[Baypiggies] BayPIGgies name [was: April agenda?]

[Rich Morin]

[Arrgh.  I replied to Rick, rather than to the group.  Sorry
 for the chronological disarray... -r]


At 3:10 PM -0700 4/12/06, Rick Moen wrote:
> But of course _that_ doesn't apply to a volunteer Python group.
> So, it's really just being used as a codephrase meaning "The
> speaker feels its silly and would prefer it to go away, but can't
> cite any _real_  reason, but 'unprofessional' sounds vaguely
> disapproving, so let's use that."

I think it's a bit more important than that.  Let's say that I've
given a talk on Modular Wombats for the local Python group.  If my
resume needs filler (after 35 years in the field, this is NOT my
problem :), I might want to list this appearance.  Do I want to put
in the following:

  Presentations

    The Care and Feeding of Modular Wombats
    BayPIGgies, April 1, 2006

I think not.  Or, maybe I'm considering volunteering as the program
chairman for the group.  Part of my motivation might be the ability
to brag about this position, but "Program Chairman for BayPIGgies"
doesn't really look or sound as good as it might.

Given some names that I've chosen:

  Canta Forda Computer Laboratory
  http://www.cfcl.com

  Beer & Scripting SIG
  http://www.cfcl.com/rdm/bass

I can hardly be accused of being a leather-bound conservative in
these matters.  However, I understand the problem that Marilyn has
with the name and I don't think that having a more formal name (to
use when the informal name would be "unsuitable") is a problem.


> ... if I intuited that someone wouldn't find "BayPIGgies" amusing,
> I substituted "{Silicon Valley|Bay [Area]} Python Group" on the fly.

Actually, the web site currently gives an alternate expansion:

  We are the Silicon Valley-San Francisco Bay Area Python Users Group.
  http://www.baypiggies.net/

However, this is (a) rather prolix and (b) is (probably) just a
description, rather than an "official name" which can be used on a
resume, etc.  Given that Rick couldn't recall it on demand (nor could
I :-), I suspect that changing it wouldn't cause any dislocations...

-r
-- 
http://www.cfcl.com/rdm            Rich Morin
http://www.cfcl.com/rdm/resume     rdm at cfcl.com
http://www.cfcl.com/rdm/weblog     +1 650-873-7841

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