DIVE PRO Newsletter 01/2010 ENGLISH

DIVE PROFESSIONAL NEWSLETTER

STANDARDS EVENTS NEWS

2010

Editorial Page 3

Press Releases & Worldwide News Page 4

SSI Drops Dive Tables Page 4 SSI Renewal, Standards & Instructor CD Page 4 SSI Online Services for Divers Page 5 SSI & DAN Cooperation Page 6 NEMO 33 Counts on SSI Page 7

Content

News

Today I wish you all the best for the new year. SSI celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2010. We will honor that with many new ideas, events, services and programs like “Free Diving.” Along with that we have also reworked our tag line, coming up with “The Ultimate Diving Experience.” Our hope is the new tagline expresses that we are not only a training agency, but able to provide the customer with the ultimate diving experience. Why should somebody strive for less than that? Please enjoy reading the newsletter! Guido Wätzig In the Name of the entire Team SSI Service Center - EMEA

Editorial

Training

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Dive Professional Newsletter Nr. 1 / 2010

CERTIFIED QUALITY STICKER & FEES

New in 2010! The c-card has now been included in the Dive Professional Kit Price. This step ensures a more positive and “un-complicated” workflow for the SSI Dive Professional. Invoices for certifications and processing fees are a thing of the past!

To differentiate between

the Dive Professional Kits purchased prior to and the ones purchased in 2010, we have created the SSI CERTIFIED QUALITY STICKER. This sticker will either be adhered to the Training Record or included separately so it may be adhered to the appropriate application when you are ready to send it to the SSI Service Center. All application forms have been revised in this respect and you can find them in the download area. Please take good

care o f your SS I CERTIFIED QUALITY STICKERS when you receive them in your future Dive Professional Kits. They have the same value as a certification. If the sticker is missing on the application, we will have to charge the regular rate additionally for the certification.

We have reworked our fee structure, therefore, you will no longer pay any annual upgrade fees. As an example, when Dive

Con t ro l S p e c i a l i s t s upgrade to Instructor. For all Dive Professionals entering the SSI system, there is only a one-time registration fee with a set price no matter when the person enters the system. This registration includes the annual license fee for the first year, the setup in the system and a Polo Shirt.

If you do have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact your SSI Service Center.

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S C U B A S C H O O L S I N T E R N A T I O N A L

SSI CHANGES EMPHASIS OF DIVE TABLES

Scuba Schools International (SSI), the premier scuba education and business support company announces their decision to relocate the dive tables in their SSI Open Water Diver & Enriched Air Nitrox Diver training materials.

SSI is focused on providing high quality, innovative training tools for our Dive Centers and Divers.

The divers of today are purchasing dive computers during their introductory training so the use of dive tables for dive planning on a recreational level are becoming more and more obsolete all the time. Shifting the emphasis of the tables helps overcome the barrier to entry-level training based on the fact that many divers have difficulty learning the tables. It eliminates the frustration when new divers discover within or right after their entry-level training that

they don’t really need to know how to use the tables because dive computers are available. Divers must u n d e r s t a n d t h e decompression theory, but they do not have to master the use of dive tables for planning purposes any longer. This is a fact of life so training agencies have to deal with it and have to react adequately.

It is the training agencies responsibility to keep people excited about their diving experiences and reduce the barriers to entering the sport. “This decision is another step in the right direction!” stated Guido Wätzig from the SSI Service Center – Europe, Africa and Middle East.

SSI now gives SSI Dive C e n t e r s a n d D i v e Professionals the option to train with tables and/or computers . SS I Dive Professionals are not

required to teach the tables to entry-level students any longer. The tables were moved to the appendix of the manuals so that divers will still be aware that they exist a n d D i v e P r o f e s s i o n a l s h a v e t h e option to p r e s e n t them.

SSI wil l continue to c re a t e a nd implement these types of innovations to make diving more attractive and assist SSI Dive Centers stay on the cutting edge of training and education.

For more information about Scuba Schools International, v i s i t u s o n www.diveSSI.com

T R A I N I N G

SSI GOES FREE DIVING In 2010 SSI will launch its own Freediving Program.

Since ages the beauty of the underwater world attracts the humans. We all know that this world offers a lot of adventures and a fascinating and unique plant- and marine life.

In our organized world we are searching for new adventures more than ever. The SSI Freediving

Program will offer you new challenges and possibilities to experience the underwater world in a different way.

Freediving is an challenging activity suitable for all ages. With the support of proper equipment and proper training as well as a little bit of practice everybody is able to freedive safely. The uniqueness of the SSI Freediving program is that

it can also be a lifetime challenge to improve your skills.

The program will have 3 levels which build up on each other and which deal with all aspects of freediving – deep diving, distance diving and static freediving.

For further information www.diveSSI.com from Summer 2010.

W O R L D W I D E

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DIGITAL REFERRAL PROGRAM ONLINE! Filling out forms is a thing of the past – Now available is the new SSI DIGITAL REFERRAL Tool. This is a convenient way to refer students to another dive center for doing their Open Water Training Dives.

The referral tool can now be found online as a new menu item for Dive Centers and Dive Resorts. With this new feature you can create referrals as well as track the ongoing status of outgoing and incoming referrals. The receiving Dive Center has to

confirm the acceptance of the referral. The best part for the diver is that they always know the status of their referral as each scheduled referral is “booked and confirmed”. The diver need only travel with a copy of the Diver Training Record, all other paperwork is unnecessary.

The Instructor who teaches the academics and pool will receive half of the Experience Points for that rating, while the Referral Instructor will receive the other half for doing the Open Water Training

Dives. This is possible due to the course elements being easily assigned to the two di f ferent Dive Professionals.

STANDARDS 2010 & INSTRUCTOR CD For the year of SSI´s 40th anniversary, all Dive Professional programs have been or are in the p r o c e s s o f b e i n g revised and will be re-launched in order to reach a h igher leve l o f professionalism. As well, SSI plans to launch a global quality initiative to ensure qua l i ty ; t ak ing the educational system to the next level.

Due to the extent of the changes, we will not be able to deliver you a Standard Errata for the 2010 Training Standards as they have been completely revised. We would kindly ask that you download the PDF file of the 2010 Training & Dealer Standards in order

t o r e v i e w t h e m completely.

As we are in the process of updating the entire Dive Professional Training System from Dive Guide t o I n s t r u c t o r Certifier, we will be unable to provide you with the 2010 Instructor Manual CD until mid 2nd Quarter, 2010. The CD will be updated with all new Instructor Manuals, PEGs – Presentation Enhancement Guides for all programs as well as skill presentation v i d e o s i n v a r i o u s languages. We apologize for the delay in completing the 2010 Instructor Manual CD and very much a p p r e c i a t e y o u r understanding in this matter. Until the new CD

a r r i v e s , y o u m a y continue to use the 2009 version.

Please note that with the changes in the Training Standards, many of the Dive Professional Forms will be changing as well later on in the year. Please check your Download Area to update the forms in your files to ensure they are current and to avoid any additional work.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact your Training Department where we are ready to assist you by phone or email. You will find further information in your Login area of the SSI Website.

www.diveSSI.com

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S C U B A S C H O O L S

T R A I N I N G

START: SSI ONLINE SERVICES FOR DIVERS

SSI C-Cards Free of Charge Dur in g S S I ´ s 40 th Anniversary, we would like to present a gift to all certified divers. SSI Divers will receive recognition c e r t i f i c a t i on c a r d s ; Specialty Diver, Advanced Open Water Diver and Master Diver FREE of charge with the fulfillment of all pre-requisites*!

After 12 logged dives and 2 SSI Specialty Programs, divers will automatically receive the SSI Specialty Diver Certification Card for free. Then when 24 dives have been logged, the divers will receive the

Advanced Open Water Diver Certification Card free of charge. If divers continue onto the “Black Belt of Diving” which requires 50 logged dives, 4 SSI Specialty Programs and the Diver Stress & Rescue Course, they will receive the SSI Master Diver Card, once again for free.

The whole premise behind the recognition program is provide you with the tools to make it easier for you to acknowledge and award the achievements of your divers.

The shipping of the FREE Certification Cards began on the 1st of January, 2010 and will continue on into the future.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact your SSI Service Center.

*Pre-requisites: Divers must enroll in SSI Specialty Programs and purchase t h e a p p r o p r i a t e certification card for each o f those Spec i a l t y Programs in order to be eligible for the free cards.

The new SSI Online Services for Divers is now online and can be found under the name, “Team SSI.” To ensure the diving experiences of our customers are the best no matter where they dive around the world, SSI has created a variety of user-friendly online services. These services have been c r e a t e d t o p r o v i d e customers with access to valuable resources 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, ABSOLUTELY FREE.

If a diver finds himself or herself on a dive trip and realize they have forgotten their certification card or logbook, they can get on the web and visit SSI Online Services. Through the site they can verify their experience, equipment and

certification level! All they need is an internet connect ion and their personal login code.

Just try it! Once you have logged into your personal profile, you will see the following:

myProfile: In this area you can store your photo and contact information as well as view your most current certification data. You can also share your profile with your dive buddies.

myC-Cards: This area will d i sp l a y a l l o f your achievements with regard to training. You will also have the option to view and print out any of your SSI Certification Cards. In case you need a verification and don’t have your SSI Total

DiveLog, this area will solve your problem.

myDocuments: This area s t o r e s t h e v a r i o u s documents you may need during your dive travels. Documents such as your signed medical, CPR & First Aid certificates or a copy of your international driving license can be stored here so you have access to this information whenever you need it.

myEquipment: In this area you may enter all the components of your Total Diving System. For each item you can enter the purchase date, serial number and the authorized Dive Center address from which you purchased the item.

myPictures: You can store

O D i N N E W S

your favorite pictures here and share them with other divers. They can also be shared them with your SSI Dive Center if you would like them to be used in their image gallery.

myLogbook: Record all or your best dive experiences in digital format and share them with your dive buddies.

This area will constantly be improving so that we may provide you with the most innovative features and up-to-date services. Logon often to see what’s new.

Invite your friends to join SSI Online Services, even if they are not SSI Divers yet! This service is free for the entire diving community. Just tell them to register at www.diveSSI.com

W O R L D W I D E SSI & DAN COOPERATION SSI Service Center Europe, Middle East & Africa and DAN Europe have now formed a strong cooperation in the field of expert Diving Medical Assistance and Diving Accident Insurance throughout many parts of Europe and in some areas outside Europe, such as the Maldives.

Due to the fact that decompression chamber treatments are starting to be

excluded from insurance plans, proper diver and dive professional accident insurance is becoming more and more important. DAN Europe is the best solution as their reputation in the diving market is indisputable.

In addition, DAN Europe sees many opportunities related to this new cooperation with one of the biggest and most successful training agencies

in the industry. Both agencies see a great potential to help improve the diving industry as a whole and look forward to working together.

SSI Divers and Dive Professionals will have special packages available to them. For more information, please contact SSI directly or vis it www.diveSSI.com

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C O O P E R A T I O N

NEMO 33 COUNTS ON SSI! The Dive Center, NEMO 33 in Brussels, which has the deepest indoor pool in the world has chosen to align themselves with the high quality training of SSI - S c u b a S c h o o l s International beginning 2010. In December 2009,

the instructors of the well-known Dive Center were trained by Ole Skjaerbaek and Marc Antoine Baudart (Area Managers of SSI Nordic & SSI France) to b e c o m e S S I D i v e Professionals.

For John Beernaerts, the owner of NEMO 33 the choice was easy as SSI has the same approach of high-quality education as his well known Dive Center. SSI's Total Teaching S y s t em i n t e r tw i n e s seamlessly with the training methods and needs of Belgium and the rest of Europe. With it’s flexibility that allows the instructor to decide what skills are taught and in what order. The response from the new SSI Dive

Professionals has been enthusiastic. In spite of their many years of collective experience, they managed to acquire new information in many different areas.

The Deepest Indoor Dive Center, NEMO 33 in Brussels/Belgium and the the Biggest Indoor Dive Center, DIVE4LIFE in Siegburg/Germany trust and work with SSI. Divers are in good hands at these new SSI Dive Centers as t h e y w i l l g e t a n u n f o r g e t t a b l e d i v e experience at these unique Dive Centers. For more i n f o r m a t i o n , v i s i t www.diveSSI.com