Lots of my friends call themselves geeks, but I'd agree with Alice Roberts
that the word 'geek' creates a barrier between the geek ghetto and the
general public:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9030938/Alice-Roberts-hit
s-out-at-science-geeks.html
I know you were (half) joking Phillip -- but, "Nerds Incorporated" or "Geeks
Incorporated" would be great if you want to retain the audience that already
self-identify themselves as geeks but would put a lot of people off.
Also, not everyone working in science / science communication is a nerd,
geek etc. etc. -- although a lot of people in the field assume so.
I've lost count of the number of emails I've had which have ended with the
words "us geeks have got to stick together" - as though everyone working in
science / scicomm is part of some special monopoly.
You say it's the content that's most important but you have to get people
through the door first - and the semantics of your branding will influence
that.
Wynn
On 2 May 2012 09:13, hmptnu <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I think people tend to forget how easy it is for the wrong connotations
> to arise when naming communication channels.
>
> For example Sci-Com could quite easily be a propaganda outlet from one
> of the seemingly multiple US security agencies. While the People's
> Science Channel sounds to me like it's coming from the People's Republic
> of China!
>
> The BBC's Horizon programme is an example of good naming, and I always
> thought an excellent series. I haven't seen it too much recently though,
> so don't know what's happened there.
>
> You can use some quite humorous names to suggest science content in a
> new channel. For example "Nerds Incorporated" or "Geeks Incorporated".
> Though I doubt anyone would be courageous enough to choose these names
> for a channel!
>
> Or you can question, e.g. "Future Perfect?" or "Mirage or Reality?". Or
> imply a Godlike position, e.g. "The Ant's View" or "View from the Burrow".
>
> In the end it is content that determines a channel's "weightiness", of
> course. Make the content good enough, and people will forgive a funny
name.
>
> This is all IMHO, of course.
>
> Philip
>
> **********************************************************************
> Further information about the psci-com discussion list, including list
archive, can be found at the list web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/psci-com.html
> You may also change your settings and subscribe/unsubscribe to psci-com
from the web site.
>
> Psci-com is part of the National Academic Mailing List Service, known as
'JISCMail'.
> It adheres to the JISCMail Acceptable Use Policy:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/acceptableuse.html
> and to the JISCMail guidelines for etiquette:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/etiquette.html
>
> Email commands:
> 1. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example,
> send an email to mailto:[log in to unmask] with the following
message:
>
> set psci-com nomail -- [include hyphens]
>
> 2. To resume email from the list, send an email to [log in to unmask]
with the message:
>
> set psci-com mail -- [include hyphens]
>
> 3. To leave psci-com, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the
message:
>
> leave psci-com -- [include hyphens]
>
> Please allow up to 24 hours for these commands to activate.
> Remember that you will need to send commands using the same email address
that you used to register on psci-com.
> To contact the Psci-com list owner, please send an email to:
[log in to unmask]
>
> **********************************************************************
--
David Ault
www.davidault.co.uk
Twitter: @astrotour2010
**********************************************************************
Further information about the psci-com discussion list, including list
archive, can be found at the list web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/psci-com.html
You may also change your settings and subscribe/unsubscribe to psci-com from
the web site.
Psci-com is part of the National Academic Mailing List Service, known as
'JISCMail'.
It adheres to the JISCMail Acceptable Use Policy:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/acceptableuse.html
and to the JISCMail guidelines for etiquette:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/etiquette.html
Email commands:
1. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example,
send an email to mailto:[log in to unmask] with the following message:
set psci-com nomail -- [include hyphens]
2. To resume email from the list, send an email to [log in to unmask]
with the message:
set psci-com mail -- [include hyphens]
3. To leave psci-com, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the
message:
leave psci-com -- [include hyphens]
Please allow up to 24 hours for these commands to activate.
Remember that you will need to send commands using the same email address
that you used to register on psci-com.
To contact the Psci-com list owner, please send an email to:
[log in to unmask]
**********************************************************************
**********************************************************************
Further information about the psci-com discussion list, including list
archive, can be found at the list web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/psci-com.html
You may also change your settings and subscribe/unsubscribe to psci-com from
the web site.
Psci-com is part of the National Academic Mailing List Service, known as
'JISCMail'.
It adheres to the JISCMail Acceptable Use Policy:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/acceptableuse.html
and to the JISCMail guidelines for etiquette:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/etiquette.html
Email commands:
1. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example,
send an email to mailto:[log in to unmask] with the following message:
set psci-com nomail -- [include hyphens]
2. To resume email from the list, send an email to [log in to unmask]
with the message:
set psci-com mail -- [include hyphens]
3. To leave psci-com, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the
message:
leave psci-com -- [include hyphens]
Please allow up to 24 hours for these commands to activate.
Remember that you will need to send commands using the same email address
that you used to register on psci-com.
To contact the Psci-com list owner, please send an email to:
[log in to unmask]
**********************************************************************
**********************************************************************
Further information about the psci-com discussion list, including list archive, can be found at the list web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/psci-com.html
You may also change your settings and subscribe/unsubscribe to psci-com from the web site.
Psci-com is part of the National Academic Mailing List Service, known as 'JISCMail'.
It adheres to the JISCMail Acceptable Use Policy: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/acceptableuse.html
and to the JISCMail guidelines for etiquette: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/etiquette.html
Email commands:
1. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example,
send an email to mailto:[log in to unmask] with the following message:
set psci-com nomail -- [include hyphens]
2. To resume email from the list, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message:
set psci-com mail -- [include hyphens]
3. To leave psci-com, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message:
leave psci-com -- [include hyphens]
Please allow up to 24 hours for these commands to activate.
Remember that you will need to send commands using the same email address that you used to register on psci-com.
To contact the Psci-com list owner, please send an email to: [log in to unmask]
**********************************************************************
|