Naming a network: help sought from native English speakers

[Franco Mercalli]

Hi everybody,

A customer of mine is setting up a Ning network dedicated to small businesses (one where business owners and enterpreneurs can do networking, look for partners/cutomers/suppliers, ask/pose questions relating to running their business, and the like...)

My next task is to help him to find an appropriate English naming for this network.

First issue is that I'm not native English speaker and I'm actually rather poor at the language.

Secondly, to make things worse, for some reason we have to stick to a naming for which the acronym "OF" holds. This is a tough constraint.

I have no clue.

Below is a preliminary list of proposals from my customer himself, but none of them is fully convincing to us.

I hope some fellow NCs here could help a bit...

Thanks in adavance to anyone taking the time to read!

=== current proposals ===

OnFirm.net

OnFirm.biz

OpenFirm.net

OpenFirm.biz

OwnerFriend.com

OwnerFriend.biz

OwnerFriend.net

OpenFornet.biz

Other possibilities:

O = On, Over, Open, Opportunity...?

F = Future?

[Franco Mercalli]

Yes, that's another interesting line of thinking.

Thanks Tat for your suggestion!

[Franco Mercalli]

Thanks Sirutti,

what does exactly mean "flos" in overflos.com?

[Nor Cal Social Media]

Hello Franco,

How about that Italy vs. Spain match?!

In your case, without question, my recommendation is:

Officine Italian Innovation Network

Best,

Anthony

[Stygo Alphamatt]

Hi Franco,

i don't know if you found a solution to the naming  issue?I came across this post last week and i downloaded the matrix but really did not get anything good enough. I was busy so i had no time to run on it and since yesterday i have more time. I went through everything and this a place for small Business owner
, the secret of getting a good name is that it has to short and catchy and precise to what the network is all about.

From all the suggestions here the one that really hooked on my  Medulla Oblongata  is the suggestion from Tat Ruck  " Open for Business" cos it is very catchy and if you are bold enough, you can shorten it to " Open ForBiz" hence the network will be in English any one that understands English will get the point.

I tried to provide more alternatives so i googled all Business Terms that starts with O & F, but i found nothing that matches, that is catchy and describes you network. The only match i found is "Open Fifo" sounds catchy but FIFO is an abbreviation used in the office storage and means "First in, First out" Hence storage is the lowest part of the office, i was not satisfied. So this morning i as i woke up i was thinking. I came about to more suggestions. a) "Owners Forum" i considered it OK, but to me forum is like more of a blogging issue. What else do we have "Office Front" sounds good too and is catchy but Front makes it more military that people might get confused, so b) i decided to pacify it a bit by adding "line" to it thus making it "Office Frontline" which i think is short, catchy enough and straight to the point about the / your oncoming network.

If something else crosses my Head i will drop it down, at the moment that's all i got, so i hope it is a help no matter little. Wish you the Best.

Big up

Stygo

[Franco Mercalli]

Hi Stygo,

Thank you for your detailed answer for the time you spent on it.

This is really invaluable help, as you also explain the reasoning behind each proposal.

It is so difficult for a non-motherlanguage person to figure out these issues.

I will definitely build on your ideas!

Thanks again,

Franco

[Stygo Alphamatt]

i made 3 suggestions

"Open for Business" which i adapted from Tat or the shortened Form of it "Open Forbiz"

Or "Office Frontline" which i found most adequate. I have somebody who speaks perfect italien to explain it to you if needed, if i have time and you need it then let me know. I know it is not easy when you don't speak the language

Goodluck

[Nor Cal Social Media]

Wow! You are seriously NOT considering my recommendation?!! I will qualify my suggestion then. Unbelievable! Nothing personal to you or to the rest of the helpful answers here, but the other ideas or terrible in comparison and your client will be doing a disservice to himself for not going with my idea. I don't care if you choose it, or if you like me, but do not go with anything random that does not have quality and class or you are not going to have very much of a network. Almost anything would be better- maybe you should consider Ostridge Found!

So, to qualify my first suggestion- Officine Italian Innovation Network...

The reason you have to stick with OF in the first place is because your client's current network is http://www.officineinnovazione.it/ or Officine Italiane Innovazione. It is a very nice site and the need for an english derivation is clearly due to success with this concept. The OF logo is no doubt in reference to Officine...which in Italian translates to something like Workshop- or more meaningfully Network.

So what your client has is Italian Innovation Network. Not only can you build on that branding and SEO, but you will communicate the value proposition clearly to your intended target market far better than any of these other suggestions. In fact, anything else will be misleading. If you want something that sticks to an English speaking business audience then Officine as Italian for Network. It is unique, catchy, interesting, and proprietary. Then tagline it as Italian Innovation Network and you are done...your client now has an english version of Officine Italiane Innovazione that makes sense.

So once again-

In your case, without question, my recommendation is:

Officine Italian Innovation Network

Best,

Anthony

[Franco Mercalli]

Sorry, Anthony.

In fact, I thought I did not understand your recommendation as the name was so close to the original one.

So in essence you would maintain the first word of the original name and translate the rest. That in fact is interesting. One question: does the word "Officine" reminds some concept in English, or is just a nice foreign term? E.g. in Italian it stands for workshop, as you say, but in spanish it sounds more like "Office". What about English?

And what about Italy vs. Spain match?

Are you linked to Spain in some way?

Would Spain win Euro212 too?

[Nor Cal Social Media]

Hi Franco,

Yes, the first word of the original name would be an outstanding approach in my professional opinion, and would be easy to overlook when trying to come up with a translated version.

I am American, but I thought Italy has shown well in the tournament- especially after the U.S. beat them earlier this year. Holding Spain off as they did could be considered an upset, even though Italy is traditionally one of the best. They also should have won their last game if it were not for a late break of concentration. If I understand, they still have a chance after two draws, so best luck!

Anthony

[Stygo Alphamatt]

Anthony, it is not all bout you or your ego, this is suppose to be network in English language.

Officine Italian Innovation Network  wont appeal to English people, cos it is not only about italian.

he wanted something short and has on this Beginning with O & F nothing more, and i don't think you English is good enough

And Spain wont win, no country has won twice in a row.

me am just here to help, cos when am looking for help i would like to get one, no Ego, no crying and no begging for my suggestion to be taken, when i help i make my time, cos i researched before i offer.

So please Franco, take Anthony's suggestion :-) so he could be happy.

Ostidge found is not a good joke, it is just not being serious dude. people make such silly funs when their Ego is on their way, if you want to stand up for you suggestion then give a good stand, tell us why it is the best suggestion but stop being so hard to yourself, this is just a help, nothing more.

I don't care if my suggestion is taken or not, just hope more people with come with similar or better suggestions

have fun

[Nor Cal Social Media]

Lol! Stygo, nice jab! Nobody can put me down for ego here on Ning Creators. All I do here is offer thoughtful selfless advice!

I offered disclaimer my criticism of the other ideas as nothing personal. I thought along those lines quite a bit before posting and shot down most of my own ideas with the same criticism. My original suggestion wasn't at the expense of any others, and I stand by my qualification.

Now while I do have my own sense of humor, a rather bold personality at times, and am generally not apologetic, ANYONE can put their foot in their mouth from time to time, and comments like yours help to keep us all honest. Sometimes I complain too and I know it can come across as a bitcheesy. So thanks, it's cool.

Love,

Anthony

[Stygo Alphamatt]

Yo Anthony,

you are welcome, just came across what you wrote to the reptile guy

Everything you said was straight to the point and i gained some experience there, only i don't like snakes or creepy things so i won't write there. If i ever come across a snake it is either dead or not in my near. When i was a teen i killed many, just hunting and killing them with stones, sticks and sometimes bare hands, now i know what saving nature means so i keep away from them, they keep away from me, but what you said was not only for the reptile guy, it could also be applied to any network, thats when i start respecting people.

I have learned not to bash anymore, but am one person that will tell you straight and direct what i think, no compromising and i try to remain polite, most times i succeed but sometimes not so much, am not perfect, nobody is.  I apologize when i fell i was completely wrong or sometimes just to save other peoples feeling, cos most people are not that physiological tough & rough But if am sure of what am talking i don't apologize even when the rest of the world plus Jesus will be standing. If they convince me with reason & Arguments, i will do apologize, if not i will stand my point no matter what it takes or cost me^^.

To

Thank for turning around.

Big up