Post #101420 by tikibars on Tue, Jul 13, 2004 11:45 AM

All right guys, let's not make this thread an argument about posts and bandwidth.

We all know that BambooLodge (aka AtomicTiki aka Tikimonger) likes to jump in and stir things up from time to time; just ignore him when he gets cranky! :)

Now...

Sorry to have used the name of someone's home bar. I haven't actually spoken to that person much in the past few years, and I didn't remember that their home bar was using the name.

Face it - there are only so many good names to use for events, and it had a good ring to it!

Trader Vic's management also had a lot to do with the naming of the event. After the call was made not to use Tiki Torch Nights to tie in with Tikikiliki's Atlanta event, I made a short list of things that sounded good, and Trader Vic's management picked Tabu Tiki nights. Remember that we had to use something sort of catchy and obvious to get people aside from the hardcore Tikiphiles to the event.

And, I actually made a descision NOT to use "Aku-anything" as the name. Although I am hosting the event and providing some tunes, this event is NOT about 'me, me, me'. It is about getting the midwest Tiki community together and having some fun. Since my own home bar is called Aku Hall, and since I am working on a book about Easter Island, I didn't want to name the event in a way that tied in too closely with myself. I am specifically trying to make this event for and about everyone.

Now on to more fun stuff:

Gwen from Barefoot Hawaiian is going to be at the event making Leis.

Dave/Lakesurfer is also ging to try to come down with some of his Tiki carvings.

Now, can we get Duke to bring some of his awesome black velvet tiki paintings down (look for his more serious work it Aaron Packer gallery in Chicago next month)?

I'll even give him credit for subliminally implanting the event name in my head 4 years ago! :)

Okay, hope this post cleared up some confusion.

I'm going to meet with AJ at Trader Vics this afternoon to hammer out the final details for the first event, next Wednesday, July 21.

AJ, by the way, is the brand-new general manager of Trader Vic's Chicago. He is a really nice guy, and he has specifically told me that he is aware of the fact that Trader Vic's has always given the "Aloha shirt crowd" the cold shoulder (in Chicago at least), and that he wants to change that.

It made me really happy to learn that he is prepared to go out of his way to change the reputation that Trader Vic's Chicago has always had for being less than friendly to the Tiki community.

Tabu Tiki Nights are the first steps towards making us feel welcome at Vic's. So, BambooLodge (et al), no matter how you feel about me and the name of our event, I hope you'll come down and hoist a Zombie with us!

See you all there!