All right. It’s hammer time!
Today’s the last day I shall be at ye olde daye jobbe. Tomorrow, due to a technicality, I’m not self-employed. Then we’re going to Oregon for the weekend. And when I get back, I shall be working for the worst boss in the world:
And the second-worst:
And that means I shall have to have a business name. It will mostly be for the non-writing bits: the rocky gifts based on geologic puns, the endless stuff with my images upon it,
Now, some of you have already made suggestions. Some of you made lots of suggestions. Now it’s time for you to pit those suggestions against each other. Ruthlessly eliminate those which don’t meet your incredibly high standards. And, if new ones pop into your head, give ’em to me. This is an elimination round, but the competition is not yet exclusive!
All right, here’s the list. Cast your votes for the ones that make it to Round 2!
1. Tequila is the Bedrock
2. Rock On
3. The Rock and the Hard Place
4. The Rock and the Soft Place
5. Vucanovia, the Place for All Things Eruptive
6. Gneiss Schist
7. The World is Made of Rock
8. Tectónica
9. Sierra Madre
10. Las Entrañas de la Tierra (Earth’s Entrails)
11. Xisto
12. Granito
13. Marble
14. Pinatubo
15. Lava
16. Quartzo
17. Feldspato y Mica (the composition of granite)
18. Subducción
19. La Presea Azul
20. Thinking Outside the Rox
21. Thinking Inside the Rox
22. A Stone’s Throw…
23. Richter Sales
24. Kitties Rock!
25. Dana Rocks (or Dana’s Rocks)
26. Hunterite Accretions
27. Tequila Rocks
28. Dana Hunter
29. Sewing Unconformity
30. Geology Rocks!
31. Geoveras
32. Hunter on the Rocks
33. Lodestones
34. En Tequila Es Verdad
35. Sedimentary Sentiments
Of the ones in the list, I like “The Rock and the Soft Place” best, but “Sedimental Journey” and “It’s All Dana’s Fault” seem like possibilities.
I hope you have a great time and make a gazillion dollars in the process.
as a geologist, I personally like Gneiss Schist. But so many can’t even imagine how to pronounce it.
I also like The rock and the soft place.
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (An old Jayne Mansfield movie)
Of those on the list, I think I’d just stick with your established brand, ETEV.
The two that catch my notice are…
A Stone’s Throw
and
Geology Rocks!
Can you use Rosetta Stones, or is that exclusive to SciAm?
Gneiss Schist is far and away the best, but, like hexidecima says….
And as much as I like to use Spanish salted into my English, I kind of agree with whoever suggested minimizing its use in a business name. If you were in Santa Fe or Mission, Texas that might be different – but you’re not.
I like “A Stone’s Throw” and “Sowing Uncomformity”.
I don’t like Lava; too plain.
I Lava Kitties?
OK, responding to the original request, I’m voting the following off the island. Or iceberg.
1. Tequila is the Bedrock
3. The Rock and the Hard Place
5. Vucanovia, the Place for All Things Eruptive
8. Tectónica
9. Sierra Madre
10. Las Entrañas de la Tierra (Earth’s Entrails)
11. Xisto
12. Granito
13. Marble
14. Pinatubo
17. Feldspato y Mica (the composition of granite)
18. Subducción
19. La Presea Azul
26. Hunterite Accretions
29. Sewing Unconformity
33. Lodestones
Note: I’ve probably messed this up. It’s surprisingly difficult to paste in a list and then delete only the items you like!
I like Tectónica, as well as Gneiss Schist, while recognizing the pronunciation issues with the latter. For reasons mentioned by others, I would steer clear of too much Spanish, and I would also caution against anything lengthy, or too clever, as you will get tired of it.
20. Thinking Outside the Rox
But correctly spelled, please, as “Thinking Outside the Rocks”
I like Dana Rocks because it has many meanings for “rocks,” as in “hard geologic things” but also “does many things in a spectacular way.” It also gets your first name out there regularly.
What about “Hunter of Rocks”?
I also like Tectonica (too lazy to do the accent), though many won’t understand it; it just has a nice mouth feel (umami).
Best of luck all round.
Lindig (of Lin Digs Books haha)
As the nominator of #6, Gneiss Schist, you know where my sympathies lie. However I’d like to throw some love to:
4. The Rock and the Soft Place
26. Hunterite Accretions
30. Geology Rocks!
35. Sedimentary Sentiments
Actually, all the suggestions were very good and inspiring. You’ve got a tough job, Dana! :D
I personally like gniess schists. I wanted to suggest Rock Hunter but I guess I’m too late for that. Have you checked these names out to make sure you can use them ie they’re not copyrighted ? I think I’ve seen Rock On before with other things.
I’ve been thinking of you today and hoping all is going well for you. Good luck on everything. You rock !!!
I like
5. Vucanovia, the Place for All Things Eruptive (mostly because of the strapline)
16. Quartzo (because it also conjures up quarto, which will make it more suitable for selling your non-geological writings too)
20. Thinking Outside the Rox (because I can’t resist a bad pun, and this one’s comprehensible to non-geologists too, so you’ll be able to capture beginners easier and suck them into more complicated geology puns later)
22. A Stone’s Throw… (simple and catchy, as long as it’s not so simple and catchy that it’s been done before)
29. Sewing Unconformity (I like this, but if you want the geology to be the main focus, and you don’t want two brands, it may not work to attract your key customers)
30. Geology Rocks! (also catchy, will be great when this leads to your own tv show)
32. Hunter on the Rocks (keeps the boozy sense of ETEV, without the linguistic barriers for selling, while also identifying you and your main business – clever)
35. Sedimentary Sentiments (alliteration makes me happy, what can I say?!)
8. Tectónica
11. Xisto
16. Quartzo
18. Subducción
19. La Presea Azul
20. Thinking Outside the Rox
22. A Stone’s Throw…
25. Dana Rocks (or Dana’s Rocks)
26. Hunterite Accretions
28. Dana Hunter
31. Geoveras
32. Hunter on the Rocks
33. Lodestones
34. En Tequila Es Verdad
35. Sedimentary Sentiments
I like En Tequila Es Verdad, but if you’re trying to differentiate from this blog, Hunter on the Rocks was my next pick.
I assume whatever name is selected will be the name on the store sign. Thus it should be short and easy to say and remember. Someone reporting a nearby fire should be able to say the store name after calling 911.
2. Rock On
22. A Stone’s Throw…
23. Richter Sales
30. Geology Rocks!
32. Hunter on the Rocks
Dana Hunter Proprietor (On store sign this is the second line)
Of the 5 I like 30 and 32 somewhat more than the first 3.
A Stone’s Throw
Richter Sales
Gin and Tectonic