On Friday, RAID HQ announced that Paul Toomer, the well-known and charismatic leader and part-owner of the agency, had resigned and seemingly left the agency he loved.
This caused quite a lot of confusion across the industry, especially as Toomer had just arrived in Malta representing RAID at the Rebreather Forum 4 occurring over the weekend.
The confusion was amplified as news spread that Toomer did not know about the Press Release being issued and found out about it as he landed in Malta.
DeeperBlue.com caught up with Steve Lewis, RAID’s VP of Marketing, over the last 24 hours to clarify what is happening.
“We’ve got our tails between our legs,” said Lewis, “and we sent out the release too early and without full input from Paul.”
“In reality, Paul’s blood runs Orange,” referring to the brand color of RAID. However, Lewis confirmed that Toomer had moved to a part-time role two days a week after leaving the CEO position early in the year and taking up the VP of Product Development role.
Lewis also confirmed that while Toomer has left the VP of Product Development role, he is still a significant and valued shareholder, Instructor Trainer & Examiner, heads the Training Advisory Group, and will continue to sit as the RAID representative on various standards groups like the Rebreather Training Council (RTC), Recreational Scuba Training Council (RSTC) and ISO.
Lewis said, “Toomer represents RAID very well and will be kicking ass at Rebreather Forum 4 in Malta this weekend on behalf of RAID” and that a “fuller joint press release will be coming in the next few days.”
