(02-26-2012 04:55 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote: [ -> ]If we're staying, build a stronger MAC. Change the damn name from "Mid" American Conference, to the American Conference, or anything of the sort. Lets drop all "Mids" from our marketing/image ASAP.
All American Conference?
Great American Conference? (no one outside of Illinois will think of the amusement park!)
Big 14 Conference?
I think the Big 12 owns Big 14 and Big 16.
(02-26-2012 05:02 PM)CMUprof Wrote: [ -> ] (02-26-2012 04:55 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote: [ -> ]If we're staying, build a stronger MAC. Change the damn name from "Mid" American Conference, to the American Conference, or anything of the sort. Lets drop all "Mids" from our marketing/image ASAP.
All American Conference?
Great American Conference? (no one outside of Illinois will think of the amusement park!)
Big 14 Conference?
I think the Big 12 owns Big 14 and Big 16.
Is that sarcasm or for reals/legally? Lets go Big American Conference then and tell everyone else to suck it!?!
(02-26-2012 05:07 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote: [ -> ] (02-26-2012 05:02 PM)CMUprof Wrote: [ -> ] (02-26-2012 04:55 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote: [ -> ]If we're staying, build a stronger MAC. Change the damn name from "Mid" American Conference, to the American Conference, or anything of the sort. Lets drop all "Mids" from our marketing/image ASAP.
All American Conference?
Great American Conference? (no one outside of Illinois will think of the amusement park!)
Big 14 Conference?
I think the Big 12 owns Big 14 and Big 16.
Is that sarcasm or for reals/legally? Lets go Big American Conference then and tell everyone else to suck it!?!
Serious. I read it on a forum somewhere so it must be true.
Okay, maybe only Big 14
Big Twelve Conference Trademark
If we change the conference name we'll have even less name recognition. And in any case we wouldn't want to use numbers in the conference name because, as we've seen, the numbers can change. And then you just look dumb, like the Big 10 having 12 teams and the Big 12 having 10 teams.
(02-26-2012 04:55 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote: [ -> ]If we're staying, build a stronger MAC. Change the damn name from "Mid" American Conference, to the American Conference, or anything of the sort. Lets drop all "Mids" from our marketing/image ASAP.
All American Conference?
Great American Conference? (no one outside of Illinois will think of the amusement park!)
Big 14 Conference?
+1
could also help attract new programs like JMU or NDSU who don't associate themselves with the middle of the country.
oh, well if it will help us attract a national athletic powerhouse like North Dakota State then by all means lets change the name we've used for the conference for 65 years.
(02-27-2012 12:26 AM)perimeterpost Wrote: [ -> ]oh, well if it will help us attract a national athletic powerhouse like North Dakota State then by all means lets change the name we've used for the conference for 65 years.
I understand the nostalgic feelings, as I have them to, truth of the matter is the name is bad from a marketing standpoint. Most of the other conferences we compete with have "Big" names, and since the term "
mid-major" become popular, our own conference name coincidently has been helping drive the point home. Same with "NIU", I have great fondess for the name but have to be realistic about the fact that the rest of the world looks down at "directional schools", assumes they are "less then" their non-directional counterparts, wether its true or not. (in our case not).
Prairie State University in the All American Conference is an easier marketing job then
Northern Illinois in the
Mid American Conference, even though its the EXACT same product.
(02-27-2012 02:36 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote: [ -> ] (02-27-2012 12:26 AM)perimeterpost Wrote: [ -> ]oh, well if it will help us attract a national athletic powerhouse like North Dakota State then by all means lets change the name we've used for the conference for 65 years.
I understand the nostalgic feelings, as I have them to, truth of the matter is the name is bad from a marketing standpoint. Most of the other conferences we compete with have "Big" names, and since the term "mid-major" become popular, our own conference name coincidently has been helping drive the point home. Same with "NIU", I have great fondess for the name but have to be realistic about the fact that the rest of the world looks down at "directional schools", assumes they are "less then" their non-directional counterparts, wether its true or not. (in our case not).
Prairie State University in the All American Conference is an easier marketing job then Northern Illinois in the Mid American Conference, even though its the EXACT same product.
I'd question that. For two reasons.
1. Specifically, it sounds far too much like Prarie View. And their infamous losing streak, and long time struggles in other sports does not help your cause. Furthermore, "prairie" is always associated with small and rural (e.g., Little house on the). You'll not be "big time" being small.
2. Generally, major schools have the state's name in them. UMichigan, Louisiana State U. Sometimes cities work (Pitt, UCLA), but it's states' names that carry clout. Evergreen St is not a big time player, and never will be.
DeKalb State? Much better.
(02-27-2012 03:21 PM)DrTorch Wrote: [ -> ] (02-27-2012 02:36 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote: [ -> ] (02-27-2012 12:26 AM)perimeterpost Wrote: [ -> ]oh, well if it will help us attract a national athletic powerhouse like North Dakota State then by all means lets change the name we've used for the conference for 65 years.
I understand the nostalgic feelings, as I have them to, truth of the matter is the name is bad from a marketing standpoint. Most of the other conferences we compete with have "Big" names, and since the term "mid-major" become popular, our own conference name coincidently has been helping drive the point home. Same with "NIU", I have great fondess for the name but have to be realistic about the fact that the rest of the world looks down at "directional schools", assumes they are "less then" their non-directional counterparts, wether its true or not. (in our case not).
Prairie State University in the All American Conference is an easier marketing job then Northern Illinois in the Mid American Conference, even though its the EXACT same product.
I'd question that. For two reasons.
1. Specifically, it sounds far too much like Prarie View. And their infamous losing streak, and long time struggles in other sports does not help your cause. Furthermore, "prairie" is always associated with small and rural (e.g., Little house on the). You'll not be "big time" being small.
2. Generally, major schools have the state's name in them. UMichigan, Louisiana State U. Sometimes cities work (Pitt, UCLA), but it's states' names that carry clout. Evergreen St is not a big time player, and never will be.
Illinois, Illinois State, Illinois Tech are all taken in our backyard, so the next best thing is the Auburn/Clemson/Baylor thing. I actually don't mind Dekalb University... in any case, almost anything is an upgrade from a directional name. Its an unnecessary marketing ball-and-chain.
Do you consider the Ohio schools "directional"? None of our names have directions in them but I don't think anybody needs help knowing we are "mid-major" (except for Miami since they have a similar name to a much more famous University).
NIU<Lincoln State University
(02-27-2012 08:14 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote: [ -> ]Do you consider the Ohio schools "directional"? None of our names have directions in them but I don't think anybody needs help knowing we are "mid-major" (except for Miami since they have a similar name to a much more famous University).
No way are any of the Oho MAC schools
directional. CMU, WMU, EMU and NIU are the "Directional" schools being referenced/ripped on the BCS blogs when someone says "the MAC and all of those directionals"....
(02-28-2012 12:36 AM)onlinepole Wrote: [ -> ]NIU<Lincoln State University
I actually like that...it's stupid that it wouldn't change the product but I think you all are right about the conference name and directional school names. It's all about perception, not reality unfortunately. I also think the conference would benefit by having "Big" in the name. And someone mentioned that if we changed the conference name, we'd get even less name recognition. I think we are fooling ourselves if we think we have any name recognition right now. If anyone wants to test it, ask a football or basketball fan of a team from one of the big 6 conferences about who the MAC teams are in a specific state outside of your's and see what their response is. For instance, I could ask an Illinois fan tomorrow which team is in the MAC...[Butler, Ball State, or Valparaiso] or [Youngstown State, Toledo, Dayton, or Cleveland State] and they probably wouldn't know.
If more Big East schools left and there was a split, I'd like Ohio to join us. A decent rivalry was brewing and they have a good combination of FB/hoops. Good school academically too and students there actually seem to have school pride
(02-28-2012 12:36 AM)onlinepole Wrote: [ -> ]NIU<Lincoln State University
Sounds like "Lincoln Tech".
(02-26-2012 04:55 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote: [ -> ]If we're staying, build a stronger MAC. Change the damn name from "Mid" American Conference, to the American Conference, or anything of the sort. Lets drop all "Mids" from our marketing/image ASAP.
All American Conference?
Great American Conference? (no one outside of Illinois will think of the amusement park!)
Big 14 Conference?
That is a terrific idea
(02-28-2012 08:35 AM)pzz189 Wrote: [ -> ]If more Big East schools left and there was a split, I'd like Ohio to join us. A decent rivalry was brewing and they have a good combination of FB/hoops. Good school academically too and students there actually seem to have school pride
Great sig pzz189
(02-26-2012 04:55 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote: [ -> ]If we're staying, build a stronger MAC. Change the damn name from "Mid" American Conference, to the American Conference, or anything of the sort. Lets drop all "Mids" from our marketing/image ASAP.
All American Conference?
Great American Conference? (no one outside of Illinois will think of the amusement park!)
Big 14 Conference?
I see your point here with the reference to "Mid"-American both in terms of "Mid" and in terms of geography when considering expanding the conference to a larger footprint. However, "The MAC", believe it or not, does have real name recognition even on the west coast. I hear people talk about mid-week MACtion and the football game they watched when flipping through the channel and other things about the MAC even if they view the PAC-12 as being a step above. At least they know who the "The MAC" is even if they can't name but a few teams in the conference.
Drastically changing the name would stall 65 years of momentum in name recognition even if it is smaller than what people would like. My suggestion is if they are to look at a name change, then replace "Mid-" with some other word that also starts with "M", that way you can ditch the "Mid-" reference both in the geographical sense and also in the connection to "mid-major". BUT, you could still keep the name recognition associated with "The MAC".
(02-28-2012 01:49 PM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote: [ -> ] (02-26-2012 04:55 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote: [ -> ]If we're staying, build a stronger MAC. Change the damn name from "Mid" American Conference, to the American Conference, or anything of the sort. Lets drop all "Mids" from our marketing/image ASAP.
All American Conference?
Great American Conference? (no one outside of Illinois will think of the amusement park!)
Big 14 Conference?
I see your point here with the reference to "Mid"-American both in terms of "Mid" and in terms of geography when considering expanding the conference to a larger footprint. However, "The MAC", believe it or not, does have real name recognition even on the west coast. I hear people talk about mid-week MACtion and the football game they watched when flipping through the channel and other things about the MAC even if they view the PAC-12 as being a step above. At least they know who the "The MAC" is even if they can't name but a few teams in the conference.
Drastically changing the name would stall 65 years of momentum in name recognition even if it is smaller than what people would like. My suggestion is if they are to look at a name change, then replace "Mid-" with some other word that also starts with "M", that way you can ditch the "Mid-" reference both in the geographical sense and also in the connection to "mid-major". BUT, you could still keep the name recognition associated with "The MAC".
How about MAJOR American Conference? Sounds Big!