What's in a Name?

[Wayne Doenges]

Our team is having an identity crisis. The students feel that our name (THRUST) brings up certain derogatory connotations, from their peers, and the want to change our name.
We have been around 4 years and I feel we have built up a solid reputation as Team THRUST. How does the FIRST community feel?
Are we recognized?

[flyingcrayons]

i can see what the students mean. Stick with aviation theme though. it really worked for you, so maybe a minor tweak won't hurt.

[ebarker]

take a piece of paper, a pencil and a group of people and go over it.

write down two columns, pro and con, and starting putting items under each heading. Keep collecting the pro and con comments. it will likely become obvious where the net gain will be, keyword being 'net-gain'.

[Scott Carpman]

Please don't change the name. THRUST is synonymous with monocoque fabrication, excellence in rivetting, an outstanding forklift design, and friendly students and mentors.

While you may want to change it, remember your established brand name and the subsequent confusion that will come next year with a different identety. Teams at BMR will possibly wonder "Where's THRUST?", "Did Manchester recycle #1501 this offseason", etc.

After your team finsihed Ed Barker's list of pros and cons within the team, try and have other Indiana teams do the same for you. I'm sure the pros will far outweight the cons and you will keep the THRUST name alive.

[Qbranch]

Don't get rid of THRUST... it's a great name and goes great with your guys awesome method of monocoque robot construction and it's aviation heritage.

People's minds invariably hop in and out of the gutter all day long, and I'm sure if people look around urban dictionary typing in different parts of team names you'll find tons of them can have a 'negative connotation' as you so politically correctly put it.

As a note, personally whenever I reference you guys in conversation (which seems to happen a lot ) I almost always say 'blah blah blah 1501 blah blah' not 'blah blah Team THRUST blah blah blah'. But, none the less, please don't change your team name.

-q

[vivek16]

I definitely recognize THRUST. I would not change it one bit.

-Vivek

[Molten]

THRUST is a great name. I agree with most of the others who have posted, keep it. My team name is Temper Metal. However to the rest of the school, we are just known as "the robotics team". This might be a way to keep the name and get rid of the connotation about the school. Just a suggestion. Hopefully you can find something that the team can agree on.

Side Note: There are only a few kids on our team who have been around since the beginning of our team. Most of the team doesn't know the origins of our team name or why we chose it. However, our team keeps it's name. I kind of think it might be out of respect to the graduated members that helped to teach them what they know. It might be that they just like the name. But personally, I think it is partly both. Hopefully you can all come to a decision that you can all agree on.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Qbranch

People's minds invariably hop in and out of the gutter all day long, and I'm sure if people look around urban dictionary typing in different parts of team names you'll find tons of them can have a 'negative connotation' as you so politically correctly put it.

And that's the case with most everything; there are people that will twist around anything.

My advice: You've built a solid brand as Team T.H.R.U.S.T. I'd want a lot more than teenagers with warped minds to trigger a change of name.

[Protronie]

Originally Posted by Qbranch

Don't get rid of THRUST...
People's minds invariably hop in and out of the gutter all day long, and I'm sure if people look around urban dictionary typing in different parts of team names you'll find tons of them can have a 'negative connotation' as you so politically correctly put it. -q

Originally Posted by Billfred

And that's the case with most everything; there are people that will twist around anything.

My advice: You've built a solid brand as Team T.H.R.U.S.T. I'd want a lot more than teenagers with warped minds to trigger a change of name.

Please don't give into the PC weenies... and don't mess with your teams identity. Yous have built up a good reputation with that name and your teams image so stick with it. As others have said... there will always be some that will twist anything around. Just tell them to get their minds out of the gutter.

FYI: Kentucky Fried Chicken is going through just this kind of thing. They first changed the name to KFC and now cause "fried is unhealthy" in some minds. They are changing the name again to Kentucky Grilled Chicken. But keeping the fried chicken as their major product. Just sit back and watch their sales go further down and the scramble for another name.

-p

[Libby K]

This may sound hypocritical coming from the captain of a team that changed its name for 2008, but keep THRUST. A few kids with their minds in the wrong places shouldn't mess with your team's identity. You have built a solid, well known name for yourself and changing it might get confusing, as others before me have said.

Only my $0.02.

[IndySam]

THRUST is a great name but I personally always think of you as 1501.

[AdamHeard]

keep the name, people know you.

[wendymom]

I have to agree with everyone and say don't change your identity because of a few small minded people.

I always remember you because you are the original 4-H team, and great people to boot.

[DUCKIE]

THRUST is part of who the team is now in many minds (even the dirty ones) and I do not feel that you should change your team's name.

However, if the students still feel uncomfortable, you might look into adding to in in such a way that is meaningful, and makes students more comfortable.

Such as... Ion THRUSTers, THRUST Capacitors, or Turbo THRUST


(cheesy I know, but the best I could do with so little sleep.)

[lingomaniac88]

I would not have tried to associate your name with anything dirty. If the announcers, emcees, etc. say something that sounds dirty, then you should change it. If not, don't. It's JUST A WORD. You can associate any word with something dirty if you tried, although I will admit it's easier to do with some words than others.

If your teammates don't feel comfortable with its connotations, change it. But if not, keep it. Personally, I would keep it.