The following is a suggested change of name for UKNP.
We are potentially thinking of dropping the UK part of the title and simply changing it to 'European' or 'European Union' i.e ENP or EUNP.
This has been suggested because the UK part of the title is potentially limiting our appeal to the wider European community - the only way to test this would be to re-brand.
The Pro's and Con's of ENP v EUNP
ENP. This is simple and does not potentially aleinate Norway and Iceland. However, the .dots are all already taken so whilst we cannot be 'poached' we have no way in which to build 'brand' or at least redirect those names to this site. The ENP, in England, is already used for the English National Party; in the Netherlands it is the European Network of Police Women. Whilst the latter is harmless the former is off-putting (I'm Irish ). I personally think it doesn't roll of the tongue as well as EUNP.
EUNP. With EUPN we can protect our 'brand' and by purchasing thethe eupn.eu, .net and .co.uk domains. This stops 'poachers' and also allows web redirection. It may potentially alienate Iceland and Norway photographers but this may be simply overcome. It is easier to recognise the geography as the term 'EU' has a strong connitation.
I would have no objections to EUNP Tom, although i dought if it would make a major difference for potential non-UK newcomers, as the 'forum index' does state the word European alongside UKNP, as does NPN's home page.
However, i am obviously looking at this from an english perspective, and 'maybe' if i was from elsewhere in europe, it may feel more inviting if 'E' was incorperated into the abbreviation.
Possibly it is simply the language barriers that restricts larger numbers of other members of europe contributing, although probably not, as its usually the brits who seen to lack in this area
I would be completely comfortable with your suggestion.
Alan
Posted by Sean Bolton on October 8, 2006 at 3:30 PM
EUNP sounds good to me.
It would be good to get some more European wide input.
cheers
Sean
Posted by Adrian North on October 8, 2006 at 5:34 PM
Tom,
Another vote for EUNP
Adrian
Posted by David Kjaer on October 10, 2006 at 8:06 AM
My preference is for ENP as I don't think for one minute that anyone using the forum would even think of it's other uses and ENP sounds more user friendly to those European Countries outside the EEC/European Union.
David
Posted by Paul Gibbs on October 10, 2006 at 8:34 AM
Though i'm not an NPN member i dont have an issue with EUNP. But then again i dont have an issue with UKNP either...
My vote would be to stick with UKNP. I'll spare you all my thoughts on this idea.....someone might think I'm nationalistic or anti European or both and I'm not
I am detecting some resistance to the change of name , any more comments would be welcomed negative or positive.
PS This has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with networks.
Friday is the deadline..then the mods discuss.
Posted by Malcolm Muir on October 10, 2006 at 6:46 PM
I would welcome some wider European input and think that the UK prefix does, perhaps, put off some potential contributers. I agree that EUNP does have a bit more impact than ENP - perhaps we could take it the 'U' represents the second letter in Europe, rather than 'Union.' That way Norway, Iceland, Russia, Ukraine, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Moldavia, Byelorussia,and parts of Turkey, not to mention Dave, sitting out there in Switrzerland, could all feel part of the 'family.' Membership could be one of those EU pre-entry measures, like revaluing your currency and agreeing to destroy any vestiges of sustainable agriculture, etc.
I think it's a good idea, to change the name to EUNP. Even though I personally feel very welcome here, the forum has a very strong UK signature, and I would think it turns away some potential members.
I always wonder why we don't see more members (both here and on NPN) from the larger European countries, like France and Germany, - but I guess it's a about language. I do also believe that several countries have nature-photography forums in their own language.
Cheers, Helge
Posted by Ben Micklem on October 11, 2006 at 4:51 PM
I'm not a NPN Member, but I think EUropean Nature Photographers would be a good change. It seems odd to remain UKNP if we invite contributions from other Europeans.
Posted by Javier Martin on October 12, 2006 at 4:36 AM
I think we have two options: stick with UKNP and don't bother about expanding to a wider audience or change to EUNP and try to attract more participants.
As a European national I feel more comfortable with something on the line of EUNP. I don't think it necessarily excludes non European Union photographer because EU stands for Europe in general.
Again, I am not a paying member at the moment so take this only as a humble opinion.
Thanks,
Javier
Posted by Paul Schröder on October 12, 2006 at 6:40 AM
I think EUNP is a better name for the same reasons Helge gave.
The Mods have had our discussion and we have decided not to progress with the name change at this point in time, but we may return to it in the future.
The primary reason for this decision is that we feel that UKNP is a community and a good community. We value what we have, hence we feel an obligation to 'take' nearly all those who helped forge this community with us when changing. As a number of our members have some concerns about a name change we will stay with the status-quo. There is no point in fishing for more members whilst, potentially, disenfranchising current ones; the desired objective of such a change was growth.
That said we are still cognisant that we may be losing potential members due to our name, therefore we intend to make smaller alterations to the site to encourage those from outside the UK to join.
For those members that voted for a change this decision wasn't a lighty taken, easy, or a unanimous one.
Discussion
17 repliesWe are potentially thinking of dropping the UK part of the title and simply changing it to 'European' or 'European Union' i.e ENP or EUNP.
This has been suggested because the UK part of the title is potentially limiting our appeal to the wider European community - the only way to test this would be to re-brand.
The Pro's and Con's of ENP v EUNP
ENP. This is simple and does not potentially aleinate Norway and Iceland. However, the .dots are all already taken so whilst we cannot be 'poached' we have no way in which to build 'brand' or at least redirect those names to this site. The ENP, in England, is already used for the English National Party; in the Netherlands it is the European Network of Police Women. Whilst the latter is harmless the former is off-putting (I'm Irish
EUNP. With EUPN we can protect our 'brand' and by purchasing thethe eupn.eu, .net and .co.uk domains. This stops 'poachers' and also allows web redirection. It may potentially alienate Iceland and Norway photographers but this may be simply overcome. It is easier to recognise the geography as the term 'EU' has a strong connitation.
What do you say? ENP, EUPN, or don't change?
Answers before Friday the 13th please.
"The Mods"
However, i am obviously looking at this from an english perspective, and 'maybe' if i was from elsewhere in europe, it may feel more inviting if 'E' was incorperated into the abbreviation.
Possibly it is simply the language barriers that restricts larger numbers of other members of europe contributing, although probably not, as its usually the brits who seen to lack in this area
I would be completely comfortable with your suggestion.
Alan
It would be good to get some more European wide input.
cheers
Sean
Another vote for EUNP
Adrian
David
John
I am detecting some resistance to the change of name
PS This has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with networks.
Friday is the deadline..then the mods discuss.
Cheers
Malcolm
Phillip.
Thats a very good suggestion about the Letter U, adopted with pleasure.
EUropean Nature Photographers
I always wonder why we don't see more members (both here and on NPN) from the larger European countries, like France and Germany, - but I guess it's a about language. I do also believe that several countries have nature-photography forums in their own language.
Cheers, Helge
As a European national I feel more comfortable with something on the line of EUNP. I don't think it necessarily excludes non European Union photographer because EU stands for Europe in general.
Again, I am not a paying member at the moment so take this only as a humble opinion.
Thanks,
Javier
Paul
NL/Rotterdam
The Mods have had our discussion and we have decided not to progress with the name change at this point in time, but we may return to it in the future.
The primary reason for this decision is that we feel that UKNP is a community and a good community. We value what we have, hence we feel an obligation to 'take' nearly all those who helped forge this community with us when changing. As a number of our members have some concerns about a name change we will stay with the status-quo. There is no point in fishing for more members whilst, potentially, disenfranchising current ones; the desired objective of such a change was growth.
That said we are still cognisant that we may be losing potential members due to our name, therefore we intend to make smaller alterations to the site to encourage those from outside the UK to join.
For those members that voted for a change this decision wasn't a lighty taken, easy, or a unanimous one.
Cheers
The Mods