Greetings from the President January 2023
Jim Driggers | Published on 1/16/2023
Hello Aqua Tutus,
As the incoming club president, I want to thank Neil Benjamin for his service as club president and thank the rest of the club officers for their past service and commitment to fulfilling their officer responsibilities for another year. Without each officer's commitment and ongoing support, the club would atrophy.
When I accepted this position, I had two goals in mind: (1) increase in-person participation at the club's general meeting and (2) increase sharing of knowledge and experience between club members. It's easy to forget or downplay the fact that diving can be dangerous. I'm often chagrined when I think that my happy place, being in a kelp forest surrounded by anemones, starfish, crabs, sponges, and fish, can become a very deadly place if I become careless, thoughtless, and panicky. That statement isn't meant to scare anyone -- I always think the most dangerous part of diving in California is driving to and from the dive site -- it's meant as a reality check.
Thankfully within the club we have individuals with hundreds and sometimes thousands of dives in a variety of conditions. And we have divers with less than 20 dives in their logs. My goal is to connect divers who are willing to share their experience and knowledge with those who want to learn, so they can more quickly become safe, competent divers able to pass their knowledge on to other divers.
I believe that goal will be better facilitated by having more club members meet in person at the general meeting. I'm very glad for Zoom and other video conferencing platforms that enable face-to-face communication, but that technology only approximates-- not replaces -- people being physically together and able to have conversations with people by simply sitting beside or moving over to them. Breakout rooms are poor substitutes for that.
So my commitments to you, the members of Aqua Tutus and guests who attend our general meetings, is to (1) make those meetings as welcoming, enjoyable, and entertaining as I can and (2) facilitate sharing information between divers to increase their safety and enjoyment of the closest, most wonderful alien environment I know.
Jim Driggers
Club president