A rose by any other name

When I left to go on leave a couple of weeks ago I was working for Recreation and Heritage, but when I returned I found out that R&H was, like Monty Python’s parrot, deceased and no more, and I was now working for Culture, Community and Rural Affairs or as we now must abbreviate it CCRA.

There already a number of organisations using these initials…including the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, Cowboy Calf Roping Association, California Court Reporters Association and my favourite Certified Catastrophe Risk Analyst and surely no likelihood of confusion there.

Most of us are not good at change. It upsets our routines and unsettles us. But gradually we get used to things and it becomes the new routine. For about two weeks after each change of hantsnet password I constantly attempt to logon with the old one… but like a new password I am now getting used to the new name for the department and trying to remember to use it. I still have to think when I say who I work for when speaking on the phone, and a surprising number of the calls I make to Mottisfont Court are are still answered Recreation and Heritage.

It got me thinking about product naming. There’s both art and science in selecting a product name. The private sector spends an inordinate amount of time and money, testing and reviewing new product names to ensure that they meet all the required criteria. Our name change describes the restructuring of the department along with the broadening areas of responsibility, and hasn’t gone through the rigourous testing process that a commercial organisation would have done.

Recreation and Heritage or R&H had a mellifluous quality… it was easy to say whereas Culture, Community and Rural Affairs doesn’t exactly trip off the tongue, adds more syllables and involves more complex mouth movements to say.

Perhaps it doesn’t really matter what we’re called? Maybe some of you have a better suggestion for a new name for the department! Let us know by commenting below!

Unfortunately the old name appears on hundreds of web pages, and the web team are going to have to find each one and change them one by one… not all pages need changing as amending a historical information such as an annual report has to refer to the old department name and not the new one.

We’re going to be slowly working through the website to replace the old with the new name… GIve us five or six weeks to work through, then I’d be grateful if you can let us know of any that we’ve missed! This time we have set up the system so that, if and when we again to a new name, a one click change will change it across all our web pages… but let’s hope it’s not too soon.