In an effort to make itself ever more available to divers, DAN® is offering a new outreach program that utilizes live webinar technology to interact with dive clubs, dive groups, medical professionals or anyone else who wants to have DAN present at an event. Available at no cost to event hosts, the webinars allow an audience to participate in a presentation followed by a real-time question-and-answer session. Presentation topics can be chosen by DAN or requested by the event coordinator.
“What’s fantastic about this approach is how it allows us to fulfill the needs of the audience,” said Marty McCafferty, a DAN medical information specialist and coordinator of the project. “Even if we’re presenting a topic suggested by DAN, the real-time Q and A gives divers the chance to discuss what’s really on their minds and address concerns that pertain directly to them.”
The development of the outreach program is in response to a consistently overwhelming number of requests for DAN personnel to appear at various events at every level, from dive groups to medical seminars. Because of both logistics and budget limitations, it’s been impossible to fulfill more than a fraction of the requests received – until now.
Already the webinar program has proven so successful that DAN has participated in dive club meetings from Florida to the South Pacific and even has a standing monthly lecture series with a group in Cozumel.
“We’re really excited to be able to use this technology in a way that puts us in direct contact with more divers,” said McCafferty. “Because the webinars are in real time, it’s the next best thing to actually being in the room. Where the technology really wins, though, is how it allows us to visit and interact with a lot more divers than we ever could if we actually had to travel to event locations.”
To take part in a live DAN webinar, the event site must have a computer with Internet access and a way for participants to see the screen and hear the presentation. DAN can coordinate webinars for up to 25 attendees. “Attendees” are defined as the number of people or groups actually logged in to the event. It does not pertain to the number of people in the room at a given event site.
“These webinars are a wonderful and easy way for dive groups, dive clubs or any group interested in dive safety to have DAN speak at their event,” said McCafferty. “We’re looking forward to ‘visiting’ lots of divers and places we haven’t been able to reach before.”
For more information or to invite DAN to your next event, please contact Marty McCafferty via email at mmccafferty@dan.org or by phone at (800) 446-2671 ext.286.
