Team Names, Marketing, and Funny Name Stuff

[Mr_I]

Team 811 is the Cardinals, named after the school's mascot. This past year we had a whole team discussion on whether we should change the name to something more "robotic" (RoboCards, TechnoCards, etc.). After going round and round, it was decided to leave it Cardinals, since A) that's what we are known by, B) it brands us with our school, and C) there are already names similar to all of the other suggestions.
(A nearby team changed their name a few years back, and it took them ages before they got the automatic recognition that they had.)

[machetemonkey]

Well, 2009 season is our team's second year. The first year we were Deep Thought (hitchhiker's guide reference ftw!), and this year we're No Mythic. We figured it would be reasonable enough to change the name, seeing as how we have all of 4 returning members from our original 15 or so, and the rest are new. Also, as a sophomore team that wasn't particularly memorable in our rookie year, we didn't necessarily feel compelled to stick with the name. We do feel that after this year, we should be keeping our name (as whether or not we like it, most of us agree that it's decently catchy and memorable, as well as leading itself to decent branding. UNICORNS!!!!)

Also, name choosing is an ardous process for our team, as our school doesn't really represent itself much in sports, and always seems to have a random name (charter stars one year, fighting cranes the next, Great River Rapids the year after?). Therefore, we can't just choose our "school name" as most high schools can.

There's also the "professionalism" aspect of choosing our name. Our school has what is known as "idea lab" which is a conglomerate program of FLL, FRC, and the Lemelson-MIT Inventeams Program. Because we are such a small school, we work hard for minimal corporate sponsorship (thank you all sponsors!), and the leader for the Idea Lab program (our math teacher), believed we needed a name and branding that would make us look professional for sponsors. Therefore, "No Mythical Creatures in My Classroom!" was shortened to "No Mythic" which remains catchy and reasonably relevant to the inside joke that formed the original name, but would give us a more professional aura when presenting to potential sponsors.

My feelings on this "professional name" requirement were mixed. Part of me agrees, saying "if I were Medtronic or something, would I really want to be represented by *slightly childish team name X*?"

On the other hand, part of me disagrees, saying that most people have enough of an inner child and sense of humor to go along with a silly name, provided it isn't blatantly offensive (that and they seem to know they're dealing with high schoolers, and probably don't expect the most mature and professional names). If I had to sum up that particular opinion in one sentence, I'd say "Something like "Cheesy Poofs" shows that in a corporate sponsor's eyes, a great team is a great team, regardless of the name."

What do you guys think about professional names?


Anyways, RAMBLING RANT OVER!

I just sort of typed out everything I was thinking when I heard "team name."

[Stephen of REX]

My team is based in Dulaney High School, so when we registered we simply used 'Dulaney Robotics'.
Rookie year we mulled over the names, and eventually found REX, because it is latin for king, like our school mascot, the lion. A close second was
'Team ROFLCOPTER' (This is still available- I highly recommend it!). We have been REX ever since.

The benefit of having one short name is that your name and number go together. We usually 'REX 1727'. Sometimes an announcer will say
"...in the red on the far side of the field, its team 1727 REEEEX!"
Also in our school, non robotics students sometimes just say "hey Rex!" to get a REX member's attention.

Bottom line: find a memorable name and stick with it!