Greater Tampa Bay Area XII 4/15/07

[BHB ScubaTroll]

 

[wstein]

I vote for the Drinking and Diving Monkey's of West Coast Florida

 

[Missdirected]

The area formerly known as......

 

[johnnyseko]

The Florida Bull Shark Riders

or

The Florida Bull Shark Tamers

or

The Florida Bull Shark Herders

hmmmm is there a recurring theme here

 

[ScubaJW]

I will be moving to Tampa in a month. I unfortunately don't like the Happy Hour for Tampa Bay area. People will take Happy Hour as a wrong idea for drinking club, etc... I know it was not meant to be. Since this is family-oriented board, I think using the word Gasparilla is cute since it's probably the biggest event of the year for Tampa. So, let's use the word, "Gasparilla Pirates of Tampa Bay" or something like that! ARGHHH!!!

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

The biggest drinking event, that's for sure

 

[ScubaJW]

Do everyone know that?

 

[tampausmc]

Nice pics from this weekends dive....I've been missing all of the dives lately....trying to get my girlfriend certified.....and doing work related stuff......

 

[yukoneer]

Hi all. It looks as though in the split we are going to be named as a club or at least referred to as something. Hence, I was thinking, though I don't like to turn these Greater Tampa Bay Area threads into full blown chat threads, I feel this is worth discussing and at least get the opinions of some here. :ne_nau:

My personal thoughts and feelings, in no particular order:

1. The word club personally makes me cringe - I always think people are going to feel alienated and not bother.
2. I think we work very hard to make people feel welcome. By "people" I mean; new divers that live in our area, divers new to the area in general, and visitors.
3. It was the openness and willingness of a few to meet and dive with others that has actually led to bringing so many together in this area.
4. "Happy Hour" reminds me of a bunch of young party animals. If I were looking at the board, personally I would think "no-thanks" but I am also a bit older. I would prefer a name more representative of the people. (Maybe Mark-R or Dave's boat... j/k, j/k, move on - silly joke )
5. Lastly, we have a lot of people pass through here that are looking for info on springs and caves. I do what I can to help by, going on what I know, doing some research, and sometimes asking a certain someone here his thoughts (he knows who he is). Our planet known as "Spring/Cave country" is abysmally represented here on this board. That said, for the numbers that pass through here, it could be so much better. However, in the end, I guess it isn't our job to help SB grow. Fair enough but I find that scary (the more we grow the more dive buds and opportunities we have).

So with this in mind, I offer this to you guys for your thoughts. No debate, just your thoughts. Perhaps with this we can offer a name better suited to us :ne_nau:

I'm glad you brought this up.

I really, really want the name to be renamed. I hate the "happy hour" part, as well as the "club" stigma.

Lets make it easier, why not just start a new thread for renaming the club name and then have a vote?

I have a club name in mind - and will post it tonite with some graphics to enhance the name

 

[Missdirected]

Honestly Matt, I thought talking amongst ourselves may be best. Simply because, if we take it "out there", people who have no clue and care nothing about this area, are going to have an opinion. I'm hoping with the camaraderie we have here that perhaps we can get this done in a page or two. Saving this discussion from degrading into what the others have.

Personally, I'm pretty amenable to a lot of names. Heck, I'll even live with "Tampa Happy Hour" if that is what everyone seems to like in the end. No problem. What names did you have in mind?