Spring Forward into Diving!

As our April turns to May, we are happy to embrace spring and shed our winter coats. The weather was reluctant to release its clutch on us this year. Winter’s low temperatures chilled our hands and fierce storms battered our coats causing many to seek shelter from destructive wind and rain. For those affected by Hurricane Sandy and the many other tropical storms, we send our continued thoughts and prayers for continued recovery and rebuilding. Now as the water slowly relinquishes its grasp and the wind changes course, we find ourselves preparing for the upcoming dive season. We begin our dive season by digging out the old gear and start our spring cleaning. We send our tanks to be visually inspected as well as our hydros, regulators and BCDs to their respected services.

October Edition of Northeast/Midwest Dive News Oct 2010

The chill of fall has begun and many summer sports enthusiasts are packing up their gear but not us divers....we are just getting started. As Fall's brisk temperatures chill the air, they also chill the surface temperature of the water. This kills the algae that so often lowers the visibility in the waters. As the weather cools, the visibility and diving get better. Local divers know this and go diving!

Let's Spring Forward into Diving!

As our April turns to May, we are happy to embrace spring and shed our winter coats. The weather was reluctant to release its clutch on us this year. Winter’s low temperatures chilled our hands and fierce storms battered our coats causing many to seek shelter from destructive wind and rain. For those affected by Hurricane Sandy and the many other tropical storms, we send our continued thoughts and prayers for continued recovery and rebuilding. Now as the water slowly relinquishes its grasp and the wind changes course, we find ourselves preparing for the upcoming dive season. We begin our dive season by digging out the old gear and start our spring cleaning. We send our tanks to be visually inspected as well as our hydros, regulators and BCDs to their respected services.

Afterall, Diving is a Sport!

Welcome to the May Southwest edition! We are excited to bring you this month’s content, and have some great dive stories for you. Diving is a sport like no other!

Dive Shows! We Love Them!

Welcome to the April edition of North America Dive News. As always, we are glad to provide you with a publication chock full of news and information designed to help you become active in the sport - locally where it really matters.

Thanks...

Thanks....it's a small word with a huge meaning. It's that time of the year when it is important to stop and say thank you to all of the people who have helped you achieve your goals for the year. We here at Dive News Network would like to take a moment to say thank you to all of our readers and advertisers for their support. You are what makes this magazine great! We would also like to thank our contributors and photographers who share their experiences with us, and you, each month. This magazine is truly a team effort. Now that the mushy stuff is over...wait 'til you see what we have for you this month!

Rick's Blog: March 2013

Welcome to the March edition of North America Dive News. 

Who’s Yer Dive Buddy?

I know it’s safer to dive with a buddy, but it’s not always convenient to track down a fellow diver when I get the urge and time to dive. Sometimes I have 3 hours available last minute, and my dive buddy is already busy with another project. Scheduling 3 weeks out doesn’t fulfill the dive itch right away. So my options have been to go it alone while my family does “shore duty” timing the dive and keeping an eye, or actually teach my family to dive. I opted for the second one.

I started diving at home in my backyard in a swimming pool. At age 10, I strapped on his tanks and old double hose regulator and spent many hours touring the bottom of our pool. I couldn’t wait to be a “real diver” someday. I introduced my kids to the sport of diving as soon as I felt they were ready, and at the youngest age possible knowing how aware of safety kids are.

Get Your Dive News Anyway You Want It!

Over the past three years, like many small businesses, we have struggled to reinvent ourselves in the new economy and facing the economic realities of the Great Recession.  I could easily see the decline of print. Newspapers and magazines were going out of business in droves as advertisers chose digital over print or simply doing nothing because they feared that their customer was not interested in doing business with them anyway.  In other words – don’t go fishing, when there are fewer fish…

Fight For Your Right to Plunge!

I have a secret I need to tell you this month – I do NOT want to be inside writing this today. The sun is shining, the clouds are perfectly white, and the water is getting warm enough for my kids to want to play on the beach while I go for a dive. Sometimes obligation, work, or life in general invades on our ability to go jump in a lake. I’m lucky to do what I love, but even loving reporting on the diving industry doesn’t always mean I get to go diving.

If You Are Reading This: We Survived!

We are excited about new beginnings. Much like everyone else, even I can get jaded from time to time.  After 17 years producing local dive news magazines, I can get kind of worn out. Each December, I take some time off over the holidays to recharge my personal batteries and regroup both personally and professionally.  What went well last year? What did not?  What did I learn? What do I need to learn? Then,  like many of us, I make New Year’s resolutions to be better in the new year. To get in shape, read, study etc..  We take a look at the business and how far we’ve come-wow! And what we can do in the coming year.

Expo Time!

Welcome to the April edition of Northwest Dive News! We slave over editions every month, but this month is the big one for us: EXPO MONTH!

Different can be GOOD!

This month is a very special month.  We are changing our format for the magazine and rebranding our company Nationally as the Dive News Network Media Group.   I have been publishing regional magazines for 17 years, so this was a big step – not one we took lightly.  

A few months ago we conducted an experiment.  We combined all regional editions: Northwest Dive News, Midwest Dive News, Northeast Dive News, Southeast Dive News and our newest magazine, Southwest Dive News into one combined National Edition.   We maintained our usual regional content, just combined all the areas together into one magazine.  That edition we labeled North America Dive News and sent it out to our entire database across the USA and Canada – then we waited  to see if anyone noticed.

What would our readers and advertisers think of our new format? Where we crazy to abandon our regional approach in an effort to go National? Crazy? Yes, but stupid, No! The response was overwhelming. They loved it!  Our readers almost unanimously said Wow, this is terrific, and demanded more! They loved something about this new product. They loved looking at the local diving in their area but also the diving in the other areas too.
So this month marks our birthday as we are officially launching North America Dive News and going national. We are combining all our regional editions into one magazine each month but are still keeping our regional approach.   Each section will be separate and complete.  We will still be focusing on local diving, promoting the events and activities for local dive shops, we will just be sharing that message with a much larger audience, and more mobile audience.  

Besides sending the magazine to every dive shop in our regional areas, we also have the magazine available online 24-7-365. Divers can read all our stories, view photos, and even comment on them using social media.   Divers can use our new E-Reader (click here).  The magazine looks fantastic and it’s easy to read on whatever device you might want to use - iPad, PC, laptop, mobile phone, etc.  Try it out!

Another new item, we eliminated our free readership.  The only place you can get a free magazine is at one of our participating dive retailers. We no longer offer the magazine for free - anywhere.   According to a recent survey we conducted,   nearly 90% of our readers we talked to love the print magazine but want it for free.  We understand. We love free too.  However, we can’t print and mail it for free so we had to think of an inventive way to get that done.  We came up with a solution.  We made a deal with our local dive shops to carry and support the magazine.   They purchase a shop subscription and then can hand them out to their customers.   If you want a printed copy, go to your local dive shop and asks for it.  If they don’t carry it, call or e-mail me and I will offer them a shop subscription, so that you can get a free printed magazine whenever you visit your local dive shop, hopefully inspiring you to visit and dive more often.    

So, try out this edition. Hopefully it will inspire you to get into or back into diving-locally where it really matters

See you on the next dive!

Rick

We Need To Risk Hanging Together Or Assuredly We Shall All Hang Separately

There is a generally accepted story from the signing of the Declaration of Independence where John Hancock said that Congress, having signed the Declaration, must now “all hang together”, and Benjamin Franklin replied: “Yes, we must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.” The risks of speaking out against the King were dangerous. However, these men made a choice and the history books reflect the results.

The Spirit of Fall

Welcome to the November Edition of the Northwest Dive News. As fall’s chilly winds cool the temperatures, it forces most divers to head indoors. However, the cooler temperatures kill the surface algae layers and greatly improve visibility when you are out diving. Keep the dive gear out of the closet and keep it wet. The best diving of the year is generally in the fall and early winter. We have been diving all summer and have some really great trips planned for late November through mid-December.

Traveling Across the Country Things are Looking Up

Summer is finally here and divers all over the PNW are dragging out their gear for summer diving! We have a bevy of stories in the hopper for the summer months and we are excited to share these next few months of summer diving with you.

What an amazing time to be a diver! Times are looking up and we are seeing it in the dive industry. I personally have spent some time traveling around the country meeting with divers and dive shops and I am hearing a lot of positive things. Divers are really coming together and we all know that’s exactly what the doctor ordered. Here at Northwest Dive News, we are picking up the pace and doing our part too. We are really looking forward to hearing all those great summer stories this year.

In this month’s edition, we are going north to Neah Bay with travel writer Mike Hughes. This is a great story about how diving in Neah Bay can be a real adventure for the experienced diver. Hughes also shows us what the drive over is like, and I can tell you, if you haven’t made the drive you really should.

We will also take you out to Queen Charlotte Strait’s Seven Tree Island as Jett and Kathryn Britnell explore it. Harboring a rich assortment of marine invertebrates, Seven Tree’s bountiful feast of undersea shapes, textures and colors provide a visually stunning backdrop for underwater photographers and videographers; the Britnell’s do a great job painting a picture of the area for our readers.

Finally, join me as I take you to Belize. This incredible dive destination offers divers the adventure of a lifetime and when I tell you the locals will take care of you, I am not kidding. Often called the “Aquarium of the World” with its incredible reefs, abundant marine life and blankets of coral and sponge, underwater Belize offers diversity in diving found nowhere else in the world.

As we head into summer there is a lot going on all over the place so I want to once again ask you, readers, vendors, dive shop retailers to join us on our mission to inform the local dive community. We welcome your stories, your announcements and your contributions to the dive community. Over the years we have heard some incredible stories about dive adventures, please share yours with your dive community! Send us your announcements, stories, photos and don’t forget those secret dive destinations and we will help you share them with the rest of the dive community. Come on—show us what you’ve got!

Dive into Us!
Rick
Rick Stratton
www.facebook.com/Rick.Stratton1
www.twitter.com/nwdivenews

Back to Our Roots

Welcome to October! Oktoberfest! Halloween! Back to school, and harvest season. The end of the summer and dive-season always makes me think of history and the roots.

Thank you Southeast Dive Community for Welcoming Us Into Your Family!

Welcome to the July edition of Southeast Dive News. Summer is finally here and there are divers all over the Southeast dragging out their gear for summer diving! We have a bevy of stories in the hopper just waiting to see the pages of your Southeast magazine.

Change is Good!

Welcome to the September edition of our Dive News Network magazines. We have worked exceptionally hard to put our best foot forward for this magazine. As you may have noticed, it is a bit bigger and heavier than normal. We have been working on a total DNN makeover, and I’ve been feeling a bit like I have the cucumbers on my eyes. The magazine and the website both have come out with new looks, and I’m excited to show them off to you if you haven’t seen them yet!

Success is About Team Work

The fact that you are reading this means we have yet again finished working hard on an edition of Dive News. Full of information to assist you in becoming more active in the sport locally as well as throughout the world.