2016 North Central Summit Conference – Rosemont, IL.

The first North Central Regional Summit Conference will be held during the Our World-Underwater Dive Show on Friday, February 26, 2015 at the Hyatt Hotel in Rosemont, IL.  The conference is scheduled to begin at 12:00 Noon at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare, the Host Hotel for Our World-Underwater, and end at 3:00 pm.  The purpose of the Regional Summit Conference is to bring together local Retail Dive Centers, Dive Boat Operators, Dive Clubs and Local Scuba Instructors to discuss ways to increase participation in our recreation.  All Industry Professionals are invited to attend.  There is no cost to attend, but attendees need to RSVP for the event, as space will be limited.

The format for the event will be similar to the Regional Summit Meeting being held in Dallas, Texas at the Lone Star State Dive Show but with one major difference.  In Dallas, we plan to begin the program with comments from Industry Leaders and then go into breakout sessions with Local Dive Businesses but in Chicago we will begin the program with current “State of Local Diving” summaries from Local Retailers, Boat Operators, Local Dive Clubs and Local Dive Instructors and then go into breakout sessions.

In a three hour period, the first hour will be reserved to set the agenda for the conference with regional introductions.  Patrick Hammer from Scuba Emporium will brief us on the current State of Dive Retailing in the North Central followed by Capt. Jim Gentile from Windy City Diving, who will brief us on the State of Dive Boat Operations in the Territory.  We are looking for a speaker from the local Dive Club Community and a speaker to summarize the current state of affairs surrounding local dive instruction.

The second hour will be spent in breakout sessions to discuss industry and economic problems in the region and possible solutions to overcome the problems.

The last hour will be a unified discussion to design a game plan for creating economic development in the local region by promoting diving through local Retail Dive Centers, Dive Boat Operators, Dive Clubs and Local Scuba Instructors.  Industry Leaders will be on hand to report what is being accomplished at other Regional Conferences.

It is our job as Industry Professionals to discuss roadblocks that are limiting our recreation and come together to not only propose potential solutions to our problems but to come up with a plan of attack and the funds necessary to grow our industry.  We look forward to see you in Rosemont, Illinois on February 26th.

If you are interested in participating in the North Central Regional Summit Meeting, please contact Gene Muchanski at gene@diveindustry.net