Celebrating being part of SDI family -

Celebrating being part of a family

the SDI One Dive Family!

Article by Richard Taylor

We generally celebrate important occasions with family, whether that be weddings, funerals, birthdays, graduations or other memorable events. Many of us celebrate major holidays and religious celebrations with our families such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah & the New Year.

Some of us celebrate the Lunar New Year, the Spring Festival, some Diwali, while others no doubt, look forward to the end of Ramadan and the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, the Festival of the Breaking of the Fast. Regardless of why, we celebrate the important things primarily with family.

Why is this important?

This year, we as SDI, TDI, ERDI and PFI divers, are celebrating not just our first year under the SDI One Dive Family banner, but also 30 years of family growth, additions and successes. This year we come together to promote each other and to recognise the importance of the special bond that we have with our One Dive Family.

We all know that we started in 1994 with TDI, the Technical Diving agency that, quite literally, took on and changed the face of the recreational and sport-diving market. While other tech-based agencies may have existed just before or came after us, Bret Gilliam and others created the international image of the twin tanks in front of the globe. It showed the rest of industry that a professional approach, to a then niche part of the diving community, could grow into a major and respected brand and business. It became the accepted “Tools of the Trade” and, like the first born of a family, set the ground rules for what was to follow.

SDI was born out of the success of TDI and, like many second children, its opportunities not just followed its older sibling, but it was able to build upon that experience to push the industry faster and further. SDI has now expanded even more than TDI, to become our largest and most important brand as far as members, growth and income are concerned.

Our SDI divers thrive in locations all over the world, building strength upon strength, adding resorts and destinations to the list of SDI Facilities. We brought many firsts into the industry with SDI such as computers, e-learning and solo just to name a few, and now SDI stands acknowledged globally as a leading name in the sport and recreational diving market. Not only that, but the SDI brand has the greatest opportunity for even more growth, one of the reasons we are coming together around its name as a family.

Next we brought ERDI to market. In the same way that TDI developed the mould of a professional technical diving agency, ERDI did the same for Public Safety Diving. It is the hardier sibling, leveraging the culture and knowledge of TDI and bringing this to the various emergency services around the world.

The courses have a higher standard, the programs demand stricter protocols and the role of the public safety diver is not that of fun, but of a commitment to service. ERDI is now the recognised name for the industry standard in Public Safety Diving, and one where the hard work is bringing more opportunities and success.

Like any family though, we cannot forget our other younger siblings.

We brought in PFI, adopted it so to speak, and it is now an equally important part of the family. Freediving will always remain different to the SCUBA, CCR and Surface Supply diving undertaken by the other siblings, but its importance in strengthening the family and allowing participants to pursue more personal performance cannot be understated. This area will continue to grow and the techniques and physiology involved actually helps all divers. Our family has welcomed PFI into the fold, and we have improved because of it.

Last, but not least, we have our youngest and quite unique sibling, First Response International. First Response has quickly rounded out our family, making it simple to stay “in the family” for all your diving and safety needs. It has already added considerable benefits for our members with the same familiar teaching and support systems used for our first aid, CPR and oxygen programs. First Response also reaches beyond the diving industry with opportunities in many workplaces and with the general public. After all, who cannot like the family member whose one role is to empower us to help others in an emergency and allows us to teach others to do the same.

This is our family, like many, quite diverse but with a lot of similarities. This year we have the opportunity to celebrate how great our family is, how awesome it is to do what we do and how amazingly fortunate we are to be able to bring so many others along with us. As we all experience and explore the underwater world we are not swimming solo as we are part of a unique world shared by those around us and many are part of our family.

Here’s to the great adventures we have shared and here’s to the many more to come. Here’s to the times we get together at Dive Shows, Member Work Shops, Tech Camps, at Headquarters, at the Regional Offices, at the many SDI, TDI, ERDI, PFI or First Response facilities around the globe…or just at the local dive site to enjoy what we share.

When we actually look around and think about it, we have a pretty amazing family. Here’s to being part of a family that has so many stories to share and so many more to make. Here’s to the family that’s given us the opportunity to do what we love and here’s to the friendships that we have formed.

Here’s to being part of the SDI One Dive Family! I can’t wait to see what we do next!