Now the dust has finally settled after this years London International Dive Show (aka LIDS), we can tell you all about it, and pass on a BIG thanks to all of you that supported us there. 

With the London Dive Show being in (well of course) London, it is always more of a hassle than the October Dive show at the NEC in Birmingham. “Hey Ho” though, that’s no problem to an experienced bunch of Dive Show junkies like us, well so we thought, but “Phew I’m Knackered” now.

The weekend of course started in regular form, with a Mensa-Style logic challenge to fit all the stock into the absurdly undersized Dive Show lorries. We of course had our A-Team on the job, well once Ian and Lydia arrived from Wales that was. All loaded and pricelists printed, it was time for a great nights sleep, well if you can call 3 hours a great sleep !!!

Once on site it was time to ‘get it up’ (Oooo Err Missus), the stand that is. In strictly unusual fashion, we managed it pretty swiftly, even despite a slight altercation with the on-site Stand Inspector on stand positioning, and banner assembly. Then it was time to stock it up, and ‘be silly’, well hey we can’t do serious work stuff all day.

It did take more than a little persuading, but in the end we managed to coax Ian into, what was probably the best “Horsey-Boxy-Dragony” costume ever. Of course always up for any good networking opportunities we did manage to drag Richard Thompson – Dive Show Manager into a great photo opportunity.

The Dive Show itself sprung into life on Saturday morning, with a much larger than expected volume of happy divers filing into the hall. Our team soon settled into their stride, offering advice and details on everything from BCD’s; Regs and Computers to Drysuits and Luggage.

As the day progressed, one thing kept coming back to us, and that was that we “were probably the most helpful stand in the hall, willing to spend much more time with people than some other stores”. So a big thanks to everyone who took the time to give us the great feedback – Thank you. After 8 hard hours, and a hell of a lot of talking the first day drew to a close, and it was time to dash for a well earned beer at the Dive Show Exhibitors Party. Oh, sorry Mark, John, Maya and Simon we forgot you had to go back to the office to collect some extra top up stock for the Sunday (he he he !).

So, almost as though our heads had never actually hit the pillow, well in some cases we’re pretty sure they didn’t (although names and places have been changed to protect the guilty ! – Only joking !), we were into the final stretch and day two. Thanks to the valiant dash back to the office to get extra stock, we were stocked back up, and underway. The dash proved even more than worthwhile than we expected, as our expert advice and boyish good looks, seemed to be proving more popular than ever.

Then, no sooner than it had started, the London Dive Show came to a close. So with a shake of the magic wand, and a lot of grunting and groaning, the stand was down; loaded and we were ready to head home – Phew I’m Knackered !