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So You Want To Be A Thingnamer - Or At Least Talk With Them…

February 2, 2007 | Tate Linden
You may think that I'm gonna write on the topic of what it is like to be a Thingnamer. But you'd be wrong.

Nancy Friedman over at Away With Words said a whole lot today about what it takes to be a namer.

Of particular interest are the items she points out as keys to successful naming. They include word lust, perfect pitch, a specialty, nuts and bolts, brand smarts, story savvy, and persistence.

My favorite (and one that I often find missing in names developed by internal teams) is...
Story savvy. Creating a great name is one thing; selling it to the client is another. Persuasive naming requires storytelling skills. How does the name express the company's personality? What does the name say about the product's benefits? Where does the name come from, what does it mean, what can it stand for over time?
Well worth a read if you're interested in a career in naming.

Also of note: We're going to try an experiment for a few months by starting up a discussion board here at Thingnamer. There's currently no forum for experts to interact. Yes - there are MarketingProfs and Wordlab - but they're more focused on the exchange of information between experts and novices rather than encouraging interaction between the experts themselves.

I've of course assumed that Thingnamers actually want to interact with each other... I'm actively looking for guidance as to what types of topics and boards you'd like to see. Just tell me here. (We're not known for our technical skills, so if you ask us to add nifty graphic effects, change the colors, or do anything that takes skill in things other than, well, naming... it'll probably take us a while.)

But we're gonna give it our best effort...

Tate Linden 703-778-9925

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Comments (3)
3 Comments
Nancy Friedman February 2, 2007 2:30 PM

Thanks for the plug, Tate! I tried linking to the discussion board and got a message about a "template parse error," a wonderful and mysterious phrase but not what I was seeking.

Tate Linden February 2, 2007 4:58 PM

Hmm...
I'm not having issues loading the discussion board and thus can't duplicate your problem. You can't load it at all? Or just trying to link to it isn't working?
I think the link I used is "http://www.stokefire.com/discussion/"

Rachel Pastirik from Netdrafter February 3, 2007 11:20 PM

Hi Tate,

I'm seeing the parse error that Nancy is seeing as well. Simply put, a parse error is something wrong with the code's syntax. (Failing to cross all t's and dot all i's, in programming terms.) Before a programming page can be loaded in a browser window, the code is scanned for these types of errors. If none are found, the page loads normally. If there is an error however, you'll see either a somewhat cryptic error message, or a nicer one like what Nancy and I am experiencing. From the error message, it looks like your script is having trouble calling in a project template file. This could be caused by a number of things including incorrect code or a missing/corrupt template file. Please let me know if I can be of assistance in fixing the error.

Have a great day!

Rachel Pastirik