Last week Microsoft employees were disappointed when the company pulled the plug on plans for a pub on its Redmond campus.
Dubbed the Spitfire, the venue was supposed to be a place where Microsofties could socialize and hang out in an appropriate setting. We can only assume the company would also use it for hosting events and the like as well because, well, why the heck not.
The Spitfire was nearly finished, signs were hung in anticipation of its opening, food and drink vendors had been contacted, equipment was installed and roughly 20 people were hired to maintain, clean and run the bar. Then, Microsoft shut the project down. The once suitable venue for employee socializing and company soirees was branding “inappropriate” by the software giant.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the following in statement, "The goal was always to create a cool gathering place for employees, but to do so in a manner that's consistent with a business environment. We took a second look at that, and we were sensitive to the business environment. We decided we should do something more appropriate, and that meant not having a pub."
The obligatory facebook group was formed (bring back the Spitfire) and that decision lasted all of a week. TechFlash yesterday reported that the company had reached an agreement to move forward with a new campus pub. Basically, it’s all a-okay as long as everyone promises to stay sober for the first half of the day/run off the pub every time the internet connect hiccups.
“Under the compromise plan, the Spitfire pub will serve beer and wine in the afternoons and evenings, after 3 p.m., but it will be open during those hours only for scheduled gatherings and catered events.”
Owner Sposato told TechFlash that the Spitfire will be open every day for lunch and said he still expects the venue to be busy every night, with multiple slots available for booking and plenty of Microsoft employees eager to use the new facility.
We’re guessing this will either be a great venue and, like Sposato says, jumping most nights or completely dead because people don’t to blur the line between work and play. Although, given the fact that there was a facebook group started to bring the idea back to the table, we can’t imagine the latter being the case.
