SavageLlama
01-18-2005, 21:37
Thought this was an interesting read..
Trail to picking new last name wasn't as easy as ATC
By Fred J. Aun
The Star-Ledger (NJ)
January 16, 2005
From its headquarters in Harper's Ferry, Va., the Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) does many things. One thing it doesn't do is operate a public conference center.
Nevertheless, thanks to its name, the ATC regularly receives calls from people who are interested in renting its facility for corporate or other gatherings. Those requests are among the reasons the 80-year-old organization is about to change its name.
On July 4, the confusing and outdated word "conference" will be kicked into the bushes. From that day forward, ATC will stand for Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
It might seem a minor adjustment, but the ATC spent years studying the proposed name change. It even hired a marketing firm that examined the ramifications. Although the word "conference" was off-target and archaic, the ATC realized it was messing with a beloved and historic name, one that - for better or worse - had become a recognized brand.
Back in July 1921, Benton MacKaye, Charles Harris Whitaker and Clarence Stein met at the Hudson Guild Farm in Hopatcong. They'd been discussing the creation of a footpath through the Appalachian Mountains that would go from Maine to Georgia. Four years later, the earliest gathering of people interested in the idea came together at the first Appalachian Trail Conference. For better or worse, the event's name also became the group's name.
"It started out 80 years ago as a conference," said ATC spokesman Brian King. "That's really all it was. Every year or two or three, the people building the trail would get together. So it just stuck."
The name was good enough up until twenty years ago. But once the National Trails Act gave the ATC responsibility for managing the 2,175-mile footpath, the word "conference" started to become a problem.
"As we've grown and taken on more responsibilities, we are trying get more members, volunteers and supporters," said King. "You approach them and say 'conference' and they ask, 'Why would I want to join a meeting?' Even our own members, who knew a little more, thought our principal function was coordinating volunteers. But for 20 years we've had the responsibility to manage about 250,000 acres of public land."
King said the responsibilities placed upon the ATC by the National Trails Act fundamentally changed the nature of the organization. "It's taken us a while to define what that means," he said. A strategic plan was written, and it suggested a name change.
King said the ATC did not want to alter its initials. That forced the board of directors to search for a viable "C" word.
"We kicked around coalition, council, community and other words," he said. "Every choice, other than 'conservancy' either did nothing for the people or turned them off."
King said "conservancy" is actually a perfect name. "Conservation is our primary program. People understand that better than if we say land management is our job, or resource management. Those words don't mean anything to anybody.
"Conservancy doesn't tell the whole story, but it gives people the idea that the land, and what is on it, is where our focus lies."
Incorporated in 1936, the ATC is a non-profit organization. It has a 45-member staff (sprinkled throughout five bureaus) and a $5 million annual budget. The ATC has no law-enforcement authority and cannot decide whether trail-related projects comply with state or federal environmental regulations.
Since 99.2 percent of the trail is on public land, the ATC deals with 250 local, state and federal agencies. "We're kind of the hub of that crazy wheel," said King.
He said there are two basic goals of the ATC these days: "To really protect the land base we have and to reach out to the communities along the trail and have them be our partners."
King acknowledged the word "conservancy" is not exactly unique these days. It's commonplace in the ranks of environmental preservation and protection groups.
"Yes, there are a lot of conservancies," he said. "A conservancy is an organization that manages or protects natural resources. There are lot of them out there, but the name does resonate with people."
# # #
Trail to picking new last name wasn't as easy as ATC
By Fred J. Aun
The Star-Ledger (NJ)
January 16, 2005
From its headquarters in Harper's Ferry, Va., the Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) does many things. One thing it doesn't do is operate a public conference center.
Nevertheless, thanks to its name, the ATC regularly receives calls from people who are interested in renting its facility for corporate or other gatherings. Those requests are among the reasons the 80-year-old organization is about to change its name.
On July 4, the confusing and outdated word "conference" will be kicked into the bushes. From that day forward, ATC will stand for Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
It might seem a minor adjustment, but the ATC spent years studying the proposed name change. It even hired a marketing firm that examined the ramifications. Although the word "conference" was off-target and archaic, the ATC realized it was messing with a beloved and historic name, one that - for better or worse - had become a recognized brand.
Back in July 1921, Benton MacKaye, Charles Harris Whitaker and Clarence Stein met at the Hudson Guild Farm in Hopatcong. They'd been discussing the creation of a footpath through the Appalachian Mountains that would go from Maine to Georgia. Four years later, the earliest gathering of people interested in the idea came together at the first Appalachian Trail Conference. For better or worse, the event's name also became the group's name.
"It started out 80 years ago as a conference," said ATC spokesman Brian King. "That's really all it was. Every year or two or three, the people building the trail would get together. So it just stuck."
The name was good enough up until twenty years ago. But once the National Trails Act gave the ATC responsibility for managing the 2,175-mile footpath, the word "conference" started to become a problem.
"As we've grown and taken on more responsibilities, we are trying get more members, volunteers and supporters," said King. "You approach them and say 'conference' and they ask, 'Why would I want to join a meeting?' Even our own members, who knew a little more, thought our principal function was coordinating volunteers. But for 20 years we've had the responsibility to manage about 250,000 acres of public land."
King said the responsibilities placed upon the ATC by the National Trails Act fundamentally changed the nature of the organization. "It's taken us a while to define what that means," he said. A strategic plan was written, and it suggested a name change.
King said the ATC did not want to alter its initials. That forced the board of directors to search for a viable "C" word.
"We kicked around coalition, council, community and other words," he said. "Every choice, other than 'conservancy' either did nothing for the people or turned them off."
King said "conservancy" is actually a perfect name. "Conservation is our primary program. People understand that better than if we say land management is our job, or resource management. Those words don't mean anything to anybody.
"Conservancy doesn't tell the whole story, but it gives people the idea that the land, and what is on it, is where our focus lies."
Incorporated in 1936, the ATC is a non-profit organization. It has a 45-member staff (sprinkled throughout five bureaus) and a $5 million annual budget. The ATC has no law-enforcement authority and cannot decide whether trail-related projects comply with state or federal environmental regulations.
Since 99.2 percent of the trail is on public land, the ATC deals with 250 local, state and federal agencies. "We're kind of the hub of that crazy wheel," said King.
He said there are two basic goals of the ATC these days: "To really protect the land base we have and to reach out to the communities along the trail and have them be our partners."
King acknowledged the word "conservancy" is not exactly unique these days. It's commonplace in the ranks of environmental preservation and protection groups.
"Yes, there are a lot of conservancies," he said. "A conservancy is an organization that manages or protects natural resources. There are lot of them out there, but the name does resonate with people."
# # #