Kostas of Albedo Travel and Dias of Alonissos Triton Dive Center. Mike and I were delighted to be staying at the Paradise Hotel, aptly named for its stunning views over the sea and great location for walking to the waterfront.
Alonissos is beautifully situated in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and the Northern Sporades, the largest marine protected area in Europe. The surrounding seas offer fabulous marine life, including incredibly rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal. They boast deep walls covered in gorgonians and sponges, stunning topography with caverns, swimthroughs and pinnacles, and the first accessible ancient shipwreck from 500BC!
In locations where historical sites have been reported, the waters are largely restricted, but with collaboration between government, underwater archeologists and dive centres, incredible underwater museums are being created for a truly unique diving experience. Alonissos is home to the first of these, the Ancient Shipwreck of Peristera Accessible Underwater Archeological Site. The chance to dive into history (along with reports of healthy reef life and amazing underwater topography) meant Mike and I were keen to get in the water.
Our introduction to the diving around Alonissos was at the Agios Georgios Pinnacles, in the channel between Alonissos and Skopelos. This fantastic site was named “The Chimney,’ and proved to have a huge amount to see. We got to a decent depth here (over 25m), and marvelled at a colourful reef wall with a wonderful swim through whose rocky walls were absolutely covered with life. As well as brilliant topography there was no shortage of macro life here. We saw numerous nudibranchs, five different species in total. The second dive at Mourtias reef nearby was a shallower dive along a nice wall with lots of crevices. Several moray eels and grouper called this site home. We enjoyed looking in the crevices for lobster and smaller benthic life, such as cup corals and tunicates.
Our itinerary allowed us two dives a day with afternoons left to explore the island with our hire car and evenings to enjoy the famous Greek hospitality. This proved to be a lovely mix of in-water and land based diversions.
The next days diving to the Gorgonian Gardens and Triton’s Cave was to be even better! These two stunning sites are nothing short of fabulous. The Gorgonian Gardens was a deep wall near to the Agios Georgios islands. The ever-present currents in this deep channel meant that the sea life was amazing … the namesake Gorgonian sea fans dotted the wall at a depth of 30 to 50 meters, getting ever larger the deeper we went. Above 30m was by no means less beautiful, with sponges, corals, scorpionfish, moray eels and some rare and colourful nudibranchs.
The second shallower dive of the day was to Triton’s Cave or the Cavern of Skopelos, on the east side of that island. The spectacular rock formations had wild striations both above and below the water making a truly epic topography. The cavern entrance was at 14m, and big enough for a buddy pair, winding up to 6m and passing two beautiful windows out into the blue. Emerging from the cavern, the light at the shallower depths and the incredible rock formations made for a fantastic gentle swimming safety stop and we all surfaced by the boat with massive grins.
Check out our next blog :Alonissos: The complete diving destination (Part 2)” to hear about our amazing dive on the 2500 year old Peristera Wreck!
Thanks to:
Alonissos Triton Dive Center https://bestdivingingreece.com/
Albedo Travel https://alonissosholidays.com/activities/
Paradise Hotel https://paradise-hotel.gr/
Alonissos Municipality https://alonissos.gr/en/
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