Changing a team name

[dbonar]

We, team 3573, were rookies this year under the name Ohms. Now we have a split where some members of the team want to switch to a different name because the original name is too close to another rookie team in our region and not silly/cool enough. Note that the team has existed previously at the school but has never had a name/nickname in the FIRST sense before.

I'm trying not to make the decision for them (the team is split) but I'd like some feedback from others on pros and cons.

[elemental]

Hi,
I remember you guys from Peachtree!
My team changed our name after our rookie year from C.Y.B.E.R. to our current name. It was, perhaps, one of the best decisions we have ever made.

In your case, think about if members of your community, school, other FIRST teams remember or recognize you. Being remembered is a key part of your team identity. Just because you have a similar name as another team doesn't mean that you should change it to stand out. If you market yourselves right, you will stand out. (E.g. We go to a regional where there is another team with the same team colors as us. However, we are still known as 'the purple team'.) In your case you could do some cool things with resistor codes such as have scavenger hunts at regionals, offer to translate other team's numbers in resistor code, etc.

Here are now some pros and cons.
PROS
- You get an almost fresh start at competition
- You get a chance to use what you know about competition and incorporate it into your marketing

CONS
- Teams will not remember you at all
- You have to as hard as your rookie year to be remembered

Personally, I remember your team because:
1. I talked to one of your members about your logo
2. I saw all of you scouting
3. You made it into the semi-finals.

[Cynette]

While it is great if a team can create a memorable name and image as a rookie, there is nothing wrong with redefining a team's through a name and image change, especially after the first year. Some teams change their image every year and some teams change their name periodically based on the wishes of the school or sponsoring organization.

Hall of Fame team, Team 120 - “Scarabian Knights,” is a great example of this.
When they started the team way back in 1995, they started out with Frog in their name (and orange as their color). I'm not sure when they made their transition to the new name, but its a part of their identity now. Even so, they periodically decide how they will represent their team; for a few years it was with an Egyptian theme to pick up on the Scarab part, this year was more of a knight theme.

So feel free to change it up until it clicks!

[rachelholladay]

We went through a similar thing. In our first three year we had three different names, each with different colors. It was hard because we weren't getting our brand established and people couldn't re-use stuff like shirts and spirit equipment. Finally we picked a name (Combustion) and a bright color (electric blue) and stuck with it. My advice would be that if you want to change it, change it now and stick with it forever. You can get away fairly easily as rookies with changing you team appearance but once people get to know you, its really hard.

[SenorZ]

I was considering the same for our rookie team. "Don Bots" is a little bland. Our school mascot is the Don, and we made a 'bot. Not too creative. But if the students make the choice I think you should stick with it. Just lay out those pros and cons listed about and call a vote.

[dbonar]

Thanks for the rapid feedback - senior finals are done so I have time to deal with this type of things now.

Marketing is of course the big issue. We've received lots of positive feedback on our use of resistor codes already as the Ohms. The other choice, Ninjineers, is sort of catchy but a half the team thinks that it sounds too young/silly to be marketing it to people outside of a school setting.

I'm leaning towards just keeping Ohms but gaining a Ninjineer mascot.

[ttldomination]

I'm leaning towards just keeping Ohms but gaining a Ninjineer mascot.

Oh come on, I'm sure you can find a giant resistor costume somewhere. Or better yet, you can get a light bulb and it can flaunt its variable resistance.

- Sunny G.

[Chris Hibner]

Thanks for the rapid feedback - senior finals are done so I have time to deal with this type of things now.

Marketing is of course the big issue. We've received lots of positive feedback on our use of resistor codes already as the Ohms. The other choice, Ninjineers, is sort of catchy but a half the team thinks that it sounds too young/silly to be marketing it to people outside of a school setting.

I'm leaning towards just keeping Ohms but gaining a Ninjineer mascot.

Ninjineer is a pretty cool name, and will have a lot of recognition.

Probably the most famous name change has to be 217 - the Thunderchickens. Basically everyone knows the name now, but that is (I believe) the third name for that team, and the one that finally stuck.

217 was originally "Team Macomb" in 1999.

For the 2000 season, 217 changed their name to "Royal Fusion".

217 finally changed their name to the Thunderchickens around 2002 - Paul will have to give the final answer on the date.

For the Thunderchickens, the name change worked out pretty well. A unique name with brand recognition could be a good thing.

[vhcook]

My observation of team themes has been that ninjas are rapidly going the way of pirates and knights - there are a lot of teams across the country using them, and it's getting harder to make a memorably different team on that theme. It can be done - we managed to do it with knights by going the Monty Python route - but your current theme is a lot less common in the larger First community.

Based on the logo in your avatar, you already appear to have a pretty strong marketing identity as Ohms, and it looks pretty cool. My personal opinion here is that if you have a strong identity that is easy to market, you should stick with it. Teams that have had inconsistent or weak imagery or are using one of the really common themes without strong differentiation really gain more from a change. On the other hand, you are the ones that have to live with it, and if the team isn't feeling it, it's better to do it now while you are still fairly new.

[Leeebowitz]

For the sake of gaining a slightly different perspective, I'd like to share some of the debate that happened on our team. While I don't necessarily agree with this, our head mentor said that you shouldn't have a weird or silly name unless you can back it up as a good team. Teams like the Thunderchickens and Exploding Bacon are examples of this. He said that a team that isn't as successful just loses respectability, which can be tough on a team like ours which is struggling to find a financial sponsor.

My own perspective is that a unique name has very little correlation to respectability. If anything, I'd say that it actually helps a team stand out to potential sponsors and the community at large and even makes the experience more enjoyable for students. I think everyone on our team has wished at some point they could come up with a cheer like "Oink! Oink! Boom!"

So, food for thought.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

If you are going to change, now would be the time before you become well known. About four years after we started we tried wearing bowling shirts one year. This was a terrible idea when people were trying to find the tie dye. I can't think of how bad it would be if we changed names now.
However, I think your avatar is really cool!

[JaneYoung]

We, team 3573, were rookies this year under the name Ohms. Now we have a split where some members of the team want to switch to a different name because the original name is too close to another rookie team in our region and not silly/cool enough. Note that the team has existed previously at the school but has never had a name/nickname in the FIRST sense before.

I'm trying not to make the decision for them (the team is split) but I'd like some feedback from others on pros and cons.


Personally, when I saw that team name, I thought it was one of the coolest ever. That said, considering the source (me), that is probably not the best endorsement for the name. :) I think it is very silly with a lot of fun potential.

FRC 1477 out of the Woodlands, Texas, changed their name a few years back to Texas Torque. It has been a very positive change for them as they travel down the road towards successful achievements and recognition.

Good luck to you and the team with your decision. Please let us know what you decide.

Now I have to go meditate on this whole discussion. (It was Al's comment about 111 and bowling shirts that did me in.)

Jane

[Dmentor]

Ohlms => Ohlms' Law => Ohlms' Claw => Gigantic crabs with robot manipulators anyone? Could be cool or it could be time for a nice long weekend break far away from the computer. :ahh:

[fhobart]

I would echo the sentiments that now would be the optimal time to make a change. We changed our name after our rookie season from PC (Prosthetic Cougars) Robots to Las Pumas--our school mascot is the cougar, an animal never once found in the state of Indiana.

The team chose to make the change and I cautioned them at the time to choose wisely (shades of Indy Jones 3) because they will have to live with it for a long, long time. While I am sure it has happened more than once, an annual name change would give the feel of wishy-washiness.

Your current name and logo are appealing, yet I can see the allure of Ninjaneers. For what it's worth, when we switched to Las Pumas, my big name ideas were either the Grease Monkeys or Bad Wolf Robotics--neither of which had anything to do with my school corporation.

It's like marriage; make sure you can stand the name five years down the road.

[Bob Steele]

I would echo the sentiments that now would be the optimal time to make a change. We changed our name after our rookie season from PC (Prosthetic Cougars) Robots to Las Pumas--our school mascot is the cougar, an animal never once found in the state of Indiana.

The team chose to make the change and I cautioned them at the time to choose wisely (shades of Indy Jones 3) because they will have to live with it for a long, long time. While I am sure it has happened more than once, an annual name change would give the feel of wishy-washiness.

Your current name and logo are appealing, yet I can see the allure of Ninjaneers. For what it's worth, when we switched to Las Pumas, my big name ideas were either the Grease Monkeys or Bad Wolf Robotics--neither of which had anything to do with my school corporation.

It's like marriage; make sure you can stand the name five years down the road.

I wouldn't be so sure about that.... see this picture...
Greene County Indiana from 2010

I am a born and raised Hoosier... there have been reports of cougars for many years... especially in the more rural counties in southern Indiana... I think you have a really great name ...

[fhobart]

I stand corrected. I omitted Northwest from Indiana. No cougars up here!

[XaulZan11]

I think the first thing you should do is take a step back and ask yourself 'who are we?' and 'what do we want to be known as?' Having a really creative, silly name that provides you with a creative logo, shirts and team cheers won't work very well if your team is filled with shy, reserved students who don't want to stand out and lead cheers. On the flip side, if you have an outgoing team, having a conservative name may not be the best as they cannot express themselves and stand out.

The next question is what do you want to me known as. Do you want to be known as the professional, hard working team ala 148 or 1114 or do you want to be known as the outgoing, full of cheer and team spirit like 33 or 1902? Just because you take the latter, doesn't mean you can't have a competive robot, however.

Once you get a general 'feel' of your team, then you start brainstorming team names. It's easy to pick a cool sounding name, but its more difficult to find a team name that leads to a good logo, motto, shirts, signs, pit designs/displays, robot signs, cheer, mascots, and all other visable aspects of your team. The main thing is to have all these aspects related and tied together. Before you decide on a team name, I would have ideas for all of these aspects.

I would also look at some other teams at your regional(s) and try to be different from them. For example, as a team who goes to 2 regionals with both 111 and 1625 (both of which wear tie-dye), I wouldn't recommend my team switch to tie-dye.

[Mike Soukup]

our head mentor said that you shouldn't have a weird or silly name unless you can back it up as a good team. Teams like the Thunderchickens and Exploding Bacon are examples of this. He said that a team that isn't as successful just loses respectability, which can be tough on a team like ours which is struggling to find a financial sponsor.
Tell Herb he's dead wrong. I'd argue that a name and branding that stand out among the crowd is more important for a small, low budget, low resource team like yours than it is for the well known teams. You need whatever edge you can get that will help other teams remember you.

I'm on the scouting team and I spend almost the entire competition watching matches. After seeing match after match with non-distinct robots, it gets difficult to keep them straight, especially in Breakaway. If you can come up with some way to tie bring your team's identity into your robot's appearance, you'll become more recognizable and in-turn, more memorable.

[Bill_B]

It's hard to believe no one thought of:

Resistance to Ohm's is Futile.

Even the Borg would be impressed. If their reluctance were low. Pardon me if I'm offering impedance to this process. Have you designed a three-ring circuit yet?

[JaneYoung]

Tell Herb he's dead wrong. I'd argue that a name and branding that stand out among the crowd is more important for a small, low budget, low resource team like yours than it is for the well known teams. You need whatever edge you can get that will help other teams remember you.

I'm on the scouting team and I spend almost the entire competition watching matches. After seeing match after match with non-distinct robots, it gets difficult to keep them straight, especially in Breakaway. If you can come up with some way to tie bring your team's identity into your robot's appearance, you'll become more recognizable and in-turn, more memorable.

I wish we could spotlight this entire post.

One thought about the awesome Exploding Bacon: they were rookies once, just like every other team. They had a very successful rookie year, true - but they've had to earn their stripes. I've asked them to tell me the story behind their name and it is a good one. (I'll check and see if they posted it in the website. Couldn't find it, goes off to find a team member...)

Mike is spot on with the branding. Branding can help from the get-go, whereas, the strength and power behind becoming a well-known competitive team can take a while to develop.

Jane

[remulasce]

Ahh- mixed up team names. Beach Cities Robotics is not only perennially slurred into Beach City Robotics, but is also confused with the Beach Bots, who are down the street. Even worse will be next year- I and a friend went to get our shirts signed after Champs, and we were immediately congratulated by Woodie. We have the same shirt color as the Cheesy Poofs, and our team numbers differ in only one digit (294 and 254).

[S.P.A.M.er 17]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is already a Florida team named Ninjineers, 2383. :( Its getting harder and harder to come up with an unique image with so many teams from across the nation. One team might think they are unique with an image, but a team on the other side of the country has the same idea. A good example is 180 SPAM and 1124 ÜberBots. We both use the blue/red/yellow superman theme for our shirts. From far away, we look idetical. Its a good thing we only really see each other at the Championship, or else we would be getting mixed up all the time at whatever regional we attend together.

[Karibou]

Ahh- mixed up team names. Beach Cities Robotics is not only perennially slurred into Beach City Robotics, but is also confused with the Beach Bots, who are down the street. Even worse will be next year- I and a friend went to get our shirts signed after Champs, and we were immediately congratulated by Woodie. We have the same shirt color as the Cheesy Poofs, and our team numbers differ in only one digit (294 and 254).

Hey, at least 254 isn't the Beach Bots ;P


1189 changed our name and our image over a span of two years. Originally, our team was called "Breaking Pointe" and had a mascot of a rabid squirrel. We adopted the yellow diamond logo the next year (a freshman had photoshopped it originally as a joke) when we realized that the squirrel design was expensive to print and that that logo didn't give us or our sponsors a good image. We changed our name to "The Gearheads" the year after that.

Before I read the post above me, I was going to say that I think that Ninjaneers is a great name. You have a great logo now, but I think that a ninja wearing safety glasses and carrying a hammer would be so cool. I can't blame you at all for wanting to change the name because it's similar to another team's (we were at a competition with another team a few years ago called "The Gearheads," and the confusion was brutal). I don't think that having a "silly" name makes you any less marketable to sponsors, since that's usually not the biggest factor in whether or not you get the money. The biggest pro is that people, whether they be teams or sponsors, are more likely to remember who you are.

[PayneTrain]

After 11 years, Team 422 has remained the Mech Tech Dragons. (Mechanical/Technical Division of Maggie L. Walker GSGIS, which has a dragon as a mascot.)

I don't like it. At least a few other team members don't like it. We will probably retain the name for my senior year. The Iron Dragons, Stell Dragons, and even the Green Monsters have arisen as past candidates, all to fall at the hands of rational complacency.

The team earned a bad rap through '07 and '08, but the name just sticks. Whatever.

Advice to all teams when picking names. If you run out of fingers and toes to count the teams with a similar name, please consider a new name. If I run into a rookie next year with ____Hawks, we're going to have to talk.

[Chris is me]

We changed our name from Bionic Bison (trying to play off team 60) to Terminal Velocity (not sure what we were thinking) to Shaker Robotics, with few problems. If you change your name mid season, be sure to let the emcee and announcers know at every regional you attend. Changing your image is fine, as long as your new one is better.

[pfreivald]

We changed our name from "The Green Machine" (our school mascot) to "The Grapes of Wrath" to celebrate the transformation of our team when Bausch + Lomb 'adopted' us.

[Aw_Fiddlesticks]

Team 3098 took up our school's name and colors When we formed back in '09. The captain logo has become a significant part of our brand since.

One thing that really helped our branding was when we integrated our captain head into the claw mechanism for our '10 bot (it helped us win an imagery award in Ann Arbor). But I've seen a few other teams do even cooler things with their bots. I'll always remember The Desperate Penguins' (1504) '09 bot; they made a pretty darn good looking penguin out of it. And I hear stories about a buzzing sound around team 33 The Killer Bee's robots. It's not just about the name and the logo; it's what you do with it that makes your team memorable.

[1986titans]

If you're going for a unique name, I suggest using https://my.usfirst.org/frc/scoring/index.lasso?page=teamlist, as it's a list of all the teams that competed this year. It's much easier on the eyes if you use Excel and input it using "Paste Special" and "Unicode Text". The "team_name_short" column seems to have fallen out of use since 2009, "team_nickname" is what most teams go by.

[dodar]

Atleast for me, one of the easiest ways to get a unique and catchy name is to think of an acronym that your team likes. a.k.a Team 67, the "HOT" team, Heroes Of Tomorrow.

[Borobo]

I don't know about you, but I generally feel that the whole theme of pirates, ninjas, chickens, etc. has been entirely played out, not just in a first setting, but just in general. I like ohms, it feels more original of a use, and the resistor code thing is really cool. I would caution you not to change to something like ninjineers, because in a few years, it's just going to feel dated. if you really want to change something, keep the ohms part, but I really think you have a good name already.

[Steven Donow]

In the past, 223 was called "Zaiders", a combination of two of the high schools the team was affiliated with. In 2002 I believe(or so a pamphlet from that year that I found tells me) they changed their name to Xtreme Heat, and image which has kept up through the flame pants. It's one of those image things that makes us instantly recognizable

[Chris Hibner]

If you want to keep the name and be funny, you could change the emblem to put Buddha or some guy in a yoga pose in the middle of the Ohm symbol. I would laugh pretty hard at that. It may take a while for people to catch on, but it's good when you get it.

[anyheck]

team mho ℧ (or siemens) for the disagreeable people on the team...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens_%28unit%29

Or maybe a recursive acronym. Those are most fun.

[Duke461]

I don't know about you, but I generally feel that the whole theme of pirates, ninjas, chickens, etc. has been entirely played out, not just in a first setting, but just in general. I like ohms, it feels more original of a use, and the resistor code thing is really cool. I would caution you not to change to something like ninjineers, because in a few years, it's just going to feel dated. if you really want to change something, keep the ohms part, but I really think you have a good name already.
Agreed. I absolutely love my team name, Westside Boiler Invasion, because its kind of hard to say what it is. You can't hold a boiler invasion, and you can't really visualize it. But it definitely sticks out more than the usual "tech-gear-guys" or the "Ninja-monkey-chicken-bots".
I like a name that has some incorporation of Ohms, OP, but if you really want to change it, nows the time. You could do something with the region you're in, ex. Westside is the "slang" name of our school west lafayette high school, and we are right next to Purdue University, the Boilermakers.
If you want some inspiration, run through the team list on the blue alliance (www.thebluealliance.com/teams).Try to go for something unique, like 16 (Bomb squad), 449 (The Blair Robot Project) or 51 (wings of fire). As great as teams are like 148 and 118, team names with "robo", no offense, are getting quite old. (But obviously at the time of creation of their team, "robo" wasnt too old yet.)
Good Luck,
-Duke
P.S. If i got to choose your team name, i'd go "Electromotive Force". Its got a cool ring to it.

[James Tonthat]

When we were changing our team name, we were looking at lot at how our team would grow from being recognized on a local level to a national level. Our name before the change was "Northside Roboteers" which didn't make sense once we got to Champs. "Texas Torque" is our new name and at least places us on a geographic area.

We had a lot of good and bad history with Northside Roboteers, a couple bad years, then a couple good years but we decided that our team would be a lot more recognizable with a name change. At first there was a bit of "I remember you being called something else last year" from other teams but this year, I haven't heard anything about it. Our team is actually a lot more united, a lot more team pride, alumni support is higher since they identify with it more.

A lot comes with a name and I think what made a successful name change for us was a good name, cool logo, and some good performance.

Good luck with your name change, I hope I was helpful.

[Bill_B]

If you want to keep the name and be funny, you could change the emblem to put Buddha or some guy in a yoga pose in the middle of the Ohm symbol. I would laugh pretty hard at that. It may take a while for people to catch on, but it's good when you get it.
Chris, I was thinking of the Preying Mantras and their chant. O-o-o-o-o-hmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Resistance might still be futile, who knows?

[EricH]

You could always try adding something catchy to "Ohm" to make the name stand out. The list below should get you started...

--Outlaw Ohms
--Ohm's Lawyers
--Ninja Ohms

Then you come up with a catchy slogan/motto, a memorable logo, or something similar. Think of what 1902 did--unique name, very unique chant, and cool logo. Now they're known all over the place. OK, so they do have pretty darn good robots, but what people remember them for is the "Oink Oink BOOM!" chant (or their name, or logo, or orange-and-white shirts).

[Sayrah]

Jane Young asked for the Bacon story, so here goes. Now I wasn't actually present for the event, buy my son was as were several of the others who read the forum. They can correct me or fill in the details if I get them wrong, lol.

Team 1902 formed late in the registration period for the 2005-2006 season and had several members and mentors that had participated in FIRST before so they knew the importance of image and marketing. The name that was the top runner from the candidates was Organized Chaos (which by the way, would have been a very fitting name for the personality of the team, lol). During a team meeting at the Austin house, they sought the wisdom of the internet and found a team random name generating website. The first name generated was the now infamous Exploding Bacon. At the time, they laughed about it, pulled up a few more random names, but drifted back toward Organized Chaos. During the week one of the mentors that was present during the meeting, mentioned the random name generator and Exploding Bacon to her mother, an artist. Her mom drew the pig on the rocket and it was shown to the team at the next gathering. As the saying goes, it was all over but the chanting. The chant was the brainchild of Mike Walker the week of the Florida Regional.

Exploding Bacon was associated with a local high school their first year, but sought a 5013C umbrella outside of the public school system their second year. After consulting with 1501 and the 4-H agent in Indiana and Orlando, they became a 4-H club in Jan 2007 and the 4-H Exploding Bacon Robotics club was formed. The selection of the Exploding Bacon name and the pig on the rocket logo had nothing to do with being a 4-H club; must have been fate.

While a cool name, I can't imagine what a logo or a chant would be for Organized Chaos. There really is a lot to be said for putting some thought into your team's name and logo. Oink Oink...

Sarah

[Ryan Caldwell]

While a cool name, I can't imagine what a logo or a chant would be for Organized Chaos. There really is a lot to be said for putting some thought into your team's name and logo. Oink Oink...

Sarah

Leader- 3...2...1...
Group- "Incoherent yelling"
Leader- Good!!!! Next verse
Group- "Team #"
Leader- Common get it right!!! Next Verse
Group- "Incoherent yelling"

[Chris_Elston]

The selection of the Exploding Bacon name and the pig on the rocket logo had nothing to do with being a 4-H club; must have been fate.
Sarah

Naw...I don't view the name as "fate". I think what is MORE IMPRESSIVE, is the fact that 1902's team number is the year 4-H was founded. And you can even buy 4-H Bags with 1902's number on your bag.

http://www.4-hmall.org/Product/clubsupplies-bags-totes/CSGS.aspx

That's "Fate"....

[Al Skierkiewicz]

How about "Ohm's Law"?!?

[JesseK]

If you ever think a name is dumb or silly, think about this.

Back in 1976, I'm pretty sure that the 3 kids who named their company after a fruit were scoffed at, made fun of, and otherwise ignored. Now they have one of the highest market caps in the history of the stock market. The brand is so easily recognizable if someone randomly said the name you'd wonder whether they were talking about the fruit or the company. While many people disagree with their philosophy on products (I don't think they're the best products 'ever') most would agree that their recent business strategies around their brand are dead-on correct.

Honestly, you could name your team "Orange" or "Banana" (I think Apple isn't allowed at this point...); the name itself has nothing to do with the drive, motivation, and eventual success you'll have.

[JaneYoung]

Oink Oink...


BOOM!


Thank you, Sarah. (If one were to follow 1902 for a year, the documentary that would result would be an explosion of organized chaos.)

Jane

[Ryan Himmelblau]

Actually back in 1992 our school district's team was named the MotoCats and it was based at wheeling high school. It wasn't until the team died for a year and then was picked up at rolling meadows high school that we became Wildstang. All in all I think Wildstang sounds waaaaay cooler than Motocats. If you don't like the name you have right now there's no shame in wanting to change it, just try to find a name that everyone on the team is happy with and that you can continue to use for years to come.

[Triple B]

The Pink Team was originally Space Coast Robotics.
Seems we have always been known as The Pink Team and then in 2006 when we helped start a team @ Space Coast High School and it was only logical for them to be Space Coast robotics, we officially changed our name.
In 2008, Team 1875 found their own identity and changed their name to Purple Haze.
I personally like the "Ohm" thing.
mike d

[JesseK]

Speaking of PINK, they have an interesting story of how they chose their new name. It's no longer findable on their website, but the internet archives have a copy you can wade through (http://web.archive.org/web/20090403085530/http://pinkdev.thepinkteam.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=1). It's an enjoyable read.

[Wayne Doenges]

How about a play on words that Al suggested?
Ohm's Law - Ohm Slaw :D