How NOT to Name Your Youth Group

Many thanks to Youth Specialties for choosing this post to trend on their Website, August 2014!

Here beginneth the rant…

Lts xart wiv da obViouz…. we’re not five year old delinquents and the s and t keys are not missing from our keyboards.

Starting names randomly with ‘X’ and misspelling words does not make the brand cooler or more ‘uth’ friendly. It just makes us look stupid and out of touch. Xube, Xcite, Xcel, Xnite, Xplode, Xtreme… these sound like adult shops, not youth clubs!

Then there are the fire metaphors. Ignite, flame, nflame, blaze, purge… I know we want to raise passionate young people but do we really want to raise pyromaniacs? I’m sure ignite sounds cool (just like the other fifteen thousand youth clubs with that name) but what is it we are insinuating the youth club does exactly? I know there is an argument for the Holy Spirit coming down in fire… but the consuming fire that the Bible talks about might not be the fun passionate experience we’re thinking of when we came up with the name.

Then of course we have the onomatopoeic names, the louder and more zappy the better. Surge, blast, blaze, boom.. it sounds like we’re selling high speed internet.

There is also our habit of putting ‘club’ (or worse ‘squad’) after everything – just in case we didn’t get that’s what it was. Bible club, Jonah club, God Squad etc.

Finally – when all other ideas are exhausted we just mix them up:
“Hey mate, you coming to the Xblaze klub tonight?” “No man, I’m at the zappy, flamers Xcite nite.” Awkward much?

So here’s some dos:

  • Spell properly!
  • Pick a name that represents who you are
  • Use words that reflect what the vibes and activities of your community look like
  • Be creative and think ‘outta-da-box… man’
  • Think longevity
  • Think easy to remember and brand adaptable
  • Think how it will translate to other generations
  • Think how it would look in other fonts
  • Get your youth group to help out (biggie!)
  • Try to aim slightly above the age group, not way below it
  • Look for something that can be spoken out loud without blushing or putting on an American accent
  • Think of something you can say without hand signals
  • Use words recognizable to people outside the Church
  • Think of community driven words and phrases…. rather than torture chamber driven words and phrases (strap in to da surge zone tonite!)

Get back to me (comment!) if you have any other ideas, or want to get some other horrible names off your chest!

Here endeth the rant.

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