As I tweeted, my plan to write up Thursday’s DU-CSU game this weekend was scuttled by computer issues. I still plan to post something prior to Wednesday’s Alcorn State game. But for now, a rather different issue, from the annals of EPIC FAIL…
Back in October, when I started to work on my U. of Denver basketball blog project, I tweeted a request for possible blog names. My initial thought was “The Pioneer Post,” but I wanted to see what other ideas folks had. Some suggestions were made, both here and on Twitter, but I didn’t like any of them better than “The Pioneer Post.” Yet I still wasn’t in love with that name, so two weeks later, I was still seeking suggestions. Finally, after yet another week passed, I settled on my original idea, “The Pioneer Post,” and announced that would be the name.
One thing I didn’t do was Google the name to see if anyone else was using it for a DU blog. The thought frankly never occurred to me, because University of Denver sports get so little attention that I just never imagined the name would already be “taken.” Alas. Had I Googled it, I would have discovered the existence of PioneerPost.com, whose masthead reads “Pioneer Post — Your source for Denver basketball news, analysis, and stats.”
Oops.
I discovered this during Thursday night’s game when, sitting on press row with my laptop, conversing with other reporters, I navigated, on a whim, to www.pioneerpost.com. I promptly tweeted: “I just discovered there is another site called ‘Pioneer Post’ covering #DU basketball. I literally had no idea til just now. #copyrightPANIC.” (Actually, I think #trademarkPANIC might have been more appropriate, but either way, #PANIC!)
The next day, I sent an e-mail to Pioneer Post, which is part of the StatSheet Network, through the StatSheet contact form. I explained the situation, and then wrote:
I want to absolutely assure you that I had no intention of imitating or copying your name; like I said, I had no idea your site existed. If I had known, I obviously would have picked a different name for my site. However, I’m loathe to change my site’s name NOW, since I’ve already been using it, and my readers have grown accustomed to that name. That said, if you want me to change my site’s name, I will. Just say the word.
At a minimum, I will certainly post something explaining what happened, and linking to your site, and I’ll add a permanent link to your site in my sidebar. Let me know how you want to proceed.
On Saturday, I got an e-mail back stating, “Thanks for the email. it is unfortunate that the sites are named the same, but if you want to keep the name you can definitely do so. I hope it doesn’t lead to reader confusion in the future. Regardless, more coverage of DU basketball is always a good thing!”
So, with permission from the prior owner to keep using the name, I should be in the clear, copyright/trademark-wise. But I’m torn about what’s the best course of action. For now, these are two relatively low-profile, low-traffic sites, but I could see the name situation becoming pretty awkward in the (probably unlikely) event that one or both “catches on” and takes off in the future. Granted, the sites are quite different — theirs is mostly stats-based and, I presume, robot-generated; mine, entirely narrative-based and human-generated. And the names are slightly different, in that mine contains the word “The.” But, uh, yeah. They’re pretty freakin’ similar, and that sucks.
At the same time, like I said in my e-mail to StatSheet, I hate to change the name now, having used it, been credentialed under it, etc. And perhaps most importantly, I don’t have a good alternative in mind. I like the alliteration of “The Pioneer P____.” I’d use “The Pioneer Press” except, well, that one’s in use too. And beyond that, nothing else springs to mind. Non-alliterative suggestions like “The Pioneer Express” and “The Pioneer Wagon” are OK, I guess, but I’m just not very enthusiastic about them.
Anyway, for now, I’ve added a link to the “other” Pioneer Post in my sidebar, as promised. But I still have a decision to make, and I should make it fairly soon. What do y’all think? Should I change the name? And if so, what should I change it to? Like I said, my preference would be “The Pioneer P____” but I’m open to something non-alliterative if it’s catchy. I’m even open, if absolutely necessary, to changing things completely and not starting with “The Pioneer,” but that’s a last resort unless the proposed name is really good.
UPDATE: I’ve renamed the blog “Pioneer Pulse.”
Call it, “The Real Pioneer Post”, or “The Post-Pioneer Post”, or “The Pioneer Post Post”, or “Pioneer Post Repeat Blog”, or … 😉
Pioneer Palantir
Its alliterative, it rhymes, its nerdy! Although honestly, the stats site is more nerdy, but I doubt they’ll change.
Lets see, some other alliterative ideas:
Pioneer Pulse (this might be good for the stats site if you can convince them to switch, its very statisticy sounding)
Pioneer Passport
Pioneer Pages
Pioneer Papers
Pioneer Pen
Pioneer Pod
Pioneer Penant
Pioneer Pitch (would be better for soccer/baseball admittedly)
Pioneer Prospect
Pioneer Poll (this would be a good one to suggest for the stats site too)
Pioneer Prophet
Pioneer Power
Pioneer Pravda (since you are a communist and all)
Pioneer Prattle
Pioneer Pio-news
Pioneer Net (not alliterative, but b-ball related)
Pioneer Pride
I’ll let you know if I think anymore.
Hmm….I like Pioneer Pulse. Question then becomes, “Pioneer Pulse” or “The Pioneer Pulse”?
If I definitely want to stick with “The,” The Pioneer Pages might be better. But that seems a little more boring than Pulse.
PioneerNet is used by DU’s IT department for wireless networks and whatnot, so I’ll probably stay away from that.
Pioneer Pride, I had thought of, but it seems a little too cheerleader-y for me. Not that I don’t cheer for DU in my posts, but I don’t want the very name of the site to be biased. 🙂 Also, since I’m not a DU student or alum, it might seem a little odd for me to be claiming “Pioneer Pride.”
Pioneer Prattle is funny, but probably not quite the image of at least semi-seriousness that I’m trying to project. Same with Pioneer Pravda and Pioneer Palantir, LOL. 🙂
Anyway, keep the suggestions coming, but the notion of changing the name to (The) Pioneer Pulse definitely has some potential appeal…
Uh-oh, what’s this?
That’s from February 2009, though, and I see no other references to “Pioneer Pulse.” Maybe it was discontinued, whatever it was? Or maybe it’s some sort of internal department newsletter? May have to ask my DU contacts, if I decide that I otherwise want to go with that name.
Serious suggestion at the end …
Hmmm … political (if it fits campus mood) …
Pioneer Progress
Pioneer Progressive
Homage to our current VP (and giving reference to the other site)
Pioneer Plagiarist
For not getting round to checking earlier
Pioneer Procrastinator
Depending upon how well the team(s) tend to do
Pioneer Pwnage
If you also do horoscopes
Pioneer Prescient
Pioneer Psychic
Since you will be giving out information
Pioneer Pass
Expressing strong support
Pioneer Passion
Pioneer Press Passion
Knight in Shining Armo(u)r
Pioneer Paladin
LRT-theme (goes with the mascot)
Pioneer Plushie
And, last (until more inspiration strikes), the serious suggestion
Pioneer Post Plus
since you are adding fleshing out to the stats …
Also Pioneer Pride might be taken by DU’s LGBT group 😉
It’s simple folks…..Pioneer Pulchritude….Rolls right off the tongue, too.
Seriously, at 0-4 with all double-digit losses and a pretty experienced team coming off after a 19-win season, I am, as many Pioneer fans are, somewhat shocked at the poor start of this year’s Pioneer squad. I hope Joe and his staff have tried to find a remedy for the ice cold second half starts, the lack of defensive grit and and uncharacteristically poor shooting. Fix those three things, and I think this DU team will be just fine.
If they can’t fix it, it’s going to be a long season.
Confirmed, Pioneer Pulse is an internal publication that’s no longer being published. Not a problem.
I can’t believe no one, myself included, has thought of the obvious suggestion/joke:
Pioneer PANIC!!!!
Especially in light of tonight’s events in the WAC, it seems appropriate…
Pingback: Tweets that mention A Pioneer predicament -- Topsy.com
It looks like you have settled on something that lets you keep your naming convention, but last night I thought of a different strategy: Take a literary tack and call the blog “O Pioneers!”
Pingback: RealTime - Questions: "Do you want to change your first name?"
Pingback: Aural Volume: Absolute Anxiety, In No Way Normal Air Flow
Pingback: car battery replacement
Pingback: man boobs