> > There is also the distinct possibility I am overthinking this.
This. :) If you had hundreds of people who knew about what you were doing and you suddenly changed the name, this *might* be a bigger deal. But as you've said, you don't, so I think you're putting the cart before the horse, big time. Involving the community in the naming is great, though I wouldn't let it hold you back. More general advice around naming: it sounds like you're trying to name the "thing" you're doing. Coworking, "crank"ing, jelly-ing, etc. To riff on Randall's post, which I think is a GREAT illustration, notice that their new name doesn't describe what they do but *who they are*. It tells you something about the people and what they care about, rather than naming a specific effort. That's what makes a good name: when it describes *who* you'll find there. Those people may do a variety of things, from coworking to teaching to socializing to who the hell knows but the things they have in common won't change dramatically. So: 1) Stop worrying about a name change. I assure you that more people won't notice than will. People are just as concerned about in their lives as you are about your name...and you can be 100% sure that they care more about their problems than yours. ;) 2) If you're gonna rename, work towards a name that describes the people instead of what they do. -Alex -- /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Thu, Feb 20, 2014 at 1:49 PM, Job Sonnentag <[email protected]> wrote: > Glad to hear that, Randy. My hope, other than to get help, was to > highlight an issue others might have or are having to face. Congrats on > your growing community by the way! > > What was the effect when you changed your organizations name? Both within > the group and outside? It sounds like you already had a decent following at > the time you made that decision. > > One of the things I also realized in creating the name on my own, is that > I had potentially missed out on a great opportunity for community > involvement. Had I waited, the community could have helped come up with the > name and as a result felt a stronger connection with it. My only issue with > this is how do I go about that now that I have a name, and one that I feel > is not suitable to continue with? The only viable solution I can think of > for a scenario where the community-to-be helps pick is one where I keep the > current name and wait until said community grows before we change it. > > I just don't want to rename it now, on my own, only to be in this same > situation another 9 months from now. I could do something generic for the > time being - E.g. Alaska Jelly Group - and wait for the community. Though I > feel changing it (generic name) and then changing it again (community > derived name) will have negative side effects. > > There is also the distinct possibility I am overthinking this. But I feel > like it's an issue worth talking about. > > On Wednesday, February 19, 2014 10:19:34 PM UTC-9, Texrat wrote: > >> It's an interesting topic to me, Job, especially since it hits home. >> >> Over a year ago I started to pull together a local maker community in my >> area. After many coffee shop meetups, several people settled into a >> collection of leaders. At initial meetings that subject of identity came >> up, and I had thoughts similar to yours: I felt we needed to build >> community first, then start a physical makerspace once we had an >> organization established. I also believed our org name should identify the >> community first, space(s) second. >> >> I was outvoted at first and we came to be Fort Worth Makerspace. Over >> time, as our purpose evolved more to favor community education powered by >> partnerships, everyone realized we wouldn't be just one physical space >> ultimately but many. In fact we are working on two now, partnering with a >> library and university respectively. And so everyone else changed their >> mind to abstract the organization from physical spaces-- our organization >> became Tarrant Makers, named after our county to identify our physical >> reach. >> >> So I can understand your dilemma. Your name, brand, identity-- whatever >> you call it, it creates an image in the minds of your community, customers, >> partners and sponsors. You have to think deep about who and what you are, >> what needs you intend to fill going forward, how you wish to be perceived. >> It sounds like you already have a good idea which way you're going to go. >> Hope my rambling helped. >> >> Randy >> Tarrant Makers >> >> >> On February 20, 2014 at 12:06 AM Job Sonnentag <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> About a year ago I decided to start a coworking space here in Alaska. I >> figured it needed a name, so that it could grow and be referenced. That >> name is CrankSpace. As luck would have it, one of the first things I >> realized, was that I actually didn't want to start a space, I wanted to >> build a community. And eventually, when our community needed it, we would >> find a location to house it. >> >> So a year has gone by and we have a name which presumes we have the one >> thing we actually don't - space - and, I feel, vocalizes a value I don't >> see in that one thing. At least not direct value. >> >> My question is this: Does it matter? I would love for it to be a >> community decision, but despite being at it for almost a year, we don't >> have much of an active one yet. I feel I'm losing connection with the name >> because it promotes values I don't believe in and fear it having a negative >> impact. My fear in changing it is loss in recognition, perceived flakiness >> or lack of viability. Not sure what to do with this one. >> >> *TL:DR* - I feel our name doesn't fit our goals anymore. Does it >> matter? >> >> Job >> >> >> -- >> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Coworking" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> >> >> >> Randall (Randy) Arnold >> Developer and Enthusiast Advocate >> http://texrat.net >> +18177396806 >> > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
