Promoting Scuba and your Organization with OUC

Raimund Krob, President

Joe Sildiryan, Regional Coordinator, Ontario, Central-East

Ontario Underwater Council

Introduction

• OUC maintains a presence at a number of major scuba-related shows every year.

• At these shows we typically have a display booth and often we also coordinate a scuba demo tank.

• The purpose of this presentation is to outline how you, our members, can take advantage of these promotional opportunities to benefit your home organizations and the greater scuba community.

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OUC Members Promotional Opportunities:

1. No-cost displaying of your organization’s promotional literature at the OUC Booth for duration of Show

2. No-cost 2-hour time-slots at the OUC Booth for Member Org. Representatives.

3. No-cost 30-minute time-slots to put on shows in the OUC-Coordinated Scuba Demo Tank

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1. Promoting with Literature

• Promotional literature:– must be received in OUC office 3 weeks before the

start of show– will be displayed at OUC Booth alongside other OUC

members’ literature– will not be returned, but will be distributed at future

events where OUC maintains a presence until supply is used up

– must be either: • Brochures, no larger than 8.5” by 4” (e.g. 8.5” x 11” with two folds)

• Flyers

• Business cards

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2. Promoting at the OUC Booth• OUC makes 2-Hour Time-Slots at OUC’s Booth available

to OUC-Member Organizations free of charge.

• Limit of 4 people total at any one time, eg. 2 OUC Board & 2 Member Org.

• Bring:– Brochures (no larger than 8.5” x 4” please)– Promotional Material (Discover Scuba vouchers, course coupons,

etc.)– Please include clear plastic display stand

• While you are a guest at the OUC Booth:– Your 1st allegiance needs to be to OUC and the sport.– Your 2nd allegiance needs to be to your fellow booth-mates– Your 3rd allegiance needs to be to your home organization

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How to Book time in the OUC Booth

• E-mail your available days and maximum # of time-slots per day no later than 4 weeks before the start of the show to Joe Sildiryan at ouc.east1@underwatercouncil.com

• Joe will build the schedule out of all entries received by the deadline and publish to all (Clubs AND Show Management) no later than 3 weeks before the show.

• Note: Please understand that fairness must prevail and that as a result, everyone may not get all their maximum numbers of timeslots on all days identified.

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What to do at the OUC BoothStand outside the booth!

Give people

someth

ing!

Tell them about diving Ontario’s shipwrecks!

Tell them about

your Organization!

Get to know your fellow booth-mates!Show them what OUC is

doing for Scuba Diving

in Ontario!

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3. Promoting at the OUC-Coordinated Scuba Demo Tank

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You are putting on a show, so your goals must be to:

• Engage!

• Entertain!

• Excite!

• Educate!

The more of the above you can do with the audience, the better!

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Recommended Staffing

• 1 Announcer

• 1 Buddy team (2 Divers) per session

• 1 Diver-Support person

• 2-3 people to hand out flyers, brochures, coupons, answer questions, etc.

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Divers

• If demonstrating skills => must be proficient! • Move slloooooooowwwwllllllyyyy...• Make it look EASY!• Make it look FUN!• If you can’t do the above, then DON’T do it!• Pay attention to what the announcer wants you

to do.• Try to connect with the audience• Be safe and have fun!

Recommended Timing

• It’s extremely difficult to engage an audience for longer that 5 or 10 minutes, so try to time your shows for around 7 minutes each

• Allow about a 3 minute break between shows so that the old audience can move on, and the new audience can move in

• This way you can fit 3 shows in a half-hour time slot.

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Demo Tank Schedule

Show management reserves the right to assign some half-hour time-slots to other-than-OUC

Members

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How to Book time in the OUC Demo Tank

• E-mail your available days and maximum # of half-hour time-slots per day no later than 4 weeks before the start of the show to Joe Sildiryan at ouc.east1@underwatercouncil.com

• Joe will build the schedule out of all entries received by the deadline and publish to all (Clubs AND Show Management) no later than 3 weeks before the show.

• Note: Please understand that fairness must prevail and that as a result, everyone may not get all their maximum numbers of timeslots on all days identified.

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Safety & ComfortConsiderations

• The ladder is steep, please climb slowly• Please enter and exit slowly• The tank may have some rough / rusted edges, please

be careful• Show management is responsible for maintaining pool-

like conditions (temperature, chlorination, & filtration)• Space is constrained, fins optional• 1st Aid & O2 (courtesy OUC) will be on site• On-site changing & washroom facilities, (key at OUC

Booth).

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Answer correctly & win a prize!

2. How must skills be performed in the Tank?

5. What are the names of the 2 shows that OUC co-ordinates a scuba demo tank at?

1. What are the 4 “E”s?

3. Name 3 “things to do at the booth”

4. Which of the “E”s is this test using?