This months Dive

Call me Mr.Anorak, but if I'm supposed to be promoting
BSAC's National Try-Dive week on page 107 of this months Dive,
then shouldnt I at least have a picture of some BSAC divers?

The two featured are so obviously not BSAC.
We can even play "how can you tell".

I'm up to 6 ways already!

Anybody want to guess?

TerryH

Call me Mr.Anorak, but if I'm supposed to be promoting
BSAC's National Try-Dive week on page 107 of this months Dive,
then shouldnt I at least have a picture of some BSAC divers?

The two featured are so obviously not BSAC.
We can even play "how can you tell".

I'm up to 6 ways already!

Anybody want to guess?

Oh all right Terry, I'll bite :-)) [Thinks... should we have a Pedants forum?]

Come on then, tell us why they =CAN'T= be BSAC divers! Include in your answer explanations of why BSAC divers never make mistakes and proof of their alternative diving qualifications ;-)

What's the prize Terry? Maybe we should see who can list the most mistakes in the picture with a special category for the best "what is he saying" caption.

Keith L

Oh all right Terry, I'll bite :-)) [Thinks... should we have a Pedants forum?]

Come on then, tell us why they =CAN'T= be BSAC divers! Include in your answer explanations of why BSAC divers never make mistakes and proof of their alternative diving qualifications ;-)

What's the prize Terry? Maybe we should see who can list the most mistakes in the picture with a special category for the best "what is he saying" caption.

Keith L

Ok. Remember this is the Anorak in me talking & all IMO.

If we ignore the Boat Palau Aggressor (would have thought a
nice offshore 105 would have been more appropriate).
But hey we dive abroad as well.

Snorkels. BSAC guys have them in there bag, pocket or knife
strap. They are a bit of tube and very rarely are they the
all singing and dancing ones in the picture.

Octopus. Where do you have it? Most BSAC guys have it on there
left ready to donate (rightside up). Other organisations have
it on there right. More to do with litigation then
practicalities. Yep these guys have it on there right.

Now this could be just bad practise and yes BSAC divers are not
immune, but how about fingers on mask, palm on reg and scoop up
your gauges. looks like at least one of these will loose his
mask!

Still looks like the coral is going to come off worse. Octos
unclipped and the SPG is happly dangling down along with the
monitor computer making a very nice version of a medival
hammer. Hasnt heard of streamlining then. Still he might get in
without it catching on the ladder and garoting him.

I know this is a bit of fun Keith, but there is a serious point
in that if your are going to promote BSAC try-dives, shouldnt
we at least use pictures of BSAC at home and make sure that
those in the pictures are at the very least following standard
BSAC good practice.

Very lazy of the mag to use a stock picture.

TerryH

I know this is a bit of fun Keith, but there is a serious point

I know Terry, I was treating it in that manner :-)

in that if your are going to promote BSAC try-dives, shouldnt
we at least use pictures of BSAC at home and make sure that
those in the pictures are at the very least following standard
BSAC good practice.

OK... WHY?? Look at your target market, we're talking try dives here, all of the points that you raise would be unknown to the vast majority of try divers. The sad fact of modern life is marketing, we are all subjected to it every day. Do you complain about the 'fun' pictures used in all of the other adverts within the diving magazines? Try the front page, p12, p15, p25...

The point I'm trying to make Terry is that like it or not we have to compete in a market, our job is to get new members into our branches. All that we are doing is following industry standard practices that the consumer expects.

So feel free, have a bit of fun, I'll probably join in! But I am not going to take it seriously because I trust Simon's (Dive's) judgement better than ours on this, =HE= is the expert, not us [i.e. why pay a dog and bark yourself?]. So I'm treating it as artistic licence and I hope that it has the desired affect - getting new members into our branches.

Cheers

Keith L

Whilst we are knocking the mag.
I thought that a picture in last months mag was excellent. It is in the article on instructors, not sure of the page. The diver has a single cylinder on. He also carries a flag.
How is he going to deploy it if he has a need to. looking at the pic it is inside his cam band.
Perhaps the procedure is - Use flag - lose cylinder.
It made me smile.

Brian garner

Octopus. Where do you have it? Most BSAC guys have it on there
left ready to donate (rightside up). Other organisations have
it on there right. More to do with litigation then
practicalities. Yep these guys have it on there right.

Actually - if you check your back copies of the NDC Bullettin the BSAC recommended way of wearing your Octopus is on the right ...so that you can breathe from it when your primary rig gets nicked. The article also expounds the benefits of having the Octo in this position so that when a diver approaches it is from the same side as for Buddy Breathing. (Now I know we've dropped Buddy Breathing - but I have not seen any new advice from BSAC about Octo positioning)

Maybe it's time for the article to be re-written (tough I draw no conclusions about changing the advice)...but at the moment BSAC recommendation (not rule) is for Octos to be on the right.

Now this could be just bad practise and yes BSAC divers are not
immune, but how about fingers on mask, palm on reg and scoop up
your gauges. looks like at least one of these will loose his
mask!

Still looks like the coral is going to come off worse. Octos
unclipped and the SPG is happly dangling down along with the
monitor computer making a very nice version of a medival
hammer. Hasnt heard of streamlining then. Still he might get in
without it catching on the ladder and garoting him.

Again...could just be poor practice...or divers not following their training (from any organisation). Do your trainees (or even you) ALWAYS follow the "correct" techn iques - exactly as taught ...by perfet instructors - who NEVER let their standards slip from 110% correct.

I know this is a bit of fun Keith, but there is a serious point
in that if your are going to promote BSAC try-dives, shouldnt
we at least use pictures of BSAC at home and make sure that
those in the pictures are at the very least following standard
BSAC good practice.

I have some sympathy with your point of view.
How about an alternative?

Does your own attitude ...perceived by many as dictatorial, pedantic, rigid, sarcastic (though this may be an erroneous perception)...not place the BSAC in a bad light?

Shoukld we join BSAC "Boot Camp" with little Hitler instructors ...or should we go to a fun adventure park and have fun?

Pro's and cons to both. At least with LH you end up well trained, well prepared and therefore (arguably safer divers)....but it's not fun! (and divers are not noticeably dying off after doing the fun course)

Food for thought?

Very lazy of the mag to use a stock picture.

Agreed... it would have been nice for the magazine to use more obviously "BSAC" divers (in UK waters, diving from a well-known charter boat, or a well-labelled branch rib)

But this eternal criticism is just as damaging.

As is the view that poor practice MUST mean that the divers are not BSAC. We are not "holier than thou!"

We do pride ourselves on excellence - but so do the other agencies. Everyone shows variance - even the BSAC.

The mag should promote excellence rather than reporting sloppiness (or should it report the truth?) - but excellence - or lack of it- does NOT define the training agency

All the best


John

Whilst we are knocking the mag.
I thought that a picture in last months mag was excellent. It is in the article on instructors, not sure of the page. The diver has a single cylinder on. He also carries a flag.
How is he going to deploy it if he has a need to. looking at the pic it is inside his cam band.
Perhaps the procedure is - Use flag - lose cylinder.
It made me smile.

Brian garner

It's going to make me smile even more. I think I know why it has been done like that, but I do know the person who claims to be the hooded diver in that shot. I can't wait to find out...

Adrian

but at the moment BSAC recommendation (not rule) is for Octos to be on the right.

Better tell all the BSAC guys and gals then, because unless its
wrapped/attached round there neck the vast majority of us will
have it on there left.

Again...could just be poor practice...or divers not following their training (from any organisation). Do your trainees (or even you) ALWAYS follow the "correct" techniques - exactly as taught ...by perfet instructors - who NEVER let their standards slip from 110% correct.

Well obviously not, nobody is perfect and I have on many occaisons made major f**kups, but they werent photographed and
used as a prime example of BSAC divers in a glossy mag.

What next? Back to the old days of BSAC divers hanging onto
coral or perhaps lifting objects from war graves. All pictured
in previous mags.

The mag should promote excellence rather than reporting sloppiness (or should it report the truth?) - but excellence - or lack of it- does NOT define the training agency

Well yes it does, you see it was promoting BSAC try-dives, so
I can now rightly make the assumption that BSAC divers are like
the two muppets in the picture.

TerryH
AKA Dictatorial, pedantic, rigid, sarcastic -
missed out impatient (with BSAC at least).

Good one on page 75 as well.
Hope he's got a good grip or his buddy is going to have a
bit of a headache!

TerryH

Terry, I'm surprised you missd out the pic on pg 21, where _is_ that hose going to ??? Anyway if you're loking for Jim Henson style divers check the Mares ad on pg 12, that expensive looking torch is probably on a one way trip to 'Davy Jones's locker', and if that blond falls in she'll probably drwon before she finds her reg ;)

Anyway, I think our organization has more important everyday image issues than a spot of holiday-related muppetry.

On a more serious note, speaking of marketing, why is it that evertime someone on TV wins a try-diving prize it's always a PADI one ? More recently my Uni has been giving away free career related mags to those about to graduate, one (think its a New Scientist spin-off) shows a diver on the cover and offers a chance to win diver training somewhere nice and hot - do you really need three guesses which agency is offering the prize?

Once a year try-dive campaigns are all good and well, but if BSAC really wants to increase membership, it needs to have a more constant and readily accessible profile.

Perhaps HQ could persuade Kate Humble (pg 22) to front a BBC programme on British Diving? and if she needs a buddy... ;)

Cheers
Steve