Go Diving Show 2024
Something most people don’t know about me (even those who know me well!): I am very shy. I am not good in social contexts. I get nervous in large gatherings of unknown people with whom I’m supposed to interact. I am not confident about approaching and talking to strangers.
I probably hide it well, and have worked out strategies over the years about how to act in such situations (if I can’t avoid them). I guess you could call me a highly functioning introvert.
So, planning to spend a weekend on my own at a dive show where the whole idea and premise is to approach and talk to a bunch of strangers is a fantastic idea, right? RIGHT?!?
I was somewhat apprehensive about the whole thing, to be honest. So much so, that I went to bed on Friday evening, with the firm plan of getting 7 hours of sleep before heading off down south to Coventry at 0530. My mind had other ideas. I ended up tossing and turning, getting frustrated, reading a couple of chapters of Mistborn, deciding I was tired, trying to sleep again, tossing and turning, getting frustrated, … You get the idea. I probably fell asleep at some point after 0230, but woke up just before the first alarm at 0420. So I just got up, feeling slightly worse for wear.
The drive to the show was uneventful – even though it was snowing on the M6. Traffic was unexpectedly light, and I got there well in time, despite stopping somewhere at one of the services for a much-needed coffee.
My first impression: lots of people. LOTS! I was so far out of my comfort zone, it might as well have been in Wales. Or the other side of the Irish Sea.
The show organisers had scheduled talks on 4 stages, so the first port of call was to wander around and try and find the stages, and also try and find the program of speakers. Luckily, they had boards next to each of the stages with the schedule.
I had decided I wanted to see Rannvá Jørmundsson & Gareth Lock’s talk on the Tech Stage, and Jarod Jablonski’s talk on the Main Stage (more on these later), and still have enough time to wander around and see the sights. And to try and not to talk to anyone unless absolutely necessary.
When I first started this journey back into diving, I started up a new Instagram account dedicated solely to diving. One thing that struck me, in comparison to other spheres of interest in the instabubble, was how supportive, welcoming and friendly the online diving community is. I have struck up a number of conversations and started to make some friends just through that app. Some of those people would be at the show, and while I was looking forward to meeting them, but at the same time so nervous, that if it hadn’t been a 4h drive home, I may not have stayed.
To be honest, I’m not sure what I was worried about.
The first person I started talking to was Rannvá after her presentation – she is originally from the Faroe Islands, and we have a mutual friend, Bogi. She is so friendly and chatty, that helped to take away some of the nerves. I didn’t want to get on her nerves though and left after a brief conversation, but feeling slightly more confident.
I knew that Tiffany and Tyler from Aquanauts Grenada had a stand somewhere, so when I ran across them, I had to introduce myself. Oh my, what amazingly friendly and welcoming people. They and their family seem to have carved out a little corner of paradise for themselves, and Grenada is now at the top of my bucket list of places I need to go to and dive. Tiffany greeted me with a big hug (unexpected) and it was almost like we’d known each other for ages.I ran into Jake while I was at the Apeks stand drooling over their new limited edition and we had a bit of a chat. Sometime in the afternoon, I finally met Ellie, who was unbelievably chatty and also had a big hug ready.
The major test of my resolve came in the evening: a big social get-together with a showing of the Ocean Film Festival and a bar and communal area. Watching films was easy, I didn’t have to talk to anybody and there were some good films being shown. After the final film, however, I had finished my drink and was seriously debating with myself whether to go back to the guesthouse I was staying at and submerge myself in a book or whether I should brave trying to talk to some people. Tiffany and Tyler were sat with some people in one of the couch areas and gave me a big wave, so I put on my brave face and asked if I could join them.
I got talking to a middle-aged gentleman who was part of the group and who some of his friends were making fun of for not having any “official” diving qualifications. He explained that he’s “just a caver who uses diving equipment now and then to get through the wet bits.” Naïve me asked where he’s based, and whether he jumps into holes in the Peak District, etc. Nice guy, I don’t think he thought I was too weird. After he left, I started talking to Tyler who then explained I’d just been speaking to Rick Stanton, one of the world’s foremost cave rescue divers – most famous for the cave rescue of a youth football team in Thailand in 2018. My mind was thoroughly blown.
While talking to Tyler, I came to a realisation: everybody I had interacted with on Saturday, whether in passing, on a stand, or in longer conversations had been open, friendly, welcoming and encompassing. I felt good about myself, I felt good about being there, and most importantly, I felt I belonged. This didn’t change on Sunday either, so a big, BIG, BIG thank you to everyone who made the weekend so amazing.
My heart is full.
The Talks
Rannvá Jørmundsson: Nixie Expeditions
Rannvá held an interesting talk about some previous work she has done, which led to she and Marie Bollerup founding Nixie Expeditions. Their first big project is exploring an aquifer in Sulawesi, Indonesia and following up with conservation initiatives. I thought it really interesting to hear how the project group is set up in such a way that all of the science and a lot of the exploration work will be done by indonesian scientists and explorers. Nixie Expeditions are helping the “local” divers and explorers with training and expertise and are also involving the local communities with education and sustainability efforts. I’m really looking forward to seeing where this project will go.
Jarod Jablonski: Tech Diving
Jarod Jablonski is a name I’d heard before, but couldn’t really place him, but the title of his talk sounded interesting. When Andy Torbet introduced him as CEO of Halcyon, founder of GUE, etc., the penny dropped. This talk was very entertaining, lots of funny anecdotes and interesting bits of history from the realm of tech diving, but also some outlook as to what the future might hold.
Gareth Lock: Counter-errorism
This was one of the talks I was most looking forward to on Saturday. Gareth Lock has a background in military aviation and is applying a lot of procedures from aviation in risk management and mitigation to diving. Core tenet of his teachings is that there is no such thing as human error, it’s almost always systemic failures that lead to predictably incorrect behaviour. Which in a hostile environment, such as in the air or underwater can have fatal consequences. This was an eye-opening amd riveting talk which I thoroughly enjoyed. Gareth’s courses are now on my list of things to do.
Monty Halls: Generation Sea Change
Monty Halls’ presentation on his latest project, Generation Sea Change, started out with a review of some of his best dives and previous projects before showcasing what Generation Sea Change is about. Highly entertaining and thought-provoking – I’m glad I took the time to catch this one.
Grace Westgarth: Dive Pro: Yes or No?
Grace has been diving since they were 10, and recently qualified as a PADI Divemaster, despite only being 20. I enjoyed their talk about some of the pros and cons of becoming a dive professional (as opposed to becoming a professional diver!), but also how the agencies like to push learner divers to the instructing route as the pinnacle of their diving “career”. They also showcased some alternative options to going down the agency instructor route and held an interesting Q&A session afterwards.
Andy Torbet: Expedition Diving
Andy Torbet really needs no introduction as an all-round action man: stuntman, cave diver, free-diver, itinerant scotsman, etc. He shared some stories and insights from a BBC expedition to the Arctic to film and document melting glaciers and icebergs. Peppered with many funny anecdotes, he held the crowd’s attention for the full 45 minutes. Very enjoyable talk.
The Exhibition
There was a great mix of manufacturers, NGOs/non-profits, tour operators and dive destinations. The destinations seemed to be grouped in places – there was an Asian corner, a Caribbean section, etc. The manufacturers were mainly in the big hall, and it was good to see some of the smaller manufacturers represented as well. Apeks probably took the award for the most impressive stand: all 3 stories of it, heavily branded with a large Jumbotron looping brand videos.
Fourth Element had a large stand showcasing all of their gear and were demonstrating (and selling) their new biomap technology for drysuit fitting. This is the only place I actually bought something – some Halo AR dryglove liners, which I’m looking forward to trying next weekend in the quarry. Rannvá claims they’re the warmest gloves on the market, I’m inclined to believe her, but the proof will be in the water.
Mares/SSI/rEvo had a large mixed together stand, which Clare & Leanne were helping out at. Lots of nice toys to look at; Pieter gave me a very insightful rundown of the rEvo and Horizon rebreathers. OThree had a big stand with a massive photo of Jake on one side of the advertising cube. Some of the agencies had their own stands, but they were slightly overshadowed by the massive PADI stand which felt like it was the biggest stand at the show.
XDeep’s stand showed off their backplate and wings as well as their sidemount systems – which are nice, but I’m not a big fan. I was hoping they would have some of the small bits of hardware for sale, as I need some more boltsnaps and double-enders and the XDeep ones are suprisingly easy to use in comparison to “regular” ones.
Reel Diving had 2 big stands with Santi and Avatar drysuits, as well as a separate stand just for Halcyon products. I had a minor mindblowing moment when I was asking for some information about wings for twinsets and carbon fibre backplates, etc. when I realised that I was talking to Jarod Jablonski himself. I think that’s a fantastic calling card for any company if the CEO is not holding himself aloof and interacting directly with potential or existing customers. For me, another reason to like the company and their products (as if I needed another reason).
These are just some of the ones that stuck in my mind, but there were so many more. All in all, a great show and lots of interesting and rewarding interactions. I really enjoyed it and am definitely going to the next one.
