Name Suggestions

[Phoenix]

What should we call this organization? Please offer any suggestions you may have. Once we get a group agreed upon, we can poll the webhostdir and WHT communties at large and see what they think.

[Tommy]

H E O - Hosting Ethics Organization -
www.hostingethics.org

Hosting should be in the name but how about an alternative to 'Ethics'?

[ICS Canada]

I like tommy's name!Domain available?

Chris

[James]

I like Tommy's suggestion too,

Here are a couple more:

www.betterhostingbureau.org
www.hostingstandards.com (we already own this one)

[Tommy]

Yes Chris, it is available.

I was working to something that would also be pronounceable in it's short form. That would be a bonus if we could settle on something like that.

hostingstandards.com is also good domain name to represent the organization.

[Phoenix]

One of the main issues with the other two organizations that failed was they were web-based and didn't have a 'physical' presence. We've all seen how poorly pure-play dotcoms did over the past year, and by focusing on the domain name rather than the organization name, we may end up giving that impression.

Consumers and small-business owners (who comprise the largest part of our market) are very conservative and traditional and slow adopters of technology, they are the reason that the pure-plays didn't fly-these people aren't as 'wired' as some of us are-we are ahead of the rest of them in that regard. They are far more likely to be comfortable with a conservative and traditional sounding name, and they are likely to perceive it as having more credibility.

Also, by using names like hostingethics or hostingstandards, it gives a limited perception of the scope of the organization, although they'd be great for different areas of the organization, groups that are more focused on a particular aspect such as ethics, standards, mentoring, quality, etc.

My suggestion would be to use a more traditional style trade association name and then get the .org of the acronym

Association of Web Hosting Providers (awhp.org)
Web Hosting Providers Trade Association (whpta.org)
International Brotherhood of Web Hosting Providers (ibwhp.org)
International Association of Web Hosts (iawh.org)

[James]

I see your point, the others may have been a little to narrowly focussed.

I personally prefer:

Association of Web Hosting Providers (awhp.org)
International Association of Web Hosts (iawh.org)

[Phoenix]

Once we get the rest of the committee on the forum, we can get some more idears and set up us a poll and vote on the names.

[Tommy]

Association of Web Hosting Providers (awhp.org)
Web Hosting Providers Trade Association (whpta.org)
International Brotherhood of Web Hosting Providers (ibwhp.org)
International Association of Web Hosts (iawh.org)

These are indeed good names. It gives the perception of large. International in the name sounds good too.

here's another one:

International Federation of Hosting Providers

[James]

Originally posted by Phoenix
Once we get the rest of the committee on the forum, we can get some more ideas and set up us a poll and vote on the names.

I think the poll should be held on the private forums, or the other main forum members will wonder what the hell we're all talking about.

[Tommy]

Yeah, good point James.

Also we only want people who care to vote. We wouldn't want fortuitous browsing resulting in misleading results.

[Phoenix]

That's what I meant, a poll on this forum so that all the committee members can vote on the name, not out in the howling darkness filled with unconverted heathens.

International has to be part of it, because there are no borders or boundaries on the web.

Just on the committee so far, we've got the US, the UK, Canada and India represented. I'm not sure where Tommy hails from, Walt (pending) is in Austria, and so we are already an international group.

That reminds me, I need to dig out the profile questionnaire and post it so that we can see who we all are, where we are coming from, etc. I'll go first.

[Tommy]

I'm based in the UK, right behind James desk. I'll update my profile so we can all see.

I'll post my questionaire soon...

[Phoenix]

so the demographics, just of this committee, indicate that American Association of Web Hosting Providers would not be a good idea :D

[James]

I know we've talked this subject to death elsewhere on this forum, but only on the internet could you bring together people from US, UK, Canada, India and Austria in a single day!

Well done Phoenix!!!

[Phoenix]

Thanks, James. I've been involved in a lot of online communities over the past six years and their 'killer app' is bringing together people of like minds from all over the world who might otherwise be isolated from their peers.

[Sesran]

Professional Web Hosting Association

[Phoenix]

So far, we've got:

Association of Web Hosting Providers (awhp.org)
Web Hosting Providers Trade Association (whpta.org)
International Brotherhood of Web Hosting Providers (ibwhp.org)
International Association of Web Hosts (iawh.org)
International Federation of Hosting Providers (ifhp.org)
Professional Web Hosting Association (pwha.org)

we can also play with some combinations now that we have a variety of keywords,

International Association of Professional Web Hosting Providers
Federation of Web Hosts

etc.

[James]

Given the multi national group we're assembling, I like :

International Association of Web Hosts (iawh.org)
International Federation of Hosting Providers (ifhp.org)

[akashik]

how about the webtraders organization...

.. you know, the W.T.O catchy name and I'm sure I've heard it somewhere before... :D

I agree it needs to have an international edge to it - after all one reason people get online is to expose themselves to a worldwide audience. I've always found the BBB Online to be useless unless you're in the US. Outside that it's just a logo.

How about:
Union of International Webtraders
Worldwide Hosting Union
Internet Professional Association
Association of Certified Wehosters

I kind of like the union part of it as it denotes a bit more of a grass roots surge. After all it was the unions that broke the backs of the big guys to begin with...

Greg Moore

[Phoenix]

I agree on the International piece. I think that should be our lead word, as it defines the organization as being a global one-reflecting the global nature of the web hosting industry, and not the usual American this and American that.

One thing we want in a name is for the words contained in it to be as intuitive as possible and as positive as possible so that people can feel more comfortable with it. They need to instill trust.

Personally, I like the word union, but then i've both worked directly for a labor union (Providence Teachers Union, AFT Local #958), as well as had a number of them as clients. My pride and joy is an award I won from the AFL-CIO for a website I did (a real certificate handed out at the national convention, not just a logo to paste on the site). For most people, however, the word 'union' has some rather negative connotations. They think: mobsters, Jimmy Hoffa, threats, strong-arm tactics, strikes, picket lines, higher prices for goods.

In truth, the labor movement that I know is full of grass-roots organizing, aging hippies, ivory tower intellectuals and a great deal of idealism and energy-the cigar-smoking, threatening old guard is still there, but things have changed. The public's mind hasn't changed so they still see unions in a negative light.

I'm not sure about 'webtraders'. It's a great buzzword, but it could be defined as anyone who does any form of trade on the web, i.e. ecommerce. And we don't want any vagueness in our name. Older organizations like the American Kennel Club can get away with that, it's commonly known that the AKC is the only authorized organization in the US that can certify a dog as 'pedigreed'.

There is already an organization called the Association of Internet Professionals (trying to be all things to all people and failing miserably--to join you have only to use the Internet in some way in your working life-which means that most people qualify nowadays), so using the same name in a different order could cause confusion-and make the AIP a bit unhappy with us.

So, that leaves us with

International (word meaning association) of (what we want to define the name of our industry as)

or

International (what we want to define the name of our industry as)(word meaning association)


words meaning association:


Association
Federation
Organization
Trade Association
Trade Organization


definition of industry:


Web Hosts
Web Hosting Providers
Hosts
Hosting Providers


optional words:

Professional
Certified

Most trade organizations don't seem to require these last two words, the implication is there that the members are professionals and certified:

American Medical Association
American Dental Association
American Bar Association

[akashik]

Trade Association of Hosting Providers has a good ring for me.

and tahp.com is expired. Sadly it's a Net Sol registered domain so, you guessed it, 8 months later and it still hasn't dropped.

I'm still in favour of something that reflects the little guy though regardless. The current ones out there are all a little *twee* with their guilds and what not.

I think I'd rather be a part of something that brings up the notion of builders, teachers, and doctors rather than the Ivy League and old school ties. :)

Greg Moore

[Phoenix]

*twee* whazzat mean?

A couple of unions do use the word Guild in their name: The Newspaper Guild is the only one that comes to mind, but these are also rather old unions.

In determining what words to use in the name, image is an important concept.

Akashik said
I think I'd rather be a part of something that brings up the notion of builders, teachers, and doctors rather than the Ivy League and old school ties.

One thing that labor unions have is a very blue-collar image-even though some, like the American Federation of Teachers have no members with anything less than a bachelor's degree and a high percentage have masters degrees and there are more than a few doctorates. And the teachers have a high level of distaste for the fact that they are 'forced' to join a labor union in order to work.

Although it is fact a professional association, because it is part of the AFL-CIO, they consider it beneath them (except when they want something from their union, like mo' money, mo' money, mo' money, and suddenly they become very proud of their union). Teacher's unions are also about the least popular of all labor unions-especially when a strike or other labor action is going on.

The AMA has a very different image, not only do they control who can practice (or teach) medicine in this country, but they also are very prestigious, totally Ivy League and old school ties. The Bar Association is much the same. The ADA (because dentists do not have the same kind of status as MD's or lawyers in our society) has a less rarified, more hard-working image.