Note: this is a cross-post from my travel/liver damage blog. I also posted here because of the significance of the topic to the InfoSec community. Really.
It looks like the future of the Tonga Room involves a move to a new location. What is the Tonga Room? The Tonga Room is one of those special places which is so tacky that it comes out the other side and has class again. Follow the link above to my last post on it for more details. Rumor (wink, wink) is that the Tonga has been sold; name, fixtures, even employees- as a whole, to be moved to an as yet unknown location
Details are sketchy, but my sources are impeccable (always trust people in Hawaiian shirts) . Expect the "new" Tonga in a new venue, but I don’t know when. The month of April is when something happens, but as of yet I do not know if that is closing, reopening, or what.
There are more questions than answers at this time.
Will it still have the pontoon tiki boat stage?
Will the complete set of fixtures be part of the resurrected Tonga- including the masts ,railings, and rigging from the Forrester?
Will the loyal employees be treated well under the terms of the sale and under the new owners?
Will the Mai Tais still kick your butt down the hill?
Will there still be a hill to have said butts dragged up and kicked down?
For the past few years I have made a pilgrimage to the Tonga Room at the beginning (and often middle and end) of the week of the RSA conference (and now the week of Security BSides San Francisco, too).
This year we spread the word a bit more and ended up with TongaCon, which kicked serious butt. There were probably about 35-40 people who rolled through, more paper umbrellas than I could count, a live RickRolling of the bar by the band (FYI, Rick Astley covers should always be done by lounge bands on a pontoon boat). There may have even been unfortunate events involving an unnamed journalist’s bald head and someone else’s beard, and possibly a “how many umbrellas can we stick in Jack’s beard” contest. (You will have to find those pictures on your own).
More TongaCon photos here.
I am asking San Francisco locals (and everyone else interested) to keep me posted on the future of the Tonga Room, and I’ll share the info.
Jack
