Return to Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site www.nicholasjohnson.org

Return to Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site

Return to Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
 
 

We can do better than 'Optiva'

David Burgess

The Daily Iowan

February 26, 2007

[Note: This material is copyright by the Press-Citizen, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of the Iowa City Press-Citizen.]


Is Optiva the best name for our UI Community Credit Union? We might never know. Had the credit union initiated a contest with a prize of, say, $5,000 for UI students to develop a new name and logo, we would likely have had more and better options - plus a win-win educational, outreach, and marketing opportunity.

In a community with so many world-class writers and outstanding marketing minds, it is disheartening, at best, that our credit union spent $214,000 to hire an outside firm to concoct Optiva. With a name such as "Optiva," who needs "community?"

Let's not be Optivated. We still have time. So why not options? The university community can be invited, and students given the incentive, to contribute to the evolution and growth of our credit union and to have a stake in mending the Optivational rift by developing a better, home-grown name.

David Burgess
UI lecturer and credit-union member