Our Reflections On The Great Northern Dive Show 2017

So, it is now a week since The Great Northern Dive Show in Manchester and I am now back in the land of sand (Egypt), so it is time to let those who didn’t attend know why I am extremely proud to have been a Sponsor/Supporter of the show.

Now it would be easy for you to think that my opinions on the event could be biased due to The Scuba News being an official sponsor, but although I was there in an “official” capacity, I was also in attendance as an exhibitor and fellow diver.

There are a number of reasons I chose for The Scuba News to support The Great Northern Dive Show. Firstly, I loved the idea of doing something different than the staid old events that we as divers frequent. Doing something that tried to bring new blood into the sport of diving, rather than catering to the same people who attend the same shows year on year. The second, and as equally important, was the sheer passion of organisers Ruth and Duncan Mort. This show wasn’t conceived by a publisher looking to make more revenue or by someone whose approach was purely financial. It was easy to see that Ruth and Duncan wanted to be different. They wanted to take a formula that was old and tired and reinvigorate it.

I am happy to say that they not only achieved this, but excelled way beyond it. From the Mermaids to the Stormtroopers. From the Fire Dancers to the Dinosaurs. This show was not a typical dive show!

Now the weather was surprisingly good in Manchester over the weekend which I think came as a shock to everyone and this would normally have an effect on indoor events but visitor numbers were up on last year. This is testament to how good the show must have been in 2016 (which I am sad to say I couldn’t attend). So if audience numbers were up while the weather was good, think how they could have been if it was typical Manchester weather!

Until the night before the show, Ruth and Duncan had only been “virtual” friends having done most of our communication through email and social media but it was excellent to see the passion they had upon finally meeting them in person. I am now proud to class them as “actual” friends, as opposed to just “virtual” ones.

As a an exhibitor I was in attendance to promote our Technical Diving business (Tekdeep) and Technical Safari boat (MV Legends) and these are not companies where people book on the day. With this in mind it is always difficult to know what business you will get from a dive show but I am happy to say that we have already taken bookings as a direct result of being there. What will come in over the next 12 months is hard to say but I am extremely hopeful based on the response we received.

From talking to other exhibitors the sentiment is the same, with many who exhibited already wanting to appear again in 2018. This includes me!

I have no doubt whatsoever that The Great Northern Dive Show will continue to become bigger and better every year and become a real force to be reckoned with in the diving industry. This is the reason that they can count on the support of The Scuba News (and me personally) for years to come!