Changing a team name

[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]

Originally Posted by 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).

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.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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!

[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/i...?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.

[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. It's an enjoyable read.