Following the Board meeting on June 4, when the decision to move the game watch party location from Millers Ale House to Charann’s Tavern was made, several posts to our Facebook page have been made expressing disappointment with the decision.  To better explain the reasons for the decision and the process we used to come to the decision we made, I want to share the following information with all of our members.

Over the past 2 years we’ve experienced several difficulties at Millers.  In fairness to them, like many service-related industries COVID impacted them; difficulty with staffing numbers, consistent management changes, and in their case a reduction in seating capacity.  We had one occasion where a radio crew was occupying our usual space causing us to have to alter our normal routine.  This history prompted the Board to consider alternative watch party sites.

The first step we took to find what area within our assigned territory was most central to our members.  We google-mapped the locations of homes and found that several locations were potentially central to many of them; no one place was perfectly central to everyone.  From that information we began to explore potential locations for our watch parties.  In addition to Millers, we identified other locations and made exploratory visits to them.  We narrowed the list to Millers and Charann’s.  In addition to location, we considered factors like food quality, pricing, seating capacity, cleanliness, and security.  We held a meeting at Charann’s in order for Board members to have firsthand knowledge about the location, given that we all were familiar with Millers.

Prior to meeting at Charann’s, I posted an invitation on Facebook for anyone who wished to, to attend the meeting and to share their thoughts.  We did have a member who could not attend due to other obligations share his thoughts and had several others who were in attendance.  At the very beginning of our discussion, we acknowledged having seen and confirmed his input, heard from members who attended, and listened to input from each Board member.  Based on all the input we had, the decision was made to move watch parties to Charann’s. 

The Board recognized that this change may not be convenient for each individual member, but we feel that given all we had to consider, this decision is in the best interest of Chapter members.  The new location is only 6 miles from Millers, it is an air conditioned facility, has a better seating area that can accommodate 100, plus an outdoor area for 25 more, and will not conflict with events that occur coincidentally with Raymond James Stadium.

We hope you will continue to participate in not only watch parties but in all the programming we plan throughout the year.

For the Board

Bill Weary, President

Tampa Chapter