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!

We have combined all our regions into a single edition and sent this publication to over 700 locations in the US and Canada who normally distribute the regional Dive News magazines. We knew we had to properly represent your local diving to the rest of North America, so we are covering everything from New England’s best to Texas Gulf Coast and back up to British Columbia’s gems.

This edition represents a big change in our magazine and an evolution in DNN growth. Magazines, like all industries, have to evolve with the new technologies available, and we are lucky enough to have readers, dive clubs, dive shops, charters, manufacturers and industry leaders supporting our evolution. With a lot of discussion over the economy and concern about the future of the dive industry, we had to internalize and evaluate the future of DNN and our direction. Out of this forward thinking (and many meetings) came the plan for the makeover, and ultimately a bigger, better, stronger website and this new combined coast-to-coast edition.
This is a test publication to see how you, the readers, like it. Send me your thoughts by taking the survey on www.divenewsnetwork.com and I’ll give you more than a penny for your thoughts. By filling out the feedback form, you will be entered to win a surprise gift.

Back to our makeover and evolution: We can no longer give away our magazines for free. We now charge $2 for unlimited access to all editions as well as archive editions. For those of you who balk at paying for content, remember almost all of us have paid for a $1.99 app we’ve used once. We are bringing value to you and the dive community overall. Your $2 will be well invested and here’s why:

All of the amazing content in our magazines is also uploaded and is available for free if you want to read each piece individually. But should you want to read the magazine online, we have also upgraded to a new digital e-reader. This is the best in the market for publishers – and I’m not just talking about the dive industry. The cool factor of this e-reader is difficult to describe, but between the embedded videos and the pop out websites, I feel like I’ve watched my little baby publication grow up and get its driver’s license, which is appropriate, since we just turned 16 this year!

Of course, the paid digital reader does make the free copies available in your dive shop more valuable. If your dive shop doesn’t carry one of our publications, ask them to call us, and we’ll be happy to help them become a member of the Dive News Network.

So what’s new on the website besides the e-reader? First if you haven’t visited, my staff has changed the look and tightened up the feel, making articles easier to find. They have worked very hard to make the site even better.

We have finally, launched our destinations subsection that allows for easier browsing of dive sites. This provides us with our two-fold mission of discovering what dive sites are most visited world-wide, as well as allowing our divers a chance to give feedback on their favorite locations.

We are excited about the future of DNN. I look forward to bringing you more news, and more local dive coverage. Thanks for reading, and see ya on the next dive!